I just googled svedal too, and only returned sveadal, its in santa clara county and I saw two tennis courts and a pool like someone said earlier...

Oh my... this post is so silly. Albinos are regular people who just have different skin and hair, they aren't freaks. They don't live in little Albino settlements and attack people in packs like some kind of retarded, evil mutants.

I knew one when I was younger, he was like powder. He had no color to his skin and very blue eyes, he was a very nice kid.

This post wasn't to say all albinos are evil. It's just to discuss the secret communities that just happen to be full of albinos.

There are none, that is just silly.

Yep, I lived in SJ too, for a too-long time. Electronics engineer, even.
House was on Meridian, Almaden Valley. Not far from Almaden-Quicksilver County Park. Used to bicycle up there, on the trails, before it was closed to bikes. Then I used it as a running track, many miles of trails, difficult as anyone wants. Used the bike on the paved roads, including Hicks.
Saw lots of weird stuff. Quicksilver was, at the time, a good place to go for druggies, or whosoever wished to get away from the public eye, that includes the wild piggies and deer that ran around there. But in all my roamings I never saw a village of albinoes; probably wouldn't have given a damn anyway. As stated, there were lots of weird things around Silicon Valley: it sort of goes with the territory. Any time there is such a massive accumulation of highly intelligent and highly educated people, the norms do change. That type of people doesn't do ordinary things.
Once had a drag race down 101 (on my scooter) with a sports car, well above a hundred (middle of the night, very little traffic). Turned out it was an individual associated with a certain computer company, his net worth over $700 million. We were headed to the same coffee shop.
Yep. It's weird there. People paste themselves against the sides of the road up by Alice's restaurant. Millionaire's buy clothes at Goodwill, then go buy a $10,000 dining table. Some of us lived in $500,000 houses, and had ancient beat up 4WDs sitting out front for everyone to see.
Doesn't mean we're redneck knifebearing axe murderers (although I will say I've been tempted), or even if there is a "colony", they're any different than anyone else in Silicon Valley. They're just different than most of the other people in the country. 'Course, you could say that about grits, too.

i live in san jose and have been up hicks hundreds of times and i'll tell you non-belivers that its real. i dont think they are "albinoes" per se but there is something up there that no one can give a full explainion about, me and my friends have heard blood-curdling screams and SEEN things that looked too much like a group of rather short people on foot and moving i the tree branches, plus abunch of other 2nd hand sightings/stories, afew parents of friends as well have told me their experinces

i am a full beliver and would like to know if anyone fancys a visit with me

I dated an albino and there's nothing creepy about it. She was intelligent and beautiful. Creepy were also said for people dressed as a goth, or people who has tattoos all over the place, or Donald Trump's hair.

iv lived in san jose for 10 years. never seen an albino. herd about them when i first moved here, but never again. where they are said to be is waaay up in the hills out here. san jose is a huge f-ing city, you never know.

well... i have a friend whos albino but.. they live in perth
does that count?

I looked up Albinos on Hicks Road and found this: http://sanjoseinside.com/sji/blog/entries/..._albino_menace/

Sounds similar to some of these 'stories' people are posting about. And then I found this site: http://www.sanjose.com/underbelly/unbelly/...alum/alum1.html about Alum Park. Sounds like stuff for around a campfire at ghost story telling time.

If they seem mean, it's probably cuz they just want to be left alone like someone else said. Who wants car fulls of drunken teenagers coming into your town all the time to stir up trouble?!?! Especially if they are carrying guns too - sheesh. What a combination - drunken teens and guns - just what EVERY town wants!!!

I remember a movie about some guy who was the 'villian' and he was an albino. Just because someone is different doesn't mean they are evil! What a buch of hogwash. And all that graffiti someone found, ever stop to think it was some OTHER drunken teens who did it as a prank? Where is the proof that it was actually made by 'evil abinos'. I can't believe I wasted my time reading this whole thread - but then I was bore at work, so what the h***...

so is it real or not.

You mean, like. albino people? Are you joking? They are just people who happen to have an abnormality. Just like us. Its probably a family.

Exactly. Leave the people alone!

Tone cop the point is that albinism isn't paranormal. It a skin disorder, they are no different than you or me. But the old abandonded village aspect is very interesting, and I hope you go get picture of that ! I would love to go see a lost village in the woods. Once while hiking we found a camping site, with camper and a little bridge and yard decorations and stone walkway, all in the middle of the woods. It apeared that someone was living there on a regular basis, it was well kept, but no one was there at the time. On the same hike, some ways away from there we found the remains of a house basement. There were no roads around it or drive way or anything, just the foot paths. It was pretty cool.

