Creepy experiences in the backcountry

[Kornet]

Athens, Cleveland??
My GF lives in The Plains, outside Athens, and I'm from Akron
Small world

Her father was a well known dentist/oral surgeon separate from the hospital there and the wife was offered a job in Cleveland so she moved here.
I can live anywhere as long as I’m close to an airport and so we are up here.
CVNP is in my backyard so between cle and Akron.

 

[Mr.Unlister]

not a story of mine but...was watching youtube and saw a bit of info that said the movie "predator" was based on actual events...almost like the dept of defence filmed it...they told the producers and director how to film it...and has happened many times since the 60s...look into it

 

[TxxAgg]

not a story of mine but...was watching youtube and saw a bit of info that said the movie "predator" was based on actual events...almost like the dept of defence filmed it...they told the producers and director how to film it...and has happened many times since the 60s...look into it

My interest is piqued! That would be rad.

 

[AK Troutbum]

not a story of mine but...was watching youtube and saw a bit of info that said the movie "predator" was based on actual events...almost like the dept of defence filmed it...they told the producers and director how to film it...and has happened many times since the 60s...look into it

That almost makes me wanna think twice about ever carrying a gun into the woods. I remember the part where Arnold Schwarzenegger yelled to the woman “He won’t hurt you, you’re unarmed, go, go!”
(Said in my best Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation).


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[Mr.Unlister]

this was down in S. merica...ha

 

[Mr.Unlister]

pretty scary also

 

[Mr.Unlister]

said the 3 dot lazer was how it aimed

 

[AK Troutbum]

this was down in S. merica...ha

Yeah, but those bastards get around! Look at where all the predator movies have been filmed.


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[Kornet]

So with all the predator discussions lately, I figured I'd share this story from a few years back. It's hilarious in hindsight to me and my buddies, but it was straight-up nightmare fuel for a group of college kids who thought they were having a chill night in the park.

There's this spot in Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) – a steep hill that overlooks a parking lot, separated by a creek. To get up there, you cross a small railroad bridge, hop a ditch, then scramble up the hillside grabbing roots and watching your step. At the top it levels out into a flat area where local kids have been known to sneak up for parties. It's a semi-known hangout spot.

One day I'm at the grocery store and overhear some people buying a ton of beer and party supplies, openly talking about hitting "the hill" that night for a big gathering. Being the petty asshole I am, I immediately text a few friends to see if they're free, then call up a buddy who's a National Park Ranger. I casually mention my car will be in the lot later and that I'd "heard rumors" of underage drinking/partying up there... but tell him not to roll in until late so it doesn't get broken up too early.

Friends show up at my place. We lay out the gear: a few sets of night vision, three thermal scopes, and I had the cat owners bring those cheap red laser pointers (you can probably guess where this is headed). On the drive over, I send everyone a link to some creepy predator growl sound bites , sync our phones to small Bluetooth speakers I'd handed out, and go over the plan one last time.

We arrive around 9 PM, slip into the woods quietly, and hunker down to wait. About an hour later, cars start pulling in. People hike up, start a fire, crack beers – party is in full swing.

I give the signal. First guy on the far right triggers his speaker: low, guttural growl echoes through the trees. Only a couple people notice and go "What was that?" Then the left-side guy plays his – now more heads turn, everyone shushes, and they're yelling "Who's out there?!" while grabbing branches like makeshift weapons.

Right-side guy hits his again. Someone throws a rock behind the group to make noise near another speaker. Now panic is setting in. We start sequencing the growls from different directions, tossing small rocks to misdirect, so they have no clue where the "thing" is.

Then the lasers: we'd taped three of them together into a rough triangle and aimed the combined red dot right at the chest of the apparent "leader" of the group. A girl spots it, screams bloody murder – and that's it. Mass hysteria. Everyone bolts, flashlights swinging wildly, people helping each other down the steep hill while yelling stuff like "We're gonna kick its ass!" and tripping over everything in the dark.

They finally make it across the bridge into the parking lot just as the first of three Ranger vehicles pulls in (perfect timing). The group swarms them, babbling about some monster in the woods that's gonna kill them.

Meanwhile, my crew quietly slips out the back side of the hill, crosses the tracks, hikes up the opposite ridge, and loops around to the main road. We stash all the gear in packs, pull out headlamps, topo maps, and compasses to look legit, then casually "hike" back into the lot like we're finishing a night navigation course from the metro park across the way.

My Ranger buddy spots us heading to my car, stops us with a huge grin, and asks what we've been up to and where we were. We play it straight: "Just did a night compass course over in the metro park, hiked in from there. Didn't hear or see anything weird – why, something going on?"

He just chuckles, says "Nah, just some kids spooked by wildlife or whatever," and lets us go.

