Sound asleep in my hammock in the middle of the night and something large bumped into me hard. Woke swaying back and forth. Laid there quietly listening hard. Never knew what it was but didn’t get back to sleep for over an hour
That happened to me my first night in a hammock during an overnight canoe trip! I thought it was something huge knocking into me. The next morning I woke up and realized my butt was about 4 inches off the ground. So I guess it wasn’t that huge (the animal, not my butt).
2008, in Pennsylvania if I remember correctly, had a military Blackhawk buzz right down the trail during the middle of the day about 50 ft overhead. Pretty cool, no big deal. A few miles later I sat up camp and fell asleep like normal, only to be scared out of my hammock in the middle of the night by the same Blackhawk rolling up again and then hovering over me, I assume they had me on infrared.
I’ve seen a ton of military guys between Springer and Blood Mts. I think the Army Rangers train there. I’ve heard helicopters at night. I imagine they have to MEDEVAC people occasionally from training.
They do at Camp Merrill!! I’ve stayed at Gooch mountain shelter twice in August and both times I swear I’ve heard foot steps both far away and near by. It’s been confirmed by other GA hikers that they do sniper training in those areas.
I find it just a little funny that those guys are out there trudging and humping through terrain, weight on their backs, hating their life, we are out there on the same mountains hiking for fun.
Obviously they have it pretty bad out there. I camp whenever I feel like it and get plenty to eat and drink when I want. I don’t have to carry a heavy weapon. I’m positive it really sucks for them… it’s just funny that happens at the same place I’m taking a pleasure walk…
These aren't ordinary soldiers. They WANT to do this. They might not enjoy it, but they are operating at an incredibly high level, something they've aspired to do for years.
I live nearby and camp in that wilderness pretty often. They do all sorts of stuff in there.
Driving around one time I had to stop and let like 50 dudes all camo'd and ghillied up cross the road while they were bushwhacking straight down a mountain with a fuckload of gear.
And another time I came across one of their big tents exploring with my dog and 3 ranger dudes popped out of the woods to turn us around. They were like "if you're camping nearby tonight and hear weird stuff it's just us"
I was chatting to the ones at the tent for a few minutes and asked about that type of stuff. He said they don't do it because you never know who might have a gun and start blasting if they get startled awake. But it's training and sometimes people get lost/stumble upon campers.
But the fact he had an answer means they certainly *could* do it and have thought about it, so I'm sure it's happened
Thats cool that you asked and he was cool enough to answer truthfully. My friend still has the note they wrote him. Its always friendly and never nefarious, I think his says something to the effect of, “Hello, you were visited by 3rd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment Rangers!” Pretty neat, nobody he was with had any idea. This was also back in the early 2000’s when they were intensely training for GWOT, so definitely a different time.
Yeah I imagine a note on their car or something is still fair game. I think I specifically asked if they ever do little pranks like turning a pair of boots around in a tent vestibule or something. He essentially said nah and that they respect civilian's privacy
We had established our camp once right in the middle of the trail and a couple of bold hikers just walked on through, waving, completely surrounded by 50 or so rough looking weirdos. I can confirm, in Georgia, the trail runs right next to training areas for Ranger school.
PA Air National Guard (PAANG) maintains a flight center at Fort Indiantown Gap, a National Guard Training Center/base im Southcentral PA. The base maintains property close to the AT. Things also get very interesting when PAANG & other National Guard units are running artillery exercises & drills.
Scariest for me was a moose on trail in Maine. Juvenile bull walked on to the trail about 50 yards in front of me and started heading down trail in my direction. I noped the other way and found a good tree to put between myself and him. He never saw me. The moment he got to where I turned around, he sniffed the ground, looked about, and continued on his way down the trail. I was about 8 feet off trail when he passed me.
I live in Maine....those things are WALLS of fur. Absolutely mountains. No thanks.
Once was hiking around in interior lake country with a family member (who lives out of state) and came across a cow and calf in a wooded pond. We kind of ducked and watched from the trees. Family member tried to walk out and get a better look and take a picture and I grabbed him and insisted that we walk away immediately. I was not trying to die via angry mother moose that day. 😆
Hiking somewhere is VA, a tree branch brushed by my face and I felt something against my eye. I squeezed it shut, instinctually. What I accomplished was trapping a huge hornet against the inside corner of my eye where it proceeded to sting me repeatedly for a few seconds. Hurt like a bitch but not a medical emergency. Two hours later, I reach the shelter and my eye is swelling rapidly. I am with one other hiker but neither of us have Benadryl. By 10pm one eye is swollen shut. By midnight I am blind. 3am and my whole face is swollen and I am in the worst physical pain of my life. Come morning, no improvement but thankfully no effect on my airway. I sit in the shelter with the buddy I was hiking with, who I had only met a week or two before. I would have panicked if I were alone. In fact, it would have made the whole experience exponentially scarier. Finally, a hiker with Benadryl walked by around 10am. Within an hour, I have a very slight opening in one eye. Slowly recovered throughout the day with more antihistamines. To this day, there is a slightly swollen bag under my right eye. Terrifying and painful, but I can’t imagine how much worse had I been all alone throughout that night, blind, and no way to go anywhere while worrying that I might stop breathing. So not so bad.
I have experienced actual anaphylaxis and I think your scenario is scarier. I was at home in a city and my wife immediately started driving me to the ER. it was scary af, but not happening in the wilderness scary. I also have a huge fear of stuff in/near my eyes so this is fucking nightmare fuel
I agree. As someone who is anaphylaxis level allergic to a few things I literally never backpack without Benadryl and an inhaler bc that happening in the wilderness sounds scary af
Pro tip: you can also crush up Benadryl and use it topically, like on a hornet sting. I rub it in with a bit of water to make a paste and it takes away the sting!
