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View Full Version : Strangest/creepiest thing you ever found on the trail?



Vrill
02-19-2017, 00:30
In VA, I went about ten paces off the trail to do my necessary, and I found a plastic shopping bag full of old pornographic magazines. This stuff was pretty raw. It looked like it had been left there just recently. I didn't want to risk meeting the kind of guy who takes a bag of stroke books into the woods, so I looked around, moved out of there at a brisk pace, and did my business elsewhere.

KTX
02-19-2017, 00:59
Don't know if this counts but I once found a pack of about 20 people yelling "Pudding! Pudding! Watch your pudding!" and by found I mean they woke me from my sleep at four in the morning. It wasn't until later that day I realized they were yelling to watch their footing, not pudding. At the time it was very strange and confusing.

Engine
02-19-2017, 05:33
Don't know if this counts but I once found a pack of about 20 people yelling "Pudding! Pudding! Watch your pudding!" and by found I mean they woke me from my sleep at four in the morning. It wasn't until later that day I realized they were yelling to watch their footing, not pudding. At the time it was very strange and confusing. Almost spit out my coffee laughing at that one. :D

Christoph
02-19-2017, 08:23
Besides people (myself included), I found a kids fishing pole that had absolutely no business being where it was and a mother grouse that just gave birth right on the trail. She came after me wings all spread and hissing and I thought I was going to have to be in a swordfight with my poles and her.

garlic08
02-19-2017, 08:30
How about a prostitute? I asked how she got her trailname, "Quickie," and she said, "You got twenty bucks?"

Malto
02-19-2017, 08:36
How about a prostitute? I asked how she got her trailname, "Quickie," and she said, "You got twenty bucks?"

Now that's work their way up the trail!

illabelle
02-19-2017, 09:08
Not creepy at all, but strange for sure. I was dayhiking by myself on the AT in the Smokies in September 2009. A peahen was hanging out at Icewater Springs Shelter hoping for food from hikers. I returned the next day and the next weekend with some gear and some help. After some effort and a lot of patience, we managed to trap her in a net. Carried her home and turned her loose after a few days. She took up with a flock of wild turkeys for a bit, then found herself a boyfriend on the other side of our ridge.

August W.
02-19-2017, 09:12
1. A rottweiler snarling and growling at me while it's owner who was swimming in the creek below the trail yelled "get away from my dog it will bite you!".
2. A group of hikers fully blocking the trail while standing still staring at little devices with electronic screens.

Migrating Bird
02-19-2017, 09:47
In May of 2013, I was southbound in NH. Just North of Trapper John shelter, as I was going up Moose Mtn, I came upon a "stomach" laying in the middle of the trail. At first I thought it was the placenta from a deer or moose, but it was not. I looked around and there no obvious signs of a kill. It was pretty fresh and intact. I did poke it with my pole. Freaked me out, I got the heck out of there. A few days later, I met my wife in Woodstock, VT and found out that there was a hiker "brown blazer" which had apparently written some pretty disturbing things in journals. Always wondered if there was a connection.

daddytwosticks
02-19-2017, 14:16
Found a mylar Happy Birthday balloon stuck in a mountain laurel on top of Standing Indian mountain. :)

Mr. Bumpy
02-19-2017, 14:23
Hogback Ridge Shelter near Sam's Gap. I used to day hike there a lot. One time there were 10-15 dead mice someone had killed lined up on a log sitting staring at the fire pit.
One year there was also a green inflatable alien that had been tied to the privy there. He hung our for most of the year.

Dogwood
02-19-2017, 14:23
How about a prostitute? I asked how she got her trailname, "Quickie," and she said, "You got twenty bucks?"

I think I met her. Met a prostitute on the AT and PCT. Both solicited me. No comment.

I woulda said what do I get for two packs of Ramen and a ProBar.

Near Duncannon as you cross the Susquehanna River NOBO there's a brightly lit bar with a porn store adjacent. Went into the bar for food. Upon leaving was solicited by a guy in a PU "coming" from the adult store/peep show.

Dogwood
02-19-2017, 14:24
Watch your pudding. :D

hikehunter
02-19-2017, 14:27
In 2015 on a LASH from Springer to Franklin, NC. I found a laptop computer at a shelter with the heavy transformer cord and a note with passwords. I laughed for a few days everytime I thought about it. Someone just left a $300 plus laptop because it was heavy. *** was someone thinking?

bamboo bob
02-19-2017, 15:13
Found a mylar Happy Birthday balloon stuck in a mountain laurel on top of Standing Indian mountain. :) I have found those balloons all over the country. In the Whites, on the Long Trail, high Sierras, Northern Cascades, New Mexico Desert, Southern San Juans. Florida swamp. My pet peeve.

Old Hillwalker
02-19-2017, 16:23
The Northeast Airlines that crashed in 1954 on the AT Boundary near the summit of Mt Success in Maine is pretty spooky to walk around in if you are alone.

3830838309
http://www.summitpost.org/mount-success/182039

Deadeye
02-19-2017, 17:46
On at least two occasions, I've had hikers just stare at me when we met/passed on trail. No "hi how ya doin'?", nothing, just a blank stare. Very weird. One of them seemed to look right through me, it took him a moment to realize their was another person on the trail.

Bianchi Veloce
02-19-2017, 17:54
Watch your pudding. :D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5diMImYIIA

TJ aka Teej
02-19-2017, 18:04
Four pairs of women's jeans, neatly folded, on a rock on the way in to Hurd Brook lean-to. Three days later, on the way out, spotted three of those green Coleman propane bottles on another rock near the jeans. Sobos dumping dumb stuff, probably.

illabelle
02-19-2017, 19:35
On at least two occasions, I've had hikers just stare at me when we met/passed on trail. No "hi how ya doin'?", nothing, just a blank stare. Very weird. One of them seemed to look right through me, it took him a moment to realize their was another person on the trail.


Ironic from a person going by "Deadeye", don't ya think?
:D

johnnybgood
02-19-2017, 20:01
Ironic from a person going by "Deadeye", don't ya think?
:D

'Ba- dum-bum-CHING' !!

Wyoming
02-19-2017, 20:21
Once on the AT somewhere in New England just before complete dark I come walking down the trail and there is a pack and its contents just scattered down the trail for about 10 yards. Very odd looking. I call out a bunch with no answer and walk around in the trees a bit in all directions but find no one. Not near any road. It was creepy camping just down the trail a ways that night by myself.

Once in AZ way back in a section of the Mazatzal wilderness where absolutely no one hikes any more as the trails have not seen maintenance for 25 years and cannot even be found some times I find not 1 but 2 tents down in a ravine. Again I find no bodies. And after checking with authorities and the hiking community when I get back there seemed to be no one missing from a hike there. But why....?

Once again in the Mazatzal I am back in an area where few hike and you never see anyone. I am cruising along and all of a sudden I hear someone hollering from a long ways away. I stop and start looking around and way off on top of a hill I see someone waving their arms at me. They start walking towards me so I drop the pack and get out a snack. After about 15 mins of bushwacking a young couple walks out of the brush with a dog. They are lost and low on water. It is about 5 miles to water down a good 2000 ft hill. They ask me where the trail is. I kind of look at them and say I am standing on it. They look really puzzeled and its 'Where?" I say you have to follow the cairns and sort of figure out where to go in between them on your own. They say "what's a cairn?" I say "See that pile of rocks my pack is leaning against?" "Oh." I asked them where they were going and he described a route through the wilderness that is a solid 5 day trip where even I get lost and have to bushwack until I find the trail again. He thought it would take them 2 1/2 days. I had a long talk about this is a really bad idea and if you do that you are not going to make it. He was a little put off by my pushiness but I managed to convince him to promise me he would just go to the river spend the night and walk back the way he came to his car and call it a good trip. I could see I scared the hell out of his girlfriend. He must have listened as the news never reported 2 missing hikers. Talk about 2 lucky people.