We piled into the car laughing our asses off the whole drive home. Zero regrets. Moral of the story: if you're gonna underage party in a National Park, maybe don't announce it in public... and watch out for the growling in the trees.


Thank you for reading, these are therapy for me to type out and let others enjoy, some I’ve never told anyone before.

The spot is at the Station Road bridge access if you want to look at the area yourself
The red is where it happened and then our trail to river view rd

 

[scp]

Imagine you’re out on a beautiful late afternoon snowmachine ride on a balmy -10F day in the Alaska interior. You’re surrounded by back spruce and aspen forest, snow-filled trees, and tight single track with gentle rollers that make the ride feel like an amusement park attraction.

Then, coming out of some tight twists in heavier tree cover, your headlights land on this…

…and now you’ve got to get cold because you suddenly need to change your long handles.

Whoever made this nightmare right next to the trail has a special place reserved for them in hell. Just gentle, peaceful woods and a beautiful Alaska scene, only to be ruined by what I now believe might be the second coming of the Blair Witch.

Stay frosty out there, people.

 

[gerry35]

Imagine you’re out on a beautiful late afternoon snowmachine ride on a balmy -10F day in the Alaska interior. You’re surrounded by back spruce and aspen forest, snow-filled trees, and tight single track with gentle rollers that make the ride feel like an amusement park attraction.

Then, coming out of some tight twists in heavier tree cover, your headlights land on this…

…and now you’ve got to get cold because you suddenly need to change your long handles.

Whoever made this nightmare right next to the trail has a special place reserved for them in hell. Just gentle, peaceful woods and a beautiful Alaska scene, only to be ruined by what I now believe might be the second coming of the Blair Witch.

Stay frosty out there, people.

Yeah that's creepy. Would definitely get your heart pumping and reaching for a shotgun.....

 

[tony]

Her father was a well known dentist/oral surgeon separate from the hospital there and the wife was offered a job in Cleveland so she moved here.
I can live anywhere as long as I’m close to an airport and so we are up here.
CVNP is in my backyard so between cle and Akron.

My mom is just outside Akron now.
Portage Lakes state park.

 

[Traskie]

It’s early October. Nice weather, sun is out. It’s the weekend in deer season, so the logging road gate is closed to vehicles, but still open to foot traffic.

My buddy and I are a ways back from a locked gate, exploring a network of old roads from long ago logged land. It’s mid day, not the best time to spot a buck, but we are still moving quiet and with about 10-15 yards between us. I’m up in front, thick brush on either side as we walk up a road spiraling up around a small hill to the summit.

I round a bend, and then there’s just suddenly a man. Not a hunter. Not dressed at all like he should be in the woods. Loggers all went home 2 days ago. He’s not at the end of the road, just standing in the middle of the road about 3/4 the way to the top. Facing away from us, silently rocking side to side.

Threw up a hand to stop my buddy and backpedaled to him, told him whatever was up there wasn’t something we wanted to deal with, and we skedaddled out of there

 

[AK Troutbum]

Imagine you’re out on a beautiful late afternoon snowmachine ride on a balmy -10F day in the Alaska interior. You’re surrounded by back spruce and aspen forest, snow-filled trees, and tight single track with gentle rollers that make the ride feel like an amusement park attraction.

Then, coming out of some tight twists in heavier tree cover, your headlights land on this…

…and now you’ve got to get cold because you suddenly need to change your long handles.

Whoever made this nightmare right next to the trail has a special place reserved for them in hell. Just gentle, peaceful woods and a beautiful Alaska scene, only to be ruined by what I now believe might be the second coming of the Blair Witch.

Stay frosty out there, people.

My first thought would be, now how in the hell did my ex-wife get this far off the main road?


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[Thinkingman]

My wife’s family lives in the Athens area, quite a ways outside town. I’ve spent a lot of time in the National Forest down there (Wayne National Forest, Athens Unit), and thank God I was always armed.

When I camp, I set up trip wires a distance from my tent. They’re tied to chemlights and small poppers—if anything (or anyone) trips one, the light pops on and the noise hopefully scares them off.

Some spots down there give off serious “The Hills Have Eyes” vibes. I’m pretty convinced I crossed paths with a family that’s actually living in one of the old coal mine adits.

I was tracking a deer and came down a ridge. My map showed an adit (mine entrance) at the base. I love local history and the old mines in the region—my in-laws even have a couple on their property that I’ve explored. In one, I added some timber supports and hauled out dozens of buckets of coal. So I wanted to check this one out, document it, match it to Ohio’s mine database, and maybe find the original hand-drawn map.

(Ohio has a great website through ODNR that shows all known mines with scans of the old maps.)

As I worked my way down the ridge, I caught a whiff of wood smoke. Through the brambles, I saw a rough shack built right onto the front of the mine entrance. Smoke was coming out of a stone-and-metal chimney, and there were men’s and women’s clothes hanging on a line out front.