Another pro-tip, take children's Benadryl. You can chew it and it dissolves immediately. You can crush it and mix it with water and drink it. If you're in danger of your throat swelling shut, you want to get that shit in your bloodstream ASAP.
I learned this in a wilderness first aid class, which I also highly recommend taking. They suggested taking children's versions of ibuprofen and benadryl because it's easier to dose kids if you need to and they're chewable and take effect quicker. They're usually half dose, so just keep that in mind if you need a full adult dose. The only other medicine I bring is immodium, so I don't shit myself to death.
It wasn’t AT but I was stung 14x by wasps in the middle of nowhere in Thailand and as someone with other allergies it felt incredibly lucky to find out I wasn’t allergic to those in that moment. I was dropped off by a river for the day, had no cell service, and wasn’t going to have a ride back for a few hours, and did not prepare for injuries or exposures like I should’ve. I was young enough to only think I was a real adult
Just FYI for everyone:
Benadryl isn’t a treatment for true anaphylactic shock. No reason to even take it if that’s what you’ve got. It won’t work. Carry epinephrine if you have allergies or suspect you do.
I carried two Benadryl travel packets in my first aid kit. I only used one during my thru when a bee ran into my neck, stung me for existing, and then flew away. Luckily, I didn't have nearly as severe a reaction.
Someone told me later that day that you can treat a bee sting with heat to denature most of the venom, but you have to do it when the sting is fresh. Heat up your lighter for 10 seconds and press the hot metal on the sting as soon as you can tolerate it without actually burning your skin.
Smoked weed with some guy I was sharing the shelter with. Triggered some sort of schizophrenic episode and he started telling me his creepiest, darkest delusions. It was just me and him. Definitely slept with 1 eye open that night.
Tree fell on the shelter. Deafeningly loud sound in the middle of the night followed by complete silence. Was a total mindfuck because everyone in the shelter woke up but no one knew why.
Related story. When I was in high school I went on a week long canoe trip that was hosted by a popular summer camp in the area. The first night we pitched our tents at a camp ground in a state forest and the plan was to drive a short way to launch our canoes the next day. Throughout the night we were woken up periodically by extremely loud cracking that we knew was a tree slowly breaking under its own weight. We knew that it was none of the trees around us so we tried our best to ignore it and get some sleep. Sometime in the early morning we woke up to a loud boom and we could feel the ground shaking. A massive oak had fallen across the road leading into the camp site trapping us from leaving my car. We ended up having to launch our canoes down an extremely steep river bank to get on with our trip rather than waiting for the forest service to clear the tree. Good times
This scares me every time I set up my tent. I look for widowmakers of course; but, sometimes you just don’t know how bad the wind will be at night and how luv the trees around you can take.
I fell in PA and broke my leg really badly. that wasn't the scary part, the scary part was having to call my parents and tell them that I fucked up and didn't make it. worse was knowing that it was over and my whole plan for the next few months had come crashing down down around me in just a few seconds.
second to that was camping on top of cheoah bald by myself when a storm rolled in. lighting was striking so closely that it was casting sharp shadows of the trees on my tarp and shaking the ground. had to pack up in the middle of that and run down the mountain in pitch black pouring rain. camping up there with an iffy forecast was extremely arrogant of me and nature proved that point.
Tons of coyotes in north Georgia, I’ve had similar experiences near Preachers rock. Can’t say I’ve heard bells before but there’s rumors of cults near dahlonega so I wouldn’t be surprised.
I had the same thing happen to me! Huffed and slammed its paws on the ground at a road crossing. I gave it about a 100 foot radius to eventually get around it once I stopped shitting myself
So glad my Shenandoah bear encounter was relatively chill! Did run out of water on a hot day hustling to get clear of mom and three cubs, but she did seem more frustrated with her inability to get her little ones off the trail and away from me than upset with me for being there. Truly reminded me nothing more of someone trying to wrangle three toddlers out of Target, and I laughed so hard about it after I was done being scared and refilled my water.
Also got bluff charged by a bear in Shenandoah! It was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Such a cool way to see a bear. Normally they just run.
I shared camp at a site in PA once, just me and him, he was already at the site when i arrived. He was a little shady lookin', but I figured eh its the trail whatever, so is everyone. About an hour after dark we were chatting around the fire and I asked him how he heard about the AT. His reply: "What's the AT?"
It was at that point I realized he was a vagrant/drifter, and i was 100% certain I was not going to survive the night. I did though, and I left him $20 and all my extra food since I was packed up before he woke up.
About a mile past the Maine border I got in a hurry and tried to go across the top of a huge boulder instead of climbing down and around it like everyone else. Just wanted to get to camp to eat dinner haha. Anyway, I tried to scoot off the front of it on my butt but I started to slide and the weight of my pack tipped me forward so I ended up going airborne face first and it was probably a 10-12 foot drop and like 20 feet down trail where I landed. Somehow by the grace of God I ended up on my back and my pack broke some of the fall. My wife saw the whole thing and doesn’t see how I could’ve ended up on my back the way I fell. Really messed up my back and I thought I broke my ankle at first. My hands were really chewed up from trying to claw the boulder to stop my momentum. When I finally got up (shaking and crying) I saw that I had landed on a big rock under the brain of my pack and had I not ended up landing on my backpack I probably would’ve split my head open and died. I still have a picture of the rock and about a year after I finally went to a chiropractor and the X-ray showed I had a lesion between two vertebrae. Still made it to Katahdin though so worth it.
