An arm’s twisted saga

A dismembered arm reportedly roams the trails of Big Basin Redwoods State Park near Santa Cruz, snatching people’s maps, towels and unmentionables. The limb -- supposedly torn off a guy named William Waddell by a feisty bear in 1875 -- may want hikers to get lost. Or it may have other more sinister reasons for its thieving ways. Only the park rangers know the truth -- and once a year they share the tale with 300 to 500 people who show up for a half-mile evening hike through some of the park’s biggest redwoods. Those curious enough to venture into the woods Saturday can watch 40 costumed volunteers reenact the night the arm gained its freedom. As the story is spun, Waddell, a local lumber mill owner, lost his arm and then his life after a run-in with one of California’s last grizzly bears. Doctors amputated the arm, and it was given a hasty burial, according to park interpreter Julie Sidel. But when Waddell died soon after, mourners went to dig up the arm to bury it with the body but it was gone. “The question then really becomes, ‘What is the arm doing?’ ” Sidel says. Over the decades, the answer has become clear: The arm steals stuff. Besides outdoorsy items, it allegedly took a pie cooling on someone’s windowsill. Apparently, if the arm isn’t well-fed and happy, neither are you. But park officials exercise the arm for their own purposes: to lure people to the seasonal beauty of Big Basin. “The redwoods on a fall evening are just magical and mysterious,” Sidel says. And if you feel frosty fingers tickling the back of your neck, hopefully, it’s just the arm. Registration starts at 6:30 p.m.; hikes leave every 15 minutes starting at 7 p.m. Call (831) 338-8860.

-- Jenna Bordelon