The buck I was tracking suddenly veered hard left, away from the mine, crashing through the brush and making a ton of noise.

That noise made the door open. Out stepped one of the biggest men I’ve ever seen—like a white Shaq (and I’ve actually met Shaq at a gun range). He stepped out slowly and started scanning the whole hillside.

I froze next to a big blowdown oak, praying he didn’t spot me. While he was looking around, two little kids ran outside, also looking around curiously.

He called the kids back in. I waited a minute, then slowly crawled back up to the ridge top. Once I was over the other side, I booked it like the devil was chasing me.

I’ve been in combat, but this scared me more than anything I’ve ever experienced. I felt seriously undergunned even with a 45-70 rifle and a 10mm Glock on my chest rig.

I got back to the main road, drove straight to the Forest Service HQ (great spot—nice place for a picnic too), and talked to a ranger. They knew there was a group living back there somewhere, but not the exact location. There had been break-ins at houses and cabins nearby, plus hikers and hunters reporting glimpses of them. A few people even said shots were fired in their direction.

What stuck with me most: everyone I saw looked surprisingly healthy and clean—not dirty or ragged like you’d expect from people squatting in the woods.

I live up near Cleveland now and drive through rough areas often. I’ve seen drive-bys and worse up here, but nothing has ever put me more on edge than that day in the forest.

Anyone else had weird encounters out there? Or know more about folks living off-grid in the old mines? Stay safe out there.

I spent the best 5 years of my life in Athens.
Have an ex-gf that grew up in Plains.
That area has loads of witchcraft history.
Great story.

 

[WoodlandCritter]

My wife’s family lives in the Athens area, quite a ways outside town. I’ve spent a lot of time in the National Forest down there (Wayne National Forest, Athens Unit), and thank God I was always armed.

When I camp, I set up trip wires a distance from my tent. They’re tied to chemlights and small poppers—if anything (or anyone) trips one, the light pops on and the noise hopefully scares them off.

Some spots down there give off serious “The Hills Have Eyes” vibes. I’m pretty convinced I crossed paths with a family that’s actually living in one of the old coal mine adits.

I was tracking a deer and came down a ridge. My map showed an adit (mine entrance) at the base. I love local history and the old mines in the region—my in-laws even have a couple on their property that I’ve explored. In one, I added some timber supports and hauled out dozens of buckets of coal. So I wanted to check this one out, document it, match it to Ohio’s mine database, and maybe find the original hand-drawn map.

(Ohio has a great website through ODNR that shows all known mines with scans of the old maps.)

As I worked my way down the ridge, I caught a whiff of wood smoke. Through the brambles, I saw a rough shack built right onto the front of the mine entrance. Smoke was coming out of a stone-and-metal chimney, and there were men’s and women’s clothes hanging on a line out front.

The buck I was tracking suddenly veered hard left, away from the mine, crashing through the brush and making a ton of noise.

That noise made the door open. Out stepped one of the biggest men I’ve ever seen—like a white Shaq (and I’ve actually met Shaq at a gun range). He stepped out slowly and started scanning the whole hillside.

I froze next to a big blowdown oak, praying he didn’t spot me. While he was looking around, two little kids ran outside, also looking around curiously.

He called the kids back in. I waited a minute, then slowly crawled back up to the ridge top. Once I was over the other side, I booked it like the devil was chasing me.

I’ve been in combat, but this scared me more than anything I’ve ever experienced. I felt seriously undergunned even with a 45-70 rifle and a 10mm Glock on my chest rig.

I got back to the main road, drove straight to the Forest Service HQ (great spot—nice place for a picnic too), and talked to a ranger. They knew there was a group living back there somewhere, but not the exact location. There had been break-ins at houses and cabins nearby, plus hikers and hunters reporting glimpses of them. A few people even said shots were fired in their direction.

What stuck with me most: everyone I saw looked surprisingly healthy and clean—not dirty or ragged like you’d expect from people squatting in the woods.

I live up near Cleveland now and drive through rough areas often. I’ve seen drive-bys and worse up here, but nothing has ever put me more on edge than that day in the forest.

Anyone else had weird encounters out there? Or know more about folks living off-grid in the old mines? Stay safe out there.

Definitely some "good 'ol boys" out there. One time, early September squirrel season, a couple friends and I were camping out for squirrel hunting. I think it was in the Ironton district. We ran into a group of "hunters" who asked if we wanted to join their deer drive. Knowing that deer were still a couple months out of rifle season (none of their rifles appeared to be straightwall either) I politely declined. As I was walking back towards camp they shot into the air and I could hear them doing a burnout at the trailhead. Not terribly creepy, but still wasn't fun.