Strangest/creepiest thing you ever found on the trail?

[JJ505]

When I did the section from Addis Gap north to the NC line in GA, I encountered a group of six who were right out of the mid-70's. They Kelty and Camp trails external frame packs, cotton clothing, and the big, heavy tents from that era. The odd thing was that everything looked brand new as if they had just bought everything for this trip. The group was odd and something seemed off about them. They were pleasant enough, but seemed mystified by my freezer bag cooking as they heated up Dinty Moore beef stew from cans on their Coleman Peak 1 and Optimus stoves. I still wonder about it.

Funny thing, but they're still talking about YOU. "Strange feller we saw once. Had this little fly away plastic bag tent, and was trying to eat out of plastic bags".

[Time Zone]

Sounds like hiker33 is Clark Duke in disguise, from the set of Hot Tub Time Machine 3. "Is there some sort of retro thing going on this weekend?"

https://youtu.be/u1FnYvk6KP0?t=1m6s

[Sarcasm the elf]

uh-oh
There is a fair chance that was me.

Hehe. That story was quite some time ago on the Paugusset trail in Shelton. Several years later I finally hiked there again and realized that there was a spur trail that led to a parking lot a short distance away from where I saw the guy, which made the whole thing make a lot more sense.

[BoogieForth]

This happened over 30 years ago to some friends of mine who were on a trail in VA in the Shenandoah Valley.

They were heading back after a day hike. They were probably a few miles away from their car when from behind them they heard people yelling and screaming, and it wasn’t directly behind them but off in the woods and in multiple directions, so they knew there were a few of them. They couldn’t see anything since it was summer and heavily wooded. And then they heard gun fire for a good few seconds again coming from multiple directions. Then they heard a guy yell at them to ‘get the ***** out of here!’ and at that my friends started running. Then they heard the gun fire from in front of them and that made them stop running since they didn’t know what was going on. Then the yelling again, and someone yelling at them again to leave but they didn’t feel they could since they worried they were in front of them. So they froze. And then they heard people running all through the woods all around them with more gun fire going off. They could sort of make out some of them but they were in camo gear so hard to really see anything. This went on for a few minutes and then it all just stopped. My friends had no idea what to do so they waited a while and then just walked carefully back to their car.

[tomlinson]

I did a three day solo hike in the Superstition Wilderness in AZ a few years ago. In three days, I saw one person, passing them on the trail with a quick hello. Otherwise I was completely along. The last night was crazy windy and my hammock was swinging in the noisy wind. I decided to pack it up at 3am when a widowmaker fell 6 feet away, realizing there was no more sleep to be had. It was pitch black dark (no stars, no moon, no nothing) so I packed it up by the light of my headlamp and started down the trail. 50 feet into it, I see two yellow eyeballs staring back at me at my height in the black up the trail. They blinked out after a few seconds and walked ahead with my heart pounding out of my chest. Immediately started seeing pairs of yellow eyes at ground level all around, which were undoubtedly rabbits in the desert. But I never knew what those first to yellow eyes belonged to. I actually wondered if it was a health hazard to have your heart beat out of your chest for a half hour but I seem to be no worse for the wear.

[sarac]

Dirty underwear

[Deadeye]

Immediately started seeing pairs of yellow eyes at ground level all around, which were undoubtedly rabbits in the desert.

Don't rabbit eyes shine red?

Oh well, reminds me of a night on the Monadnock-Sunapee trail last spring. Got up to pee in the night, and was in the middle of a pack of coyotes =yikes!

[Ground Control]

Woke up to a moose standing over me and smelling my tent in September of 2016. It must have been about 2 or 3 in the morning, waking me from a deep, exhausted sleep. He was directly over my 1-man tent; sounded like a horse breathing through that snout. This was on the Wigwam Trail in the Lost Creek Wilderness in Colorado.