I am somewhere south of Damascus and walking along though a meadow of tall grass. As the trail winds around I see a big ..BIG..pack stick up above the grass. But no head. As I get closer there are legs sticking out but still no head. I walk up behind this person who is not moving. And kind of go uhumph! This big pack turns around and there is this little old lady under it. With big coke bottle glasses which make her eyes look really large. She is wearing enough clothes for a temperature of 10 degrees (I am in shorts and teeshirt). She stares at me for a few seconds and says "Which way is north?" I point down the trail where I was going. She then says "I thought I might be going the wrong way" and proceeds to turn around and start walking. At about 1/2 mile per hour. I walk behind her for a min or two kind of annoyed but sort of freaked out as she gave off these weird vibes that she was just not there. Finally I ask if I can pass her. She stops and turns around and stares at me like she had never seen me before or knew I was there. Never said a word. I sort of slide around her with the hair on the back of my head standing up and motor up the trail at about 4 mph for a coupe of hours. Totally weirded out. I am pretty convinced she was a witch. lol

Vrill
02-19-2017, 20:47
Thanks, Wyoming. Great stories.

johnnybgood
02-19-2017, 20:58
Once came across a tree off the trail that had its bark mangled from I'm guessing 6 feet up above the ground. Claw marks had cut deeply into the tree now stripped of bark and all this looked to be fairly fresh.
I remember walking back to the trail being impressed with the mauling that had peeled bark away from a healthy tree and at the same time feeling spooked by the awesomeness of this.

Sarcasm the elf
02-19-2017, 21:28
Haven't had many strange experiences on the A.T., but I did hike with Rocketsocks once if that counts. :D

This guy wasn't on the A.T. but the one that sticks in my mind was the guy I saw on a local trail in a state park.
I was early February on a snow covered trail about a decade ago. I hadn't seen anyone else in at least an hour, when suddenly a guy comes hauling up the trail in the opposite direction wearing a P-coat, clean white khakis, gelled hair and best of all a steaming cup of coffee from Starbucks. To this day I have no idea how he got that far up the trail with clean cloths and hot coffee!

Ted M
02-20-2017, 00:42
I was on the Pinhoti Trail in Georgia coming down into a gap where the trail crossed a road. About 20 yards down the trail on the other side of the road were two guys in street clothes, now looking at me and my two 100 pound chocolate labs. In between them on the trail was a large green duffel bag. One of the guys was wearing a pair of cowboy style gun holsters with six shooters in them and hands on them. These were not hikers. My first impression was bank robbers who had just happened to step off the road and onto the trail. Well I just barreled on through them without looking directly into their eyes, exclaiming, "Coming through! Don't worry! These dogs won't harm you!". When we got about a 100 yards down the trail we went about 50 off and held for a good twenty minutes to see if they were following. Thankfully we never saw them again.

RangerZ
02-20-2017, 10:48
I was on the Pinhoti Trail in Georgia coming down into a gap where the trail crossed a road. About 20 yards down the trail on the other side of the road were two guys in street clothes, now looking at me and my two 100 pound chocolate labs. In between them on the trail was a large green duffel bag. One of the guys was wearing a pair of cowboy style gun holsters with six shooters in them and hands on them. These were not hikers. My first impression was bank robbers who had just happened to step off the road and onto the trail. Well I just barreled on through them without looking directly into their eyes, exclaiming, "Coming through! Don't worry! These dogs won't harm you!". When we got about a 100 yards down the trail we went about 50 off and held for a good twenty minutes to see if they were following. Thankfully we never saw them again.

Newbies. Remember you didn't have your gear dialed in at first either.

rocketsocks
02-20-2017, 11:08
Newbies. Remember you didn't have your gear dialed in at first either.thanks for the chuckle :D

GoldenBear
02-20-2017, 12:18
https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/105866-Bizarre-scene-at-Lambert-Meadows-Camp-Site-any-ideas?

GoldenBear
02-20-2017, 12:26
> Near Duncannon as you cross the Susquehanna River NOBO there's a brightly lit bar with a porn store adjacent

Because this place is not listed in most trail guides, I'll provide a photo:

https://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=55708&catid=member&imageuser=13863

John B
02-20-2017, 12:50
A dude freaking out on meth or whatever was his drug of choice, screaming and hurling crap against a shelter for hours. (I was tenting about 25 yards from the shelter).

Berserker
02-20-2017, 13:14
Not on the AT, but in Linville Gorge (NC) I ran into an abandoned campsite that had a odd vibe. There was a tent with the door hanging open, some gear, some cookware (iron skillets) and some potatoes strewn about. It didn't look like someone had been there within the last day or two. I've seen lots of weird stuff in Linville, but not an entire abandoned camp. Anyways, after I got back home I realized that this was right around the time Eric Rudolph was hiding out in the NC mountains. Not sure if there is any connection, but weird for sure.

ScareBear
02-20-2017, 13:43
Hmmmm.....the weirdest....was at Plum Orchard Gap shelter. Some disturbed dude from Milwaukee had ditched his pack on the trail and was hiking barefoot mooching food. Police were looking for him. We were just hanging at the shelter in broad daylight when two deputy sheriffs and a Ranger suddenly appeared out of nowhere. In regular uniforms with regular duty belts and guns. And they weren't sweating....turns out there are all kinds of ways to get to the AT that aren't in books or on published maps...just sayin...

ScareBear
02-20-2017, 13:46
> Near Duncannon as you cross the Susquehanna River NOBO there's a brightly lit bar with a porn store adjacent

Because this place is not listed in most trail guides, I'll provide a photo:

https://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=55708&catid=member&imageuser=13863

Dude. The ubiquitous trailer outside the strip club.

Strippers, ice cream, BBQ and BYOB...what could go wrong?

QuietStorm
02-20-2017, 15:29
Two BB guns with extra gas canisters and ammo. Left behind at a shelter. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170220/92ed8a8936e0e391d1143117e18e47a2.jpg


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

TNhiker
02-20-2017, 15:40
Anyways, after I got back home I realized that this was right around the time Eric Rudolph was hiding out in the NC mountains.



the gorge was outta "his" area....

he was mainly down in Murphy and Robbinsville........

Cheyou
02-20-2017, 15:45
The William Brien Memorial shelter .

egilbe
02-20-2017, 16:32
Four pairs of women's jeans, neatly folded, on a rock on the way in to Hurd Brook lean-to. Three days later, on the way out, spotted three of those green Coleman propane bottles on another rock near the jeans. Sobos dumping dumb stuff, probably.

I found a pair of, I think, Scarpa trail shoes on a stump on the AT coming off Bemis mtn. There were no insoles, but plenty of life left in the shoes. I yelled, thinking maybe someone was taking a dump in the woods and just left them there. I debated awhile, and finally picked them up and hauled them out. I hope noone had to hobble out barefoot.

the weirdest thing was a nobo just outside monson in the HMW who was yelling to, or at, himself while he was stomping down the trail. We sais hello and asked him how he was doing and he yelled he was effing hungry and pissed off, how did we think he was doing? We let him be and continued southbound,

Sarcasm the elf
02-20-2017, 16:35
The William Brien Memorial shelter .

I'll second that. On a rainy day they could very well have used it as a set for Labyrinth.

Cheyou
02-20-2017, 17:11
I'll second that. On a rainy day they could very well have used it as a set for Labyrinth.


