Ghost Stories - Folklore welcomed

[dervari]

My cousin thinks it could have been the troubled spirit of a slave who died constructing the nearby manufacturing plant or mill race,the ruins of which still are there today.

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[RADHiker]

Two years ago near Lost Mountain shelter, we were snug in our tents after a hard rain when a hiker came down the trail. I assumed s/he was looking for a pitch site because the light from a headlamp was bouncing back and forth. This went on for a while. I could hear the footsteps in the leaves - we had two tents about 100 ft off trail - and this person walked round and round. Then the footsteps came towards us and into our camp. When I heard them walk right next to my tent, I said (as threatening as my Mom voice could muster) "are you lost?!" At that, the footsteps stopped and totally went silent. Not another sound, no more light. Just disappeared. It was the strangest thing and I struggled to sleep the rest of the night wondering what had just happened. In the morning, there was no sign of another hiker nearby. Creepy.

the next year, we were hanging near Siler Bald shelter - also totally creepy - when I heard what I assumed to be a bear foraging uphill. I listened as it moved across the ridge line. It was pitch black outside and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. All of a sudden I heard what sounded like the animal was running down the hill straight for me! Just as it got near me, I clapped my hands loudly and said "NO!" and it came to a dead stop. No more sound, no more movement. It was probably a rock or something that rolled down the hill, but needless to say I didn't sleep much that night either. 8-O

[Pedaling Fool]

Damascus gets a mention here, little more than 19-minutes into the audio and it's accompanied by a story from the AT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTLsvWBaWgQ

[Pedaling Fool]

Some claim Bigfoot is more a spiritual entity than a flesh and blood animal. Les Stroud investigating in the Appalachians thru the Smokies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5TmzfRMvHw

[Pedaling Fool]

Some claim Bigfoot is more a spiritual entity than a flesh and blood animal. Les Stroud investigating in the Appalachians thru the Smokies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5TmzfRMvHw

^^^Sorry, wrong video, here's the one with Les>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUW3NKL5PZw

[LIhikers]

Wasn't there a book of ghost stories either along the AT or in Appalachia in general?
For the life of me I can't remember the author.

[FooFooCuddlyPoops]

While this isn't on the at, I witnessed something odd off a blur blaze from the Appalachian trail at apple orchard mountain.

A group of freinds and I were car camping at the trail head of the blue blaze. There was one other car, but no sign of the owner. Well, right around the time it usually finally got pitch black, we all heard what sounded to be like doors opening and closing. The spot we camped was down an embankment where we couldn't see but the tops of the cars in the parking lot.

at first we thought the second owner came back so we ignored it. The dogs were nervous, but not in a way that alerted us to danger. Well, not far after the first door bang, we heard a second. This time the dogs started to stand up and growl towards the car lot. Me being the dumb blond of the murder club got up to investigate.

I walked up the incline towards the car lot and found...nothing. Not a soul. Not a single extra car. I walked back and everyone was on high alert. My Freind wanted to pack up and leave. I just shrugged it off.

The scariest thing...the dog that started to growl...was a seeing eye dog for my Freind. They are trained to come across every obstacle and he is a seasoned hiker.

[OCDave]

I first heard the story of the Monkey-wolf at my first Cub Scout camp.

We Cubs were being guided/hosted by older Boy Scouts. They were very kind about giving us the "lay of the land" about a lot of things a maturing male would need to know. We felt extremely privileged when, despite strict orders from the Camp Management, the Boy Scouts told us the secret of the Camp.

Around the dying embers of our first night's campfire, we learned in gruesome detail about the Monkey-wolf attack that occurred, ironically on that same date, 2 decades prior to our stay. Monkey-wolf, lured by the scent of snacks in a tent, emerged from the woods and...... (too gruesome for a public forum)... The morning after the attack, the light of the rising sun revealed a shredded canvas tent, one missing scout and 2 others mauled but alive. Any doubt of this story was put to rest as there were medical records available at the local hospital detailing those scouts' injuries if only we cared enough to go see them. Of course, as the camp had paid the local newspapers to suppress the story, we should also refrain from leaking our knowledge of the truth.

To be safe, it was suggested that if there were any chance that we have the scent of snacks on our breath, we should brush our teeth vigorously before retiring for the night.

It has been more than 40 years since I first heard the story of the Monkey-wolf. I just recently started to question its veracity. There are those medical records after all.

[Water Rat]

Wasn't there a book of ghost stories either along the AT or in Appalachia in general?
For the life of me I can't remember the author.

