gringorio - 8-8-2004 at 07:53 AM
does anyone know the story behind the glowing man mural? i did a search but nothing came up... who created it? does it have a known specific
meaning? or is it just creative graffiti? 
Glowing man
jrbaja - 8-8-2004 at 08:24 AM
The story I have heard is this. San Juan de la Costa imported some specialty machinery for their mine.
They needed experienced professionals to operate the new equipment so a couple of engineers were sent down.
There were many delays and the engineers got tired of fishing so they spent their off days painting the Glowman.
Don't know whether it's true or not but that's what the locals told me.
[Edited on 8/8/2004 by jrbaja]
[Edited on 8/8/2004 by jrbaja]
This Glowman?
David K - 8-8-2004 at 09:53 AM
From my web page: http://community-2.webtv.net/Boojum1/Glowman Photo from Norman Shofield, sent in by Tucker...
KurtG - 8-8-2004 at 06:39 PM
Gene Kira did a column on the Glowing Man of Agua Verde in Western Outdoor News 3 or 4 years ago. I tried to find it in the bajadestinations.com
archives but they no longer seem to go back that far. I recall it being discussed at some length on the amigos' board. It was a fascinating story.
Very "Twilight Zone."
David K - 8-8-2004 at 06:51 PM
Hi Kurt, shortly after Gene's article came out (almost 3 years ago), this photo of a glowing man was sent to me. I sent it on to Gene and asked if
this was 'his' glowing man of Agua Verde. Gene's reply was "I'll be damned!"... and nothing else. I later learned that this was not the same mural,
but such art works are not that rare.
Glow Man
Jack Swords - 8-8-2004 at 07:07 PM
Fred's Board has a trip report, photos, and a description on how to find Glow Man. It is under the February, '03 date.
http://math.ucr.edu/ftm/bajaPages/BajaRoadPages/Route1/SideT...
KurtG - 8-8-2004 at 07:18 PM
David, As I recall the article Gene's glowing man was flesh and blood. Perhaps the murals were inspired by local legends. Just idle speculation on
my part. Do you still have a link to that column? I especially liked the ending of the tale concerning (again as I recall) the hitch hiker he asked
about the glowing man who then demanded to be immediately let out of the car saying "They're all evil"!
David K - 8-8-2004 at 07:35 PM
Nope, I never saw the article... it wasn't online just in the magazine (at least then).
The photo I posted above was called a glowing man and I thought it may have been what Gene was talking about.
You know Gene lives in a big UFO area! Ha... I went to school ('70-'72) in Gene's town for 2 years, so I know!
David David David
jrbaja - 8-8-2004 at 08:24 PM
"I later learned that this was not the same mural, but such art works are not that rare. "
How many have you seen ?
David K - 8-8-2004 at 10:28 PM
JR JR JR stop it.
I have not seen any. I was told by Baja people that painting such things is done in many places. I have seen frogs, sculls, and something called PRI
on lots of rock faces in Baja, no glowing men (or women).
Gene Kira's Story on the Glowing Man.
Bedman - 8-9-2004 at 12:18 AM
GLOWING MAN OF AGUA VERDE
Baja Back Beat Column, December 15, 2001, by Gene Kira
As orginally published in Western Outdoors Magazine
?
If you look at the map of Baja California, there is a large area extending south from Loreto that is pretty much a solid range of mountains called the
Sierra de la Giganta. In the heart of this steep and rocky range, surrounding Bahia Agua Verde, is about 500 square miles of nothing but trackless
arroyos, hidden little oases, seasonal tinajas, and some of the most remote Californio ranchos to be found in Baja.
The coastline here--dubbed "Juanaloa" by the ever-creative Ray Cannon--is fantastically beautiful, but rarely visited because of its remoteness. From
the north, it can be penetrated as far as Bahia Aqua Verde itself, via a rough, 25-mile dirt road from Mex 1. And from the south, the closest
practical access point is Bahia San Evaristo, via 50 miles of dirt road from San Juan de la Costa, near La Paz. In between, are 50 miles of
little-known coastline, steeply backed up by the impenetrable Sierra de la Giganta, and accessible at only a few points by rough, rocky roads that are
more like goat trails.
I first became aware of this area many years ago, while fishing at Bahia Agua Verde. During the long, lonely drive in, I would marvel at the huge
mountains rising to the south, and wonder what mysteries they contained, even to the modern day. At Bahia Agua Verde, there are stories told of lost
Spanish treasures, high up there in those rocky elevations where nobody goes, and of ghosts and strange visions sometimes seen on the highest heights,
against the sky, late at night, or sometimes even in broad daylight.