Water running down down the back inside wall , the fire pit inside the shelter. The smell of the dead

jimmyjam
02-20-2017, 18:46
A full sized pillow with a copperhead on it.

Attila
02-20-2017, 19:51
383213832038319A sealed urn with the remains of someone. Took pictures, left footprints.

rocketsocks
02-20-2017, 20:31
383213832038319A sealed urn with the remains of someone. Took pictures, left footprints.we have some friends who's house got robbed, they took a urn with remains...that wasn't it though. Real ******* shame.

Engine
02-20-2017, 21:07
Not on the AT, but crazy just the same. One summer a friend and I did a 500 mile bicycle trip up through Michigan. We were camped on a tall wooded hill behind the McDonald's (gotta stay close to supplies...) in Traverse City, and I was sleeping in my tent around 2:30 in the afternoon. I woke up to the sound of my tent being unzipped and was terrified to see a big ass wolf face coming in at me. It was a bunch of teenagers, one of whom was wearing a Halloween mask, but they scared the crap out of me before running off.

Zed
02-20-2017, 21:43
Thru hiking the Ouachita Trail last spring, I made camp on the first night. I woke up for some reason and checked the time and it was 12:30am. I looked out my hammock and saw a headlight bobbing along. I watched it a minute before I realized that whoever it was was not on the trail, but bushwacking down a steep, rocky hill side, right towards me. They eventually stopped approaching, light shining directly at me, for about 5 minutes, then went back up the hill. It took awhile for me to get back to sleep! Never heard a sound from them.

Ashepabst
02-20-2017, 22:29
man, owls sure do make some strange/creepy noises sometimes. if you're close enough the sound can be booming.

ScareBear
02-20-2017, 22:54
man, owls sure do make some strange/creepy noises sometimes. if you're close enough the sound can be booming.

Dude, the barn owls outside my bedroom window have been at it every night for the last week...must be mating season or something...dang....loudest bird, ever...

FrogLevel
02-20-2017, 23:09
I found an abandoned backpack, some clothes, and multiple piles of "there's an issue here" human **** south of the I-26 crossing a few years ago. I was annoyed at the scene until I saw the bathroom issue and then I felt a bit of empathy. "Can you imagine the night this person had before they abandoned ship?" went through my mind.

dervari
02-20-2017, 23:15
Hiked the James Edmund trail at Black Rock State Park and spent the night at the summit of Lookoff mountain. Only one other campsite about a quarter mile past ours. Was woken up around 1am by what sounded like a woman screaming and then raising her pitch as she screamed. There was another couple camping at the other site so I thought it may have been them, but I had my hand on the 9mm as I peeked outside the tent. Nothing to be seen. Glad I hadn't seen Blair Witch at the time.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T337A using Tapatalk

lumberjaime
02-21-2017, 00:17
I used to work as a Shelter Caretaker in the Whites. Pulled some really amazing stuff out of the privies. Trying to decide between my favorites:
Softball
Bikini (Top and Bottom)
Headlamp

I was gathering trash around a tentsite one day and found the drivers licenses of two brothers. From 1980. Had a fun little research project on my next days off. Turns out they're both alive and well!

daddytwosticks
02-21-2017, 08:12
383213832038319A sealed urn with the remains of someone. Took pictures, left footprints.

That looks like a pretty small urn for a person's remains. Maybe it was a beloved pet? :)

TexasBob
02-21-2017, 11:25
One October about 10 years ago I was camped near the Thomas Knob shelter in Grayson Highlands. It was twilight and I was finishing dinner when a guy walked up with a backpack on and a 3 foot long sword strapped on it. He was a southbounder and he told he he had been carrying the sword since he got it at a renaissance fair in New York. He was very proud of the sword and told me it only weighed a pound and half so he didn't mind carrying it. He pulled the sword out and started swinging it around. We talked for awhile and then thankfully he moved on.

Thinspace
02-21-2017, 11:55
Not the AT but was hiking down the Greenleaf trail in NH one January or February in full winter conditions, wind, snow freezing temps etc. Hiking up the trail were two guys from Quebec (I assumed as they were both speaking French). One of them was wearing a tee shirt and denim short shorts with bare legs and gaiters only.

Another time in November somewhere in the vicinity of Mt. Pierce in NH we came across a stealth campsite that looked like it had been abandoned in a hurry. It was so long ago that I can't remember specifically what we found but there were articles of clothing and a partially burned Coleman sleeping bag and lots of trash. We reported it to the rangers when we got out and they were going to go check it out.

Shutterbug
02-22-2017, 11:09
In Arkansas, I stepped back into the woods to "use the bathroom" and stumbled on to several 50 lb sacks of sugar. I got out of there as quickly as I could.

TNhiker
02-22-2017, 12:18
and stumbled on to several 50 lb sacks of sugar



sounds like someone was about to cook some moonshine.....

rhjanes
02-22-2017, 12:58
sounds like someone was about to cook some moonshine.....Canoe trip on the Buffalo National River. We were paddling along the lower river and I caught a glint of light off something up on the bluff. A moment later, my buddy said ''.....I know we were thinking to pull up and take a break.....lets paddle.....now...". I looked at him.....Looked up at the bluff and noticed the glint was a Jeep windshield. I turned and said "just a jeep"....he looked at me again and glanced at the map he had and said "Yeah....where there is NO ROAD.....". I then said "yeah....you got a purdy mouth" and we ramped up the paddling for about 30 minutes to get on downriver.
When we finally got to civilization, he decided to buy a new map (his was like 8 years old). He'd noted where "The Jeep" was. Well, seems there WAS a new FS road up there!

RockDoc
02-22-2017, 15:41
In about 1970, young and alone, I hiked the AT north from the Weaverton Cliffs to Lamb's Knoll, MD, to meet my friends who were doing a ham radio field day at the top of the mountain. I was on a long, flat ridge in the clouds, near dark. Suddenly I was surrounded by airplane wreckage. This shocked me because I thought it had just happened. Freaked me out. Expecting bodies...

I slowly realized that it was an old crash site (5-10 years). Over the years its mostly disappeared into the weeds. Haven't noticed it the last few times I've hiked that area (twice running JFK 50). But I will never forget that creepy feeling.

RockDoc
02-22-2017, 15:54
trail name Samarai? He freaked us out at Black Rock shelter in Shenandoah. Same sort of behavior. I think he had a machete.

Dogwood
02-22-2017, 17:23
On the CT cojoined segment while on a CDT thru-hike sitting in an exposed ridge location I was thinking about when lightning season occurred in Colorado and what I would do in a lightning storm. Totally unexpected a lightning bolt struck a tree nearby splitting off 1/2 the tree.

Trail magic - or GOD providing - can be very creepy. While on a AT NOBO realized I had lost my 2.4 L Platypus. Got a little upset about it. Then, I got back into a calmer more expecting state of faith. 1.5 mile up trail was a brand new 2.4 L platypus in the middle of the trail. Asked everyone ahead if they had lost one. Nope.

Went into Breitenbush Resort on a blue blaze during a PCT NOBO. Clothing optional. Over weight New Age 65 yr old types with their pubes blowing in the wind and rock hard pointy nippies was not a creepy sight soon to be forgotten.

On a NJ Batona Tr thru in 35* weather a totally naked middle aged over wt older guy was dancing around next to the trail. As I calmly walked by thinking he may have been a pervert I saw that he was only mildy eccentric as he was actually tip toeing through poison ivy. What I had thought was him touching himself actually turned out was him pulling ticks off his body. He didn't even give me that meet me behind the cedar tree nod and wink.

