View Full Version : Scary Moments
maxNcathy
01-15-2007, 10:55
For You who are not totally fearless, have you had any scary moments while hiking or camping?
Thanks for your stories,
Sandalwood
applejack
01-15-2007, 11:14
used to be totally fearless. on my thru i was at the top of lafayette and fog rolled in. wanted to enjoy the views in the morning, so camped (in the building foundation 10' below the top o lafayette) in what i heard would be light rain as the forecast. endt up there was also plenty of lightning, of which two times it struck the top of lafayette (10' above me). hell of a night. i'm not AS fearless anymore, and i don't camp on top of mountains as much.
It was a winter hiking trip in NJ along the AT. I was in good physical shape but just couldn't catch my breath and had severe chest pains after climbing up a ridge. It was dark and we knew we were a distance from our tent spot. I sat for awhile and convinced myself I just needed to catch my breath. Well, I continued to hike and couldn't breath or sleep all night. Next morning I headed to the hospital and was told I should have been dead. That's when I found out I had asthma. They shot me up with epinephrine and gave me oxygen which relieved me instantly. Now I carry an inhaler everywhere I go and manage my asthma without any problems. The feeling of suffocation is horrible.
Let's see, there was getting lost in the Smokies and finding myself on a snow-clogged trail with a sheer drop off the side, getting caught in the open in a big lightning storm in southern Virginia, the lightning bolt that nearly had my name on it in Maryland, the two creepy characters near Bake Oven Knob in PA who were probably toting out drugs, the rock faces climbing out of Pinkham Notch......
Jim Adams
01-15-2007, 11:21
1990 leaving Salsbury Ct. up and over the arm (lion's head?) and hit a lightening storm on top. STUPID MOVE!! saw the storm coming and continued anyway. ran across the whole open exposed summit with lightening hitting all around and getting hit with debris. the cat was going crazy meowing and we didn't stop until getting back into the trees. i felt so bad, there was so much static in the air that Ziggy (cat) looked like a gray beach ball! probably the closest that i've come to losing my life.
geek
Went on a winter day hike with a friend one cold blue January day(0 deg.) on a local Mtn. next to Sugarloaf...Burnt Mtn..
Got warmed up quickly after getting started and the wooded approach trail was out of the wind. It was a nice hike through white birch forest and after a couple hours we were above treeline looking at the exposed and somewhat windy summit another half hour climb away.
We chose to make the ascent in relatively clear conditions.
Upon reaching the summit the wind really kicked up and a snow squall was moving in to boot.
We took cover behind some boulders and had a quick snack.
With the wind howling and snow blowing we made for the descent. The treeline below was now obscure and trail was hard to follow in almost whiteout conditions. We employed the CRAB some so as not get blown off the mtn. How quick the elements can change for the worse!
We were well prepared but even so the windchill effect cooled us down in short order, guessing 40-50 mph at 0 deg.
Arriving back at treeline things were much calmer and sunny, reprieve!
In the bowl between the two mountains was the most awesome snow funnel(snodado?) some 2'000 ft.tall . That made it all worth it.
***** happens.
icemanat95
01-15-2007, 11:33
Scary Moments
I had two VERY scary moments on my thru-hike and another before that.
In 1993 I was hiking on Mt. Washington in October. I got caught in an ice storm/blizzard and started going hypothermic. No energy, cold and SOAKED to the skin. Pretty much in the process of dying. We managed to drag our butts up to the closest shelter, the summit house, and warmed up in the cafeteria with some hot soup, sandwiches, and just about sitting on the heaters. It sucked. Managed to drag my arse down the auto road in white out conditions and hitch-hiked up to the AMC facility where we had parked. That was a long and frightening day. I learned A LOT of respect for that mountain that day.
On the AT, fairly early on in my hike, I was making for a shelter during a thunderstorm. Lighting struck nearby on an old rotted tree and it pretty much exploded. Then in Central Virginia, between the Sarver Cabin and Niday shelter, I was caught on the ridge by one of the famous Virginia afternoon thunderstorms. Got slammed again by another lightning strike that blew me completely off my feet. Couldn't hear anything but a ringing in my ears. Heart was pounding a million miles a second. I ran down to the Niday shelter, pretty much full out with a full pack on my back. Collapsed laughing hysterically...which was better than crying or screaming hysterically. Since then I've had another close call with lightning. I'm starting to feel like Thor's special target.
Was hiking alone and came upon a reroute due to mudslides. It was a brand new reroute through rhody tunnels. Stumbled upon a backpack that was torn to shreds, then saw, what looked like, a place where someone had set up a tent in long grass, it all matted down. realized that's where the bear had slept the night, since it was impossible to get a tent in that thicket. Got out of there as quick as I could with my heart pounding a mile a minute.
Another time, set up my tent at Double Springs shelter, it stormed and lightning was hitting everywhere. Prayed hard that night. Was told by people in the shelter that lightning hit about 50 feet from my tent.
Pennsylvania Rose
01-15-2007, 11:50
On a very rocky portion of trail I slipped on a wet rock and did this twisting fall and landed really hard face first on the ground. Everything felt ok, but when I opened my eyes, I saw the jagged point of another rock about 1/4 inch from my eyebrow. The rest of the day, I kept thinking what could have happened if my head had snapped forward just a little bit more.
And I, too, have been foolish enough to hike over the top of a mountain with lightning crashing around me.
Regarding the lightening, that's my biggest fear of all. I'm glad you guys are still around to talk about it.
Kerosene
01-15-2007, 13:09
I'm certainly not fearless, but it does take a lot to get my heart beating quickly. That said, I've had my share of scary moments and situations over my hiking career.
Lightning: I have a healthy respect for lightning, especially after a guy on my soccer team was struck and died; and a big tree across the street from my house exploded when struck, scattering deadly foot-long skewers 200' in all directions. 1999-I finally got back into backpacking after 15 years by hiking a 37-mile trail in southeast Michigan. A storm front caught me in the middle of the woods early on my second morning and crashed around me for 10 minutes. There was nowhere to go. 2006-I was halfway up Mt. Moosilaukee when a late afternoon storm rolled over. I slowed down, hoping it would pass over before I reached the open summit, when a big bolt hit less than a quarter-mile away [Flash/S%^t/CRAAACK]. That got my attention and I squatted down on the trail, but fortunately that was the last bolt.
Animals: All my strange animal encounters seem to occur on the last day of section hikes...interesting. 1973-On the last night of my first backpacking trip, just past the High Point #3 shelter in New Jersey, we were cowboy camping when we heard some incredible sounds in the woods nearby. Years later I determined that they were probably deer settling in for the night. Weird. 1986-Early in the morning, just north of Loft Mountain Campground in Shenendoah National Park, I woke up in my tent thinking that I heard something walking up and down the nearby trail. Eventually I clearly heard a rock flip over, and knew it had to be a bear who might have smelled the food bag I hung 50 yards down the trail. After half an hour I couldn't take it anymore and jumped out of my tent, shining my penlight at the bear 20 yards away, who just looked at me before slowly turning around and ambling into the woods. 2001-Just south of Harpers Ferry I was toodling along on my last day of my first AT solo section. I rounded a corner and saw a large animal about 40 yards away. Not thinking, I clapped my hands to scare it off. It glanced at me and then loped off into the woods with feline grace. Hard to believe that it was a catamount (I grew up in Vermont) but there was no other explanation. I kept my eyes peeled for a mile, hoping it wasn't tracking me! 2006-Night has fallen and I'm desperately searching for someplace to pitch my tent about 3 miles north of Pinkham Notch. I finally find a flat spot in the middle of the Trail (at least I think it's the AT, but I haven't seen a blaze in over a mile). I just crossed yet another stream/bog, and as I shuck off my pack at a flat spot that will have to do, I hear/sense a very big animal perhaps 20 yards away starting to move through the thick brush. That gets my heart pumping! It had to be a moose, and the way some of the branches were breaking and the ground shook (at least I thought it shook), it had to be pretty big. I calmed down after a minute, but I eventually realized that I had just set up my tent in the middle of the only clear path and might get a hoof to the head!
Other: March 1975-Ascending Mt. Everett in Connecticut on our third section hike we ran into a progression of mist, rain, sleet, and then blowing snow. We eventually found the lean-to near the summit (no longer there) and hopped into our sleeping bags as the fog rolled into the front. It took a very long time and some hot fluids to get warm. Many years later I realized that we were in the first stages of hypothermia. The very next day we dropped down into Sages Ravine. The trail was covered in ice and the stream had swollen with snowmelt. I got across the narrow, slippery log somehow, but on the way up the other side I fell onto my back and "turtled" down toward the stream. I finally caught my foot on a shrub and my buddies pulled me back to safety. Now that would have been hypothermia! 2000-I had to get up out of a warm bed to hit the Winturri Shelter latrine in the wee hours. I had a small headlamp to light the way. About 20 yards from the shelter a shadow moved in such a way that I thought it was an animal, which brought out an involuntary "HA" that probably woke up everyone. It was only my mind playing tricks on me, and my heart was beating more from embarrassment than fright!
1. Back around 1980 I was climbing Mt. Flume in NH via the Flume Slide trail. My feet suddenly went out from under me and I slid backwards on hands and knees. I went down on my stomach to arrest my slide which ended just short of a 20-foot drop. Had I gone over I wouldn't have stopped for some time since it was steep ledges one after the other. Closest I've been to serious injury or death while hiking.
2. About 6 years ago in the Middle Prong Wilderness of NC lightning hit a tree about 40 feet away and blew it apart. I didn't have time to get scared until it was over.
