View Full Version : fearfull moments...
longshank
02-14-2006, 12:12
Have you ever had any frightening experiences or close shaves of any kind on the AT,ie. falls down rock faces, miscalculating on food/water, etc. etc.....
I was climbing about 5 miles before I got into sages ravine and it was ice waterfalls on every ledge than climbing out of sages ravine going south It was for sure a bit hairy in febuary.ky:banana
longshank
02-14-2006, 12:23
Tricky....I almost slipped down an ice waterfall in the catskills once. Pretty scary.
Tented on Cheoah Bald. Woke up in the middle of the night in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. Terrifying. Still not sure how I made it out of that one alive.
KirkMcquest
02-14-2006, 12:31
Tricky....I almost slipped down an ice waterfall in the catskills once. Pretty scary.
Did you have any trust worthy partners to pull you out of there????
:D :D :D :-? :clap :clap tell me more shanky,ky
Footslogger
02-14-2006, 12:34
I had a bout of hypothermia on the way up to Franconia Ridge on my thru in 2003. I was hiking with a really bad kidney stone disease (unknown at the time) and it all started with cramping, nausea etc. It didn't take long before things started to get fuzzy. I sat down on a cold rock and began to sweat profusely and went into a rapid tailspin. Two of the other hikers I was with realized that I was not keeping up and doubled back to check on me. They got me out of my wet cold clothes and into my down sleeping bag. After about 34 minutes or so I came around and was able to get back into North Woodstock on my own power. After taking the rest of the day off to relax and rehydrate I headed out again then next morning and continued on.
'Slogger
longshank
02-14-2006, 12:34
Luckily for me, One "kirk mcquest", if I recall his name correctly, was there to lend a hand. A real hero, that guy...
KirkMcquest
02-14-2006, 12:36
Luckily for me, One "kirk mcquest", if I recall his name correctly, was there to lend a hand. A real hero, that guy...
Just doing my job:cool:
Had a hit of hypothermia once too. Coming out of Erwin it was drizzling and I just kept hiking. Got to the shelter and the second I stopped all my heat just went away. I crawled into my bag, cooked up some hot food, and fell asleep. Yeah, the falling asleep thing wasn't too brilliant. Looking back I would have had the others in the shelter keep me awake. Woke up the next morning though, so it couldn't have been too bad.
Kerosene
02-14-2006, 13:00
One of my tight spots came in Sages Ravine also, in late March 1975. There was still snow on the north-facing slopes, and the Ravine was totally encrusted in ice. The stream was overflowing with snowmelt, and at least back then, there was no bridge. Someone had thrown a deadfall over the creek, which was okay until you got to the middle where the trunk turned down and to the side while getting considerably narrower.
My 2 hiking buddies and I unhooked our hipbelts, loosened our straps, and tip-toed across without incident. On the way up the (south) side of the Ravine, I slipped on the ice and "turtled" down the icy bank (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=69&c=665&userid=3) toward the stream about 20 feet away. I finally jammed my foot at the base of an old sapling to halt my progress, and managed to crawl back to the trail. Definitely a close call.
KirkMcquest
02-14-2006, 13:05
Chased by a bull out west once. Ran into some trees and waited for him to go away. Which he did not. Finally, we came out yelling and throwing rocks and he ran away. We named him 'Bosephus', and took his presence as a good omen. Saw him several times more during the hike.
I ran into two "hunters" near Glastenbury Mtn in VT. One was carrying a pistol and the other a saw-offed shotgun. They were totally not cool and acted like they were looking for a fight. I was prepared to pull out my lighter and wave it at them if they threatened to shoot.
Pennsylvania Rose
02-14-2006, 13:57
I slipped on a rock in the trail, my ankle collapsed and I went crashing to the ground. My ankle was OK, but I skimmed just above my eyebrow on another rock. Another 1/4 inch and I would have hit my head hard enough to knock me out. Shook me up for the rest of the day.