At Blood Mt saw someone who had pogo sticked, yes the boing boing boing zhing zhing zhing kind, almost 50 miles in three days wearing a day pack...According to her she had another 7 miles to go before the day was over. She was doing all the GA AT that way. She was dressed like a Swiss Judy Andrews' in The Sound Of Music but with Pippy Longstocking's candy striped knee high socks and had stopped to apply some oil to her "kit" like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz. She was a lot of fun though.

On the PCT three international LD hikers bounced and passed a soccer ball among themselves for more than 600 miles almost non stop ...header to header to knee to knee and back dribbles...They'd go for quite awhile without the soccer ball ever touching the ground.

On the AT I saw at a more remote lean-to a Big Wheel plastic full size toy with a bunch of hiking, outdoor manufacturer, NP and SP, and some creepy bumper stickers. The shelter care taker came by saying that it belonged to a homeless AT lean to homesteader that used it to cart in gear - aka "junk." He'd leave it behind or next to the shelter. Of course, some of my crazy hiker friends had to fight over it to see who would ride it around the lean to first. Funny thing is they broke it and the homeless man came along chewing us out about how it happened.

At Upper Goose Pond Cabin saw a lone duckling skittering as fast it could across the top of the water looking like it was trying to get airborne. About 20 ft behind was a sea serpent trying to catch it ...a water snake.

At a spring in the woods on a recent Oregon Coast Tr thru-hike while night hiking I saw something sparkly from the light in my headlamp in the water. Someone had made their lucky wishes throwing a handful go Buffalo Nickels into the water.

At an almost full Ed Garvey Shelter at 3 a.m. amid the NOBO bubble we started hearing distant walkie talkies, dogs, and what sounded like many people possibly bunch of partners coming towards us. It was a S&R party of more than 2 dozen LEOs, Emergency Techs, FS personnel, Fire Men, etc looking for a thought to be suicidal young man. Everyone's ID was checked. Everyone was awakened. Everyone were questioned by the authorities. LOL Drug and S&R sniffing dogs alerted several times. That's not what they were looking for though.

Engine
02-22-2017, 17:53
...Trail magic - or GOD providing - can be very creepy. While on a AT NOBO realized I had lost my 2.4 L Platypus. Got a little upset about it. Then, I got back into a calmer more expecting state of faith. 1.5 mile up trail was a brand new 2.4 L platypus in the middle of the trail. Asked everyone ahead if they had lost one. Nope... Trail magic is very real! We had a PUR Hiker water filter fail when the o-ring started to dry up and we had no silicone with us. About 5 minutes after I gave up on fixing it, my daughter reached into the dirt next to the fire pit and asked "will this tube of silicone work?" She found a brand new 1/4 oz. tube of silicone just laying there...

bamboo bob
02-22-2017, 18:13
On the Florida Trail in 2003. Wading in water up to my knees. I slipped on a submerged log and wrenched my knee. Moving along for a while with my knee hurting like hell I came to a KNEE BRACE floating in the water! It was slightly small for me but worked well enough to keep my knee calmed down.

Francis Sawyer
02-23-2017, 10:05
The people.

V Eight
02-23-2017, 14:51
About 5 or 6 years ago I was in Georgia a little south of the Cheese factory site, going north.

It was June, overcast around 90* with very high humidity and not even a hint of a breeze. I come to the top of one of the nice long climbs, and set out to do a standing 2 minute break. I drink some water and just stand there and look around. So the break is over and as I put my water bottle back in the pocket on my pack, I drop the darn thing (again). After I retrieve the water and get it stowed, I look up the trail to suddenly see 3 people sitting on a big log “bench” (that I don’t recall seeing earlier).

There was an older lady maybe 70ish flanked by 2 men that appeared to be not far behind her in age. The Lady was wearing what I can only describe as a nice pure white dress like you might see someone in the 40’s wear if she was going shopping in town. The guys were both wearing what looked to be nearly new bib-overalls and button down short sleeve shirts. I was about 50/60 feet away when I first seen them. As I get closer I can see the lady is eating a Bologna sandwich on white bread. The men just sat there with their hands folded on their laps. The closer I get the more uneasy I get. You know it when it comes around. Everything looks normal but your “Spidey” sense has rang the alarm. I decide to just keep moving. As I pass I greeted them on my way by, saying something about making big miles today. They just smiled and nodded like they understood. I keep walking.

Now, I know you’re like so what is/was so strange or creepy about any of this? Well friends let me tell you. I tend to be very observant both on and off the trail. Coming up that hill or down the other side on that hot humid June day, I did not see any connecting trail that these fine folks could have used to make their way to the “bench” at the summit. There was not even a hint of sweat on any of them. Remember 90* and high humidity? Their hair was perfect, their clothes were perfect and everything down to their shoes was absolutely spotless. I can’t imagine how anyone could come from any direction could have arrived in such pristine condition. Lastly, when I reached the bottom of the hill (maybe a little less than mile) a girl thru hiker “Lone Oak” (I think was her name) who I had meet a day or two before comes cursing down the hill right behind me. We stop and I ask her about the folks at the top of the hill. She says she had not seen anybody for over 2 hours and they were south bound. I went over what I saw on top of that hill. She found it amusing and told me I need to take more breaks the heat must be getting to me, and off she went.

I don’t know if it was the heat or not, it all looked pretty real to me.

V8

Kerosene
02-23-2017, 19:06
We have a winner!



383213832038319A sealed urn with the remains of someone. Took pictures, left footprints.

Kerosene
02-23-2017, 19:32
A few days into my first AT section hike, from DWG to Unionville in 1973 at the tender age of 15, we came out of the woods onto a typical residential street. There was no one around any of the suburban 3-bedroom single-level homes, and then we noticed that every home had a HUGE hole bashed into one of the side walls. We wondered if there had been a war or something! Needless to say, the AT isn't routed through that neighborhood anymore.

I ended a 24-mile SOBO day in June 2007 at Saunders Shelter, just north of Damascus. Two weekenders shared their whiskey with me after dinner. Now, I hold my liquor pretty well, but my bladder needs to be emptied with regularly. I eventually excused myself after thanking them for their hospitality and went to the side of the open space to relieve myself over the drop-off. As I'm contemplating how far I hiked that day (my third 20+ day in a row on a 4-day hike) I notice two lime-green glowing "dots" moving at the bottom of the drop-off, perhaps 10 feet below me. Interesting I think, and then head to my tent in the pines while looking at the incredible stars overhead. As I'm zipping up screen tent door I see the two green "electroluminiscent dots" coming towards my tent about a foot above the ground. I let out a "Git!" (okay, maybe there was a bit of a scream in there) and the dots veer up and away. To this day I have not idea what it was. Logically I would think it was an animal of some sort, but the dots/eyes were not always in the same spacing or height. Chalk it up to weird magical faeries.

I'm sure there are other oddities after 25 years of hiking, but these two stand out.

blue indian
02-23-2017, 23:21
Saw law enforcement pull a gun on a fugitive in front of Uncle Johnnys. I definitely thought they were gonna shoot that dude...

norts
02-24-2017, 02:42
This was on the side of the road at a road crossing. Taz
38348

Vrill
02-24-2017, 05:30
This was on the side of the road at a road crossing. Taz
38348

i was wondering where I left that.

CalebJ
02-24-2017, 11:11
Last February coming down off McAfee's Knob, I ran into two members of the Knight's Watch coming up in full kit (armor, weapons, black fur coats, etc). Didn't grab a picture at the time, but thankfully found this of one of them later:
38349
Turns out these guys head up there with weird accessories fairly regularly...