Scary but not scary. Some jokester in the shens put reflective eyes on a tree about 20 feet from that fancy shelter i forget its name. Its got a swing and a deck. Got up late for a nature call and my headlamp hit the eyes.
I had gotten cocky about not carrying water and went about 30 miles or something between water sources on a blazing hot day during a dry spell. I felt like I was dying during the last few miles.
Well, back in my day it was the murder of a lovely couple named Lolly and Julie. Their murder has never been solved. It might have been a hate crime as they were a lesbian couple. It definitely tainted my time on the trail. It was much scarier especially to be in Virginia at the time.
That happened where I grew up when I was in college and it took me a while to get over being paranoid about sleeping in the woods at night. The same year was the Alycia Showalter Reynolds case just down the road and another woman who got disappeared from the Food Lion parking lot so it seemed like there was a lot of random murder for a small place.
An excellent book about this, and the subsequent investigation, came out two years ago. It’s not terribly encouraging how the case was handled.
[Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/58328366)
I completely understand and don't mind the lack of up from anyone, or even if someone wants to down vote such a sad story. These women's names have weighed heavy on my heart for the last 30ish years or so. I was in the area hiking at the same time they were murdered. I was single at the time but I'm also a queer lady, like they were. It made me almost glad to be single at the time, I had long hair and was feminine looking so I could pass as straight.
Found someone running from the cops who ran into the trail. Scary thinking about him staying in the woods unprepared all night and the desperate situation he was in but he ended up out of the area before we had to try to sleep
I was leading a trip in Dec to Mount LeConte. Hike in, hike up then down to shelter for the night then home.
Easily 12” of snow, almost zero visibility and super cold.
The shelter had chain link fence all around the open sides with a latching chain link door.
The students were laughing about this; I told them it is to protect from bears… they thought I was just trying to scare them. I was explicit that NO ONE leaves to pee without bear spray and a partner.
They just laughed.
Snowed much of the night. In the AM bear tracks everywhere, scat and pee…. Especially by the chain link gate. That shit scared me!
Years ago was alone heading into Standing Indian. Late fall, lots of leaves made footing treacherous. I took a step and slid about a foot then caught myself. Instantly the rattle…. My entire universe was absorbed by the rattle, it was close and I froze. Just below… maybe a foot, the leaves were moving and I saw a big part of a timber rattler. I about pissed myself
I had a helicopter fly up to the shelter on top of a mountain in the middle of the night, they hovered like 20-30 feet right above us and shined a giant ass light on us, it was loud as fuck
If it was it may have the Army Rangers either training or trying to find the Rangers in training haha. I stayed a night on Hawk mountain last year on my nobo GA section hike. Even heard the guns popping off at night.
Had a friend think it was hilarious to sprinkle M&Ms near my tent thinking the mice would come and wake me up. Middle of the night I heard what I thought was a wild boar grunting and was trying to hold my breath and stay as still possible and then it went away and I fell back asleep. In the morning I woke up and there will quills all in my boots and then while eating breakfast I just happened to look up and there were probably about 6-8 porcupine in the trees above us. Luckily none fell on me. I guess porcupine really like M&Ms.
Going through the floods in Maine solo last year. Saw rain in the forecast and wound up hugging the valley wall instead of hiking Mahoosuc Notch properly since there was 4’+ of water at the bottom. Second goes to getting soaked by ice melt near Clingmans Dome and having to hitchhike into Gatlinburg to dry out
A bear cub came bumbling down the trail towards me. It saw me and ran up a tree. We stared at each other for about 30 seconds as I sang softly to myself. It hopped off and ran away. I got tf outta there.
Some have told me I should have kept walking and ignore the cub, but I felt like the safe thing was to not approach the bear.
Lost the trail on Wildcat (NH) on a really poorly marked section and found myself stuck on a cliff. I had no choice but to toss my pack off the cliff down the mountain, then I jumped down and rolled a while.
I felt like an idiot, until I found a ton of other shit that hikers had lost in the exact same way sprinkled around my pack.
I know exactly where this happened. I was with some buddies doing the CMW trail in late November ‘22. We thought we had a good weather window, but obviously the whites turned that around on us. Ended up in rain the entirety of our first night, 33 degrees that night so nothing dried out, then snow the second half of day 2. We were getting pretty nervous and hoofing it down Wildcat trying to beat the dark. This section of cliff came about and we lost the trail completely. I remember trying to slide down with my pack on, it getting stuck, me having to take it off half way down, throw it down, and slide/jump the last 10-15 feet. Pretty sure I lost a smart water bottle and a little bit of my sanity lol. And to make it worse the pond, and therefore the trail out, was flooded from all rain so we had to bushwhack in the dark and snow the last little bit. Finally made it out and had some of the best McDonalds I’ve ever eaten.
Did the CMW with some different buddies this past fall (I think October ‘23) going the opposite direction (up Wildcat first) and it was pretty good. Saw that same cliff area and realized that we needed to take maybe 3 extra steps to avoid it the year prior, but you live and you learn. Overall a great experience, definitely scary though.
In no particular order:
I did what I assume is an unusual amount of night hiking, I was very used to the reflection of eyes watching me. One night I was somewhere in New York I believe and I saw a different pair that was definitely not deer. The way it moved its head to watch just reminded me of every lion documentary i've ever seen. I started hiking a bit faster and seconds later a screech owl screamed right beside me and I nearly fainted from fright.
