Strange Experience

[blue indian]

Me and my girl were on the trail about a mile north of Winding Stair Gap heading NOBO. We pulled over on the side of the trail to stop for a minute. It was really still and quiet and no wind was blowing. All of a sudden about 30 yards or so down to our left, a couple of broomstick to wrist sized trees started to shake violently. This lasted for about 4 seconds then stopped. No noise, no movement. We froze with our eyes on the trees that had been shaking.

Nothing fell from the trees, nothing scurried away or flew away after the trees stopped shaking. When we stopped there was no sounds or anything then all of a sudden those trees started being forcefully shaken back and forth. Again there was no wind or anyone else around and there was no way it could have been something that fell from the tree.

We froze and watched and listened for about 2-3 minutes before feeling like it was time for us to leave the area. We've gone over several scenarios but we cant figure out what could cause that to happen. We came across several day hikers who have been hiking in this area for years and described our experience. No one could come up with a plausible answer. Any ideas?

[moldy]

It was probably some "Wild Tree Squeaks". They are small but have some weight. It's very rare to ever see them. Many people think them a myth. We usually hear them on windy nights, high in the trees. They make tiny squeaks that skeptics think are just limbs rubbing together. The native Americans of the Southern Appalachians attributed them with magical powers and blamed them for radical weather changes. I hope this does not mean "bad weather" ahead. Be sure to listen for them squeaking in the tree tops on windy nights.

[AfterParty]

It was a Sasquatch

[MuddyWaters]

Did you look in the top of the tree for a small bear, raccoon, squirrel, or other critter?

[jgillam]

Could have been deer rubbing their antlers on the trees. It's about the right time of year for them to be rubbing the velvet off their antlers as well as strengthening their necks for the up coming breeding season...or a Sasquatch.

[ocourse]

Could have been deer rubbing their antlers on the trees. It's about the right time of year for them to be rubbing the velvet off their antlers as well as strengthening their necks for the up coming breeding season...or a Sasquatch.

That's what I thought too. I've seen it before, and the buck can be almost invisible sometimes.

[Dogwood]

It was Cool Hand Luke.

[-Rush-]

It could have been the ghost of Baltimore Jack.

[blue indian]

So we were stopped..Being quiet when it happened. There were no previous sounds or movements.

I could see the tops of the trees because the commotion was happening about 30 yards down a slight slope to my right. So the tops of the trees were relatively level to our eye site There's no way it could have been something up in the tree. They were also broomstick to wrist sized saplings which wouldn't shake due to a small mammal like a squirrel

Those saplings were being shook...not rubbed against or brushed against. It was very stranger and made us both uncomfortable

[Hangfire]

I'm guessing it was Ron Haven trying to scare you into town to stay at his Budget Inn...

[MuddyWaters]

So we were stopped..Being quiet when it happened. There were no previous sounds or movements.

I could see the tops of the trees because the commotion was happening about 30 yards down a slight slope to my right. So the tops of the trees were relatively level to our eye site There's no way it could have been something up in the tree. They were also broomstick to wrist sized saplings which wouldn't shake due to a small mammal like a squirrel

Those saplings were being shook...not rubbed against or brushed against. It was very stranger and made us both uncomfortable

Well then, that settles it.

Nothing left but witchcraft.

[Traveler]

"Shakin' the bush, Boss.... Shakin' the bush!"

[Traffic Jam]

So we were stopped..Being quiet when it happened. There were no previous sounds or movements.

I could see the tops of the trees because the commotion was happening about 30 yards down a slight slope to my right. So the tops of the trees were relatively level to our eye site There's no way it could have been something up in the tree. They were also broomstick to wrist sized saplings which wouldn't shake due to a small mammal like a squirrel

Those saplings were being shook...not rubbed against or brushed against. It was very stranger and made us both uncomfortable

Aren't young, small-diameter trees easy to bend and move? Could you see the base of the trees? How much foliage was on them?

[mrcoffeect]

Papa alien showing baby alien how to use the abducto ray. you should be glad the kid was a bad shot.

[blue indian]

Aren't young, small-diameter trees easy to bend and move? Could you see the base of the trees? How much foliage was on them?

They are relatively easy to move. So if it were a small mammal moving in them the branches would sway and move for sure. But these trees were shaking. Not just swaying as if something were up in the branches. The foliage was fairly dense so we couldn't completely see the base of the trees but I just feel like we would have seen or heard the animal as it was moving about or rubbing antlers or what not.