Lost Soul
02-14-2006, 14:03
In 97' early on in my hike I tried to push on to the "next selter" on an icy rainy afternoon. Being a novice I didnt yet understand my limits I shivered along until I started to feel a little loopy and out of touch. I thought I had better set up the tent for the night and stopped right at the knarly old tree at the Ga. border in that little valley, heated up some food just past my vestibule and got into some warm dry clothes and my sleeping bag. warmed up and waited it out till the next morning catnapping and listening to the tiny radio I had on the storms passing through the area. Looking back now I realize I was going hypotermic and I made the right decision in stopping short for the day.
longshank
02-14-2006, 14:13
once while doing a section in conn., my freind ran out of steam completely about 1/2 mile from the shelter. We had pushed 22 miles that day, and it was dark. he couldn't feel his arms, and he colapsed on the ground, panting. I left him there, close to running out of juice myself, and pushed on in the dark to the shelter, dropped my pack, and went back to help him in. By this time it was pitch black, and the trail to the shelter was like straight down a rock face, practically, I fell three times, my pack flew off, and I was cloudy and confused.
shanky probably the shelter after or before New dandsbury something like that.roughest shelter to get to I believe that I have encountered,ky
longshank
02-14-2006, 14:46
I think it was the one b4 salisbury, we stayed at the white hart inn the next day. It was downright treacherous hiking to get to that shelter, and the water source was kinda skanky.
I haved hiked that section several times and do not like that shelter very much very rocky getting down to it and Salsbury was the town.ky
longshank
02-14-2006, 14:53
alot of mosquiteoes as well..
Have you ever had any frightening experiences or close shaves of any kind on the AT,ie. falls down rock faces, miscalculating on food/water, etc. etc.....
We'd just been dropped off at the trail after a night at the Shaw's, and the first little stream was flooded and flowing fairly quickly. I miscalculated and took an interesting ride down stream. One tent pole, one water bottle, and thankfully not one hiking pole later, I was one the other side. Shaken, but thankfully not stirred.
digger51
02-14-2006, 15:55
There was that year when I encountered a woman looking for her next husband. I still have nightmares.
Last summer, coming upon a grizzly with a handful of twizzlers! Needless to say the first thing out of my mouth resembled a daily activity usually preformed shortly after waking up. @#it!
This is a long one I have posted before, but some of you might find it amusing. I suppose it wasn't really a close call, but it scared the hell out of me:
So Kong, Dutch and I head out of the W.B. into Shenendoa National Park. About mid-day I'm a couple miles ahead and come up to the first road crossing. This Park ranger is driving by, sees me and slams on his breaks, slaps the truck in reverse, and starts waving me over. I'm thinking "Damn these guys are serious about the park pass." Well I get over there and he tells me there is a "little man hunt going on in the park." Okay. A guy killed two people in town and is now possibly hanging out in the park. If I see a middle age guy, dressed in camo, with a high powered rifle (his exact words now) "if you happen to get away from him, try to make it to a phone to call the police." Okay, gotcha. Call the cops, IF I get away. So later we are all at the shelter. This guy Nightcrawler had joined us and I relayed the story. At first they thought I was kidding, but eventually they believe me. So we're all chillin' and what not after dinner when all of the sudden we hear "How you boys doin'?" Damn, damn, damn!!! We all turn and there is a guy, about 50, dressed head to toe in camo, with a M-16 (no joke!) and a 9mm hand gun on his hip. At that moment I truly 100 percent thought I was dead. Really. I didn't move, I didn't speak. All I can think is "so this is how it's going to end. If you all need me I'll be in the corner crying." Kong and Nightcrawler are doing this little dance like they don't know which way to run. Dutch on the other hand looks at the guy, looks at us...and runs like the wind! I mean high steppin' deer throught the woods action. The guy yells "Don't run dip****!" and Dutch runs faster. Then this guy says he's a cop. finally. We call Dutch back as 8 other cops, dressed in full on camo complete with leaves and stuff hanging off of them start coming out of the woods. These guys had completely surrounded us and we had never heard them at all. The cop says "If you guys have a little pot or what ever we don't care. Just don't run." Man we don't have any pot, we thought you were the damn killer!!! 3 of his buddies actually had to turn tier backs to us because they were laughing so hard at us! So that's the killer story.