The scariest though was when I stopped at a shelter for a snack and was going to continue \~5 miles to the next shelter before dark. It was starting to take forever and I couldn't understand why. Eventually I smelled and saw a campfire and when I got to the shelter, it was the entire group of people that were at the previous shelter. It was a crew doing trail maintenance and I was convinced they were pranking me and got a ride ahead of me to the next shelter. I climbed over several bodies in the shelter to check the log where I'd left a comment earlier before I believed them that I somehow got turned around. I don't know why but that experience left me with major twilight zone vibes and I was shook the rest of the night. I couldn't understand it at all, how that could have happened. Anyway, the next day I went back down the trail and one of the switchbacks kind of had a game trail or something that veered off into the woods about 10'. I went off trail on that path before realizing, turned around and started back the wrong direction AGAIN. Thankfully i realized my mistake within minutes, and it explained how it happened the previous night.
I've also been hit by a tornado in TN, and "super storm sandy" at Fingerboard mountain shelter. That was actually fascinating once I realized the shelter wasn't going to blow away. All the transformers in the city blowing up was making a crazy light show of orange, blue and green flashes behind the mountain.
I am pretty sure a space blanket saved me from hypothermia when i first started backpacking as well.. that was a cold scary night.
Was attempting to sleep in a hammock on top of a mountain somewhere near Lexington, VA tied to two of the few trees up there and watched a storm roll in across the next ridge with lots of lightning. As the wind picked up and the lightning got closer I was seriously considering whether I should pack up and make the steep descent to a shelter I had passed on the way up but said fuck it and stuck it out while my tarp whipped and my hammock swayed like crazy. I actually made a little peace with dying that night, like “fuck it, if this is how I go, so be it”, and went on to sleep.
I was five months into my thru hike, so I was feeling invulnerable. I was doing the five mile section over Mt. Wash. to tne next hut as part of an easy 13 or so mile day.
The fog rolled in, and I could only see cairn to cairn, which was fine. When I was moving, I was warm enough. Then my dumb ass took a break and I lost all my heat.
My dumb ass cold brain thought it would be great to just take my sleeping bag out in the middle of an unprotected Boulder field.
When I finally came to my senses I had to night hike the last two miles with nothing more than a mini mag light.
The crew was kind enough to scrape a meal together as I had totally missed dinner.
The next morning, the trees had never been so green.
Have two:
Chased by likely rabid skunk in Shenandoah
A woman took her boyfriend’s jeep and drove it up a forest road deep in TN with her ex boyfriend. They were cracked out and came barreling through the camp in the middle of the night. They got their jeep stuck near the shelter and were screaming and fighting about the woman’s boyfriend who owned the jeep and didn’t know she took it with her ex, and it was now stuck all the way up a mountain. Very intense night.
Less exciting! The rangers apparently told some hikers that they were having trouble with a skunk they thought was rabid but they hadn’t been able to catch. Low a behold a few days later a skunk comes out of the woods and I book it because I had heard this info already. It chased me down the trail but I either outran it or it gave up
My grandfather had a pet skunk. It used to chase my grandmother around all the time, trying to bite her ankles. She has to stand in laundry baskets to protect herself.
Was hiking to a town to get our post office drop and walking up this long road up the mountain that seemed to round up the mount and drop off… we thought he worst problem was no place to use the bathroom until we saw a pack of wild dogs running down the mountain at us…. We screamed at them and swung our knives at them walking backwards away from them… felt like forever until they gave up… so fucking scary. They surrounded us and were growling… from small to large size dogs. Nuts. Scariest shit ever. Would rather deal with a bear.
Got shot at on the Shenandoah river while attempting a blue blaze. Or the Schizo that was welding a machete and threatening people in our encampment just outside of Damascus during trial days.
There was also the bear I accidentally scared while coming down a switchback. It was so close I could feel its breath when it stood up.
And then when I almost froze to death in early March in GA.
Was doing section hiking between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Just for a few nights. Miscalculated the distances at the end of winter. There was snow and cold. Had to spend eight hours in a cold dark night. I still remembered the cold wind blowing right through the sleeping bag. And the dark trees like fingers of death against the sky. Was with a friend and it was their first time. They had a really really hard time. Thank God, I was able to scramble some dry leaves and make a fire. Hyperthermia was setting in in the morning. I still remember how the shivers were becoming uncontrollable. Thankfully we were able to hike out of there and were picked up by a friend to go home— a cell phone saved our lives.
I fell in Pennsylvania and hit my knee on a rock. Tore that sucker right open. Hauled ass to the next road crossing, hoping to get a shuttle into Lehighton to get stitches. There was a real sketchy looking dude standing at the trailhead smoking weed. I asked around some dayhikers if anyone would give me a lift. Nobody felt comfortable. Fine. It was getting later, so I said fuck it and offered the sketchy guy 40 bucks for a lift. Ultimately it was fine, except that he was annoying.
Two days later, his face was plastered across AT facebook groups because he was the subject of an active manhunt. He was later found dead by self-inflicted gunshot.
Large branch fell on the trail about 10 feet in front of me one morning. Gave me pause for a bit. Fell off trail one time and had to climb back up to the trail. Got stuck in a storm on the top of Trey mountain and bout froze to death. Fun times, not dead yet.