3. On Mount Washington on Labor Day about 1982 or so I got caught in an ice storm on the Tuckerman Crossover. The sun disappeared and the snow and ice started after a drop of about 40 degrees in 30 minutes. There was lightning as well. I headed for Lakes hut which was within a half mile and had doubts about making it because of ice on the rocks and the wind. I probably fell a dozen times. After I reached the hut people kept coming in dressed only in shorts and t-shirts with no other gear. There were lots of incipient hypothermia cases brewing that day.
Desert Lobster
01-15-2007, 13:40
Scariest was a hichhike ride where I was lucky to not get molested or killed by some wacko near Hagerstown!
maxNcathy
01-15-2007, 17:57
Okay, now I am not going to flirt with lightning!! You guys had some mighty close calls.
Animals-no good stories. i'm cautious when confronted (bears, snakes, coyotes/wild dogs), but have never been truly "scared".
Situations-so far so good-none life threatening. got sick once, from dehydration/heat, while out alone. long day, but not really scary... i just knew i had to take care of myself, and i did.
People-other people scare the bejesus out of me.
I was walking along a road, minding my own business, getting from the end of a u-shaped trail back 3 miles to my car, which was at the other trailhead. Horses/mules are commonly ridden in the area, and one drunken mule rider, when he was about 150 yds behind me, suddenly yelled 'runaway horse' and charged. as i looked back, i could see him coming, but noticed it was a mule, so i knew he was drunk and that the mule probably wasn't in a 'runaway mindset' (which is pretty dangerous). he succeeded in causing me to jump the ditch (which the mule would have had a hard time running across, flat out) but pulled up before he'd have done serious harm. the mule wasn't pleased, and i wasn't either. i simply disappeared into the woods and stood behind a tree until he and the other two members of the party passed well beyond me. i was surprised, as most horse people i know are better than that, and certainly don't treat their animals like that.
you can pretty much tell what an animal, tame or wild, is most likely to do... the human animal is a whole 'nuther story...
Programbo
01-15-2007, 19:03
Well I don`t know how "scary" this is but.....
Once while I was rock hoping along a creek on a hot dry summer day thru an area with a lot of dry fallen trees etc I stopped to eat something for a bit and was sitting on one of the larger warm rocks...About halfway thru my meal I was glancing around at some of the driftwood when my eyes came to rest upon a particularly long fat piece that came out from behind one rock and disappeared behind another about 2 feet behind where I was sitting...Seeing the odd pattern in the "wood" I suddenly realized that it wasn`t driftwood at all but the longest, fattest rattlesnake I had ever seen!...Although I`m sure my eyes got as big as silver dollars and my heart was pounding rapidly I had the good sense to freeze in place and then ever so slowly pick up my things and beat a quick retreat
Bloodroot
01-15-2007, 19:24
Scariest moment?
I passed a 70(ish) year old man on "Hike Naked Day" once!!
Bloodroot
01-15-2007, 19:25
In all serious, a horrible lightning/hail storm coming into NOC in April '05.
On a warm muggy afternoon in Virginia a wild turkey flew out of the brush maybe ten, fifteen feet in front of me. Scared the bejezus out of me for about half a second. I mean, the world was quiet and I was alone... and then suddenly, it was very loud with life and movement. I laughed a bit but I still had to sit down for a minute and collect my wits.
Big Dawg
01-15-2007, 20:49
Can you say "Deliverance".... A friend and I were section hiking, heading north to Hot Springs. We ended our day at Cat-Pen Gap. We noticed a back-country road just beyond the wood line. Not until some huntin yokles came barreling down that road did we realize it lead to a primitive huntin campground. After several passes in the truck, the huntin yokles practically drove into the woods and close to our campsite. We made our way to the truck to be social only to find "Deliverance" lookin dudes, all wasted on something. They insisted we join them for dinner, since they were cooking a deer they had just shot. We tried to decline, but they "insisted". Part of us felt like packing up & hikin on, but instead we mosey'd on down to their campsite, only to find a slew of huntin yokles, I think 8 in all. Each had their own freaky demeaner, a few of which seemed absolutely off the wall. They began to discuss headin down to the Brown house to get some action,,, supposedly some local joint w/ scuzzy gals that'd do anything. Huntin yokles, high on an assortment of stuff, all w/ rifles, talking about sex,,,, oh my GOD:eek:. After an hour or so, we politely excused ourselves, and went back to camp-(I will say the deer tenderloin kabobs were awesome). Needless to say we didn't sleep much that night. Middle of the night, we heard what sounded like a few drunken hillbillys creepin thru the woods right near our tent. My friend and I proceeded to discuss loudly that we should draw our firearms (completely bluffing) and come out shootin at whatever was crunching thru the woods,, at which time we heard a serious retreat in the opposite direction. Needless to say we broke camp early that morning and didn't stop til Hot Springs.
midnight_recon
01-15-2007, 21:43
Being stalked by a cougar climbing up out of Nantahala Gorge after dark. Coincidentally, that section hike was the one I got my trail name on.
Tipi Walter
01-15-2007, 22:03
The usual would be the sudden grouse flapping out right next to me on a trail or the quick approach to a snake stretched across the trail. Seeing a big fat hot-tempered rattlesnake right on the trail always induces shock and fear, a queer light-headedness and temporary hiking dysfunction. Right after seeing it every place seems to harbor one.
Coming up on wild pigs also has an element of fear, there's that momentary silent pause before recognition and they scatter. One time a big male charged me and stopped just short, snorted, and took off.
I agree with other posters when they mention lightning. Who hasn't waited for certain death in a tent on some ridge or bald?
One time I left my empty pack sitting out for a couple of days while basecamping and when I threw it up on my back a large tarantula spider jumped out of it and ran down my left arm and down my left leg and into the brush. Creepy.
Another scary feeling is walking by a huge yellow jacket nest right on the trail, seeing it out of the corner of my eye and running like hell(with my dog right behind). Some of those nests are huge.
Critterman
01-15-2007, 22:39
Close encounters with rattlesnake, water moccassin (in Texas), and copperhead ( not all at the same time). Way to close to lightening which was not near as scary as the snakes since I knew it was coming.
Here's an excerpt from my journal from last March:
The following story is a wee bit graphic, so if your sensitivities tend toward the delicate side, you might want to skip to the next entry.
One of my sisters-in-law once said to me “So, I guess you just have to poop in the woods, huh?” While engaged in that activity today, I had a stimulating experience.
First, I’d like to mention the pertinent section of the Leave No Trace (LNT) ethics on the subject, which states in part “Bury human waste in catholes about 6-8" deep 200 feet from any water sources, campsites, or trails.” (As an aside, in Wingfoot’s Thru-Hiker’s Handbook (2006) it states on page 118 “If designated facilities are provided for sanitation, use them. If no facilities are provided, solid human waste must be buried in a cathole at least three inches deep.”) Only three? I guess some people always could deal with crap a little easier than others. But I digress.
About 90 percent of the time when I gotta go, I gotta go, and when the urge strikes I need to find a place off the trail RIGHT NOW (preferably out of site) and I usually make it in the nick of time, so to speak, and LNT ethics sometimes get taken care of after the fact. The other 10 percent of the time the urge surely does strike, but I can be hanging around seemingly forever before things begin to move along. Today I was a 10-percent-er. I found a nice small log well out of sight, checked to be sure there were no critters around, took my time while making ready, struck my pose and waited. And waited and waited.
Though this was just a practice hike in the local area, I was in a pretty remote section, and I have trained myself to scan the woods and keep aware of what’s going on around me. While suspended there, I casually glanced over my shoulder and right on the other side of the log, not three feet away, I saw the biggest pile of blacksnake I have ever seen in my life. Where did he come from?
Now, I do not actually “fear” snakes, but I do have a double-dose of the creepies about them, especially when surprised like that. I was converted from a 10-percent-er to a 90-percent-er on the spot. I rocketed right out of there and in no time flat I was down range about 20 or 30 feet, and frankly, I’m glad the trip was not caught on film. My heart rate must have been 400 and it took me a few minutes to settle down and regain my composure. I think my body will be operating with an adrenaline deficit until about a week from next Friday.
Anyway, I haltingly made my way back to the launch pad to bury the spent rocket fuel and retrieve a few personal items. I tried to find the snake, but I could not see him. I thought better of poking around too much. I think blacksnakes are pretty harmless, but I have heard that they can be territorial. I was still a little spooked by the whole affair. A picture of him would have been nice but it wasn’t that important to me.
I have a Theorem about hiking: If you want company, pull down your pants. Which is to say, you may think you're all alone, but it's amazing how often you're not, particularly at these, err... delicate moments.
minnesotasmith
01-16-2007, 13:34
Several times going down the north slope of North Carter in the Whites. Rainy, near dusk, tired, etc., not good when combined with repeated near-sheer rock faces of 40'+.
Kerosene
01-16-2007, 14:04
I have a Theorem about hiking: If you want company, pull down your pants. Which is to say, you may think you're all alone, but it's amazing how often you're not, particularly at these, err... delicate moments.How true! I was cruising along through Georgia on a grey morning in early April 2004 when I rounded a corner to see a group about 200 yards away in one of those small gaps whose name I can't remember. The next time I looked up, an older woman had separated herself from the group and pulled down her pants to relieve herself, directly in my view! I was too far along to turn back now, so I just kept trudging along with my head down without acknowledging her presence. I stopped to chat with the group and she re-joined them sheepishly. We all had a good laugh.