Tented on Cheoah Bald. Woke up in the middle of the night in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. Terrifying. Still not sure how I made it out of that one alive.
In July last year in the Smokies a thunder storm came up fast when I was walking across the balds of Spence Field near Thunderhead. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as the bolts exploded around me...not much I could do but make my way down the ridge to the shelter. Frightening, but exhilarating at the same time.
LIhikers
02-14-2006, 18:02
My trail name may give you all an indication of troubles I've had. A friend named me "fallsdownalot" because of all the falls I've taken while hiking with her. The reality is I don't think I've fallen more than most, it's just that she's been there each time I did.
Jack Tarlin
02-14-2006, 18:09
Geez, Blister says she came across a grizzly "with a handfull of twizzlers."
How long have you been hiking, girl? You should know better.
Buy your OWN candy, you beggar!
Next time you come across a bear with a handful of Twizzlers, I suggest you leave him alone to eat, and restrain your candy jones til you hit town.
Live long and prosper.
Have you ever had any frightening experiences or close shaves of any kind on the AT,ie. falls down rock faces, miscalculating on food/water, etc. etc.....
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=163009&postcount=12
RITBlake
02-14-2006, 18:29
on a section hike two summers ago, my hiking partner Mike began screaming "SPIDERS! SPIDERS! THERE ARE SPIDERS IN HERE!" It was pitch black, probably 2 in the morning and it freaked me out. Turned out Mike was not just a sleep talker, but a sleep screamer. I asked him about it in the morning and he had no recollection. Ive never been so startled in a shelter.
mweinstone
02-14-2006, 18:57
and now i ride a horse and quietly scare folkes when they happen to notice my headless corpse quietly riding by dans pulpit on full moon lit nights at the stroke of 4pm.
I haved hiked that section several times and do not like that shelter very much very rocky getting down to it and Salsbury was the town.ky
What is the name of this shelter?
Lone Wolf
02-14-2006, 19:00
Drinkin again are we?:D
Lone Wolf
02-14-2006, 19:01
Drinkin again are we?:D
Meant for mweinstone.
Took a detour off the AT in SNP to hike "Old Rag". Got to the peak, one of the worst lightning, hail & rain storms I had ever encountered hit. Hurried down the trail as far as I could and got under a large rock ledge. I'm just thankful I had my marmot precip stuff to ward off hypothermia.
I was at low gap shelter in June of 04. The shelter was full so I tented it about 50 yards away. I woke up in the middle of the night because I thought I heard a woman screaming (it was a whistle). I was so green I stuck my head out of my tent and called to the guy in the tent next to mine. "What the hell was that." The reply: "It's a bear, shut the F&*$ up." I thought cool, I get to see a bear, so I waited quietly as she made her way up the trail, I saw her cross some rocks as a black shadow, then come towards me. Smelt like a wet dog. Forget the brown bears this must have been a Grizzly maybe 2500 to 3000 pounds at least. She sniffed around my tent, probably smelling my gold bond powder and tiger balm. When she pulled out one of my tent stakes it partially collapsed and she went into the woods. I never made a sound the entire time. Now I know better of course, but you only yell at brown bears, not 4 ton Grizzlies.
