Creepy experiences in the backcountry

Me and my wife like to go car camping and we take the SUV up north past Strawberry AZ a few more miles. Now we usually go way off any main roads and we have a couple spots where we know no one will be around. Not really a camp spot but just enough bare area for us to park the vehicle and fire up the grill and maybe get a little crazy. This time we were way deep in the woods where I was certain nobody else was and it was winter so not a lot of campers I think we passed a couple a mile or two away from us. Anyhow it was time to catch some sleep and my wife had these lights she brought up with us and she put them around the 2 chairs we had outside the car. It was a string of round light bulbs that she kept in one of the rooms that take a 4 batteries I believe. But she wanted them on just Incase one of us needed to pee at night and also she doesn't like sleeping in pitch dark which is very much what is was outside. So I remember waking up in the middle of the night for some reason after being asleep for a couple hours and looking out the window I saw pitch black. I then thought 'oh the lights must have died out'. So I went back to sleep. Now in the morning when we finally got out of the car to cook breakfast I told my wife her lights died and that's when I looked at the light and again, I'd like to stress NO ONE was in sight from where we were that I know of...but I saw the lights had a switch. And the switch was turned off. The batteries did not die out but the little black switch on the backside had been switched off. Now in the woods I don't worry about animals but about people. This is one of those reasons why...was there someone looking in at me and my wife sleeping through the window of our SUV? Or maybe a Ranger who just saw lights and shut them off for us? Im sure I would have heard his vehicle if that were the case. I don't know but sure scared me and the wife. We ate breakfast and left.
 
I had something just this spring gobbler season happen that kinda freaked me out a bit.

I took my nephew on his first backpack hunting trip for gobblers. We were up in Pisgah NF outside Morganton. It was really pretty weather so we decided to hammock camp and I didn’t hang a tarp because it was supposed to be dry. Went to bed and about 0230 I woke to see a blue light moving toward me. It was small but it just kinda drifted in my direction. Then I saw another come on and stay on and move across this small spring seep to my left. Then I looked around and saw them everywhere just drifting through the woods. I have to admit I started to get that “ feeling” laying in my hammock. I didn’t know if my nephew saw it or was still asleep. He was hanging in the other side of the tree. This went on for about 15 minutes or so until I talked myself into it had to be some explainable, but I couldn’t figure what it was. They end up being everywhere. They would come on and stay on. Not flash like a firefly and a blue white light , not the usual greenish. I forced myself back to sleep and hunted the next morning. Now where we were hunting isn’t far from a place called Brown Mountain and during this all kinds of things where running through my head.

www.ncblueridge.com

Morganton Mystery: The Brown Mountain Lights - NC Blue Ridge

On a dark night in the Linville Gorge area of Morganton, North Carolina, you might witness the one of the Blue Ridge Mountain's biggest mysteries, the Brown Mountain Lights.
www.ncblueridge.com

After our hunt we got back home and I told my wife. She said well what was it. I told her Damned if I know. I told her I told myself it was some kind of firefly but I’d never seen anything like it. I’ve camped that site tons of time but always in a tent. We ended up googling it and come to find it was indeed a firefly. It’s a Blue ghost firefly. After finding out what it was it’s pretty cool. Not everyone gets to see them. They are kind of rare and like damp low areas that are undisturbed.
www.discovery.com

Rare Blue Ghost Fireflies Only Glow in One Part of North America

These insects emit a glow a yellow-green hue.
www.discovery.com www.discovery.com
So, after all that freaking out in my hammock I did that night to talk myself into it was something explainable it turns out it was.
 
I remember just after light elk hunting and not hearing a sound of anything. No wind, birds, nothing! My buddy and I both committed at the same time on how creepy it was. I have never experience that in the outdoors.
 