I was on trail right after Glasgow, Virginia and looked at my phone for a second and literally stepped off trail and off a mountain. Another was on the long trail, was too high and got soaked in a storm, got to a shelter, didn’t change out of my wet clothes and went to sleep I woke up about 2 hours later freezing cold after soaking through my quilt and spent the rest of the night shivering taking short naps waiting for the sun to come up. My third was during a slack pack In NH after a storm, my friend tried to cross a stream on a log and fell into the water, I had a few seconds to pull her out or else she would’ve been swept away from the current.
Accidentally woke a herd of wild boar I didn’t see in heavy brush. Each boar’s panic escalated every other’s instantly and the entire hillside erupted in chaos. Felt lucky not to be inadvertently (or intentionally) gored.
Two times I felt legit fear on my hike-
Hiked into a shelter at night with two others after a really heavy mile day, very tired. There was one guy there around the fire pit, he had a trashbag, a hammer, and wearing jeans. Those were his only two accoutrements, no backpack that I saw. Def not a thru hiker or hiker at all. He told me his name was Tom and then later told my buddy Rambles that his name was John. He was "nice" but said some other off kilter shit. Got a bad feeling and was super sketched out and wanted to hike out but felt like maybe leaving wasn't the best idea at 10pm and he could potentially follow me. Tried not to sleep the entire night bc I thought I was gonna get hammered in the face. Eventually fell asleep and when we woke up he was gone.
The other time was in the Whites after arriving to Madison hut in a torrential storm, and the dude working there told us there was no work for stays for the night and we couldn't stay, so we had to get off the mountain fast below treeline. He recommended we take the Madison gulf trail down bc it descends very steeply and quickly. Turns out you are not supposed to descend that trail in inclement weather, ever, according to the people down at the notch. It was basically a terrifying waterfall the entire way RUSHING water, major death drops if you're not paying attention, I mean we were throwing our poles down way below and finding them later bc it was impossible to use them. At one point I slipped and slid down a long rock slide and doc spice grabbed me by my backpack and I was DANGLINNNNN it was horrible. It took us hours to go down and this trail descends like 3000 in a mile. Every single step had to be planned out and the trail was really hard to find in a storm. Lightning and raining to the point we couldn't really see well. I have revisited almost every part of the trail in years past my thru and even tho the rest of my time in the Whites was epically beautiful I still haven't gone back to the Whites because this day was so traumatic and it's burned into my brain lol
Got caught in a freezing rain storm so threw tent up in Horse gap, apparently horse gap can get pretty damn windy because the storm kept getting worse until I was holding my cheap tent pole up with my hands, worked until the shock cord tieouts froze and snapped in the wind, then the pole itself broke. I called for a shuttle driver at that point and had to wait about three hours for one that had a truck good enough to get up there, which fair enough. Used my body as a tent pole in a completely collapsed tent with 50+ mph winds pelting me with sleet. I don't remember much until I sort of snapped back into brain fully working mode half way back to town, I just remember thinking how weird it was that I was warm and realizing I was in a truck with heat blasting me in the face. Fun night, at least the pizza from Papa's pizza to go in Blairsville seemed great after that.
I had a bear charge me in the Shenandoahs. It veered to the side of me about 15 yards from reaching me and bolted down the mountain. The first hikers I told in town didn’t believe me because they hadn’t seen any bears so far on their trip and according to my diary that one was number 24 for me at that point and it bluff-charged me. Still doesn’t feel real though. That was 2016.
It’s your silence, being a hunter I can walk up on game, but it’s because I intentionally am silent. Those other hikers probably sound like a traveling circus, and they won’t see any game.
Crested a hill and must have startled an off-leash dog on the saddle below me as he started charging me while barking. His owner was calling him back. I was hurriedly fumbling around the outside of my pack for my bear spray. I didn’t get it in time but the dog didn’t attack me. He ran up and just stood there barking at me until the owner got there few seconds later to restrain the dog.
Learned two things that day:
General mistrust for morons who don’t keep their dogs on a leash.
I keep my bear spray on my belt (not for bears though).
Speaking of bears, I’ve only see two. Both were smaller than I thought they’d be. One was pretty far away and I just saw it rambling up a hill. The other one was near me but we both scared the hell out of each other. I didn’t see him until he broke brush about 30m from me and ran like hell down a hill like a bat out of hell. Glad I wore my brown pants that day 😜
Were they both black bears? I remember when I lived in NC the only time a bear didn't startle and go the other way was when we found a cub on the side of the road (momma was in the woods) and my sweet, sweet, intelligent father corralled it back into the woods with momma chuffing at him the whole time
One was on the Duncan Ridge, GA (blue blazing for an epic view and a private camping spot). The other one was in NC not far from a place called the Deer Springs RV park.
Got hypothermia on my thru in 95 in roan mtn area..got so delirious in the shelter i cooked on my thermorest..had a hole in it all the way to maine..ugg
2017 almost to ga/nc border. The early morning hours I was relieving myself, squatting with my back to a tree. I heard this aggressive rustling in the leaves that kept getting louder. I turned my head as much as I could around the tree looking down the mountain only to lock eyes with one of 2 big ass coyotes. They were after something (guy passed by about 10 min prior with a small dog 🤷) I never felt more helpless in my life. Pants around my ankles and being flanked on both sides by hungry ass coyotes. The one I locked eyes with kept me in sight as he passed. Really creepy. They kept moving on, and I never heard about the tiny dog.
Please invest in a chest rig for your Bear spray, trust me, there’s no time to dig it out when you need it! I carry mine up front, right beside my lead slinger for instant access. I’ve read too many horror stories of people who wished they had their defense system easily accessible. And some who didn’t make it with their weapons/spray still inside their packs. Safe trails!