Hey, Fellow San Josen,

Wow, I remember back in my high school days ( a long time ago ) me and a group of friends actually drove up there, to try and find these albino's, I heard it was a true story. It was scarry, all I remember is seeing a lot of tree's and weeds, we hung out there for quite a while, but everyone was too chicken to get out the car

I can't believe I'm hearing about this after all this time

Is anyone else as puzzled as me about why there's a topic about albino's on an unexplained mysteries forum?

Could be a "The Hills Have Eyes" Scenario...or maybe a Deliverance type thing. Don't ask me.. I live in a valley and you will never catch me in the deep mtns where people rarely go. Where I live there are stories of people who live that hick/inbred type life that feed ppl to pigs... GROSS! No thank you, I don't trust people who are inbred. Scares me to death.

My friends and I just had an encounter with an albino near hicks road the other day. We drove hicks road but where the albinos actually are arent really on hicks road. There is a fork in the road with a reservoir right in front of it. Going left just completes the loop. But we were stupid enough to go right. This road is called alamitos road. We saw signs that said private road. We saw little cabins on the left. We got a bit farther down the road. The road was getting tighter and tighter and we saw a house on the left. It almost looked like there was a moat around it with a little walkway lit up with those little white christmas lights. The house just looked wierd and there was tons of crap in front of it. We drove up just a bit further and noticed 2 big old suvs on the side of the road. The glass was broken out of them and at that point we decided to turn around. After we made our uturn we saw a flashlight down the road by the house that we passed. At this point I knew we were in trouble. We drove down a bit more to try to just drive by calmly but the light was in the middle of the road. We just stopped and stared at as we now knew what the figure was. It was a woman, fairly young, she was wearing jeans and a wifebeater. I remember her skin being very pale but I dont remember much other than that because I was too distracted by the rifle or shotgun in her hand. She wasnt pointing it at us but she had it right with her. She just stood there in the road staring at us. I was screaming to my friend who was driving to just run her over. Run her over I thought she was going to shoot us right then. She just stared for a minute, and stepped off the road and said get out and dont come back. We drove off quietely with no problems. we were all just glad that we got out alive. I dont plan on going back. Our friend was stupid enough to flag down a cop on the way back. He told them what happened which could have gotten us into trouble since it is a private road. I just played dum and nothing happened. Anyways Hicks Road is not the true place but the fork in the road with the sign called alamitos road. That is where things realy happen and that is why Ill never go back. I learned my lesson and am still a bit shaken over the whole situation. My friend claims he is going back but I will post if he does.

Albino or not...you were trespassing on thier private property. Why would you be surprised they had a gun? I'd do the same thing.

Being Albino has got nothing to do with any of this....

I understand but everyone that lives up there on that private road is albino, not that it makes it right for me to go up there, I was wrong in doing so and I dont plan on going back but I thought id contribute my experience anyway.

Howdy

I am new hear but i saw this and figured i would try and post to clear some things up as best i can. Let me start by saying hello I'm Jim. I grew up in San Jose as did most of my friends from whom i originally heard this story. I have lived in the Berryessa and Silver Creek regions of San Jose, while most of my friends lived in the Blossom hill area. I have had a long interest in the suburban legends of San Jose and this one in particular.

I have actually talked about this years ago on the ghoststudy message board, but can't find that post; so i will do my best to be clear. Also let me start by saying no i do not believe Albino's are evil or satan worhippers. They just have a lack of pigment. I honestly believe this whole thing is a misunderstanding of the word Albigensian; a gnostic sect which was accused of satan worship in the 1200's. Here is a link if you are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathar

Ok on to the Albinos. The first time i here of a family of Satan Worshipping Albinos was not in reference to Hicks road; but rather Marsh road in Milpitas. Which is famous as the body dump site for the rivers edge killing. Here is a link if you are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_edge . The story was relayed by an older kid who was attempting to scare me. Basically he described the bridge under which the body was hidden and then went on to say if you wrote someone's name on the bridge, albino's whom lived in a house beyond the bridge would kill that person. This is oddly ingenius as it rolls up real events with something out of the texas chain saw massacre. How the albinos tracked people down without peoplefinder and mapquest i dont know.