3835138350

illabelle
02-24-2017, 11:20
Last February coming down off McAfee's Knob, I ran into two members of the Knight's Watch coming up in full kit (armor, weapons, black fur coats, etc). Didn't grab a picture at the time, but thankfully found this of one of them later:
38349
Turns out these guys head up there with weird accessories fairly regularly...

3835138350

Way cool! .

V Eight
02-24-2017, 11:52
Last February coming down off McAfee's Knob, I ran into two members of the Knight's Watch coming up in full kit (armor, weapons, black fur coats, etc). Didn't grab a picture at the time, but thankfully found this of one of them later:
38349
Turns out these guys head up there with weird accessories fairly regularly...

3835138350

Aha, McAfee's knob most referred to and advertised place on the whole AT. Where even in the dead of winter, you can't find a spot in the parking lot after about 9am on the weekend. Sadly this kind of thing is no longer strange, odd or even unusual anymore. :rolleyes:
On second thought, the couch is a little out there.

V8

Seatbelt
02-24-2017, 12:00
About 5 or 6 years ago I was in Georgia a little south of the Cheese factory site, going north.

It was June, overcast around 90* with very high humidity and not even a hint of a breeze. I come to the top of one of the nice long climbs, and set out to do a standing 2 minute break. I drink some water and just stand there and look around. So the break is over and as I put my water bottle back in the pocket on my pack, I drop the darn thing (again). After I retrieve the water and get it stowed, I look up the trail to suddenly see 3 people sitting on a big log “bench” (that I don’t recall seeing earlier).

There was an older lady maybe 70ish flanked by 2 men that appeared to be not far behind her in age. The Lady was wearing what I can only describe as a nice pure white dress like you might see someone in the 40’s wear if she was going shopping in town. The guys were both wearing what looked to be nearly new bib-overalls and button down short sleeve shirts. I was about 50/60 feet away when I first seen them. As I get closer I can see the lady is eating a Bologna sandwich on white bread. The men just sat there with their hands folded on their laps. The closer I get the more uneasy I get. You know it when it comes around. Everything looks normal but your “Spidey” sense has rang the alarm. I decide to just keep moving. As I pass I greeted them on my way by, saying something about making big miles today. They just smiled and nodded like they understood. I keep walking.

Now, I know you’re like so what is/was so strange or creepy about any of this? Well friends let me tell you. I tend to be very observant both on and off the trail. Coming up that hill or down the other side on that hot humid June day, I did not see any connecting trail that these fine folks could have used to make their way to the “bench” at the summit. There was not even a hint of sweat on any of them. Remember 90* and high humidity? Their hair was perfect, their clothes were perfect and everything down to their shoes was absolutely spotless. I can’t imagine how anyone could come from any direction could have arrived in such pristine condition. Lastly, when I reached the bottom of the hill (maybe a little less than mile) a girl thru hiker “Lone Oak” (I think was her name) who I had meet a day or two before comes cursing down the hill right behind me. We stop and I ask her about the folks at the top of the hill. She says she had not seen anybody for over 2 hours and they were south bound. I went over what I saw on top of that hill. She found it amusing and told me I need to take more breaks the heat must be getting to me, and off she went.

I don’t know if it was the heat or not, it all looked pretty real to me.

V8

I find this post particularly interesting because I had a similar experience going nobo up Rocky Mtn--just south of where you were. An older lady and gentleman dressed as you described. They were hiking south and talked to me for a minute. They said they climb this mtn regularly and did not seem tired, sweaty or anything. For the record, it was very hot Oct 2010.

CalebJ
02-24-2017, 12:01
True that you can't find a spot on the weekend if the weather is decent. On the flip side, you can go almost any week day and see very few people. It's easy enough as a local to get up there in solitude.

llittle_llama
02-25-2017, 04:11
True that you can't find a spot on the weekend if the weather is decent. On the flip side, you can go almost any week day and see very few people. It's easy enough as a local to get up there in solitude.

Two years back when I was preparing for my thru-hike (house fire postponed it) I was doing the Knob 2-3 times a week and Dragons Tooth once a week. Depending on when I went I either saw several people each way or nobody the entire time. Man I love being so close to such a great trail (the AT)!!!

TTT
02-25-2017, 07:27
As I'm zipping up screen tent door I see the two green "electroluminiscent dots" coming towards my tent about a foot above the ground. I let out a "Git!"

Fireflies?

38357

Longboysfan
02-27-2017, 10:08
Strange things found:

While off trailing in Harriman State park way back in 1980 or so.

We came across an old camp site and there was a complete set of used pots, pans and skillets.
Along with plates and silverware.

dudeijuststarted
02-27-2017, 10:17
Not really creepy, more funny, but there were penises drawn on like everything from Big Horse (Penis) Gap by Wood's Hole Hostel, south to, and including the shelter.

dudeijuststarted
02-27-2017, 10:29
the weirdest thing was a nobo just outside monson in the HMW who was yelling to, or at, himself while he was stomping down the trail. We sais hello and asked him how he was doing and he yelled he was effing hungry and pissed off, how did we think he was doing? We let him be and continued southbound,

He was hungry going into the HMW? Things for sure did not get better for him...

Vrill
03-07-2017, 15:02
Thanks everyone who contributed to this thread.

Night Train
03-07-2017, 22:21
About 5 or 6 years ago I was in Georgia a little south of the Cheese factory site, going north.

It was June, overcast around 90* with very high humidity and not even a hint of a breeze. I come to the top of one of the nice long climbs, and set out to do a standing 2 minute break. I drink some water and just stand there and look around. So the break is over and as I put my water bottle back in the pocket on my pack, I drop the darn thing (again). After I retrieve the water and get it stowed, I look up the trail to suddenly see 3 people sitting on a big log “bench” (that I don’t recall seeing earlier).

There was an older lady maybe 70ish flanked by 2 men that appeared to be not far behind her in age. The Lady was wearing what I can only describe as a nice pure white dress like you might see someone in the 40’s wear if she was going shopping in town. The guys were both wearing what looked to be nearly new bib-overalls and button down short sleeve shirts. I was about 50/60 feet away when I first seen them. As I get closer I can see the lady is eating a Bologna sandwich on white bread. The men just sat there with their hands folded on their laps. The closer I get the more uneasy I get. You know it when it comes around. Everything looks normal but your “Spidey” sense has rang the alarm. I decide to just keep moving. As I pass I greeted them on my way by, saying something about making big miles today. They just smiled and nodded like they understood. I keep walking.

Now, I know you’re like so what is/was so strange or creepy about any of this? Well friends let me tell you. I tend to be very observant both on and off the trail. Coming up that hill or down the other side on that hot humid June day, I did not see any connecting trail that these fine folks could have used to make their way to the “bench” at the summit. There was not even a hint of sweat on any of them. Remember 90* and high humidity? Their hair was perfect, their clothes were perfect and everything down to their shoes was absolutely spotless. I can’t imagine how anyone could come from any direction could have arrived in such pristine condition. Lastly, when I reached the bottom of the hill (maybe a little less than mile) a girl thru hiker “Lone Oak” (I think was her name) who I had meet a day or two before comes cursing down the hill right behind me. We stop and I ask her about the folks at the top of the hill. She says she had not seen anybody for over 2 hours and they were south bound. I went over what I saw on top of that hill. She found it amusing and told me I need to take more breaks the heat must be getting to me, and off she went.

I don’t know if it was the heat or not, it all looked pretty real to me.

V8

Interesting experience, thanks for sharing.

Drum Man
03-07-2017, 23:19
Wow these are all great!