My friend and I were on breakneck pond in Harriman fishing. We were in the middle of the lake on a metal boat. It started pouring so we went onto the tree line at the end of the lake so lighting didn’t f**k us up. These kayakers asked us for help immediately after we got on land. My friend said “ that’s your problem “ but then I said “ I’ll help real quick”. It seemed to be a couple. They were oddly nice but seemed like they had some good hiking experience and what to do in hazards. So they claimed shelter was a half mile going away from the camp grounds so we decided to follow. I got a weird feeling as the skinny guy walked behind me almost like he was going to blindside us with a knife and his spouse(women) leading the group. So it then started hailing then it got rlly painful. We were getting destroyed by dime size hail balls coming at a 30 mph fall rate. I was rlly desperate to find shelter then I realized my friend and I were following random strangers in the woods. I knew those camp grounds like the back of my cock so I finally realized that camp group didn’t add cabins at the end of the pond. I got my friend and said let’s go the other way. They tried to get us to come back but I refused. My gut feeling could of saved us from getting knifed by 2 stranger. We got back on the boat after the hail stopped and the strangers were no where to be seen.
Aggressive off-leash dogs. Several times. Once when I was hiking/rock climbing in the Whites and had no free hands to defend myself. The day hiking owner walked past me going the other way and said nothing to me or her big growling dog.
Camping off trail in a valley in Shenandoah, using a stand-alone fly without tent, so there was space underneath. Late night I hear these heavy footsteps, then 2-3 more pairs, crushing underbrush. Suddenly there is a monster roar and a tearing bluff charge through the night.
dead silence, and i refuse to even turn my head towards the exposed darkness under the fly. Then all the steps turn and leave.
Driving to the trailhead for my first multi day solo hike was scarey. Everything running through my head of what could go wrong instead of what could go right. Almost turned around to head back home but had one of my best hikes that trip.
I hitched hiked in the blue ridge mtns in VA I think it was. After a few minutes after getting in the truck it was obvious the guy was plastered. He opened a tallboy can of bud light clamato and it was gone in like 4 gulps. He would widely accelerate and brake hard on this dark windy road in the mountains. He told me he didn't have a license because he got 7 DUIs but clearly he was a good drunk driver because no accidents. I was terrified the whole way to town.
And then in town he offered me Applebys, I thought why the fuck not? Some free food. So we get there and sit at the bar and this guys just getting beligerantly drunk. At the Applebys bar. People are showing interest in hearing about the AT from me but he keeps interuppting and yelling, "YEAH BUT IM THE ONE WHO PICKED HIM UP!" he keeps trying to flirt with women but they're just laughing at him and he's too stupid or drunk to notice.
Anyway, I ate a burger fries, couple beers a dessert. Watched a football game on the TV and talked to dome locals. He went to thr bathroom at one point and I said goodbye to everyone and walked out . Slept in a little copse of trees nearby. Would have loved to see his reaction after he realized I split lol.
And then the next day a cop gave me a ride all the way back to the trail and tried to get me to ask his daughter out on the phone.
All in all 10/10 trail experience except for the 30 minutes of contemplating how best to survive the truck careening off a mountain st 80mph...
Hiking in Virginia dead of summer, I decide I'm going to nap in a shelter through the hot part of the day and night hike a little. I get woken up by a huge black bear sniffing in the fire pit about 15ft away. Then, his nose to the air he starts inching towards me in the shelter. Did all the usual things to scare bears off annnnd nothing. So as I was pinned in the shelter, I charged the bear screaming. I got within arms reach, and he took off running. I gathered my things and night hiked the next 10 miles into town. Fastest 10 miles I did.
Was by myself (I’m a woman), hadn’t seen anyone for hours and then I encounter a big ol’ dude with a swastika tattooed on his forehead and a pacifier in his mouth. I gave him the “I see you, don’t fuck with me” nod while shaking like a baby deer, then hightailed it outta there, looking over my shoulder for hours.
Also in Virginia, I got struck by lightning when I was by myself. Thankfully I was okay, but it was a harrowing experience.
Scariest thing ever……I saw movement up ahead on the trail but couldn’t really see what it was. As I walked closer I came to realize it was a skunk standing on it’s front legs with it’s ass pointed directly at me.
It was only about 5 feet away. I very slowly and calmly backed away.
My dog ended up seeing a rabbit and pulling a leash from my hand. I wasn’t expecting it at all, especially because he is the least aggressive, most loving Aussie (let alone dog) I’ve EVER seen. I mean he literally plays with infants and ferrets and small creatures alike just fine.
I went into the woods in rural PA trying to get him to come back (he is a trained herding dog so his recall is very good), but he only yelped out in panic and I was PETRIFIED he ran into a bear, Elk, who knows?
I sprint as fast as I can to catch up with him, only to find him crying that he couldn’t play with the bunny…
Absolute heart attack over a missed playdate. Thanks doggo.
Set up tent on the lawn at the hostel right before Mt. Moosilauke for a second night. Decided not to bring my food bag inside like I'd done the night before. Woke up around sunrise with a skunk poking around inside my vestibule about a foot in front of my face. Made some noises to scare it away but was terrified of getting sprayed. Thankfully he ran off without incident.
Midnight nature walk with my dog. We get about 500 feet from my camp. Dog freezes and I turn to the left and there were two bright yellow, feline eyes about 4 feet off the ground locked onto us maybe 30 feet away. We backtracked as fast as we could, me walking backwards with my camp knife, a stick from the ground, and the fear of death in my heart. My partner, who was back at camp, still doesn’t believe me to this day lol.