The enclave of Albinos in Alum Rock Park has already been touched upon. I feel the "underbelly" link's probably provide better information than I can. Over the years i have heard a few people mention Albinos in Alum Rock Park. None have been able to provide specific info. It is my personal opinion that Hicks Road is the real mccoy when it comes to suburban legends. Here is a link if you are interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alum_Rock_Park

I will get to Hick's road soon but in another posting. I would like to go through some of the stories and address points. It is not my intention contradict anyone, but rather to clarify facts.

Posting again soon
Travelnjones

p.s. your right this isnt a cryptid discussion is there a local flavor section this could be moved to?

Howdy again

Ok i have read most of the of the posts and think i have a handle on it. To start hicks road is in south san jose, in the Almaden valley section of town. I have driven this road hundreds of times over the years and taken several people with me. Basically i have heard the same as all of you enclave of Satan Worshipping albinos live there. Further they had marked Remington and Mount Umanhum roads as Private though they were actually public roads. They also had painted satanic graffeti at a location called bridge under bridge.

I believe my friends first told me the story in 91 and took me some nights later. For us driving up mount umanhum road was the height of fear and the probable home of said satanists. Mountain umanhum is a spur off Hicks Road that goes up to Bald Mountain peak and the old Almaden Air Force Station. At that time someone had written private directly on the ground which umanhum branched from hicks. Now it has been cleaned up with parking areas for hiking. If you go to the top the road is fenced off, but you can park and hike if you like as Abercrombie said. You will eventually see signs that say patrolled by armed guards, these are old and incorrect. While it is not exactly legal to go to the air force station you can. My friend has meet a ranger that actually lives in the housing there, he has pictures to prove he actually had been there on top of the block house. Here is a page with some photos http://www.jaber.net/umunhum/ReunionTour/default.htm . Now back in the early 90's this was stoner hangout. I think it was this reason that the residents started become more hostile to visitors, writing private and what not. In our travels we never saw an albino, nor a satanist, though sometimes we listened to King Diamond while driving.

When driving South down hicks you eventually hit a T section where Hicks meets Alamitos road. One direction is a little section of houses called Twin creeks on the map. This is a bit weird and people do actually give you the eye when you drive in. Diving down Alamitos the other direction takes you to new almaden. Just before getting to the town you cross over Bridge under bridge. Really its just were the sidewalk goes under the road for a few feet because the road is narrow. Supposidly under the foot bridge is all sorts of satanic graffeti. I personally have never seen this I am just mentioning it. New Almaden is home to the opry house which is some sort of show, La Forent a fancy restaurant and a church. One point of interest is the graveyard, which is divided by the road. Honestly that is freaking weird driving through a graveyard, though i guess my grandfather has a little access road near his headstone.

Can someone give more info on this Rock you talked about that is new to me. I have hear somethings about the Holy City that sound similar though. I have seen some of the abandoned houses and my friend has hiked to the old quicksilver mines building .

Someone mentioned driving to Sveadal from Hicks? Man you were lost that is like 10 miles away. It is a little swedish community right at the entrance to Uvas Canyon County Park. This is on Croy road, which is a public road. Infact there is no way to get to the park other than croy. I have not had problems with the swedes there, its the swedes in East Palo Alto i hate, stupid Ikea. There was a house on little Uvas or Casa Loma that scared the hell out of me but it has since been torn down.

Well good luck seems like it will all be city soon.
let me know if you have any questions.

Hahaha, this is one of the funniest things I've ever read. Seriously. It's just the pigment in their skin. I know very pleasant Albinos. But yes Albinos must be cryptid creatures.

well there may be albino cryptids, havent you ever heard of albino bigfoot?

And again sorry to any albinos who may have been offended. This is just an urban legend of the silicon valley.

My body stopped producing pigment for a few months when my kidneys failed so i feel for ya.

I live out in LIVERMORE (TRI VALLEY) about 45 min out side of San Jose and Im pretty familiar with local lore and history . I have never heard anything about it nor did I find anything searching the www. But there is a kid out in dublin, used to come to my work, he's albino. Maybe he knows. I should ask. lol.

wow i dont know how scared i would be........ i might be after all the laughing

Seems like that may be a bit far away. Seems to be a south san jose sort of thing. Most of the people who have heard about this thing went to high school within 5 miles of hicks road.

Most people have only heard about the Whinchester Mystery House when they think of San Jose, but there are lots of other goofy stories. From the ghost truck on san felipe to haunted toys r us in sunnyvale.

I dont mean to be rude, but albino people look...creepy

Ok, did my home work. I talked some friends that went to high school in sj, and they've never heard of it either. Honestly, lol, I didn't know that the Mystery House was even SJ. lol. But aside from that I am relitivly well educated in myths and lore from all over the golden state. But at this point I think its safe to say that there aren't any reclusive hill-billie albino in SJ. It would be a fun trip though.