After a couple of terrifying hours where he seemed to be walking in circles around my tent, I believed he was gone. I had to pee so bad, but had been too petrified to get out of the tiny tent. I got bundled up, stepped into my shoes and moseyed over to the peeing side of the campsite. The second I started peeing I saw that the moose was staring right at me, just 25-30 feet away. I stopped mid-stream and scurried over to a tree I could climb.

The moose started to trot toward me, but then cut at a 45-degree angle into the brush. He stayed very nearby.

Too shaken to go back to sleep, I decided maybe I should make some coffee. I walked toward the food bag and could not believe what I was seeing: a second male moose was hanging out right underneath our PCT-hung food bag.

They stuck around for hours; till nearly noon. We broke camp hungry, waiting a good long while until we felt safe taking down the food bag.

The luckiest part of all of this was my friend and his dog sleeping under a tarp, didn't awaken till well after dawn, many hours into my moose encounter. I've always been grateful the beagle-mix didn't bark or spook the moose.

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[Bugeye]

My father and I did our first section of the AT back in May of 2011. On our fourth day we went up Blood Mountain NOBO and got to the top. Thought the shelter was creepy and asked ourselves who would stay in that shelter?

As we started to hunt for the way down this guy comes up to the summit huffing and puffing. He was pretty dumpy and clearly not in hiking shape. The weirdest part was he was wearing a mechanics uniform with the work pants and work boots. This was on a weekday morning somewhere around 10:00am.

He could barely talk when we asked "how ya doing?". Something wasn't right about this dude. On the way down to Neel's Dad and I kept theorizing what this guy was doing and nothing made sense. Maybe he got fired that morning and climbing the mountain was a coping mechanism. All I know, if I had been a solo female hiker I would have been freaked out.

[kestral]

Hey ground control, great pics of the moose (mooses?, mice? )

my dog and I spent a pouring rain night in a small rainbow tent at the little camping area just south of Blood mountain when a bear came snuffling around and patted my tent. The dog and I looked at each other and decided that caution would trump valor in this case. We played possum while the bear snorted, huffed, shuffled and tripped over a guideline. I threw a candy bar wrapper out of the tent ( my only yummy smelling thing) He then proceeded to take down my food hang and took it over the next rise to eat. My neighbor tent had a bear canister and wasn’t bothered. This was before the ban on camping without bear bags went into effect, I think these incidents helped creat the ban - it went into effect later that season. I was able to find an end to the purple green paracord I used for the hang and followed it to my ripped open food bag and and the remains of 2 other food sacks where mr bear had picnicked on them. Fortunately my cook kit was scratched but undamaged. The food and ziplock bags were slobbered and slashed. This was the spring when a backpack was removed from a bear line at the shelter just south and was demolished. I remember it was a lady’s opspry pack and she was starting her thru hike, had to get a new one at Neil’s gap.

Some thoughts:

1 Well, if you have to get your stuff bear nabbed, that’s a great spot as Neil’s gap has a great resupply right on the trail which is only 3 miles away.

2 my tenting neighbor had seen my bear hang, thought it was a good one, and was kicking himself for the bear can weight the night before. He gave me a power bar for breakfast (thanks! Hiker trail magic!)

3 bears are smart, and that hungry bear was smarter than me that night!

4 glad the food wasn’t in my tent

5 glad the dog was smart enough to pick her battles and let that bear be.

6 gave me a great story

7 never show your son the ripped up food bag and bear teeth scrape marks on your cook kit as it will make him agitated and concerned for your safety

8 stuff is just stuff, easily replaced.

9 Weird stuff happens. That’s why hiking is an adventure!

10 repeat #5, and wish I was out hiking instead of tapping away on Whiteblaze!

[MockingJay]

We were section hiking from Standing Indian Mountain to Rock Gap a couple of years and around Albert Mountain we came across a couple of young guys thru hiking barefoot in loin cloths. And when I say loin cloth, it was really more like thongs. They were on some kind of weird vision quest and carried around bags full of dates and all natural foods. The worst part was when we were trying to rest under the fire tower after climbing Albert one of them decided to start doing pull ups under the steps. I guess they thought everyone wanted a peek.