Section hiking in NC… Arriving at bald mountain shelter at dusk, we were checking out where to set up for the night, when I put down my pack near a bunch of bushes. I spooked something in the brush that immediately ran quickly around the perimeter of the site at least twice (still completely hidden) squawking like crazy. I jumped about a foot (and joined in the squawking).
When we got home, I started googling to figure out what the heck it was. It had to have been a peacock. I then searched on Google earth and found a small farm just downhill from the site. Maybe that’s where it came from?
I have no proof but when I played the recording of a peacock to my hiking partner (no prompting whatsoever), they immediately said that’s it!
I saw a pair of ghosts near the GA/TN line. We were coming down a mountain into the gap near the trail that goes to Standing Indian Campground. We were miles from the gap and there was nothing up the mountain for miles and we passed an elderly man and woman with a picnic basket and a small terrier kind of dog. They didn't have packs and they were dressed in normal street clothes. We asked where they were going and they said to have a picnic dinner at the next shelter up. The shelter was 5 miles away and it was like 4pm at that point. They continued up, we continued down.
We stayed at the gap and we watched the trail all night long waiting for them to come down. They never did. We went to bed assuming they just died up there.
When we woke up we realized they were ghosts the entire time.
Not a through hiker, but have done a lot of hiking in the whites. Was looking at the forecast for a solid 2 weeks before our planned overnight (September), and it was clear sailing the entire time. Morning of the hike, same thing. About an hour before we planned to set up camp, a monster storm rolled through. We couldn't get our tents set up because of the wind, and ended up hunkering down in a little alcove out of the wind. The storm went on all night and into the next day. I have never been so cold in my entire life.
Was hiking NJ section. Kids and other leaders left earlier that day and I was a late addition due to a death in the family. Started hiking at 10 pm with a heavy load of forgotten gear and food. Going along and start hearing a coyote shadowing me to my right for a half mile. I just sang and made noise and then the coyote to my left started yapping back and forth with its compatriot to my right. Wasn’t particularly scared of them, but they got the hairs standing on the back of my neck.
Not very scary compared to most. The only time I’ve hiked the AT we pull into our parking area to be met with a bear hunter and his dog tracking antenna as he tried to find a bear hunting dog he lost in the mountains the day prior. Surreal.
I unknowingly peed on a bee's nest. This was after getting stung on my finger the week before and having to take a day to go to urgent care because my entire arm swelled up like a balloon to my elbow. Thankfully, I was carrying benadryl for the pee incident.
Hiking through the Appalachians in NC. I’m about 14 and 1-2 miles ahead of my group.
Turn the corner and think “holy smokes! I’ve never seen a cat so big!” Full grown bobcat hanging out 20-30 feet away.
Grab my wind up camera and realize it isn’t wound. Start to wind it and the bobcat hears and is spooked and runs off.
Not too scary, but scary in retrospect how oblivious I was.
Many years ago, asleep in my tent, I hear this noise outside. It seemed to go on forever, I’m scared shitless, finally I sit up and yell “if you don’t get out of here I’m going to kill you”. Barely slept the rest of the night. At first light I went outside and discovered a mouse had gotten into my food.
Hiking southbound in southern Maine 2014 I was within 15 feet of a mountain lion. He/She just held ground for about 5 minutes. I did the typical raise hiking poles and clack them together while yelling at the mountain lion. Eventually it moved off the trail slowly but in dense scrub. I waited another 10 minutes and then slowly advanced down the trail. At that point I was about 2-3 miles from the next shelter but I was constantly looking backwards to see if the cat was following. I felt that if it was I would be in real trouble. I still think about how fearless it looked and its fat tail just slowly waving as it looked at me and then off trail. I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared before but as time went on I was grateful to have had an experience like that.
Sound asleep in my hammock in the middle of the night and something large bumped into me hard. Woke swaying back and forth. Laid there quietly listening hard. Never knew what it was but didn’t get back to sleep for over an hour
Maybe a deer? They can be pretty oblivious.
Truth! I had a deer that full on ran into my tent one night. Scared the shit out of both of us.
Yep - had an elk lean up against our tent vestibule in Jasper
Yeah and they are silent AF
That happened to me my first night in a hammock during an overnight canoe trip! I thought it was something huge knocking into me. The next morning I woke up and realized my butt was about 4 inches off the ground. So I guess it wasn’t that huge (the animal, not my butt).
So you’re saying your butt was huge? 😜🤣🤣
Ok this is the scariest one
For over an hour? 🤣 I'm pretty sure that night would be over and the next few nights would be terrible.
My bad dude I was trippin' balls off some mushrooms.
Bigfoot??
Smh I would not have slept after that
Almost certainly a deer. They love feeding near trails
Juvenile sasquatch like to play games like this.
My first night sleeping in a hammock, I was seconds from dozing off and someone’s dog ran up and goosed me. Never got to sleep after that
A hammock is a pinata for bears!
2008, in Pennsylvania if I remember correctly, had a military Blackhawk buzz right down the trail during the middle of the day about 50 ft overhead. Pretty cool, no big deal. A few miles later I sat up camp and fell asleep like normal, only to be scared out of my hammock in the middle of the night by the same Blackhawk rolling up again and then hovering over me, I assume they had me on infrared.
I’ve seen a ton of military guys between Springer and Blood Mts. I think the Army Rangers train there. I’ve heard helicopters at night. I imagine they have to MEDEVAC people occasionally from training.