Is this the one you are thinking of - "Walkin' with the Ghost Whisperers Lore and Legends of the Appalachian Trail," by J.R. "Model T" Tate?

http://www.modelt.net/Our_Products.html

[Sarcasm the elf]

Well it's that time, almost Halloween again. Anybody have any good stories (whether true or otherwise) to share?

[MuddyWaters]

True story
When we was chilluns, my pappy and uncle told us stories about a hermit who lived in the woods. This hermit was always out to get us younguns in the stories, but he was a real character from their childhood suspected of killing a boyscout.

Seems this old hermit, lived in da woods near their scout camp in rural mississippi. No one actually knowed him, he kept to hisself. But people would see him, at different places an time, watching them. Then hed just dissapear. Hed appear in the edge of woods near scout camp sometimes just lookin. The local folk called him a name which I dont remembers no more. He had a reputation as violent mean fellow so no one ever tried to visit him or learn anythin bout him.

Well , seems one time bout 5 years before my pappy and uncle was scoutin age, a boyscout dissapeared from da camp area durin a campout. The scout got up to pee in the night apparently, exited tent, and never came back in. In the mornin he was missin.


They never found a trace of him. The woods was searched high and low, even by hounds. Nothing was found. Since scouts had been running around playing games, and hiking in woods , his scent was everywhere and hounds couldnt foller it for long.

The law went to investigate at the hermits shack, a ways away, but the hermit was gone too. Funny thing, was inside his shack looked like it hadnt been lived in.....in years. People supposed hed done killed the child and then run off, but couldnt explain why. Or why the old shack looked like it was abandoned for long time.

5 years later my pappy and uncle was scoutin, and camped at the scout camp with da troop. Since they was brothers they shared a pup tent. Theyd camped there half dozen or more times, never had anything unusual like happen. In the evenin this one day they thought they saw someone lookin at em from the trees. They told the scoutmaster, who took a couple men and went investigaten. They didnt find no sign of no one. After normal dinner and campfire , they went to bed. They zipped up their tent, as always.

They was awakened in night sometime by a loud scream. They both heard it . It woke them both up at same time. And they found their tent flap.....unzipped. It was wide open. They went to the scoutmasters tent and woke him up. Nobody else in the camp had heard a thing.

To the day they both died, they swore to me somethin happened in their tent that night they couldnt explain. Neither was superstitious or believed in ghosts.

[blue indian]

So this literally just happened to me (blue indian) and my girlfriend (momma bear) on a section hike in southern Virginia....

It was day 2 of a week long hike. Momma bear and I had hiked 12 miles that day and were looking for a good place to camp. We had a rough afternoon (especially momma bear who isnt use to long distance backpacking) with 2 long climbs. We wanted to call it a day and Awols guide said there was camping and water at the next gap. After a long, slow decent into the gap with a major road crossing we decided we didnt like the vibe of the area and would push on to the next shelter (old orchard shelter) which was about 2.5 miles away.

We took a quick break before heading up the next hill and to the shelter. We were moving slow and had been for the past 2 hours due to some sore legs and knees. We calculated that it should take us 1.5 hours to get to old orchard. We passed a small family coming NOBO and I asked about the shelter and the climb ahead. The older gentleman said we has a good climb ahead of us which he said it took him over an hour to come down. I reassured momma bear that we would get there soon and tried to keep her morale up. So we kept walkin.

About 20 minutes later I look up and notice a trail intersection. It should have taken us over an hour to get to this point but some how we were there. I took out my guide to double check mileages and location. It made no sense. Its like time got compressed and we were at one place one moment and in another place the next. I was pretty confused but didnt say much about it.

We made it to camp a few minutes later. Once set up, we started talking about the seemingly compressed hour and a half and we both got creeped out. I got chill bumps.. .It made no sense. One minute we were in the gap, the next we were standing in front of the shelter. Its like we went through a worm hole or something. There were a few other strange things that happened to us on this trip but this one was the weirdest.

[rmitchell]

Two years ago I worked on Rocky Top Trail Crew in GSMNP. Our area to work was from Inadu Knob to Mt. Black installing steps, water bars and crushing rock for turnpikes. The basecamp that we worked out that week was within the crash zone of the F4 that went down on the 80's. The crash was so violent that debris are scatter over 20 acres. One of the larger pieces near our latrine trench was nicknamed R2D2. But there were lots of small shards of metal and pieces of electrical wires all around. Even one piece embedded in a tree.
Our hike up Snake Den trail was fast paced and I was the last one into camp. So I got last pick of sites and wound up at the very top of the ridge, technically on the state line. Even up there I had to move two small pieces of metal so as not to puncture to floor of my tent.
After supper I went to my tent and immediately fell asleep. At some point during the night I was woken to a loud roa

[rmitchell]

(unintended dramatic pause)
I was woken by a loud roar and very bright light. So bright that it illuminated the fallen leaves on the tent's fly.

