When Shirley MacKinnon bought the Alexandra Lodge with her husband Ken, the last thing she expected was a paranormal experience and a visit from a group of ghost hunters.
A new documentary by the Paranormal Road Trippers, a group of paranormal investigators, has just been released and this time it features the Fraser Canyon’s very own Alexandra Lodge. Titled Ghosts at the Lodge, the 48 and a half minute long film follows the team as they examine reports of paranormal activity within the building. Filmed in September 2022, the documentary — which was released on Jan. 26 on Youtube — explores the history of the lodge in an attempt to understand why ghostly occurrences may be happening.
“[The Road Trippers] reached out to us and it was a bit ironic when they did because I was actually having a bit of experiences here and then I was just wondering because I’ve never followed anything paranormal or anything,” says MacKinnon. “The two things about this group that really stood out is they came with so much knowledge about the history of the place, which was different from the other group or anyone that’s ever contacted us.”
MacKinnon says that her experience with the paranormal activity at the lodge started when her friend and her friend’s son visited her. During their stay, MacKinnon says she felt this “great pressure” while standing in the doorway of a room that had always left her feeling uneasy. This pressure eventually turned to her feeling someone trying to push her both into the room and out of the room.
According to MacKinnon, the Road Trippers not only “clued in” on the room, they also found that at least five ghosts were present at lodge.
Alexandra Lodge, which is believed to date back to the mid 1920s, is one of the most famous historic sites located in the Fraser Canyon, near Spuzzum First Nation. The 12-acre property, and 3,000-square-foot building, has been a resting place for travellers and a tourism venue over the past century.
In 2021, the building was bought by MacKinnons as a retirement property. Since then, the couple have been hard at work with repairs and restoration of the historic site— a feat that has been taking much longer than originally anticipated due to the amount of work and the 2021 November floods.
MacKinnon says that working with the Road Trippers, as they did their investigation, was a positive experience; she says she would be open to working with them again.
“They’re an amazing little trio of investigators,” says MacKinnon. “What I really like about the paranormal stuff is, not so much that I would be into it, but it is a conduit for young people getting interested in history. And the minute I said we were having a paranormal group here, my kids were in touch with me, [as well as] all our friends, teenagers, and everybody. Then I started telling them about the history and you just kind of go wow, like this is amazing.
“So yeah, so it’s kind of got a nice segue that way. So that’s why I thought, okay, I’ll let these guys come and see what they can do.”
Created in 2020, the Road Trippers is a popular Youtube channel/group of paranormal investigators who investigate spooky mysteries throughout Canada. With each location that the Road Trippers investigate, focus is made on the history of the area and site. The group consists of Michael Morin, Sandra Marlena, and Anthony Germain, who are featured in front of the camera while investigating, and Jacob Rice, who edits the group’s videos.
Those interested in watching the documentary can do so on the Road Trippers Youtube channel.
READ MORE: Alexandra Lodge owners start GoFundMe to pay for ambitious reno plan
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