If your friend went to Leland, Leigh, Oak Grove, Santa Teresa, Gunderson or maybe Los Gatos high school i would expect them to have heard of this. My high school silver creek was like 8 miles from hicks and I had not heard about it until my friends told me. but yep there is nothing to this thing. I am pretty sure it was just people sick of us taking over their roads for joy riding.

The Mystery House is a rip off big time. I think it costs 20 bucks for a crappy tour that doesnt show very much at all.

A math teacher at my high school in Cupertino told us a story about Hicks Road. He's a reputable guy actually but I am still skeptical of the story...

Anyway he told us that when he was in high school him and his buddy were driving on Hicks Road (or somewhere around there) and they got pretty lost up there. They pulled over by a house, parked outside, and went up to the door to see if they could use a phone or get directions home.

When they knocked on the door nobody answered, but I guess they weren't thinking too well because they decided to open up the door and go in.
After entering they found themselves in a long hallway with a door on their left, a door on their right, and a door at the end of the hall. Both doors on the left and right were locked but when they got to the door at the end of the hallway they turned the handle and it opened.

Inside there was a very strange room with an operating table in the middle and what appeared to be a big barrel (like an oil drum). They went over to the barrel and my teacher's friend dipped his finger in it. His finger came out covered in what appeared to be blood.

At that point they both wanted to get out of there ASAP but they heard the front door creak open and footsteps coming down the hallway. They hid behind the operating table and hoped that nobody would come in, but somebody did. A big albino dude wearing an apron slowly entered the room and began peering around. As he took a few steps forward into the room my teacher and his friend got so scared they jumped up and ran out the door. And these kids were fast runners. When they got out the front door they realized their car's tires had all been slashed. Meanwhile the the albino was chasing them so they ran over to the fence on the side yard and tried to hop over it. My teacher made it over the fence but the albino got a hold of his friend's leg and tore him back down.

My teacher ran down the road and managed to find a phone to call the cops. It took the cops like 35 minutes just to get there and find the place. When my teacher and the police got to the house there was no trace of his friend, his car, or the albino. In fact the barrel full of blood and operating table were gone too.

My teacher says he has not seen his friend since that day which I guess was like 25+ years ago. He still teaches AP Calculus at my high school i think.

Go figure...

I do try not to be too skeptical, however, sometimes....
First, I lived in Almaden for more than a dozen years, electronics engineer (sop in Silicon Valley). Second, it was a stones throw from Quicksilver, which borders Hicks.
I used to run, bicycle, drive, walk Hicks road since it's not far from where I lived. To reduce the stress of SV, running and cycling was my thing. I encountered some odd things out there, in the park and out of it; I roamed that countryside a lot.
The only thing that can be said is that there is private property up Hicks Road, and the people that live on the various properties tire of intrusion. I've talked to quite a lot of them, and I'm sure that if the "colonies" mentioned were up to no good, that would have come up from time to time. I know there was a lot of drug use in and around the park, and there are people who live in the area who are hermit; they work in SV and come home, wanting to be left alone. In my several thousand miles of running the park and surrounds, I was never once accosted by anyone, nor in cycling the area, or in hiking around the mountains there. Many times, I asked owners permission and walked over private land, also, and seldom did they deny me the privilege.
25 years ago, I was living in the area, and I never heard of anyone disappearing who wasn't eventually found walking some back trail, probably frightened, but certainly not dead. I suspect your ex-teacher is pulling your leg.
Wierdest story I know of was some guy out running Hicks who found a brown paper wrapped bundle of money (something like a half million dollars) with no identifying marks at all; presumed to be drug money by the police. The wierd part was that the guy actually turned it in to the cops. According to the Mercury News, the police were to keep it for 180 days, at which time the finder would be allowed to keep it. Guaranteed that if I had found that package, nobody would know about it, except me. Not even my [big mouthed] ex-wife would have been told.
The wierdest things about that area are the imaginations that come into play when the environment is a little different.

I live in Saratoga and I use to go up Hicks a lot. I have never seen an albino on that road, but some of my friends use to drive people off that road and shoot guns at signs a lot. That might be where some of the stories originated. As far as it being dangerous, its about as dangerous as any other mountain road.