Tumblerisk
01-16-2007, 18:10
I was solo on my second overnight backpacking trip, and was camping on top of Big Frog Mtn in Tennessee. I had been reading in my tent until around 9:00 PM when I decided to turn out the light and get get some shut-eye. About 30 seconds later, once I had become perfectly still and there was not one sound around my campsite, I heard the most bizzare "whoop" noise from what had to have been less than 30 feet directly behind my tent. It was so loud that it didn't sound natural at first. I just about jumped out of my skin as a surge of adrenaline pushed my heart rate into the mid 100's. I quickly ran through the list of dangerous animals in my head and determined that the noise was not any of those. My rainfly was on so I was completely blind and there was no way I was getting out of my tent in the off chance that I was wrong. I just waited in the dark and began to hear similar noises all around my site from varying distances, allong with a cackle type sound which was real freaky. The more I listened, I realized I was in the middle of a flock of wild turkey. I later learned I was hearing a call that the turkeys make when they are preparing to roost. I felt silly being as scared as I was, but in all of my camping trips with my family growing up, I somehow had avoided hearing that sound, so it was completely foreign to me. It's now a funny story, but at the time I almost pooped myself.
On the PCT in '04 a Couger strolled thruogh my campsite at dusk. Cleghorn Picnic area 15 miles east of I 15. Once while hiking the 100 mi wilderness a Hawk/Owl/Big Bird ? soared down on me screeching :eek: three times, only really scared me the first time was able to chase/scare it off the other times.
Sleepy the Arab
01-17-2007, 02:57
Off the top of my head:
1. Going down the north face of Moosilauke in the aftermath of a hurricane. That was a lot of water.
2. In Pennsylvania, I was just about to take a break when I happened to look down and see a fat coil o' rattlesnake looped out from the rock I was about to sit on. It was about 1 inch from my foot. I never knew I could make panicked little girly-noises until that day.
3. In the Shenandoahs, I looked up to see two bears ambling down the trail in my direction. My first thought was, "I didn't know bears got that big!" My second thought was, "I didn't know bears that big traveled in packs!"
There are probably more. I may be repressing the real bad ones.
Pokey2006
01-17-2007, 04:25
1) First time I heard a bear.
2) First time I SAW a bear.
After the first time, it wasn't scary -- it was just plain cool!
Also, a few times with lightening coming too close, and the remnants of a hurricane passing through in Conn., but I was only worried about being crushed to death by a falling tree for a few minutes...and then I was sound asleep and not afraid anymore.
Furlough
01-17-2007, 04:57
Back in Aug 2003 I was hiking in the Ramseys Draft Wilderness Area in Viriginia. It was already late afternoon when I started hiking and it was lightly raining. I crossed over Ramseys Draft and headed up what I believe is called the Bald Ridge Trail. I hiked until I had maybe 45 minutes of light left, found a good flat spot just past the Forest Service Pond on the trail headed to the cut off to Hiner Spring. About nine that night I could here the wind begining to rise and maybe an hour later a terrific thunder and lightning storm raged on until about three am. The winds were really something and I was quite concerned about the possibility of being flatened by a downed tree or huge limb. There is nothing like being at elevation with the thunder booming and the lightning cracking and flashing, the high winds howling through the trees and the sound of trees snapping and falling throught the understory. I am not afraid to say that that night I was scared. I even wrote some goodbyes in my journal. The next morning I saw just how lucky I was as I saw all the huge blowdowns, none of them too close to my tent area, but enough close enough that the possibilities of diaster were many given the the state of mind I was in from the night before.
Furlough
eventidecu
01-17-2007, 05:02
Hiking the BMT from the dam over to the BMT opening ceremony. Up past BIG FAR up to the camp sight close to crowders place. (Slick Rock / Joyce Kilmer area)I got up that morning and moseyed my way to the spring at crowders in nothing but my boots, undies and two empty water bottles when I heard a VERY low growl.. before I knew it a BIG momma bear ran out on the trail about 50 ft in front of me and charged about 6 or 8 steps growling. All I could do was growl back waving those empty bottles in my tighty whities. As you can imagin.... scared the hell out of the bear and she turned and crashed off into the woods with two cubs. Me...I ran like hell back to camp, folded up and hiked 4 hrs without any water that day.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
01-17-2007, 08:52
In Slickrock Wilderness in NC about 1981, I encoutered several wild boars during mating season. They were behaving aggressively and destroyed my tent. I climbed a tree to avoid them. They weren't after me - just rowdy young male boars looking for female companionship and they were nowhere nearly big enough to take on the bigger boars for a little sow action.
Tipi Walter
01-17-2007, 10:06
Hiking the BMT from the dam over to the BMT opening ceremony. Up past BIG FAR up to the camp sight close to crowders place. (Slick Rock / Joyce Kilmer area)I got up that morning and moseyed my way to the spring at crowders in nothing but my boots, undies and two empty water bottles when I heard a VERY low growl.. before I knew it a BIG momma bear ran out on the trail about 50 ft in front of me and charged about 6 or 8 steps growling. All I could do was growl back waving those empty bottles in my tighty whities. As you can imagin.... scared the hell out of the bear and she turned and crashed off into the woods with two cubs. Me...I ran like hell back to camp, folded up and hiked 4 hrs without any water that day.
Hmm . . . I saw two bear cubs(but not the mom)in that area a couple of years ago, I wonder . . .
Are you the ex-Marine backpacker I met on the trail to the Grand Opening at Mud Gap? Or are you the guy I met up on the Fodderstack near Cherry Log Gap with a Gregory Shasta pack and it was so cold your little butane stove quit working?
Tipi Walter
01-17-2007, 10:14
In Slickrock Wilderness in NC about 1981, I encoutered several wild boars during mating season. They were behaving aggressively and destroyed my tent. I climbed a tree to avoid them. They weren't after me - just rowdy young male boars looking for female companionship and they were nowhere nearly big enough to take on the bigger boars for a little sow action.
Question: How did they destroy your tent? Did they trample it to death? I find it pretty interesting as I've seen dozens of the goofy looking shoats out and about on the trail, often times with Big Mommas and their little piglets jumping all over the place. But I never knew them to invade a tentsite and, gulp, tear up MY FINE TENT! Just one more thing to think about.
Lone Wolf
01-17-2007, 10:16
Was hiking up Calf Mtn. in the Shenandoahs listening to music on headphones when I stopped and heard a static sound. I was standing on a rattlesnake. It didn't strike at me.
Tipi Walter
01-17-2007, 10:34
Was hiking up Calf Mtn. in the Shenandoahs listening to music on headphones when I stopped and heard a static sound. I was standing on a rattlesnake. It didn't strike at me.
The main reason I don't wear my headphones in the summer.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
01-17-2007, 10:51
Question: How did they destroy your tent? Did they trample it to death? I find it pretty interesting as I've seen dozens of the goofy looking shoats out and about on the trail, often times with Big Mommas and their little piglets jumping all over the place. But I never knew them to invade a tentsite and, gulp, tear up MY FINE TENT! Just one more thing to think about.I was in the process of breaking camp when they came and my tent was open - one ran inside and being enclosed seem to spook him. He ripped thru the wall with his tusks. Another ran into the tent with enough force to snap a fiberglass pole.
Was hiking up Calf Mtn. in the Shenandoahs listening to music on headphones when I stopped and heard a static sound. I was standing on a rattlesnake. It didn't strike at me.
Professional courtesy?
Blissful
01-17-2007, 10:56
1. Being in a lightning storm above the ridgeline in the Whites.
2. Facing a mad and possible rabid raccoon.
3. Seeing a rattlesnake that came between me and my then 12 yr old son and screaming at him to run away.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
01-17-2007, 11:00
Professional courtesy?
ROTFLMAO... (http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/lowcarbscoop/Dinolaughing.jpg)
4eyedbuzzard
01-17-2007, 11:25
Downright venomous;)
During my hike this past summer ('06) I had my share of frightening lightening, steep wet slopes, raging water, bear confrontations and cold nights. But the one scary event that really sticks out in my mind occurred on the day I hiked south with a woman whose trail name is Granny F. We crossed the footbridge over a branch of Dismal Creek, north of Pearisburg, VA and stopped mid-way across it to look down into the water. Gran had bandanas tied to the loops of her hiking poles. As we leaned over the railing to enjoy the view, she gave out a startled yelp. I jumped and realized she was trying to get the right loop of her pole off of her wrist. “I’ve been stung,” she cried. "It's in my bandana." I grabbed the pole and pulled it off her wrist. I took the pole and strongly tapped it on the bridge rail, trying to get the bee out of the bandana. Suddenly, we were surrounded by bees. “RUN,” I yelled. We jumped down off the bridge and dashed into the forest. Luckily, neither of us was stung again.
When we stopped in a clearing a few moments later, Gran said, “Rick, I’m allergic to bee venom.” Ah oh… I took the weight of her pack off her shoulders and she slipped out of it. I set it down and scrambled out of my pack, while asking if she had the anti-venom, (EpiPen) while she sat down on a log, while I squatted down to look into her eyes... I was REALLY scared. We were probably 6 miles to the nearest road. Then she nodded. “Yes, I've got it. I’ll know if I need it,” she said. We examined the stings. She had been stung three times. Although they were painful, none were swelling badly. We were breathing hard, but as she calmed down, so did I.
While Gran rested on the log, I went back towards the bridge. I didn’t see any bees swarming, so I quietly walked down to the creek, below the bridge, and looked up. Sure enough, under the rail of the bridge was a paper bees’ nest, about the size of a large softball. We’d been standing directly over it when we stopped to look down into the water. My tapping the pole on the rail probably ignited the swarm.