What is the name of this shelter?I am sorry I cant remember the shelter name its the first one after salsbury going S.or the one before you hit town.ky
I was in Damascus in March of '05 and met a local reprobate named Mitch. He got me a ride out to the Greysons for 10 dollars so I could hike back to town. He told me if the weather got bad I could stay in the government house, an abandoned house owned by the forest service. He said he would bring me some mountain tea if I was there. So of course I stayed. I set up in one of the empty (and invariably clean) rooms. About 5:00 or so I heard wheels on the gravel driveway so I stood up in the window and saw a blue pickup truck using the driveway to turn around. About 40 minutes later I peeked through a crack in the boards and saw the same truck driving past the house very slowly, both occupants staring at the house. About 6:30 or so the noises started, sporadically at first but with growing frequency and intensity. First there was the banging sound out of sync with the wind that moved from one side of the house to the other while I looked to tie whatever it was down. Then came the scratchings (think mouse skittering but about 20 times louder). Then the dragging of some hard object across wood (think hiking pole across shelter floor). Then the single footstep just outside my door. I always got up and looked around the house but could see nothing unusual or out of place. The noises would invariably cease as I walked around and resume a few minutes after I sat back on my roll. My frequent calls out to anyone went unanswered. Then the clatters that shook the floorboards. Then the crashes that sounded like a crate of metal and glass was being dropped form 5 feet up. I jumped up and ran around the house...still nothing. When I returned to my roll, all hell broke loose. The crashes shook the house as banging and wails began to come from seemingly everywhere. At this point, convinced it was a ghost I jumped up and yelled out "I'M LEAVING RIGHT NOW." Instantly the noise ceased completely. In 3 minutes flat I was out the door. My courage returned and I walked all the way around the house and saw nothing. I walked to the next shelter, arriving around midnight.
The next afternoon I went to Dotts for a beer and told my tale of supernatural terror. One of the men listening asked me if I had seen a blue pickup truck. I said I had, about 5:00 or so I heard wheels on the gravel driveway so I stood up in the window and saw it using the driveway to turn around. About 40 minutes later I peeked through a crack in the boards and saw the same truck driving past the house very slowly, both occupants staring at the house. "Yeah those boys have a meth lab down in the basement of that house. They'd probably been up for a few days and were just looking to make some more of that crap. They're half crazy from it. They probably thought you were some sort of local fellow and were just tryin to scare you away. You're lucky they didn't know you was a hiker or they'd've just killed you."
Interesting times. The moral? Don't stay there.
I did let the outfitter know about it and he promised to call the cops. Lonewolf probalby knows more about the story than I do.
This is pretty long, but it has become my favorite bar story. Never fails to entertain.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
I was in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Damascus</st1:City></st1:place> in March of '05 and met a local reprobate named Mitch. He got me a ride out to the Greysons for 10 dollars so I could hike back to town. He told me if the weather got bad I could stay in the government house, an abandoned house owned by the forest service. He said he would bring me some mountain tea if I was there. So of course I stayed. I set up in one of the empty (and invariably clean) rooms. About 6:30 or so the noises started, sporadically at first but with growing frequency and intensity. First there was the banging sound out of sync with the wind that moved from one side of the house to the other while I looked to tie whatever it was down. Then came the scratching (think a mouse skittering but about 20 times louder). Then the dragging of some hard object across wood (think hiking pole across shelter floor). Then the single footstep just outside my door. I always got up and looked around the house but could see nothing unusual or out of place. The noises would invariably cease as I walked around and resume a few minutes after I sat back on my roll. My frequent calls out to anyone went unanswered. Then the clatters that shook the floorboards. Then the crashes that sounded like a crate of metal and glass was being dropped form 5 feet up. I jumped up and ran around the house...still nothing. When I returned to my roll, all hell broke loose. The crashes seemed to shake the house as banging and wails began to come from seemingly everywhere. At this point, convinced it was a ghost, I jumped up and yelled out "I'M LEAVING RIGHT NOW." Instantly the noise ceased completely. In 3 minutes flat I was out the door. My courage returned and I walked all the way around the house and saw nothing. I walked to the next shelter, arriving around midnight. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
The next afternoon I went to Dotts for a beer and told my tale of supernatural terror. One of the men listening asked me if I had seen a blue pickup truck. I said I had, about 5:00 or so I heard wheels on the gravel driveway so I stood up in the window and saw it using the driveway to turn around. About 40 minutes later I heard an engine, peeked through a crack in the boards and saw the same truck driving past the house very slowly, both occupants staring at the house. "Yeah those boys have a meth lab down in the basement of that house. They'd probably been up for a few days and were just looking to make some more of that crap. They're half crazy from it. They probably thought you were some sort of local fellow and were just tryin to scare you away. You're lucky they didn't know you was a hiker or they'd've just killed you." <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Interesting times. The moral? Don't stay there. <o:p></o:p>
I did let the outfitter know about it and he promised to call the cops. Lonewolf probably knows more about the story than I do.<o:p></o:p>
Lone Wolf
02-14-2006, 21:16
Oh hell yeah!:D :D
KirkMcquest
02-14-2006, 21:32
Sounds like LW knows more than he's letting on. What were you doing on that particular night I wonder?