Then one day, I made a bad decision while camped at Bahia San Evaristo, at the southern edge of this mysterious zone. Instead of heading south to meet
the blacktop at La Paz, I decided to cut straight west across the peninsula in order to meet Mex 1 at Santa Rita, thus saving myself over 100 miles of
driving on the trip home.
This short-cut, of course, turned into a four-wheel-drive marathon, as the "road" gradually disappeared, turning first into a "trail," then a "track,"
and finally "nothing," as I was reduced to inching along cliffs in compound low gear, a few feet at a time, working constantly with the pick and
shovel, and cursing my own stupidity.
Toward sunset of the second day, I looked west and saw a white "church" that was perched on top of what looked like a small hill. It was almost dark
by the time I reached it and discovered that the "church" was only about five feet high. It was a small shrine, all alone, with not even a cow to keep
it company. I drove by it, and entered a very steep-walled arroyo, almost like a Norwegian fiord, and--unbelievably--there was a lake at its bottom
almost a kilometer long!
Then, there were thatched houses, looking like they belonged on some South Seas island, and a small village of people who hid from view and had to be
coaxed to come out and talk. These people rode on burros, and they assured me that I was the first person ever to drive a motor vehicle to their
village from the Sea of Cortez coast. In very heavily accented Spanish, they pointed out the rocky path that they said would eventually lead to Mex 1,
many miles to the west.
In the dark, I began working my way up the arroyo, driving on narrow ledges, and scraping against vines and flowers on both sides. Then, I noticed a
dim glow in the bushes, just to my right, and I got out of my truck to investigate. I pushed back some vines, and uncovered a small shrine built of
rocks. It was totally abandoned. No candles. No picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Nothing but very, very old, lichen-covered, rounded stones, in a
small arch, with an alcove-like space in the middle. I replaced the vines, completely covering it again, and went back to my truck. Sitting there in
the dark, I could still see the glow coming from behind the plants. The damned thing glowed all by itself.
About ten years later, the phone rang one rainy afternoon in February. It was a young man from Los Angeles, who had gotten my number from a book. He
talked for quite a while about his recent surfing trip around southern Baja, and I was trying to think of a way to get rid of him, when he became
serious and began describing a long, dangerous hike he had taken, straight up into the mountains south of Bahia Agua Verde. After what seemed like
hours, he finally gathered the courage to reveal the real purpose of his call. "Gene," he said at last. "Have you ever seen this old dude up there
that glows in the dark?"
The man was very old and lived alone in a small shack, the surfer said. Near the shack, there were three other houses occupied by people who took care
of him, but did not seem to be family. There was no road at all. The surfer had been exhausted from his hazardous, cross-country trek alone, and they
gave him food and water, and let him camp near their houses until morning. In the middle of the night, he had gotten up to relieve himself, and he saw
the old man sitting upright in his shack, glowing like a dim light bulb. No tricks. He had spoken to the man, and touched him, and he glowed all by
himself. The light came from his skin. He did not speak, but otherwise, he seemed like a perfectly normal old man.
Since that time, I have heard of the glowing man of Agua Verde twice more. Once in a letter from a stranger that I read causally and threw away
without realizing its significance, and recently, from a man that I picked up on Mex 1, right where the Agua Verde road comes out, about 30 miles
south of Loreto.
My rider lived in the high mountains south of Bahia Agua Verde, he said, and he was a member of a religious group that printed evangelical brochures,
several of which he produced from a small knapsack and pressed upon me. He asked me several times if I wished to convert to his religion, right there
beside the road, and he offered--almost insisted--on being my personal Evangelist.
Partly from curiosity, partly from impatience with his cheeky proselytizing, I decided to test him. In my poor Spanish, I asked, "Have you ever heard
of the man who lives in those mountains and gives light like the moon?"
My rider stared at me, quite stunned. Finally, he said, "He is evil."
"Oh? Why is he evil?"
"All those people are evil!"
"What people? Who are they?"
My rider refused to answer. He insisted that I stop my truck right there in the middle of nowhere, near the Agua Amarga microwave tower, and he got
out without saying a word.
Read Gene's Current Baja Beat Column each week in Western Outdoor News
Copyright ? 2000 by BajaDestinations.com
BEDMAN
Gene's story
jrbaja - 8-9-2004 at 08:03 AM
misleads one as far as the location of the "Glowman". He is actually combining a couple of different areas into one to possibly embellish the story a
little.
I know of the places he is referring to and neither place would make much of a story by themselves unless written the way he did it.
Jimmy Smith--- Never let facts stand in the way of a good story !
[Edited on 8/9/2004 by jrbaja]