The Spirit of Stone-and-Light Canyon by Linda C. Quattrochi

After a late-night encounter with her creepy neighbor, seventeen-year-old Abby Carson’s boredom vanishes in a flash when she’s told a chilling legend—“The spirit is real, you know. And he follows all hikers through the canyon—his canyon”—a tale that leads to haunting nightmares and strange events. Ignoring the warnings, Abby propels her friends Jake and Mayumi on a perilous journey through a secret canyon, where they encounter evil more deadly than the ancient spirit who guards Stone-and-Light Canyon.