LW, did they call the cops?
And was that guy at the bar just messing with me?
I've always wondered.
Lost Soul
02-14-2006, 22:12
The bear story remind me of an experience on my thru hike in the beginning of the hike thru the smokies. I had yet to see a bear and like most other hikers I really wanted to see one. As I'm hiking up a slope I see this brown back moving through the brush off to my left about 40 ft away and so I stop. I try to remain as still and quiet as not to spook him a realize at the angle he's heading he'll cross the trail about 10-15 feet in front of me. I don't want to spook him but I'm apprehesive about how slose he'll be but I wait it out. Out of the brush he jumps, not a bear but a huge boar! Now I'm freaking out, I know what hey can do and he's big. Heck I had tought it was a bear from seeing his back. I stand still and watch while he stands on the trail right in front of me facing the right side of the trail. He stays for about about 30 seconds but is seems like 5 minutes and of to the side he jumps back into the brush. I now realize it isn't a he but a she as she's followed by a whole string of brown striped piglets. I stood there for at least ten more minutes waiting for by heart rate to return to normal and until she was well away with her young. I can only wonder what would have happened if she had realized I was there and thought I was a threat to her young. Now looking back it's one of my most treasured wildlife sightings of the trip and much more than all the bears I saw combined. And to stop the flame war before it starts I know that it's an introduced species and the damage they do but it was still cool for me to see.
The bear story remind me of an experience on my thru hike in the beginning of the hike thru the smokies. I had yet to see a bear and like most other hikers I really wanted to see one. As I'm hiking up a slope I see this brown back moving through the brush off to my left about 40 ft away and so I stop. I try to remain as still and quiet as not to spook him a realize at the angle he's heading he'll cross the trail about 10-15 feet in front of me. I don't want to spook him but I'm apprehesive about how slose he'll be but I wait it out. Out of the brush he jumps, not a bear but a huge boar! Now I'm freaking out, I know what hey can do and he's big. Heck I had tought it was a bear from seeing his back. I stand still and watch while he stands on the trail right in front of me facing the right side of the trail. He stays for about about 30 seconds but is seems like 5 minutes and of to the side he jumps back into the brush. I now realize it isn't a he but a she as she's followed by a whole string of brown striped piglets. I stood there for at least ten more minutes waiting for by heart rate to return to normal and until she was well away with her young. I can only wonder what would have happened if she had realized I was there and thought I was a threat to her young. Now looking back it's one of my most treasured wildlife sightings of the trip and much more than all the bears I saw combined. And to stop the flame war before it starts I know that it's an introduced species and the damage they do but it was still cool for me to see.
i had a momma boar teach me how fast i could run backwards with pack on. she had piglets that i didn't see until it was too late. hair raising experience that i wouldn't want to re-live.
I had taken my nephew hiking for the day in the daniel boone national forest and well you know cool uncle jim is gonna lead us to some cool sites,o'yah like a complete dummy left my flashlight,jacket mind ya I was just day hiking,man let me tell ya I was so scared for my nephew more than anything,but like the trooper he was he kept hiking right behind me I was impressed,around 11 at night I see a light and start walking toward it!On arrival all the sudden my nephew starts running toward their camp fire,and I fell into this huge mud puddle I had to jump up and tackle my nephew,the folks at the campsite where hunters,so i yell hello!! just keep repeating it,when we get up to the fire they said to us they almost shot us!thought we were bear I was pretty stressed out by then and gratefull to be somewhere,see I wasnt worried about myself but when your with loved ones it can become a little fearful.:dance ky
ozwingchun
02-15-2006, 15:18
all i ever hear is longshank and kirk. kirk and longshank.
well what about OZ!!
ozwingchun,
if you want to hear about something other than kirk and longshank (sounds like you aren't the only one), maybe you should post comments about something other than them
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/search.php?searchid=723520
I guess that was poor way to post that link.