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

hiker33
03-08-2017, 11:01
When I did the section from Addis Gap north to the NC line in GA, I encountered a group of six who were right out of the mid-70's. They Kelty and Camp trails external frame packs, cotton clothing, and the big, heavy tents from that era. The odd thing was that everything looked brand new as if they had just bought everything for this trip. The group was odd and something seemed off about them. They were pleasant enough, but seemed mystified by my freezer bag cooking as they heated up Dinty Moore beef stew from cans on their Coleman Peak 1 and Optimus stoves. I still wonder about it.

TTT
03-08-2017, 11:58
I have an artist friend who took his girlfriend day hiking in the mountains (not AT) All he packed for supper was a cabbage he intended to cook. Halfway up the mountain his cabbage went awol and fell off the side of a cliff. Later that evening, without food, they were joined nearby by 2 guys who had a cordon bleu seafood thing going. His hungry girlfriend soon made new friends. I guess the strange thing would be if you were hiking in a valley and got hit on the head by a cabbage.

Lnj
03-08-2017, 16:29
The best read I have had in quite a while on WB!!!
Wish we had heard from some of the grandfathers on this (i.e. LW and TW, et al.) Fascinating!

jdx1177
03-08-2017, 18:27
The best read I have had in quite a while on WB!!!
Wish we had heard from some of the grandfathers on this (i.e. LW and TW, et al.) Fascinating!
These are always good threads. IIRC there are a number of threads similar to this on WB. Try searching around for them, some of those folks you mentioned may have posted their experiences previously.

Bansko
03-14-2017, 07:56
Last year, somewhere just North of Windsor Furnace and Pulpit Rock in PA, I came across four or five young women strewn across the trail, completely unconscious, and completely blocking the trail. There had a few blankets, but that's all. It was around 9:00 AM on a Saturday. I figured they had walked in from some nearby town the previous night to get drunk, stoned, or whatever. They didn't stir a bit as I gingerly walked around them. Then about 30 feet later I came upon an enormous, relatively fresh pile of s**t with some toilet paper on top, right in the middle of the trail. I should have awakened them from their stupor and shamed them into cleaning up their mess, but I just shook my head and walked on.

rocketsocks
03-14-2017, 09:13
Last year, somewhere just North of Windsor Furnace and Pulpit Rock in PA, I came across four or five young women strewn across the trail, completely unconscious, and completely blocking the trail. There had a few blankets, but that's all. It was around 9:00 AM on a Saturday. I figured they had walked in from some nearby town the previous night to get drunk, stoned, or whatever. They didn't stir a bit as I gingerly walked around them. Then about 30 feet later I came upon an enormous, relatively fresh pile of s**t with some toilet paper on top, right in the middle of the trail. I should have awakened them from their stupor and shamed them into cleaning up their mess, but I just shook my head and walked on.yur way to kind ;) mwawahhhhhh

rafe
03-14-2017, 09:22
That creepy black house in the woods between Sinking Creek Mtn. and Laurel Creek shelter. Is it still there? The trail goes mostly through meadows at that point but you can see the house in the woods along the edge of the meadow. I checked it out, but not too closely.

double d
03-14-2017, 11:14
I came across what looked like a "crime scene" in Vermont once on the AT (southern Vermont). When I got to the next shelter-a couple of other hikers asked me the same question, "did you see that tent site back there? It looked like a crime scene." It was weird-like people got together and then left in the middle of the night with all their stuff dragged around their camp site.

V Eight
03-14-2017, 12:51
That creepy black house in the woods between Sinking Creek Mtn. and Laurel Creek shelter. Is it still there? The trail goes mostly through meadows at that point but you can see the house in the woods along the edge of the meadow. I checked it out, but not too closely.

It's been knocked down. There is a large campsite very near there, with a huge fire pit, funny thing is, the last time I was by there last fall not one piece of wood seemed to be missing.

V8

cneill13
03-14-2017, 12:53
The strangest thing I ever found on the trail was a thru-hiker named Princess from Texas.

I was doing an overnight hang at Tray Mountain shelter on the Georgia AT in March 2016. I got in around 4 pm and was hanging my hammock.

Princess came up to me introduced herself and then asked if two people could get in the hammock. I said it depended on how heavy they were as my hammock was only rated up to 250 pounds.

She then asked if we could get in the hammock and have s#x as she hadn't had it in 10 days and in her own words, "Needed it real bad!"

I didn't know what to say so I just said, "Princess, this conversation is over."

What made it even more bizarre is that I had just told her before that I was married with two kids.

She turned around and left. The next morning, I saw her throwing up off the side of the mountain.

It just goes to show you, always do the right thing.

Carl

jdb
03-15-2017, 09:49
38563

I came across this one day in MD. Not really trail magic, well to me anyway!

orthofingers
03-15-2017, 10:57
38563

I came across this one day in MD. Not really trail magic, well to me anyway!

Wow, that is weird. Was the gun real?

Tipi Walter
03-15-2017, 11:08
This was on the side of the road at a road crossing. Taz
38348

Now that's weird. Reminds me of finding this in the middle of nowhere---(fairly common, actually---along with used tampon dispensers . . . also in the middle of nowhere).

38564

** Finding this roll of toilet paper set up in a camp on Fodderstack Ridge in the Citico wilderness---

https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/19-Days-in-a-Rattlesnake/i-vDtqQ2w/0/XL/Trip%20175%20079-XL.jpg

** Setting up camp next to a skunk den and having the skunk come for a midnight visit---not to eat my food but just as a courtesy visit to check me out---
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2017-Trips-79/Quest-For-The-Wildcat/i-jm5vHnG/0/O/P1000370.jpg

** Backpacking up the "toughest trail in the Southeast"---Upper Slickrock Creek #42 aka the Nutbuster trail---and standing face to face with an owl on a limb right above the trail---
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2016-Trips-171/19-Days-in-a-Rattlesnake/i-VXCN8hr/0/O/Trip%20175%20241.jpg

** Backpacking up the North Fork Creek trail in the Citico (with its 25+ creek crossings) and near the top of the trail finding a half-eaten horse. First thing I saw was a gleaming white rib cage and the horse's head 10 feet behind the body. Sadly had no camera on that 2003 trip.

** Found this guy by my tent in the Bald River wilderness---
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2015-Trips-161/20-Days-on-Medicare/i-FVMMfkh/0/XL/TRIP%20166%20039-XL.jpg

** Found this guy by my tent at a Citico Creek campsite---
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2010/16-Days-with-a-Miracle-Dog/i-PptzFWW/0/L/TRIP%20111%20036-L.jpg

** Weirdest thing was backpacking the BMT on the State Line Ridge trail and stopping on Round Top Mountain to get water at the side spring 60 feet off the trail. I squatted down for 15 minutes and pulled out my water filter and spent many minutes with my right arm pumping madly to get my 2 liters. When I stood up I noticed Jimmy---resting by the pool. Didn't rattle, didn't seem concerned. I stood up after filtering and then noticed him . . . screamed like a two year old.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpack-2015-Trips-161/20-Days-on-Medicare/i-kTvcLkD/0/XL/TRIP%20166%20157-XL.jpg

Tipi Walter
03-15-2017, 11:12
One more and this one is really weird. I was at the end of a long 18 day trip and it was hot and I didn't have any snake pics. I left camp on a short dayhike before packing up and stood on the trail about a 100 yards from camp and said to myself, "Dangit, I'd like to see a copperhead!!"

I'm standing facing up the trail. I turn around and immediately at my feet is this guy---at the same place I just hiked past 30 seconds before!!! Very weird. It's a miracle in the woods.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Backpacking2012/20-Days-to-Panther-Branch-and/i-jfwGFw9/0/XL/TRIP%20136%20382-XL.jpg

Sarcasm the elf
03-15-2017, 12:27
Wow, that is weird. Was the gun real?