I went back to the clearing and told Gran what I’d seen. I was quite relieved that she didn’t think she’d need the anti-venom. I took out a small pad of paper and my pen and wrote two notes to warn hikers about the bees. I went back and duct taped one note to the side of the bridge we were on, then slowly and carefully crossed the bridge to the other side and attached the note there. Yes, I slowly and carefully crossed back without incident.
Granny decided to stop for the day at War Spur shelter, about a mile further down the trail. We had lunch and I continued on.
I was stung three other times on the trail, but none of those incidents concerned me nearly as much as the day Gran was stung.
(Bees were also reported under the suspension bridge over the Tye River, below The Priest.)
McPick's story. Ouch. Ground bees. Pitching a "stealth" camp in MA. And no Benadryl. Painful, yes. Scary, not so much. Made for some very fast packing and walking though. Now I'm more careful to check for the Benadryl.
Tipi Walter
01-18-2007, 10:28
During a backpacking trip into the Pisgah National Forest I was crossing a creek and ducked under some tree branches and knocked off a big paper hornet nest right onto the boonie hat I was wearing where it sat, cradled like. A merciful god decreed that it would be an old and empty nest, phew.
There are larger and meaner looking hornets in the woods now, ones that chew up yellow jackets and attack them. Are they Japanese hornets? What happens when I run into a nest of these huge things? They are about 2 inches long and look exactly like a yellow jacket/ground hornet but are more orange and black.
There are larger and meaner looking hornets in the woods now, ones that chew up yellow jackets and attack them. Are they Japanese hornets? What happens when I run into a nest of these huge things? They are about 2 inches long and look exactly like a yellow jacket/ground hornet but are more orange and black.
Sounds like a Cicada killer (Sphecius speciosus) - nothing much to worry about because they are solitary and don't sting unless handled
Wow, Tipi... I completely forgot about those 'buggers' until you mentioned them. I remember being particularly impressed with that insect's size and ability to hover. I recall one incident where the wasp/hornet zoomed right up to the shelter’s entrance. I froze. It hovered in place for about 30 seconds, turning side to side... Seemingly a complete reconnoiter of the shelter and its contents, before zooming off. The sound its wings make was quite loud. I saw that species several times along the trail.
I Goggled Hog’s Cicada Killer… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_killer_wasp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_killer_wasp) However, the insects displayed at this site don’t resemble the insect I remember.
Then I searched for your suggested Japanese Hornets and came up with this astonishing 4 or 5 minute National Geographic video regarding these fearless marauders. Whoa!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1012_051012_hornet_video.html (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1012_051012_hornet_video.html)
(I anticipate nightmares, tonight…) I’m so glad Gran and I did not encounter this species on the bridge. I think the bridge dwellers were typical Yellowjacket wasps.
The Japanese Hornet is a little closer to what I recall, but further reading suggested European Hornets could be the culprit. I checked out this site…
http://www.vespa-crabro.de/hornets.htm (http://www.vespa-crabro.de/hornets.htm) Jeepers, I don’t care how friendly they are. I don’t think I be smiling about that wasp climbing around on my nose!
Even after completing some extensive research, I’m not completely convinced what I saw was away any of these. But they were brief encounters and my memory ain’t what it used to be.
Anybody else?
Tipi Walter
01-18-2007, 14:21
Hey, thanks for the research. When I lived in Texas we had a giant wasp that we called a "Pigeon Tremix" or something. And who can forget the black tarantula hawk wasps? They fly into the ground and sting the big spiders and lay their eggs on them and the kids later feast, etc.
The cicada killer looks about the right size but the one I saw had some burnt orange and red on it. I'll see if I can pull up that hornet video again.
maxNcathy
01-19-2007, 21:30
Once in late September, '65 when I was quite young and touring the USA alone on my motorcyle I found myself along a lonely rural road in South Dakota very cold and without a campsite closeby so when I fueled the bike I asked the service station owner if I could pitch my tent behind his station.
He said I could so I did.
Soon darkness fell and after shivering for a while I fell asleep to the sounds of the strong cold wind that whistled across the prairie land.
Later, near midnight I heard some voives coming towards my tent. I was scared. I heard a gruff voice commend, "Get out of that tent!"
I didn't move or speak.
Next the voice said, "I have knife that says you need to come out of that tent."
As I slowly peared out the flap of my tent two big guys stood before me.
I soon noted that one of them was the guy who served me gas a few hours before. Suddenly they both started to hoot and laugh. I stammerede, What's up??
They said, get out of your tent and come have some beers with us in the trailer.
So I did.
They were friendly as heck and invited me to sleep on the sofa.
I staggered back to my tent and slept like a baby.
i never did tell my Mom or dad that story as I know they worried about my long journey alone and far from home.
Sandalwood
Tipi Walter
01-19-2007, 23:14
That's a good story! It reminded me of the time I hitched to see a friend at a trailer court in Millers Creek outside Wilkesboro, NC and so I set up my tent(next to his trailer) and the next morning woke up and sat to do some yoga outside next to the tent. About 15 minutes later a police car roared up and did a donut around me on the dirt road spraying me with dirt and dust. He got out and yelled, "Where do you belong!!" and I told him "You're looking at it!" Score one for neighborhood watch.
It all got straightened out later.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
01-20-2007, 08:00
During a backpacking trip into the Pisgah National Forest I was crossing a creek and ducked under some tree branches and knocked off a big paper hornet nest right onto the boonie hat I was wearing where it sat, cradled like. A merciful god decreed that it would be an old and empty nest, phew.I hit a live hornets' nest with my head while hiking on Slickrock Creek some years back - I jumped off the hillside into the creek below (about 12 feet) - pack and all. I only got stung about a dozen times, but it was enough to give me a healthy respect for hornets....
Tipi Walter
01-20-2007, 11:14
I hit a live hornets' nest with my head while hiking on Slickrock Creek some years back - I jumped off the hillside into the creek below (about 12 feet) - pack and all. I only got stung about a dozen times, but it was enough to give me a healthy respect for hornets....
A dozen times sounds like a hellish number. The worst for me was 5 times on a trail in Pisgah. On my last trip up the Nutbuster Trail in Slickrock(the upper Slickrock trail)I got hit 3 times at some of the worst places on a trail to get hit(steep and rugged). Do you remember where on Slickrock Creek you were?
Frolicking Dinosaurs
01-20-2007, 13:28
Tipi, I was on the portion of lower Slickrock between the intersection of Big Fat Gap and Stiff Knee - within a mile of the intersection of Stiff Knee where the trail is on a steep hill / bluff above the creek
trlhiker
01-20-2007, 21:46
I was hiking with a group in Saint Marys Wilderness when we decided to take a break. I took my pack off and just happened to put it on a ground nest of yellowjackets. Ended up getting stung 15 times. Took 30 minutes before I could get my pack back.
I was backpacking in Yosimite National Park years ago and were camping in an established site with bear poles. Our food was hungup. In the middle of the night I was awaken by a noise. Something big was walking around my tent and sniffing. I was scared to death. I heard it walk off towards the food and about a minute later there came a big crash. You could hear every zipper within 200 feet open and people started yelling and the bear ran off into the woods. Someone had hung their food to low. the Next morning their food was scattered all over the ground.
The last time was on Old Rag mountain. A storm came up after we had went to bed. Lots of lightning and wind that flattened my tent at times. I was scared that the wind would pick me up and send me over the ridge.
...cicada killers NORMALLY don't bother us but I had one get me on the foot a couple of years back. Wife tells me my heart stopped and I quit breathing awhile after that. Lucky I was close to home and not alone.
Cherokee Bill
01-21-2007, 09:47
:eek: March 06, was at Matt's Creek Shelter (central-VA). Across the creek and about 100-yds up the trail was one big black bear.
By the time I got my camera out he disappeared w/o a sound. Scarey part was I did not know where he went:-?
The register showed a hiker had seen a black bear there only a few weeks before.
Happy hiking!
maxNcathy
01-22-2007, 17:34
Coool stories. I love them all.
Any more tales from the Trail?
Sandalwood
maxNcathy
01-30-2007, 16:21
Coool stories. I love them all.
Any more tales from the Trail?
Sandalwood
Has anyone been without food or water while hiking to the point where you got weak?
I was wondering how long i could hike if I ran out of water on the Trail. water is HEAVY so i don't want to carry any more than i have to.
Has anyone been without food or water while hiking to the point where you got weak?
I was wondering how long i could hike if I ran out of water on the Trail. water is HEAVY so i don't want to carry any more than i have to.
Don't skimp on water. I made that mistake and had to hike up Sassafrass mountain with no water. It was hot and no leaves on the trees yet. I bout died. Now, if I start on my last liter of water, I stop and fill up. I don't like hiking with less than 1 liter on me. I use liter bottles instead of a water bladder so I always know how much water I have with me.
maxNcathy
01-30-2007, 16:34
Don't skimp on water. I made that mistake and had to hike up Sassafrass mountain with no water. It was hot and no leaves on the trees yet. I bout died. Now, if I start on my last liter of water, I stop and fill up. I don't like hiking with less than 1 liter on me. I use liter bottles instead of a water bladder so I always know how much water I have with me.
Thanks Lilred.
That time on Sassafras how long were you without drinking water?How did it affect you? did you get water at the top of the mountain or did you ask someone for a drink?
I plan to have bottles too so I can see how my supply is holding out.