Carter, I had the same experience in the exact location you described, twenty-five years ago. Growing up in San jose, the 'albino colony' was one of several bits of folklore we heard about in school, along with the Black Mountain Road devil worshippers and the scores of child-size graves at Holy City. My buddy and I were out driving one Sunday (he'd just gotten his license), we drove Hicks, came to the T-intersection and made the right turn. In our case, it was a man with a shotgun but it was absolutely the same place you discovered. We got out of there as fast as we could and I've often wondered over the years if perhaps our imaginations had gotten the better of us, or if it had really happened.

Mike

I agree with cinnbar24.

I used to live near Svedal near Hicks Road; Svedal is on Twin Creeks Road.
My house was about 15-20mins away.

The community is nearly all albino, they dont like visitors that often because most people laugh and take photos of them.
Id be pissed off to.

I have gone up there a few times to visit an old friend I went to elementary school with. He recently passed away from a heart condition, so now there is no need for visits.

Bad luck to change your tires up there. You wont get shot and killed like cinnabr24's teens, but you would be asked to get out of there fast.

If you would like to go up there, Just make sure your car/truck is in good condition, and go during the day when there is light out.
Night time up there, is not your average night hike.

The Rangers know about the Albino town, they just make sure no one is bothered up there.

been there many times during the day though. only cause the roads are fun to drive on.

here are some pics taken at the 'satanic bridge'



the people there didnt say anything to us as we drove through the community. there were a lot of them out walking around doing normal stuff... they look like normal people.

back in HS i went up there at night and the only freaky thing we saw was a dead baby deer when we stepped out of the car.

I went up tonight with my friend, we saw a few slightly strange things but nothing too crazy. Lately we've been seeing a lot of strange lights... theres an "abandoned" military base out there, the area says it's closed. it's on mt. uminum which is right off the top of hicks... we drove about 10 minutes but the road got harder on my truck and way more narrow... we turned around. all though we saw a couple of dirt biking kids hanging out, kinda strange.

When you down Hicks and hit the fork I usually turn left, I hear turning right will bring you to the albino town... does anyone know if this is true? I have to see it for myself. Also, how do you get to the military base? rumor has it you will be turned around.

lived in morgan hill , and was in san jose almost every other day . i dont remember seeing any albinos really haha.

Went there today! can't get to the base... the road is closed half way up and has a huge gate with tons of locks... then you have to walk miles to get to it. By the time we would have got there it would have been dark. Two guys walking told us about it and how there were indeed cameras. They said to come way early in the day so you have plenty of time to walk there.

As for the Albinos... when you come to the fork you turn RIGHT. It is not a through street.
We saw tons of little creepy huts and the road eventually turned into a one way road leading into the middle of nowhere... as the sun was setting we decided it wasn't a good idea to go any further. We got video footage of the little huts but didn't see any people. Realllllllllllly eerie.

We're going back tomorrow to see if we can find anything!

i went there with soem firends last night , turned right, at like 3 inn the morning, we drove by a house on the left with a bunch of cars and a jeep, he was shining a light at us, we kept going tell the dead end we turned around he was comming after us in his jeep, he turned around, we passed his house he wasnt there then a little further we passed him up and he got behind us and turned on his high beems, my buddy got a good look said he was hella white, i coouldnt look i was trying to drive, he kept tail gating us and flashing his lights and honking his horn even after the stop sign tell we got past a bridge or 2.

I think the hick factor more than the albino factor is what makes them seem a little off. Creepy random huts in a remote area? Hills Have Eyes anyone?

Poor tyrosine-deficient people. =( I personally think they're beautiful, I can't imagine why people would laugh and take photos.

I think it's ludicrous to assume albino folks are some how man eaters... It's a recessive gene, it happens. Doesn't mean they're monsters..

Roflol what's wrong with albinos???My dad had an albino friend,they're just like everyone else except they have white hair and burn easily.What makes these ppl weird is that they all live together way out in the woods in freaky little huts in an 'albino clan' (lol Hills have Eyes was the first thing i thought of).If they weren't so solitary ppl wouldn't think they're strange anymore.

Being albino means you have a mutation in your DNA. It doesnt mean youre a cannabal and kill people. Its not their fault, its not too creepy. Not all albinos live in clans like that.

and If was albino and some strange folks were coming up and down my drive way peeking in at me, id prolly chase you down too.

lol, reminds me of Milky or Casper from Me Myself and Irene.

i personally do not believe in albinos

Good healthy skepticism

How very stereotypical and bigotted of you. So ALL people whom live in the south/or on a mountain is inbred? I being from the mountains of the SE region of the U.S.resent your remark! Its cruel and un-substantiated. This entire thread is just an ignorant view of Albinos in general. Mods can this thread please be closed?