I think linking to a user profile will be a more stable link than what amounts to a search result (the page you get after clicking "Find all posts by...")
Profile (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/member.php?u=7408)
"ME & U"
02-16-2006, 10:32
Got a couple:
I almost stepped right on a copperhead after a way too close for comfort encounter with the biggest rattle snake I ever saw in my life near Pulpit Rock in PA.
Had a nasty spider bite in the Smokies that kept me concerned for a while.
(especially after the pictures I saw in Gattlinburg of some dude with recluse wounds)
The worst though was in the Whites:
My honey, ME, was spent. The weather was brutal and we had to push to the next hut. I was pushing her hard to keep moving as there were no places to bail in the thick. She took a nasty fall on the rocks and though she didn't hurt she went absolutely ballistic on me and chucked her leki pole like a spear right for me. My quick Ninga like reflexes kicked in and I turned just in time to miss having a trekking pole stuck in my face.:clap
This doesn’t involve the AT or hiking for that matter, but it does involve sleeping out and was scary.
I was hitch-hiking around Europe with a rucksack and sleeping bag. I was picked up by a couple of guys from the U.S. driving some old clunker. I was glad to be hitch hiking since I wouldn’t be saddled with this hunk of junk when it died. They assured me, when the car broke down, they were going to leave it wherever it came to its eternal reward and hitch-hike with me.
Someplace north of Barcelona, Spain, we took a dirt road off the paved road and drove until we arrived at a wall which completely enclosed some structure, except for a large iron gate you could see through. The structure was very large and appeared to be under renovation. I guess renovation, not new construction, because the wall appeared to be quite old. It was made of stone and probably about fourteen feet high.
The other guys slept in their car. I tossed my sleeping bag on the ground next to a large tree, located between the car and the wall, and crawled in for the night.
I was awakened much later by what I first assumed was something which had fallen from the tree. I was a bit groggy and thought it might have been a squirrel. But, then other things began falling from the tree. Big things which caused big limbs to break and also fall to the ground.
I crawled out of my bag and peered around the tree trunk. A fairly large and stout man was silhouetted standing on top of the wall holding a very large rock over his head which he hurled down at us. I’m not sure he saw me. The rocks he was throwing were just too large to make it to the car. He got smaller rocks - still pretty large - which began hitting the car. When the first rock hit the roof it sounded so loudly I wondered if the two guys inside weren’t killed. The car started, whirled around in a tight and accelerating circle, and the back door on my side opened. I threw in my sleeping bag and followed it with my naked butt, clothes in my hands. We never slowed.
This was years ago, back when Spanish security guards were really primitive, but effective.
Walking from NOC to Stecoah gap with Sony Walkman, headphones in place. Before I knew it I was just before stepping on a coiled Rattler in a pissed off mood. Can't believe he didn't strike. I walked up the rocks and around. Couldn't understand what the Rattler was after or why it was coiled. Got to Stecoah and some day hikers where drinking beer and asked me if I saw the snake. They said they tried to kill it with a stick. My question about the snake answered. Henceforth, I have stopped using a Sony so I can HEAR.
i lived on the trail literally for three years from 2000-2003 and in that time frame i had many a scary moments, not to say life threatening. but the one i will never forget was the night of sept 17, 2003 at the rod hollow shelter when hurricane isabell came inland through the northern part of virginia and up through west virginia, maryland and pennsylvania. winds of 100 mph +....i was being buffeted by the wind inside the shelter and slammed against the wall and corner....i was scared out of my wits to say the least...that's the night my thinking changed for ever...that's the night i quit running away from me.....