Jack Tarlin
01-30-2007, 16:48
I was at Paul Wolfe shelter near Waynesboro a few years ago, camped down by the stream. Got up in the middle of the night to pee, and walked, buck naked, aways from my tent. Immediately after I started what I had to do, this very angry piss-covered copperhead reared up directly in front of me, with the business end of the copperhead VERY close to where it had absolutely no business being.
NOT a happy memory, tho having to go back to the shelter to wake people up to inform them of where I'd been bitten would have been worse.
Moral of story: *Copperheads like water, so watch where you pitch.
*Wherever you pitch, watch wear you pee.
maxNcathy
01-30-2007, 16:53
I was at Paul Wolfe shelter near Waynesboro a few years ago, camped down by the stream. Got up in the middle of the night to pee, and walked, buck naked, aways from my tent. Immediately after I started what I had to do, this very angry piss-covered copperhead reared up directly in front of me, with the business end of the copperhead VERY close to where it had absolutely no business being.
NOT a happy memory, tho having to go back to the shelter to wake people up to inform them of where I'd been bitten would have been worse.
Moral of story: *Copperheads like water, so watch where you pitch.
*Wherever you pitch, watch wear you pee.
Whoa whoa whoa!!! Now that would be SCARY.
Thanks for the headsup!!
Tipi Walter
01-30-2007, 18:17
I was at Paul Wolfe shelter near Waynesboro a few years ago, camped down by the stream. Got up in the middle of the night to pee, and walked, buck naked, aways from my tent. Immediately after I started what I had to do, this very angry piss-covered copperhead reared up directly in front of me, with the business end of the copperhead VERY close to where it had absolutely no business being.
NOT a happy memory, tho having to go back to the shelter to wake people up to inform them of where I'd been bitten would have been worse.
Moral of story: *Copperheads like water, so watch where you pitch.
*Wherever you pitch, watch wear you pee.
The larger female copperhead(probably the one you saw)likes to uh . . . mate . . . with what she thinks(bad eyesight)is a much smaller male copperhead. Ha Ha Ha
Had you been bit . . . well . . . an oldtimer would've proposed the cut and uh . . . suction . . . treatment. :bse
Tipi Walter
01-30-2007, 18:51
What the heck is BSE?:bse
Looked goofy, have no idea what is means.
BSE = bovine spongiform encephalopathy, aka mad cow disease.
OrionTheRanger
01-30-2007, 20:33
Well THis summer I was in Gatlinburg and it was late so I went on one of those driving trails. It was about 2 miles long so we figured It will only take half an hour. Boy were we wrong. It took and hour and a half. Ever drove down the Smokey mountains on a cold summer night? That was creepy.
Kerosene
01-31-2007, 11:50
Has anyone been without food or water while hiking to the point where you got weak?I was trying to get my girlfriend to share the backpacking experience with me back in the late 70's, so with another couple we arranged a two-nighter in NJ/NY from Warwick Turnpike to NY-17. We dry-camped close to the road the first night, and consequently ran out of water along the ridgeline above Greenwood Lake on a hot, humid summer's day. I think that I was only without water for a few hours, maybe 4 miles (the girls were slowing me down), but I was already getting shaky and had a roaring headache. We ended up getting water from a nearby household spigot at NY-17A that tasted great. Ever since then, I carry more than enough water.
Being dehydrated is the pits. It happens to all of us from time to time. It happened to me big-time on the descent off Wesser Bald. Man, I was miserable. Sure, water is heavy. Still, it's better to have too much than not enough. Consider your potential water sources, consider where you're headed. "Up on the ridge," water is almost always harder to find. Camel up when you do find a good source.
saimyoji
01-31-2007, 12:24
If you drink alot on the trail, you are at greater risk for dehydration. Funny how I'm always thirsty? :-?
Ok I got to say the lighting to me is great. I been out hiking thru central VA during a storm, It was a little freeky. I like to be in a tent at night with everything flashing around me. Now what freeked me out is that when I was at Rocky Run shelter in Md. I kept getting woken up my noises around the shelter and under. So later during the night I got woken up by something tring to cuddle up next to me in the shelter....I got up screaming and whatever it was got up and ran out of the shelther. now that was some freeky ****.
maxNcathy
02-10-2007, 18:44
I would love to hear some more scary tales from the Trail.
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.
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."
maxNcathy
02-11-2007, 09:36
Disney!
OMG!
OMG!!
Whew!!!!
Did anyone see any pretty flowers on a bright sunny day??
hahaha
the_iceman
02-11-2007, 11:45
1) In 1983 Late June, after a climb up to the summit of Mt. Whitney (14,498') Lone Pine, CA, we slid on our butts from the top of Trail Crest Pass to the bottom. It was June but there was still 15’ feet of snow here from a record winter snow fall. I think this was around 13,700' on top and 12,500' at the bottom. We were going so fast and the snow was so packed we could "arrest" with our ice axes. It was the best thrill ride I ever had. However, when we got to the bottom it was dusk at the lower levels and we were wet from the snow. We still had 2 miles back to camp and darkness and cold were coming on like a run away train. By time we reached camp I had a nasty case of hyperthermia setting in. Thanks goodness for friends, a tent, dry clothes, and warm fluids.
2) 1984 Mid June – Near the summit of Mount Massive near Leadville Colorado my wife was suffering from altitude sickness and we were crawling along at around 1:00 pm. I was into bagging 14,000 footers and wanted this summit. My brother and I had climbed nearby Mount Elbert the day before and we knew thunder showers rolled in around 2:00 or 3:00 pm. As we ascended I scanned the sky and to my horror and frustration saw storms clouds brewing out past Elbert. My oldest daughter was with us (12 at the time) so I decided to send her back down with my wife as I made a quick assault on the summit. As I was taking some warm clothes out of the external (metal) pack frame to carry with me (I was sending the pack below tree line with them) I was struck on the top of the head by a good sized hail stone.
Crap! The storm was on us in minutes. We tore off toward the tree line trying to beat the lightening. After a few 100 paces I looked back and my wife was barely able to move she was so sick from the altitude. As the intensity of the storm grew so did the danger but my wife physically could not move any faster.
Finally we gave up and I chucked the metal frame packed as far I could and we laid flat on the ground. They chose to lay face down to avoid the pelting hail back I had to watch this hell and fury. Lightening struck the earth in several places on the summit above us and the winds blew the hail almost sideways. The storm probably lasted 15 minutes but it sure taught me some respect.
3) Mid 90’s - Winter camping in the Whites at Guyot Hut. We were returning over Bond Cliff back down to Camp 16 and the Wilderness Trail. We had a pretty good snow storm going and the wind was starting to gust really hard. By the time we got to the open summit things were raging. We kept getting knocked down. A nearly full 2 qt plastic canteen on the back of my friends pack blew of and traveled horizontally off into the void. At one point I was knocked down and was being blown across the ledge while laying on my stomach with a full winter pack on. For 2 hours we crawled and dodged for cairn to cairn until we got across to the tree line.
maxNcathy
02-11-2007, 12:06
Some wicked adventures, Iceman. Florida must seem tame to you after all you have done in other areas. Or are you now into wrestling alligators! hahaha
Sandalwood
the_iceman
02-11-2007, 12:13
Just moved here but I think I will keep my distance from those suckers. The weather is more predictable. :D
middle to middle
02-11-2007, 12:55
Enjoyed the storys here. The only thing I am afraid of is hypothermia. I have been scared silly by Lightning, hornets, wierdos hitchhiking, bear cubs, and giardia. Other than that life is good on the trail. The older I get the more I think about hiking a trail in Florida.
tom
Iceman's report reminds me of an adventure from my yout'. Me and my friend had just arrived in Europe -- Innsbruck, Austria, specifically -- with the intention of being there (well, somewhere in Europe) for a number of weeks... or months. The plans were pretty loose.
We had our (alpine) ski gear with us and were intending to ski, which is why we were in Innsbruck. But the snow was crap that year. So we killed a day or two or three moping around town, spending too much time in bars, cursing our bad luck. There was a bit of snow on or near the summits, but hardly any in town or lower down on the mountain. The peaks there are around 13,000 feet or so.
Mid-afternoon of the third day we finally said fuggit, let's go skiing. So we quickly suited up and headed up the mountain via a series of trams... several of them.. and finally arrived at the base of a short slope at the summit. As we got on the last chairlift, the lift operator mumbled something about "this is your last run. Meaning -- it was 4:30, and the lift was about to shut down.
So we did our run, got back to the base of that little slope, and just kept going downhill, even though we knew that was a stupid thing to do. Sure enough, the snow ran out in short order.
We ended up hiking several thousand feet down this Austrian alp, in ski boots, mostly in the dark, guided by power lines and such man-made constructs as we could find. Got back into town around seven or eight PM, grinning at our stupidity and audacity. We discovered later that a search party was being organized to find us. I still remember that little man (the summit lift operator) waving and yelling at us to come back as we skied by him. It amazes me sometimes how we survived our youth. ;)
Yes. 2006 hiking north out of Franklin me and another hiker got hit by the mother of all Lightning Storms. We got about 100 yards distance between each other, sad down on the trail and counted the lightning as it go closer and closer. Buckets and Buckets of rain poured on us for about 20 minutes. When the lightning moved off we started hiking again and spotted a tree nearby that had been spit in two. Still smoking.
The second scary moment was when I was sleeping alone in the 1st shelter north of Albert Mountain, NC. I can't remember the name of the shelter. I was convinced the shelter was haunted. No rhyme or reason for my feeling this. I just felt it was haunted. The whole surrounding camp was haunted. It all gave me the creeps. But I slept anyway and move out at 1st light.
I hike solo, will continue to hike solo. BUT, several times it could have been bad not having a partner.