Again, it was dead quiet except for us chattering a bit. Then violent shaking for 3 or 4 seconds. Then nothing.

Honestly, it felt like a warning. It felt like we stopped at the wrong place and something was telling us we needed to move on.

[pilgrimskywheel]

Actually, there has been a homeless squat exactly where you are describing for a long time. In February 2012 there was an impressive wigwamesque shelter made from blue tarps etc. very near and West ("left") the AT a mile up from the road. I saw it and returned that way a couple times (I met a gal in Franklin Valentine's Day at the Rathskeller), anyhow the guy - who's name escapes me - was getting dropped off as I was coming down. He worked at a garage in town, his boss was driving him, hard times etc. He was as normal as anybody else I know that lives in the woods - he shared a beer or three with me and he we shot the ****. He was aware that being caught in a fixed camp would be a problem but it being winter wasn't too worried. He was local and unless he has become an oil change tycoon likely keeps the same habits. Siler Bald Shelter gets a lot of local action along with the campsite/stream there @ 110.1 as evidenced by the civilian trash. Ol' boy probably didn't want to get caught (again) coming and going to work in the AM and he effectively run you off w/a Bigfoot move. Sasquatch and B.J.'s ghost aren't the the only full time residents of the AT - there are LOTS of folks living out there when hikers go back to the cozy places they live come winter. On the other hand - this is about the time of year male deer rub the velvet of their new antlers and get ready to get buck wild and rut: fight some guys at the local watering hole and win the hoof of a nice doe to shack up with for the winter. They get sharpened up, spread their scent, and signal others there on their turf with noisy antler displays. This is also what it sounds like when they duel - as you described. Anyway, sleep with a garlic clove around your neck and a wooden stake handy and you'll be fine!

[blue indian]

@ pilgrimskywheel....That is an interesting story about the local man and the area. It seems like a really weird spot for a human to be hanging out (down an embankment) but there are some really weird people out and about.

The deer antler rubbing sounds like the most plausible answer. My only hangup about that theory is the silence. Would a male deer just freeze and not make a move if he saw/heared/smelled humans?

Its not like we stopped because we heard rustling and trees moving. We randomly stopped on the trail and maybe 60 seconds or so went by before the trees shook. After the initial "*** what that?" I poked around and moved back and forth on the trail to see if I could catch a glimpse of whatever it was but nothing. Just an eerie silence and stillness.

[pilgrimskywheel]

I think most likely deer. (Down the embankment is stealth camping 101 however.) I'm near Bland VA at the moment and a couple nights ago I met some real live hobos ("Travelers") camping out up the road from where the trail turns gravel there. So it's kinda on my mind - folks are trying to see if they can make a winter go at well, being homeless so... Anyhow, in answer I think yes deer do have almost magical powers at ghosting: ever see 'em see you, turn, run into the woods full blast whisper-quiet, and when you get to where they were it's a vertical wall they ran dead at - like they went into it? Where'd he go? Up and I missed it? Impossible. They get spooky around the ruts - ramming cyclists and stuff like that - but they're only a danger to SOBOs thank God!

[Shutterbug]

What you observed may have been "transpiration" -- the process by which plants move moisture up from the roots through the leaves. Most of the time, the process doesn't result in movement of the plant, but when rain follows a period of dryness the moisture moving up through the plant can result in movement.

I was once hiking in old growth forest on Mt. Rainier. When it started raining the top few feet of a very tall Douglas Fir came crashing down. There was no wind at all. I asked a friend of mine who was a forestry major about it and was told that the process of transpiration can actually "blow" the top of a tree off. He said that the process moves the water to the top of the tree so quickly that the weight breaks the top off.

[pilgrimskywheel]

I think most likely deer. (Down the embankment is stealth camping 101 however.) I'm near Bland VA at the moment and a couple nights ago I met some real live hobos ("Travelers") camping out up the road from where the trail turns gravel there. So it's kinda on my mind - folks are trying to see if they can make a winter go at well, being homeless so... Anyhow, in answer I think yes deer do have almost magical powers at ghosting: ever see 'em see you, turn, run into the woods full blast whisper-quiet, and when you get to where they were it's a vertical wall they ran dead at - like they went into it? Where'd he go? Up and I missed it? Impossible. They get spooky around the ruts - ramming cyclists and stuff like that - but they're only a danger to SOBOs thank God!