The gun is clearly a toy. You can tell both by the construction and by the required orange tip that indicates so.

jdb
03-15-2017, 19:32
If it was real I would not have left it there.

Highland Goat
02-25-2018, 12:55
This guy wasn't on the A.T. but the one that sticks in my mind was the guy I saw on a local trail in a state park.
I was early February on a snow covered trail about a decade ago. I hadn't seen anyone else in at least an hour, when suddenly a guy comes hauling up the trail in the opposite direction wearing a P-coat, clean white khakis, gelled hair and best of all a steaming cup of coffee from Starbucks. To this day I have no idea how he got that far up the trail with clean cloths and hot coffee!

uh-oh
There is a fair chance that was me.

I was southbound out of Stratton on a late September day, back in 2012, when I started to hear a faint tune ahead of me. The noise grew louder until I picked up some early Public Enemy lyrics. Suddenly a hiker with a 1980s boom box on his shoulder emerged from the top of a rocky section, near the flanks of Spaulding Mountain. I was at a loss for words, and let him pass by. His other gear was more customary backpacking attire, although the colors were rather vibrant.

nsherry61
02-25-2018, 13:34
Climbing up to Frankonia Ridge outside of Lincoln NH a year ago February (or so), probably late morning, wearing microspikes and slipping on the steep, snowy and icy trail we passed a guy coming down the trail will a full backpack and overnight gear, wearing light shoes with no traction devices and drinking a large can a Guinness. The two girls coming down the hill behind him both had liqueur bottles sticking out of their packs. Apparently, they spend the night along the ridge near Mount Lincoln. . . and we have thru-hikers with all the right gear afraid of the White Mountains in the summer. Go figure.

KnightErrant
02-25-2018, 17:33
I've only hiked about 200 miles of AT, but I did about 550 miles of the Camino de Santiago in Spain and had a few strange experiences.

The strangest moment of "strange in a good way" was how often I kept running into this one particular guy who was hiking himself but was a trail angel to me and my group. The thing was, he was large and muscular with a shaved head and tattoos and hiked with a massive backpack and wore a black tank top and a black, metal-studded kilt. He was Scottish and odd and intimidating to look at but one of the nicest, most helpful people I've ever met. Overlapped with him for about 5 days, and each time we leap-frogged he would say/do/give something that was exactly perfect for the situation. It was uncanny.

The strangest moment of "strange in a bad way" was when I was doing just a 60-mile section hike alone. The trail followed a quiet country road through a farming area, and I leap-frogged a couple times with a young man on a motorcycle who was delivering flyers or something. The first couple times we just said "hola" but then I heard him idling up behind me on the motorcycle and he asked if I spoke Spanish. I was getting a weird vibe at this point, so I lied and just said "sorry, no spanish." and kept going. He went on ahead. But about 15 minutes later, the road left the fields and entered some woods. In dark, shady area, I saw the motorcycle, stopped. The guy was a few feet away from it and he said something in English. I thought I must have heard him wrong, and I glanced at him. He was unbuttoning his pants, looked me straight in the eye, and said "***** me." I just said "What!?" and then jogged away up the trail as he laughed and called after me in Spanish. A few minutes later, I heard the motorcycle again, but this time he just kept accelerating past me, so close I had to jump off the road. It was a well-traveled enough area that I don't think he would have risked actually attacking me, with the chance that someone would walk or drive by, so I don't believe I was in actual danger. But jesus it was creepy.

JJ505
02-25-2018, 19:27
When I did the section from Addis Gap north to the NC line in GA, I encountered a group of six who were right out of the mid-70's. They Kelty and Camp trails external frame packs, cotton clothing, and the big, heavy tents from that era. The odd thing was that everything looked brand new as if they had just bought everything for this trip. The group was odd and something seemed off about them. They were pleasant enough, but seemed mystified by my freezer bag cooking as they heated up Dinty Moore beef stew from cans on their Coleman Peak 1 and Optimus stoves. I still wonder about it.


Funny thing, but they're still talking about YOU. "Strange feller we saw once. Had this little fly away plastic bag tent, and was trying to eat out of plastic bags". :D

Time Zone
02-25-2018, 20:28
Sounds like hiker33 is Clark Duke in disguise, from the set of Hot Tub Time Machine 3. "Is there some sort of retro thing going on this weekend?"

https://youtu.be/u1FnYvk6KP0?t=1m6s

Sarcasm the elf
02-26-2018, 02:11
uh-oh
There is a fair chance that was me.

Hehe. That story was quite some time ago on the Paugusset trail in Shelton. Several years later I finally hiked there again and realized that there was a spur trail that led to a parking lot a short distance away from where I saw the guy, which made the whole thing make a lot more sense.

BoogieForth
02-26-2018, 13:28
This happened over 30 years ago to some friends of mine who were on a trail in VA in the Shenandoah Valley.

They were heading back after a day hike. They were probably a few miles away from their car when from behind them they heard people yelling and screaming, and it wasn’t directly behind them but off in the woods and in multiple directions, so they knew there were a few of them. They couldn’t see anything since it was summer and heavily wooded. And then they heard gun fire for a good few seconds again coming from multiple directions. Then they heard a guy yell at them to ‘get the ***** out of here!’ and at that my friends started running. Then they heard the gun fire from in front of them and that made them stop running since they didn’t know what was going on. Then the yelling again, and someone yelling at them again to leave but they didn’t feel they could since they worried they were in front of them. So they froze. And then they heard people running all through the woods all around them with more gun fire going off. They could sort of make out some of them but they were in camo gear so hard to really see anything. This went on for a few minutes and then it all just stopped. My friends had no idea what to do so they waited a while and then just walked carefully back to their car.

tomlinson
02-26-2018, 15:44
I did a three day solo hike in the Superstition Wilderness in AZ a few years ago. In three days, I saw one person, passing them on the trail with a quick hello. Otherwise I was completely along. The last night was crazy windy and my hammock was swinging in the noisy wind. I decided to pack it up at 3am when a widowmaker fell 6 feet away, realizing there was no more sleep to be had. It was pitch black dark (no stars, no moon, no nothing) so I packed it up by the light of my headlamp and started down the trail. 50 feet into it, I see two yellow eyeballs staring back at me at my height in the black up the trail. They blinked out after a few seconds and walked ahead with my heart pounding out of my chest. Immediately started seeing pairs of yellow eyes at ground level all around, which were undoubtedly rabbits in the desert. But I never knew what those first to yellow eyes belonged to. I actually wondered if it was a health hazard to have your heart beat out of your chest for a half hour but I seem to be no worse for the wear.

sarac
02-26-2018, 16:24
Dirty underwear

Deadeye
02-26-2018, 22:02
Immediately started seeing pairs of yellow eyes at ground level all around, which were undoubtedly rabbits in the desert.

Don't rabbit eyes shine red?

Oh well, reminds me of a night on the Monadnock-Sunapee trail last spring. Got up to pee in the night, and was in the middle of a pack of coyotes =yikes!

Ground Control
02-26-2018, 23:11
Woke up to a moose standing over me and smelling my tent in September of 2016. It must have been about 2 or 3 in the morning, waking me from a deep, exhausted sleep. He was directly over my 1-man tent; sounded like a horse breathing through that snout. This was on the Wigwam Trail in the Lost Creek Wilderness in Colorado.

After a couple of terrifying hours where he seemed to be walking in circles around my tent, I believed he was gone. I had to pee so bad, but had been too petrified to get out of the tiny tent. I got bundled up, stepped into my shoes and moseyed over to the peeing side of the campsite. The second I started peeing I saw that the moose was staring right at me, just 25-30 feet away. I stopped mid-stream and scurried over to a tree I could climb.