I have had Hypothermia twice. Maybe could have been avoided had I a hiking partner. Time #2 I was stopped by some caring folks & forced to set up camp just past the rich Mt firetower. Thanks guys! Both of these instances were scary after the fact, as they were happening I was totally unaware of how much trouble I was in.
My most scary moment on the trail, I very nearly fell off a cliff a bit south of the no business knob shelter (south of Erwin). I was pushing on, had planned on stopping at Spivey Gap but was feeling good, had about 3.5 hrs daylight left, so. I was rounding a corner & took it a bit wide due to all the exposed tree roots, I tripped & fell head first towards the edge of a (my guess) 200' nearly vertical drop. Lucky for me there was a tree just within reach as I was going over, I managed to grab hold of it w one hand I kept from going over, just barely. What was scariest was: I was probably last on the trail in that area, at least that day. It was getting late, likely no one would have found me till late AM the next day. NO ONE was expecting me anywhere for 2 to 3 days. Needless to say, I sat mid trail for some time getting myself back together before hiking on.
Doctari.
maxNcathy
02-16-2007, 12:17
TT, your adventure on the slopes near Innsbrook, Austria reminds me of a Canadian pro hockey player who disappeared in Europe while vacationing.
After 42 days located his car 25 miles from Innsbrook in ski areas parking lot...after a 14 year search by his parents his body was found on the slopes of the glacier where he was snowboarding...a gap suddenly opened up in glacier and he crashed down into it...the slope operator filled in the hole soon after he went in...came to surface 14 years later. The ski lodge operator denied renting him a board...thay didn't want to cooperate for fear of bad press as this was not the first person to go down a crevasse...one guy was found as he had a cell phone that worked...DON'T ski alone on a glacier!
DON'T ski alone on a glacier!
I would never do that. I'm a wimp. We had the opposite problem -- not enough snow on the mountain. The only reason we did what we did was 'cuz we felt gypped, having paid for the trams to the top of the moutain and then getting only one short run. We had chutzpah, but not much cash. We did some crazy stupid stuff in our yout'. Someday I'll tell you our adventures in Morocco. ;)
maxNcathy
02-16-2007, 18:34
Okay, time to hear your "tale on a trail" in Morocco.
Okay, time to hear your "tale on a trail" in Morocco.
Some other time, maybe. There was no trail involved, though there were some backpacks involved... and Moroccans with knives. :eek: :eek:
Earl Grey
02-16-2007, 19:55
Wow reading all this makes me scared of the trail kind of!
I guess one thing I got from reading all this is GTFO of the way of lightning and stay away from people that look like they were in Deliverance.
oldfivetango
02-16-2007, 20:19
For those of you who carry a radio,in case you don't know,any time
the dewpoint is above 60 degrees F you are subject to thunderstorms.
If the dewpoint is within 4 degrees of the current temperature you are
subject to fog.Also,you probably know already that afternoons in the summer are "prime time" for storms in the Southeast;especially on the
weekends:D
Oldfivetango
Chef2000
02-16-2007, 22:08
Being picked up for a hitch By any male who asks " Yall meet any woman out Dere" This is why.....(may not be appropriate for younger readers)
In March of 2000, on a Sunday, I had camped above Stecoah Gap the night before, as I loaded my pack I noticed my pack strap was broken. I rigged it up to work and began the steep hike down into Stecoah, it started to rain. I made it to stecoah around 9 am in the mist and saw a car in the lot. There was a man in the car and he was talkin to Goodwheels, another thru hiker. I walked over and asked if he could give me a ride to ROBBINSVILLE, my plan was to stay in town, contact family who could buy a strap and overnight it to me. He was more than happy to give me a ride. It was four door so i put my pack in back seat, i got in front seat , car starts to move,in a falsetto southern twang .."Hi my name is Brian, i've just come from church"..in a deep bahstin accent " Hi I am Chef".. Brian replies " Ya'll met any woman out dere". I had in fact met several woman in the 20 some odd days I had been hiking, so I replied " Ya"..Brian"Did ya get em" Chef, lookin bewildered "What, what do you mean".."you know..DID YOU GET THEM" with a smile and wink. "Ah no, they were with there boyfriends or husbands."He looked very dissappointed but grinned and said' Oh they want it, from anyone." Having grown up in the city, my freak radar went off. Brian then told me a story of a female thruhiker from the year before, who was in a shelter with twelve male hikers.."They pult a train on her" I immedeiately began to think of all of my online resaerch from the year before and could not recall hearing anything about this..I said as much to Brian, he replied "they kilt her". Ok this guy is weird ill just get to town and get lost, it was only a fifteen minute ride, during which he offered me booze, drugs and women.."I know you need one after being in the woods so long" "No thank you". finnally a town. " ok you can just let me off here, thanks." Brian "oh there is hotel just in front of my trailer park, ill take you dere". we pulled up right in front of a trailer he shared with his Granma.."Come on in shell make great lunch..i know you thru hikers are hungry" " No thanks ill just go up to the motel" " Ok ill come up and check on ya later". I went to the little motel and the door was locked an elderley woman came to the closed door and told me they had no vacancy, ok there were others in town and brian might not find me there. Walked to other end of town and got almpst the same reception from a slightly younger woman. I was getting a Twiligh Zone type feeling, as I walked about town folks were staring at me and i saw no ther hikers. I consulted hiker companion and discovered Jeff and Nancy so i went gas station they had no payphone but allowed me to use there own phone, I called Hike INN Jeff anserws phone "hello" "Hi my name is chef, i am hiking the AT and I am ina place called robbinsville and nobody will give me a room.." Jeff cuts in "we gotta get you outta Robbinsville they dont like hikers in robbinsville" " my reply " No kidding." Jeff says " My wifes in town now were r you" "so and so station on rte 28" great stand on the road she wont drive buy a hiker, shes driving a gray s15 pickup" Cool, i walk out to the road and in afew minutes spot a gray s15 coming up the road ..and drive right by me. Oh well I now about hike inn and were it is Fontana. I stick out my thumb, ten minutes later someone gassin up yells over "where you goin" " Fontana " "well take you". Alright Iam almost out of robbinsville. The were driving an ancient olds 98 complete with rust. This car would of been dead from the boston sea air years ago. There wee three so i had to get in back with Arthur and many empty beer cans as well as cheap vodka bottles.weer pull out of gas station and go the Wrong direction, in fact we are heading back toward the trailer park. There was female driver, male passenger who invited me and arthur. Male passenger "were just goin to the bootlegger get some beer for the ride, want some " "ahh no thanks". The bootlegger lives in trailer park, mail passenger goes in Arthur is very wasted and I can not understand him, he can not understand my boston accent. passenger comes back we drive out of traler park and away from rte 28 "isnt that the way" as I point to rte 28. "no were gonna take a senic route" "to female driver he says "***** has the scanner on and he heard the sherriffs looking for a car with three people and a hiker anybody want to smoke a joint". Now im in worse shape than when started. We begin a ride thru a back road route up the mountain, slowing down at several abandoned barns on the way. At one point she was gonna go up a small dirt road but male passenger said"naw hes probably up there". Now I begin to plan a quick exit from this vehicle, except my pack is in the trunk. I have my wooden sticks i was using as poles. Arthur is so stoned and close enough I could buttend him in the face. Then i would go for the driver with a swing to the head, hoping to cause her to crash, this vehilce is a tank, Iwould not get hurt in the back seat, that left male passenger who was probably packin heat, but he wa not wearing a seat belt, odds are he would be in the windshield or the dashboard when the car crashed, besides i was directly behind him so could get in a few whacks. I did not want to abandon pack but my life was mor important. we came to T section and i saw a road sign pointing left to Fontana, I gripped my heavier stick and eyeballed arthur, if she turned right away from Fontana I was going to start whackin. I forgot to mention they were all cherrokees. It was a tense moment as she looked left, right then left again. She chose the correct direction, i eased up a little. Within minutes we drive by Hike INN were i spot hikers I know and i say " this is were i wanna go" the woman says "no you wanna go up to the lake" and keeps driving. Later i learned naNcy was preparing pursuit because she recognized car from sherriff report, she was the one who called the sherriff in the first place. After I insisted that she turn around I prpared my hiking stick offense again, by noe Arthur was passed out, but I was gonna whack him , just cause I could. Finnally she turned around and we pulled in to hike inn just as nancy was leaving, all hikers and jeff and nancy came to car, i got out, and as I was gettin pack out of trunk male passenger ask me for some money. i gave him five bucks and Nancy chased them off. Later I heard there side Nancy could not pick me up cause she was full, but returned after i got in the car. The woman at gas station answered in reply to Nancy's question "where di that hiker go" "Oh he got in acar with 3 drunk cherokees" That when she called the cops, after hearing my side Jeff , Nancy were convinced that they were looking for a place to rob/kill/dump my body on that 45 minute ride. I also told them about my ride from stecoah gap and she insisted i call cops about brian whom I had been callin the pervert dude. I did. I stayed for two nights while my brother got part and fedex it to me, so I Slacked packed from stecoah to dam the next day. I got to the Dam, used the bathroom and found the phone around the corner. As I approached the phone I spotted Brians car coming into parking lot, I fraked out, dialed Hikee INN and nancy answers "nancy Its chef, im at the dam and that pervert dude is here" I hear the bathroom door open and close, Nancy replies "did you see the police station up the hill" "yup" "go there as fast as you can" "OK" as shes talkin Brian comes to railing over looking dam. I am looking right at him, I duck down behind payphone but he never looks my way. With no pack I hang up phone and run for police station, an officer comes out within a minute "I give him a brief descript of my ride with Brian the day before and explain that he is at the dam right now". Until he drove right by us. police pursuit entails nancy picks me up. next day i am at Fontana PO getting mail drop and officer shows up, we chat , he did not catch Brian but ran his plate number and discovered that Brian was an alias and he was a registered sex offender in The stateof NC. Oh Man wat a few days that was and it all began with me panicking over a broken strap, if i read a page further in companion before i went down to stecoah i would have found Jeff and Nancy first and never went to Robbinsville.
maxNcathy
02-17-2007, 10:46
Chef, that was very scary. Glad you made it out alive.
