I'll just copy/paste here from my blog since I don't feel like rewriting the story. First time in 1,000 miles I've felt truly creeped out at night. Anyone else experience weirdness out here? David Lesser Memorial Shelter is about 7-8 miles south of Harper's Ferry.

Paranormal Shelter

For Stumpy’s last night on the AT we stayed at the David Lesser Memorial Shelter. It’s a really nice shelter maintained by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. The shelter has a deck, adirondack chairs, a swing, and a large sleeping space.

There was nothing to indicate that this shelter had any special properties. We felt comfortable and at ease. Ate a massive spaghetti dinner and bedded down in the shelter that we had to ourselves. No one else had arrived, either to stay in the shelter or to camp.

The weirdness started when Stumpy saw a light underneath me and thought I had accidentally turned on my headlamp. Not an uncommon occurrence. Except that tonight my headlamp was already stowed in the tent pouch and off. We never located the source of the brief flash of light.

I was awoken multiple times through the night by what sounded like rocks banging together. I also felt like something big was prowling around the shelter. More of a gut feeling than anything specific.

Stumpy also had trouble sleeping and was plagued by nightmares all night. We compared notes in the morning. She didn’t hear any of the rock banging noises but also felt a sense of unease.

The woods can be eeiry at night but what we felt seemed to be different from the normal “dark woods are creepy” feeling.

In the morning I walked down to get water from the spring. This spring is really far from the shelter, about a quarter of a mile. While I was gone Stumpy heard a howling from the direction of the spring. A sustained series of high pitched howls. She thought I was messing with her. It wasn’t me. I never heard anything during my trip to fetch water.

That was the end of the weirdness. We packed up and hiked to Harper’s Ferry without incident.

I wonder if that shelter resided in a “thin place.” Maybe a place where different dimensions meet. Or maybe there was a Sasquatch prowling around. Rock banging and howls are two classic signs that Sasquatch is in the area. Whatever it was it made for a memorable last night with Stumpy.