[Ashepabst]

I walked toward the food bag and could not believe what I was seeing: a second male moose was hanging out right underneath our PCT-hung food bag.

They stuck around for hours; till nearly noon.

aw, I bet they're friends

[TimOnWhiteBlaze]

I was once saw a man stuck in hole with an Owl! In the middle of the night!

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[Highland Goat]

Hehe. That story was quite some time ago on the Paugusset trail in Shelton. Several years later I finally hiked there again and realized that there was a spur trail that led to a parking lot a short distance away from where I saw the guy, which made the whole thing make a lot more sense.

Okay, maybe not. I have not got around to the Paugusset Trail yet, although I did not keep a trail journal about a decade ago, so maybe I forgot. Back then I worked a lot of hours and often crammed in hikes on my way to-and-fro. That often resulted in clothing that did not fit the situation. I don’t hike in my pea coat anymore, but I still wear it nearly every day in winter.

[Suzzz]

Not the on the AT...

Last summer as I was training for my AT section, I often went on a local trail in my area called the Dobson Trail. It's a not too hard not too easy 35 miles trail with the trailhead only a few minutes from town so perfect for training.

On one particular day, I was on my way back to my car (5 miles in - 5 miles out) when all of a sudden, it dawned on me that I had not seen anybody all day, which is pretty odd since the Dobson Trail is a very popular trail. I also realized that I had not seen or heard any animals or birds. Now, that was odd but I didn't worry too much about it, telling myself that humans, animals, and birds must have had other things to do that day. And since I often hike in my own little trance-like bubble, I knew I could have easily walked by a ton of animals without noticing them. Squirrels are not that big after all. I decided I was lucky to have the whole trail to myself and kept on walking.

A few minutes later something happened. Something that felt like a gust of cold wind went through me. Literaly through me. And the oddest feeling went through my body. I have never felt something like that. My first reaction was to look around for wind movement in the trees and I saw nothing. The forest was very still and silent. I just stood there for a while not sure what to do then, after looking around for the tenth time and still seeing or hearing nothing I decided to keep walking since it was the only thing I could do anyway. I was about an hour and a half away from my car and I knew that if I let my imagination run wild with crazy ideas, I'd freak out and freaking out at that point was not a good idea. So I walked at a brisk pace back to my car without taking any breaks. As I was walking, I was very alert, looking for movement and sounds but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. When I finally got to my car, I jumped in and drove home with a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I'll never know what really happened. The logical explanation is that it was just what it was, a gust of wind. As far as ghost are concerned, I've always been on the fence on that subject. I'm not sure they exist and I'm also not entirely sure that they don't. I wasn't scared that day in the forest and I didn't feel threatened. I'm also not aware of any stories or legends on the Dobson Trail and to be honest, after what happened, I'd rather not know.

I haven't been back on that trail since. Every time I start planning a hike out there, I get an uneasy feeling and cancel or go elsewhere. Part of me feels like I'm making a big deal out of nothing, especially since I wasn't scared or felt threatened when it happened, yet I'd rather not hike there anymore. I'm hoping I can go back with a hiking partner this summer. I won't go alone, but I'd like to go back with someone else. Then I'm sure nothing will happen and then I'll feel comfortable hiking the Dobson Trail again. Or maybe not.

I've never told anybody about this. Partly because I can't really explain what happened but also because I don't want to give amunitions to friends and family who are always telling me that hiking alone is not safe. The less they know, the better things are.

[Hikingchef]

It may not count, but when we first started doing day hikes to get in shape for longer hikes we did 8 miles from 522 in VA headed south. I drive past the trail head every day for work, and the day after we hiked there were police and EMTS, helicopters and Feds. They found a shallow grave with a missing man from another state in it maybe 50 feet from the trail right where we walked past.