Now I will be way more cautious when it comes to getting rides. Seems like it's best to be in a small group and don't accept rides from the possessed.
Sandalwood
Eek, I'm steering clear of Robbinsville! Glad you came out of that whole ordeal safely. Thank God for the folks at the Hike Inn!
Earl Grey
02-17-2007, 21:20
Wow that was an intense story. This makes me not want to get rides from people because I will be by myself.
Earl Grey
02-17-2007, 21:50
I forgot to add that I should stop reading this thread because its going to make me not want to go!
Pedaling Fool
02-18-2007, 16:00
I Goggled Hog’s Cicada Killer… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_killer_wasp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_killer_wasp) However, the insects displayed at this site don’t resemble the insect I remember.
Wow, I got a picture of one of these, I thought it was just a hornet. Check out "View my Gallery" and look at the pic titled: "Epic Battle".
Pedaling Fool
02-19-2007, 20:15
I had set up my tent and crawled into it just after dusk. As I lay there, drifting off to sleep I noticed what seemed to be a large leaf on my screened roof. However, it seemed to either be getting bigger or slowly drifting down toward my face; I resisted turning on my light, because I was so tired. But, every time I opened my eyes it just seemed closer, barley had my night-vision yet. My curiosity finally got the best of me, so I turned on my head-lamp and AAHHH S&%T!!! – I nearly jumped through the roof. It was a big brown spider – about the size of a small saucer – descending upon my face. I grabbed him by his web, which he was dangling from, opened my door and threw him out, except he hit the door and fell to the tent floor! So here I am flip-floping in my tent trying to get him out the door; finally got him out, but I was up for the next six hours, periodically checking my tent and brushing off the imaginary bugs I felt all night.
alright, a story, not necessarily from the trail, and really more funny than scary...
I'm 25 yrs old, and have taken up kayaking, living in rural Alabama. I have a buddy that is completely willing to call me at 5 p.m. on Friday, and say "Let's paddle!" We throw boats on a car, and head for northeast GA to paddle on the Chattooga River. We do this several times a month.... remember the days bwbk (before wife, before kids?)?
One Friday night we got up to one of the state parks on the NC side of the river about midnight. He threw a brand new shiny thermarest (remember the ones w/ the brass valves?) on top of a picnic table. I lay on the ground under the bench in a sleeping bag (who needs a sleeping mat - I'm 25, right?).... It's a foggy, cool summer night in the mountains. No lights around - when you turn off your flashlight, you can't see your hand in front of your face....
At some point in the night, I'm dreaming, and it's not a fun dream... I'm dreaming that I'm tied up on the floor in the dark, laying on my side, and there are rats running around on the floor around my head.... I slowly wake up and realize that I'm sleeping on my side and hearing snuffling and skittering right in front of my face. I immediately think, "RATS! GOING FOR MY EYES!", start screaming and pounding the ground in front of my face to chase off the rats...
I finally calm down enought to find my flashlight. Turn it on and swing it around - nothing on the ground under the picnic table in front of me - swing it further around the catch a big fat black tail waddling off, with a white strip down the middle..... "Oh, ####, a skunk! ####, I'm lucky I didn't get sprayed!"
I got up and went to sleep, well, lean back with heart pounding and mind racng, in the car....
maxNcathy
02-20-2007, 09:10
Skunks!!
What would a hiker do if he and his gear sustained a direct hit while still a 3 day hike from town?? Would other hikers notice? haha
They say that Blood Mt shelter is well known to skunks. I will not sleep around there.
I wonder if there are huge freaky Florida-like poisonous spiders in the woods along the AT.
Sandalwood
Jim Adams
02-20-2007, 09:26
Had a spotted skunk playing with Ziggy my cat at Standing Indian Shelter in '90....kinda freaked me out!
geek
Chef2000
02-20-2007, 14:19
Just a side note in seven years of hiking and hitching not only along the AT corridor, throughtout white mountains NH and along the Colorado trail the previous post was the only trouble I ever had with hitchikes. It would seem like I got it all at once and then was done with it.
maxNcathy
02-24-2007, 23:08
Boo!!!!!!!
Baum Trigger
02-24-2007, 23:22
I wonder if there are huge freaky Florida-like poisonous spiders in the woods along the AT.
Sandalwood
I've come across tarantula size spiders in the Smokies on more than one occasion. Thinking about them gives me the chills... ughhhhhh.
Footslogger
02-24-2007, 23:50
Check out this one. Ensign Cowall Shelter 2003.
...imagine looking up from your sleeping bag and seeing this above your head !! I put the BIC lighter up there for scale.
'Slogger
Baum Trigger
02-25-2007, 00:02
I think I wet myself after looking at that...
Earl Grey
02-25-2007, 01:46
Check out this one. Ensign Cowall Shelter 2003.
...imagine looking up from your sleeping bag and seeing this above your head !! I put the BIC lighter up there for scale.
'Slogger
=================
1478
I've got two stories.
One time my brother and I were doing a weekend hike at Big South Fork in Tennessee. It was about 100*, and the ranger told us to be careful because there was a pine beetle problem causing some trees to fall. As we are hiking we can hear trees groaning, and hear one fall in the distance at least every 5 minutes as we hike. We decide to just make it a day hike because of the falling trees, and take a 5 mile loop. Turns out the trail signs are all gone (still don't know why), and we get lost. As we walk we just start trying to take the many different trails trying to get back. On one trail we decide to turn around, and about 200 yards back we step over 2 trees that weren't on the trail 5 minutes earlier. At this point we are both out of water. By the end of the day we made it back to the car at 11pm, had hiked almost 50 miles over 16 hours. I was so dehydrated that I was halucenating, and imagining mice were crawling out of my brothers boots that he was wearing. I was also hearing elephants. If we didn't make it to the car before sunrise, we would both be dead.
The second story wasn't scary for me, but for everyone else. I was asleep. I was at Fall Creek Falls with my youth group a few years ago, and we were staying in the campgrounds. It was a nice night so I pulled two folding camp chairs together next to the fire and put my legs in one chair, and my upper body curled up in the other. As the fire died down I would get cold, wake up, and throw in a log. This way there was a good fire to cook on when we woke up. Around 6am a couple guys woke up, and saw me in the chairs, and immediately woke everyone but me up. I never woke up, but they told me that 2 skunks were sleeping around my head in the chair, another one curled up on my feet, and 2 more under the chairs. My group just hung out far away watching. The fire eventually died down, so the skunks decided to go find somewhere warmer.
littlejon
03-10-2008, 12:36
A few years ago I took a summer job on a cattle ranch near Benson AZ. It was my first time out in the desert, and it took a near fatal experience for me to realize that the rules are a lot different out there than here in the water-rich East.
My buddy Alan and I had been truck camping out in the canyon country for about a week, fixing fence, checking water tanks, etc and were due back at the ranch at 6:00 am the next morning. It was late afternoon and we had just cleaned and refilled the last stock-tank on our list and were about 4hrs out from the ranch. We decided to drive as far as we could 'till dark, make camp and then head back in at daylight.
FIRST STUPID MOVE:
Alan-Wanna fill up the water bucket 'fore we leave?
Me-(eyeing the stagnant brown liquid in the tank) Naw, we still got a couple gallons left, I don't wanna mess with trying to strain and boil that crap.
Alan- Yeah, we got enough to get through the night.
The next morning we woke before daybreak, broke camp and piled into the truck. When I put it into gear the transmission basically exploded. Bang! Dead truck.
So there we were twenty miles from anywhere, with about a gallon of water between two people and +100 degree temps on the way.
SECOND STUPID MOVE:
Me-We could start walkin', it's only twenty miles.....
Alan- I'll grab this vodka, if we find water we can use the bottle.....
I only remember the first few of hours of our hike. As soon as the sun was up the water went quick. Apparently we soon became disoriented enough to start drinking the vodka. (BAD, BAD, BAD!)
Luckily for us, when we didn't show up on time at the ranch, they came looking and found us about five miles out. We had made it to the the main "road" before collapsing in the shade under some mesquites.
I came to in the bunkhouse with the worst headache of my life and some major sunburn and a deep awareness of how I had nearly died from sheer stupidity.
envirodiver
03-10-2008, 12:42
I've got two stories.
One time my brother and I were doing a weekend hike at Big South Fork in Tennessee. It was about 100*, and the ranger told us to be careful because there was a pine beetle problem causing some trees to fall. As we are hiking we can hear trees groaning, and hear one fall in the distance at least every 5 minutes as we hike. We decide to just make it a day hike because of the falling trees, and take a 5 mile loop. Turns out the trail signs are all gone (still don't know why), and we get lost. As we walk we just start trying to take the many different trails trying to get back. On one trail we decide to turn around, and about 200 yards back we step over 2 trees that weren't on the trail 5 minutes earlier. At this point we are both out of water. By the end of the day we made it back to the car at 11pm, had hiked almost 50 miles over 16 hours. I was so dehydrated that I was halucenating, and imagining mice were crawling out of my brothers boots that he was wearing. I was also hearing elephants. If we didn't make it to the car before sunrise, we would both be dead.