The moose started to trot toward me, but then cut at a 45-degree angle into the brush. He stayed very nearby.

Too shaken to go back to sleep, I decided maybe I should make some coffee. I walked toward the food bag and could not believe what I was seeing: a second male moose was hanging out right underneath our PCT-hung food bag.

They stuck around for hours; till nearly noon. We broke camp hungry, waiting a good long while until we felt safe taking down the food bag.

The luckiest part of all of this was my friend and his dog sleeping under a tarp, didn't awaken till well after dawn, many hours into my moose encounter. I've always been grateful the beagle-mix didn't bark or spook the moose.

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Bugeye
02-27-2018, 00:29
My father and I did our first section of the AT back in May of 2011. On our fourth day we went up Blood Mountain NOBO and got to the top. Thought the shelter was creepy and asked ourselves who would stay in that shelter?

As we started to hunt for the way down this guy comes up to the summit huffing and puffing. He was pretty dumpy and clearly not in hiking shape. The weirdest part was he was wearing a mechanics uniform with the work pants and work boots. This was on a weekday morning somewhere around 10:00am.

He could barely talk when we asked "how ya doing?". Something wasn't right about this dude. On the way down to Neel's Dad and I kept theorizing what this guy was doing and nothing made sense. Maybe he got fired that morning and climbing the mountain was a coping mechanism. All I know, if I had been a solo female hiker I would have been freaked out.

kestral
02-27-2018, 13:29
Hey ground control, great pics of the moose (mooses?, mice? )

my dog and I spent a pouring rain night in a small rainbow tent at the little camping area just south of Blood mountain when a bear came snuffling around and patted my tent. The dog and I looked at each other and decided that caution would trump valor in this case. We played possum while the bear snorted, huffed, shuffled and tripped over a guideline. I threw a candy bar wrapper out of the tent ( my only yummy smelling thing) He then proceeded to take down my food hang and took it over the next rise to eat. My neighbor tent had a bear canister and wasn’t bothered. This was before the ban on camping without bear bags went into effect, I think these incidents helped creat the ban - it went into effect later that season. I was able to find an end to the purple green paracord I used for the hang and followed it to my ripped open food bag and and the remains of 2 other food sacks where mr bear had picnicked on them. Fortunately my cook kit was scratched but undamaged. The food and ziplock bags were slobbered and slashed. This was the spring when a backpack was removed from a bear line at the shelter just south and was demolished. I remember it was a lady’s opspry pack and she was starting her thru hike, had to get a new one at Neil’s gap.

Some thoughts:

1 Well, if you have to get your stuff bear nabbed, that’s a great spot as Neil’s gap has a great resupply right on the trail which is only 3 miles away.

2 my tenting neighbor had seen my bear hang, thought it was a good one, and was kicking himself for the bear can weight the night before. He gave me a power bar for breakfast (thanks! Hiker trail magic!)

3 bears are smart, and that hungry bear was smarter than me that night!

4 glad the food wasn’t in my tent

5 glad the dog was smart enough to pick her battles and let that bear be.

6 gave me a great story

7 never show your son the ripped up food bag and bear teeth scrape marks on your cook kit as it will make him agitated and concerned for your safety

8 stuff is just stuff, easily replaced.

9 Weird stuff happens. That’s why hiking is an adventure!

10 repeat #5, and wish I was out hiking instead of tapping away on Whiteblaze!

MockingJay
02-27-2018, 14:03
We were section hiking from Standing Indian Mountain to Rock Gap a couple of years and around Albert Mountain we came across a couple of young guys thru hiking barefoot in loin cloths. And when I say loin cloth, it was really more like thongs. They were on some kind of weird vision quest and carried around bags full of dates and all natural foods. The worst part was when we were trying to rest under the fire tower after climbing Albert one of them decided to start doing pull ups under the steps. I guess they thought everyone wanted a peek.

Ashepabst
02-27-2018, 14:05
I walked toward the food bag and could not believe what I was seeing: a second male moose was hanging out right underneath our PCT-hung food bag.

They stuck around for hours; till nearly noon.


aw, I bet they're friends

TimOnWhiteBlaze
02-27-2018, 16:59
I was once saw a man stuck in hole with an Owl! In the middle of the night!

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Highland Goat
02-28-2018, 08:35
Hehe. That story was quite some time ago on the Paugusset trail in Shelton. Several years later I finally hiked there again and realized that there was a spur trail that led to a parking lot a short distance away from where I saw the guy, which made the whole thing make a lot more sense.

Okay, maybe not. I have not got around to the Paugusset Trail yet, although I did not keep a trail journal about a decade ago, so maybe I forgot. Back then I worked a lot of hours and often crammed in hikes on my way to-and-fro. That often resulted in clothing that did not fit the situation. I don’t hike in my pea coat anymore, but I still wear it nearly every day in winter.

Suzzz
02-28-2018, 11:52
Not the on the AT...

Last summer as I was training for my AT section, I often went on a local trail in my area called the Dobson Trail. It's a not too hard not too easy 35 miles trail with the trailhead only a few minutes from town so perfect for training.

On one particular day, I was on my way back to my car (5 miles in - 5 miles out) when all of a sudden, it dawned on me that I had not seen anybody all day, which is pretty odd since the Dobson Trail is a very popular trail. I also realized that I had not seen or heard any animals or birds. Now, that was odd but I didn't worry too much about it, telling myself that humans, animals, and birds must have had other things to do that day. And since I often hike in my own little trance-like bubble, I knew I could have easily walked by a ton of animals without noticing them. Squirrels are not that big after all. I decided I was lucky to have the whole trail to myself and kept on walking.

A few minutes later something happened. Something that felt like a gust of cold wind went through me. Literaly through me. And the oddest feeling went through my body. I have never felt something like that. My first reaction was to look around for wind movement in the trees and I saw nothing. The forest was very still and silent. I just stood there for a while not sure what to do then, after looking around for the tenth time and still seeing or hearing nothing I decided to keep walking since it was the only thing I could do anyway. I was about an hour and a half away from my car and I knew that if I let my imagination run wild with crazy ideas, I'd freak out and freaking out at that point was not a good idea. So I walked at a brisk pace back to my car without taking any breaks. As I was walking, I was very alert, looking for movement and sounds but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. When I finally got to my car, I jumped in and drove home with a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I'll never know what really happened. The logical explanation is that it was just what it was, a gust of wind. As far as ghost are concerned, I've always been on the fence on that subject. I'm not sure they exist and I'm also not entirely sure that they don't. I wasn't scared that day in the forest and I didn't feel threatened. I'm also not aware of any stories or legends on the Dobson Trail and to be honest, after what happened, I'd rather not know.

I haven't been back on that trail since. Every time I start planning a hike out there, I get an uneasy feeling and cancel or go elsewhere. Part of me feels like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, especially since I wasn't scared or felt threatened when it happened, yet I'd rather not hike there anymore. I'm hoping I can go back with a hiking partner this summer. I won't go alone, but I'd like to go back with someone else. Then I'm sure nothing will happen and then I'll feel comfortable hiking the Dobson Trail again. Or maybe not.

I've never told anybody about this. Partly because I can't really explain what happened but also because I don't want to give amunitions to friends and family who are always telling me that hiking alone is not safe. The less they know, the better things are.

Hikingchef
03-02-2018, 10:43
It may not count, but when we first started doing day hikes to get in shape for longer hikes we did 8 miles from 522 in VA headed south. I drive past the trail head every day for work, and the day after we hiked there were police and EMTS, helicopters and Feds. They found a shallow grave with a missing man from another state in it maybe 50 feet from the trail right where we walked past.