The most weird thing I’ve ever had happen wasn’t necessarily creepy, but it just left you wondering. My buddy and I were 16 at the time and we were wading a creek for smallmouths. We had waded and kayaked probably 3 miles from the nearest road and came to a giant dam that had been caused by a flood. At the bottom of the dam there was a woman’s wallet and a high healed shoe, I opened the wallet and saw a student ID from the local university, drivers license, credit cards, gift cards, etc. I put the wallet in the back of my kayak in the storage compartment so I could try to find the owner or report it. The wallet appeared to be old and had to have been in the creek for over a year. Somehow while traversing around the dam the wallet fell out and I was never able to find it. Who knows what it was, probably nothing. But with the way that people get abducted and go missing these days it left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
 
cod007 said:
Creepy, eh? Ok.
Back in the 90’s after the summer construction season ended in Alaska the wife and I would often head south in late Oct, early Nov and flyfish our way down thru BC and down into the lower 48 for late season steelhead. The Kispiox R was one of our regular and fave stops and this is where this incident took place.
We were camping and living out of the back of our canopied pick up truck and very often just found any old nook or cranny off the road to camp for the night. For this reason I always slept w my 20 ga. single shot shotgun next to us in the back of the truck.
We had gotten in a couple days fishing already despite the 5-6 inches of snow we received. Late one aftrnn we pulled down a quarter mile curvy downhill gravel road into a small park known as the Potato Patch Hole. If memory serves me right it was just downstream from the main Kispiox R Lodge a short distance. We fished a short time till the sun began to set and our rod guides began to ice up from the dropping temps. In the completely empty park, ‘cept’ us, we cooked up some grub on the nearby picnic table and tailgate of the truck for dinner before climbing into the sack in the bed of the pickup for the night.
Sometime in the middle of the night I awoke to the unmistakable sound of footsteps in the now very crunchy snow pack around us. As I lay there listening I reached over next to make sure my trusty 20 was ready in case things got serious. What the heck was someone doing walking around in spot like this with a pitch black night at 20 degrees?? I wondered if it was the native fella that I saw walking in on the gravel road that seemed to strangely be gone as we drove into the park?
A few minutes passed and my wife awakens and reaches out and grabs my arm and whispers ... do u here that? I tell her yes, I’ve been listening for a few minutes. We both listened as the crunchy footsteps got closer and closer till they were quite obviously standing just yards from our truck at the picnic table we used. They one hundred percent sounded just like a human would walk. By now fear gripped me, as my wife whispers to me... what’s that??
I answered.... my HEART!! It was beating SO loud, we both could hear it quite audibly! After pausing at the table for a moment the steps now walked directly to the front of the truck and headed down the side of the truck to the backend. OMG, am I gonna half to blow someone’s head off!? I’m just waiting for the canopy door to be swung up. But, no. A short 5 second or so pause and the footsteps go back up alongside the truck. It, whatever IT is, is standing right next to me just outside the dark tinted canopy glass! I can see nothing! A short pause as I wondered what was about to go down, and next thing we hear are footsteps on the canopy roof directly above us. No longer human sounding footsteps, but those of a bird like the size of a raven perhaps. After perhaps ten or so strides across the canopy top right above our heads, viola, it’s now on the ground on the wife’s side of the truck right next to her. Upon the ground again, the .... ‘whatever’ proceeded away from the truck towards the direction of the come down entry road, sounding exactly like a human walking once again. The slow crunching walk-away took another minute or two until it faded in the distance.
Never in my life has my heart beat like that before, or since! The area was pitch black and there was NO WAY either of us were going out there this night to investigate. Not much sleep was gotten that night needless to say but at first mornings light we exited the back of the truck knowing whatever was walking would have HAD to leave some tracks in the crunchy six inches of snow out there. We couldn’t wait to see WHAT. Alas, not a single new print anywhere. Just our tracks from our meal and our lone trail to the river and back from fishing earlier. Nothing else anywhere in the park. Nothing. Even tho it was very clear from which direction ‘it’ had come, and where ‘it’ had left. Notta, zero, zilch. There were absolutely no human or animal prints anywhere in the entire park but the few my wife and I made with our limited activities there.
Needless to say, much discussion ensued the following day(s) between wifey and I. One thing that was interesting to note was I had mentioned my concern that it was the native fella I thought I saw on the roadway as we first came down into the park (and seemingly vanished around the corner somedwhere). The wife said she never saw him at all. But then did tell me she saw 3 natives at the base of the road when we entered, just as you enter the open area of the park. Funny, I never saw any of them. Even tho we sat side by side as we came in on the road, we both saw different folks.
Shapeshifter??? My wife thinks so. I have absolutely no idea. I do however know for absolute certainty that there was something out there. And that something was positively big enough that it would have HAD TO leave tracks in all that crunchy snow. There was also no mistaking something went from next to the canopied truck, to ON the canopy, with no effort or sound whatsoever. I’ve thought of birds, owls, ravens.... nope, doesn’t make sense. Dogs, wolves, coyotes, bears ,..... nope. No tracks, and can’t turn into a bird sound walking on the canopy.
I’m still stumped and bewildered.
Click to expand...
I guess you don’t own a flashlight?
 
Here's one, a friend and I are deer hunting and park the truck to head in the woods. Its the regular late archery season so the woods isn't packed full of knuckleheads. We go our separate ways to our spots which are each a little over a mile off the road. It's about 10deg and snowing pretty good. I hunt until about 11am and head back to the truck & my buddy is there. I ask how hunting was and he tells me this story: says he was walking into his stand and about 3/4mi in, it's pitch black but a decent trail you don't need a light. He's walking and all of the sudden he's within about 10-15' of a guy walking the same trail. He figured it was another hunter, and though freaked out a bit he stepped to the side and was going to let the guy pass. The guy on the trail freezes and just stares at him, the guy isn't wearing winter clothes, has no hunting gear, and only is carrying a paper grocery bag that he is clutching like he thought it was going to get stolen. Buddy says good morning and this guy is frozen, just staring him down then let's out a battle cry and runs right at him deliberately and into the woods.

Buddy hunted a different spot that day.
 
Several years ago I was up riding my bike on a local trail and noticed a guy with a backpack out in the grasses by the edge of the forest. Didn’t think much about it. Figured he was shed hunting. Local guy ends up missing. His mother lives close by to me. His body is found out there where I ride several months later. Probably a suicide…. December 1, 2020 I’m out riding there with my dog. Everything’s fine for about an hour. I start to hear the faint sounds of chains clanging in the distance. Keep cruising along and they start to get louder. I stop thinking someone’s dogs are out running around. Wait a little to see if someone else is coming at me on the trail. Nothing. Start up again and the chains are really loud and right behind me. I stop again and look back. Nothing. At this point my dog is starting to get a little weird. Start up and seconds later they’re back clanging loudly behind us. It was so loud I was thinking someone was going to clobber my head with these chains! Slam on my brakes and nobody’s there. I was upping my speed to get the hell out of there. My dog catches up and backs up in between my leg and my bike shaking uncontrollably looking back down the trail. Not growling or barking. Totally creeped out and just standing there straddling my bike with the hair on my neck and arms totally on end and my dog shaking. I had my pistol but somewhere deep inside I knew it wasn’t going to do us any good. Hung out for a few minutes trying to figure out what the **** was happening. Broad daylight. We make it back to the truck and I’m positive someone is out there messing around. I cruise up the road to see who else is there and there aren’t any cars in the area. Haven’t been back up there since. Told my wife and a couple buddies. Not sure what it was. It wasn’t my bike or my dog. It was there really really close and it was loud!
No sasquatch sightings in our area but there are a bunch of ruins around but they didn’t have steel. I may head up on the anniversary just to see.
 
There’s a remote hillside On Vancouver Island, told my buddy I scouted a trail into there . He told me 20 years ago he went in there and it’s the only place he’s ever been creeped out, went to his butcher and was telling him his story and the butcher told him where he was before he could even finish..as he had the same experience
Both never went back.
Fast forward 4 years
Went cougar hunting with a couple guys with hounds and was telling them this story about how these two guys got creeped out on this same mountain, and they told me about the only time they’ve ever been creeped out, guess what, same place, all were avid outdoorsman, three were loggers.
Not enough deer sign for me to ever go back, curious all the same,
one fellow convinced,,,,,Bigfoot
 
Lwing said:
There’s a remote hillside On Vancouver Island, told my buddy I scouted a trail into there . He told me 20 years ago he went in there and it’s the only place he’s ever been creeped out, went to his butcher and was telling him his story and the butcher told him where he was before he could even finish..as he had the same experience
Both never went back.
Fast forward 4 years
Went cougar hunting with a couple guys with hounds and was telling them this story about how these two guys got creeped out on this same mountain, and they told me about the only time they’ve ever been creeped out, guess what, same place, all were avid outdoorsman, three were loggers.
Not enough deer sign for me to ever go back, curious all the same,
one fellow convinced,,,,,Bigfoot
Click to expand...
Sabe aka sasquatch.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
 
I had a scary one a few years back.

i was walking back from one of my stands to camp. It’s about 1 mile or so. On the way back I pass one of our mobile game cameras.

We have it set up for instant alerts and downloads to our phones.

I passed it and a few minutes later it went off. My phone was in my pocket

About 20 seconds later it goes off again. Didn’t think anything of it

Got back to camp and pulled my phone out and when I looked at the pictures I saw myself going by and less than a minute later a massive black bear walking right behind me.

I never heard a thing and I almost had a stroke.

Since then I make a ton of noise
 
Last edited:
def90 said:
I do float trips on the Colorado between Fruit and Westwater all the time in the summer and came to a point where I would just lay my sleeping bag out on top of a tarp on the beach at the edge of the water. Sleeping next to the water and hearing the current/rapids is soothing. One night I kept hearing the largest splashes I had ever heard and was wondering of rocks were falling off the cliff sides in to the river or what. Anyway my imagination got the best of me and I slept like shit all night being woken up ever 20 minutes or so by another huge splash. The next morning I was talking about it with the other people on the trip and everyone else was also wondering what the hell was going on all night.

Anyway, we pack up and put in and start floating down the river and almost instantly hear the same splash and this time I see it.. It was a beaver. Couldn't believe how big and loud of a splash those things make with their tails and also that they are active all night long. The splash was comparable to tossing a 12 inch round boulder off the end of a dock.
Click to expand...
They sure are loud! I was floating in my one man pontoon doing some night fishing. Dozed off and wouldn’t you know it one slaps their tale right next to me! I damn near fell in the lake. 🤣
 
Lwing said:
There’s a remote hillside On Vancouver Island, told my buddy I scouted a trail into there . He told me 20 years ago he went in there and it’s the only place he’s ever been creeped out, went to his butcher and was telling him his story and the butcher told him where he was before he could even finish..as he had the same experience
Both never went back.
Fast forward 4 years
Went cougar hunting with a couple guys with hounds and was telling them this story about how these two guys got creeped out on this same mountain, and they told me about the only time they’ve ever been creeped out, guess what, same place, all were avid outdoorsman, three were loggers.
Not enough deer sign for me to ever go back, curious all the same,
one fellow convinced,,,,,Bigfoot
Click to expand...
I live on the island, can you pm me where just for shit and giggles?
 
Danster22 said:
Me and my wife like to go car camping and we take the SUV up north past Strawberry AZ a few more miles. Now we usually go way off any main roads and we have a couple spots where we know no one will be around. Not really a camp spot but just enough bare area for us to park the vehicle and fire up the grill and maybe get a little crazy. This time we were way deep in the woods where I was certain nobody else was and it was winter so not a lot of campers I think we passed a couple a mile or two away from us. Anyhow it was time to catch some sleep and my wife had these lights she brought up with us and she put them around the 2 chairs we had outside the car. It was a string of round light bulbs that she kept in one of the rooms that take a 4 batteries I believe. But she wanted them on just Incase one of us needed to pee at night and also she doesn't like sleeping in pitch dark which is very much what is was outside. So I remember waking up in the middle of the night for some reason after being asleep for a couple hours and looking out the window I saw pitch black. I then thought 'oh the lights must have died out'. So I went back to sleep. Now in the morning when we finally got out of the car to cook breakfast I told my wife her lights died and that's when I looked at the light and again, I'd like to stress NO ONE was in sight from where we were that I know of...but I saw the lights had a switch. And the switch was turned off. The batteries did not die out but the little black switch on the backside had been switched off. Now in the woods I don't worry about animals but about people. This is one of those reasons why...was there someone looking in at me and my wife sleeping through the window of our SUV? Or maybe a Ranger who just saw lights and shut them off for us? Im sure I would have heard his vehicle if that were the case. I don't know but sure scared me and the wife. We ate breakfast and left.
Click to expand...
Danster........Here's something the think about. It could have been Robert Fisher.
 
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