I like BSF and the pine beetles did great damage to the area. I still look very carefully when setting camp to avoid the widowmakers. What part of the BSF were you in that had such a lack of water. The areas I frequent have water everywhere.
NorthCountryWoods
03-10-2008, 13:35
Solo crossing the Mckinley river Denali NP in spring 1998. 20 degree air temp and 32 degree glacial fed water braided into 20 plus crossings. Legs get numb instantly. Lost footing and was swept away on the last big one and my muscles just stopped working in the cold water. Ended up beaching on the gravel bar down river like a piece of driftwood and my pack a few yards away. Couldn't even kick my feet and barely able to crawl out of the water.
The sun came out and got me warm enough to get up and start a fire and dry out. Otherwise, I would've been bear bait....Luck doesn't begin to describe it.
climberdave
03-10-2008, 13:54
While in the middle of a freezing fog at night hiking up the AT to Mt Rodgers (couldn't see anything) I went to sit down on a log to rest and scared up some pheasants (I think) which scared the s**t out of me. I was carrying a heavy winter pack and proceeded to fall over backwards and turtle around for awhile.
Another time I had a buck snort and grunt loudly outside of my tent one night. I think he was trying to mate with my tent. What a sound!! I didn't sleep a wink after that.
envirodiver
03-10-2008, 13:56
Walking on a rock shelf adjacent to a waterfall. Uh it's told to stay away from these types of areas for a reason. The rock shelf appeared to be dry, so no problem right. Wrong it was covered in a dry looking slime, algae or something. I went straight to my back, sliding toward the edge of the waterfall. I managed to spin around so at least I would go feet first and just spread out my arms and legs to make as big a print and generate as much friction as possible. There was nothing to grab and just flat rock. I stopped just before the edge. Managed to inch away from the edge, reach up a get a handle on a root sticking out above me. Very slowly and gently pulled myself away from the edge. Managed to get upright and very delicately made my way back to where I started on dry land.
I was shaking pretty good, but my buddy's face was classic. Just that slackjawed glazed over look, and I realized that he had never spoken during the whole thing. Hey what was there to say.
Three years ago at Standing Indian Shelter during the night a Bear sniffed under the rain fly of my tent......thank goodness for taking serious back country precautions so nothing in the tent but me. Of course the moon was bright and the shadow of my visitor was cast across the tent. It didn't harass me in any way as I didn't harass it either. However I did have hair stand up in places I didn't know I had hair.:eek:
Was hiking the AT in NJ with a friend and his dog, we were talking and walking when he suddenly leashed the dog. He stops me and says "Bear" I look up and there is a bear standing on the trail maybe 40 yards ahead. He starts saying how it's good there are no cubs around when 2 cubs jump out of the bushes next to the mother. We start making noise to shoo them off and they ramble into the woods to our right. 1/4 mile down the train, they decided that they had enough of the top of the mountain and crossed over the path about 30 yards ahead of us. The mother stopped on the trail and just glanced at us until the cubs were down the hill a bit.
Now, that's not the scary part. A mile down the trail we spooked a deer who was bedding right next to the trail. It jumped up less than 5 ft from me on the right. Yes, I thought it was a bear and I jumped back.
----------------------------------------
Last trip started late for me and my one friend. He had a wedding to go to and I had to work the day we were leaving. So, after a long day of work, trouble with his truck on the way out to the starting point and moving our other friends truck to the mid-way point, we finally started hiking at 4am. Now, I had been up since 5am, so my mind starting playing tricks on me soon after we start hiking. Seeing things that were not there, hearing things. I kept thinking I would see our friends tent off the trail. At 5:15 I was really tired and was just watching my feet as I hiked. I glance up to make sure I'm still on the trail when I see 2 shapes on the trail. Now, I had only quickly lifted my head then looked right back down. Took a second to register what I saw so I looked up again and almost fell over. It was opening turkey day and these hunters were heading out, gave them and me a good laugh but man, I almost had to clean my shorts.
dessertrat
03-10-2008, 14:46
Being in my tent and hearing an extremely loud crack and a large tree limb hitting the ground not too far away.
fall hiking stepped next to a BIG rattlesnake. Must of levatated 4 feet in the air! 200 yds later grouse flew up in front of me. I sat and cried for a while. :-)
NorthCountryWoods
03-10-2008, 17:05
.....grouse flew up in front of me.
I scare one up (or rather, they scare me) just about every hike.
Slim aka Nancy
03-10-2008, 21:00
One year we were hiking in PA. near Rauch Gap. We had the tent set up, cooked our beef stew, and were in the tent looking at our maps. We heard a loud noise, and Bogey said jokingly," It,s probably just a bear". We looked out the tent window and it was a huge bear. It was looking at the tent while pushing it's forpaws against a log. Bogey said it will smell us and run away,WRONG! It walked right up to the tent. It had smelled the beef stew we had made. It walked around the left side, front, and stopped at the right side of the tent. Visions of flying fur, blood, and screams flashed in our minds. We were really scared. Because we live in PA. and Bogey had a hand gun permit, he had a 25cal. hand gun along. He reached out the front of the tent and fired into the ground as Slim was watching the bear through the small window in the back of the tent. Slim said the bear jumped two feet in the air and bolted off. We went outside and looked around. Dusk was just about to set in. We thought we saw the bear still lurking in the distance, so we packed up in record time and walked, very briskly, 3 hours in the dark, back to our car.
Darwin again
03-10-2008, 21:06
1--> Branch about 2 inches in diameter and ten feet long landed in the trail like a spear about eight feet behind me as I walked.
2--> Lightning struck the ground about 60 feet away away from the trail during a hailstorm in the hills south of Damascus. I jumped about two feet straight up in the air.
Darwin again
03-10-2008, 21:08
oh yeah...
3--> Big rattlesnake laid out across the trail south of Pearisburg. I was winded from the climb up Sugar Mountain and breezing along, waiting for a view to appear. Didn't step on the snake but came close. Snake buzzed and I landed about eight feet back on the trail in a low crouch. Animal reaction on my part. Kind of cool after the adrenalin tapered off...
bushwhacking an old trail in Shen, stepped on a stick, rattlesnake sounded off from the other end of the stick ... I thought for a moment I had stepped on ths snake
Flush2wice
03-11-2008, 08:46
2--> Lightning struck the ground about 60 feet away away from the trail during a hailstorm in the hills south of Damascus. I jumped about two feet straight up in the air.[/quote]
Exact same thing happened to me there too. It was at the shelter with the big rock overlooking the valley. I was sitting there watching the storm approach and BAM! Lightning hits a tree about 60 feet in front of me. I ran into the shelter as marble sized hail starts falling.
No Belay
03-11-2008, 10:23
My scariest back packing related moment came while gear testing. This was my experience as related in an earlier post;
Was on Whee-bay a couple of weeks ago and saw a listing for magnesium shavings to use as fire starters. Thought "this has got to be cool" and bought a pound. I was expecting a sandwich bag full but when it got here, I was surprised to see it was a gallon zip-lock full of saw shavings and little fuzzy balls coated in gun powder. Thought "this really is cool."
My girlfriend was using the stove so I couldn't try it under the exhaust fan where I usually do my Alky stove training. Instead I got a coffee can, bad choice, turned it over, and poured about a tablespoon of the shavings over one of the fuzzy balls that I set on the bottom of the inverted can. Expecting a nice subtle tinder drying type fire, I struck a match to the fuzzy ball. It initially just kind of smoldered but then a small shaving of the magnesium ignited and that's the last thing I remember seeing before the big flash. Have you ever heard 6 smoke alarms going off at the same time?
Anywho, as my vision began to come back, I was pleased to see there was very little flame left on the top of the coffee can, just allot of smoke. Then I realized the magnesium had burned through the can and was now devouring the top of my kitchen island cabinet. Being a cool headed experimenter, I grabbed an oven mitt and the turkey roaster pan. In total control, I knocked the can off onto the floor and as I wiped the burning magnesium off the counter and towards the roaster pan, there was another blinding flash. Kinda looked like the 4th of July, New Years Eve in New York, and Hiroshima all rolled into one. Thank God, somewhere between the counter top and the pan, the remaining metal from hell had ignited and disappeared. All that remained were little black shards stuck in my forehead, arms, and stomach. The underarmor T shirt I was wearing had been reduced to a Richard Simons look alike. Didn't get lucky that night...in fact didn't even get dinner
I still have scars from the experience (both physical and emotional) but my shrink seems to think I'll improve after I get a new belly button and eye brows grafted on.:o
My scariest back packing related moment came while gear testing. ...
Maybe there IS some use to those high school/college chemistry courses after all? Or history: What you have there is what old time photographers used to call flash powder. I guess you discovered why. I'm surprised E-Bay allowed that stuff to be sold, or Fed-Ex to ship it.
THEmapMAKER
03-11-2008, 12:37
My wife (girlfriend at the time) and I were backpacking in SNP. A few minutes after hitting the trail 2 bear cubs scurried down a tree and ran right infront of us. I looked around very quickly to see if the mamma bear was around. I did not see her, but we left the area very quickly and
cautiously.
Darwin again
03-11-2008, 22:38
My scariest back packing related moment came while gear testing. This was my experience as related in an earlier post;
Was on Whee-bay a couple of weeks ago and saw a listing for magnesium shavings ...
Magnesium. Man. They use that in the Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters!