Years ago, some time around 1948, while traveling across the United States, my Grandmother took a detour, where, she found herself travelling a dark desert highway.
Her journey had begun innocently enough along Interstate 40 when her detour took her to Tucumcari, New Mexico on Route 66. She had unexpectedly decided to visit the Tucumcari Mountain site after seeing it from a distance. Well, everyone who knows my Grandmother knows her well enough to know that she always prefers to travel the back roads. So, when she left Tucumcari she remained on Route 66 until she arrived in Gallup, New Mexico and came across the now infamous haunted highway then named Route 666.

My Grandmother had decided she would like to see the Rocky Mountains while she was that close. And so, her journey north up Route 666 began. As she had left Tucumcari so late in the day it was beginning to get dark and she was still miles from Shiprock, New Mexico. While passing through the Navajo Indian Reservation, the highway had been deserted except for the occasional car travelling in the other direction. As the sun set, she thought she had seen a man sitting alongside the roadway. She continued on down the road and began to see more men sitting alongside the road. These men were dark and she was unable to be certain that they were men at all. She then began to become frightened not knowing if these ‘men’ were going to remain seated or if they might possibly try to attack her car. And, adding to her excitement, she began hearing the howling sounds of some animals.  She even began to drive faster.

Well, just as quickly as my Grandmother was able, she reached Shiprock and found a hotel where she could stay the night. She left her room to eat in the restaurant. When she returned to her room she had found that she had been followed by some men who were now banging on her hotel room door. She quickly locked the door and called the hotel manager. But, by the time the hotel manager had arrived at her room, the men had already left.

It was only after returning home and relating the events of her journey that my Grandmother learned about the legends of Route 666. It was then that she was told the story of the Skin Walkers. Well, my Grandmother still likes to travel the back roads, but now she plans her journeys more carefully.