A few days later we recounted our story to the backcountry ranger supervisor. She said no rescue flights were on record. And commercial flights are subject to altitude restrictions.

I content that it was the ghosts of the Phantom.

[Grits]

Uncle Nick Grindstaffs Memorial 3 miles south of Cross Mtn Road. http://www.hauntmastersclub.com/plac...ffs_grave.html


Along the Appalachian Trail in Shady Valley on Iron Mountain, the dividing line between Shady Valley and Stoney Creek, there is the chimney-shaped grave of Uncle Nick Grindstaff, a man who, as the tombstone says, "Lived alone, Suffered alone, and Died alone.”
According to Carter County, Tennessee and Its People, 1796-1993, when he was 26 years old, he was attacked and robbed at a saloon on his way to Johnson County from Missouri, where he had went in hopes of finding fortunes. The money he had hidden in his boot secured him land on top of the mountain, but he became a recluse and was seldom seen in Stoney Creek. The only company he had was a dog named Panter, a steer and a rattlesnake. In 1923, a man went up to visit Nick and found him dead in bed in his shanty. Panter would not allow anyone to touch his body and had to be chained to a tree to allow the man’s body to be buried at the base of the chimney. After it was released, the dog pined away over the grave, mournfully howling long into the night. The house was eventually dismantled, but the chimney was respectfully left as a memorial.

According to J. R. Tate’s book Walkin' with the Ghost Whisperers: Lore and Legends of the Appalachian Trail, some hikers believe that in this place has a history that is more alive than most places. Tales have circulated for years that if someone camps at this site, they can hear a spectral dog howling late into the night. Perhaps Panter’s grief still hangs around the old homestead?

[Sarcasm the elf]

Halloween is on the horizon and I thought I’d bump this again.

While not about the A.T. I recently listened to a great podcast about the “Bridgewater triangle” in Massachusetts including the native American folklore and reports of very strange encounters in the area. Best part is there is a hiking/biking trail of decent length that goes straight through the area and that has been host to some of the strange events

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/...=1000350436394

[NY HIKER 50]

I seem to be a ghost magnet,. you can try yo read my postings somewhere else on this site. Just search. Have not had any creepy run ins yet though. Jest seems a part of life.

[Nanashi]

The story of Betsy as told to me, and a group of about 10 13 year olds, by a member of the hut croo:

Years ago a mother, father and their young daughter Betsy (about 6 years old) were camping near the Mizpah Spring Hut. A storm blew in, temperatures dropped and heavy rain caused a flash flood. Betsy fell into a raging stream and was whisked away. Someone ran into the hut and called for help, perhaps one of Betsy's parents. A search ensued, and sadly, Betsy's cold, dead body was found half a mile down the mountain side in the stream bed.

Croo members carried Betsy's lifeless little corpse back to the hut, and placed it in a body bag, and put on a table in the cold cold storage area under the hut, to be brought down to Crawford Notch the next day. That night the wind howled with the last remnants of the storm, and Betsy's parents thought it sounded a bit like little Betsy's voice murmuring for their help.

In the morning the croo went down into the basement to retrieve the body bag and start the sad journey down the Crawford Path. When they walked into the room, they were surprised to see that the body bag was no longer on the table, it was on the other side of the room. When the bag was opened, they discovered that it had been clawed at and scratched - and material from the body bag was under Betsy's fingernails.

Eventually, everyone came to realize that Betsy had not drowned in the flood, but had been hypothermic and unconscious. During the night, she warmed up and became conscious enough to try and call for help while clawing at the body bag. Slowly, she suffocated and died in the early hours of the morning.

In the room where the croo sleeps there are a series of bunks. In one specific bed, said to have belonged to the croo member who zipped the body bag closed, people who now sleep there awake late at night, unable to breathe. It is as if someone is pushing the air out of their chest. Now, no croo member will sleep in that bed which is said to be haunted by the ghost of Betsy.

After hearing this story, several of the kids, including my daughter, had a hard time getting to sleep that night. Once my daughter dosed off, I went back to the hut's library area to get my water battle. As I returned to my bed, I passed by the door to the croo's room and saw that someone was sleeping on the floor below an empty bunk.

The story can be found in an edition of Appalachia from the early 70s - a copy is in the Mizpah hut's library.

I'll have to walk up there again and check it out

[Five Tango]

Are we telling ghost stories in general or only those that happen on the trail?

[gpburdelljr]

Are we telling ghost stories in general or only those that happen on the trail?

In post #1 by the OP it says:

“....if you have a good Appalachian Trail ghost story please share it.....”