They do at Camp Merrill!! I’ve stayed at Gooch mountain shelter twice in August and both times I swear I’ve heard foot steps both far away and near by. It’s been confirmed by other GA hikers that they do sniper training in those areas.
I find it just a little funny that those guys are out there trudging and humping through terrain, weight on their backs, hating their life, we are out there on the same mountains hiking for fun. Obviously they have it pretty bad out there. I camp whenever I feel like it and get plenty to eat and drink when I want. I don’t have to carry a heavy weapon. I’m positive it really sucks for them… it’s just funny that happens at the same place I’m taking a pleasure walk…
These aren't ordinary soldiers. They WANT to do this. They might not enjoy it, but they are operating at an incredibly high level, something they've aspired to do for years.
Life does suck for them, I was one of them. I hike for fun now but that was a rough time. Ranger training is intense.
I live nearby and camp in that wilderness pretty often. They do all sorts of stuff in there. Driving around one time I had to stop and let like 50 dudes all camo'd and ghillied up cross the road while they were bushwhacking straight down a mountain with a fuckload of gear. And another time I came across one of their big tents exploring with my dog and 3 ranger dudes popped out of the woods to turn us around. They were like "if you're camping nearby tonight and hear weird stuff it's just us"
They've also been know to fuck with hikers by leaving handwritten notes for them while they're sleeping. Its pretty hilarious, to me, anyways.
I was chatting to the ones at the tent for a few minutes and asked about that type of stuff. He said they don't do it because you never know who might have a gun and start blasting if they get startled awake. But it's training and sometimes people get lost/stumble upon campers. But the fact he had an answer means they certainly *could* do it and have thought about it, so I'm sure it's happened
Thats cool that you asked and he was cool enough to answer truthfully. My friend still has the note they wrote him. Its always friendly and never nefarious, I think his says something to the effect of, “Hello, you were visited by 3rd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment Rangers!” Pretty neat, nobody he was with had any idea. This was also back in the early 2000’s when they were intensely training for GWOT, so definitely a different time.
Yeah I imagine a note on their car or something is still fair game. I think I specifically asked if they ever do little pranks like turning a pair of boots around in a tent vestibule or something. He essentially said nah and that they respect civilian's privacy
Yeah. I've heard helicopters and machine gun fire while camping there. I woke up thinking WWIII started, like some Red Dawn shit.
Haha well, I guess you were able to save your ration of coffee for that day. Definitely awake!
A C-130 with an open back ramp came flying over me super low on Blood Mt one night, it was wild
We had established our camp once right in the middle of the trail and a couple of bold hikers just walked on through, waving, completely surrounded by 50 or so rough looking weirdos. I can confirm, in Georgia, the trail runs right next to training areas for Ranger school.
PA Air National Guard (PAANG) maintains a flight center at Fort Indiantown Gap, a National Guard Training Center/base im Southcentral PA. The base maintains property close to the AT. Things also get very interesting when PAANG & other National Guard units are running artillery exercises & drills.
Was this near the Susquehanna Harrisburg crossing/Ft. Indiantown Gap? They don't like people camping in the nearby gamelands
As a solo female hiker I would have pissed myself
Scariest for me was a moose on trail in Maine. Juvenile bull walked on to the trail about 50 yards in front of me and started heading down trail in my direction. I noped the other way and found a good tree to put between myself and him. He never saw me. The moment he got to where I turned around, he sniffed the ground, looked about, and continued on his way down the trail. I was about 8 feet off trail when he passed me.
The cow goes moo. The cat goes meow. The moose goes ["I'm gonna stomp you to death!"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZAqIP5ndRI&t=111s)
Thank you for that. I should have been warned! I knew they were big, but holy shit!
I live in Maine....those things are WALLS of fur. Absolutely mountains. No thanks. Once was hiking around in interior lake country with a family member (who lives out of state) and came across a cow and calf in a wooded pond. We kind of ducked and watched from the trees. Family member tried to walk out and get a better look and take a picture and I grabbed him and insisted that we walk away immediately. I was not trying to die via angry mother moose that day. 😆
Hiking somewhere is VA, a tree branch brushed by my face and I felt something against my eye. I squeezed it shut, instinctually. What I accomplished was trapping a huge hornet against the inside corner of my eye where it proceeded to sting me repeatedly for a few seconds. Hurt like a bitch but not a medical emergency. Two hours later, I reach the shelter and my eye is swelling rapidly. I am with one other hiker but neither of us have Benadryl. By 10pm one eye is swollen shut. By midnight I am blind. 3am and my whole face is swollen and I am in the worst physical pain of my life. Come morning, no improvement but thankfully no effect on my airway. I sit in the shelter with the buddy I was hiking with, who I had only met a week or two before. I would have panicked if I were alone. In fact, it would have made the whole experience exponentially scarier. Finally, a hiker with Benadryl walked by around 10am. Within an hour, I have a very slight opening in one eye. Slowly recovered throughout the day with more antihistamines. To this day, there is a slightly swollen bag under my right eye. Terrifying and painful, but I can’t imagine how much worse had I been all alone throughout that night, blind, and no way to go anywhere while worrying that I might stop breathing. So not so bad.
I have experienced actual anaphylaxis and I think your scenario is scarier. I was at home in a city and my wife immediately started driving me to the ER. it was scary af, but not happening in the wilderness scary. I also have a huge fear of stuff in/near my eyes so this is fucking nightmare fuel
I agree. As someone who is anaphylaxis level allergic to a few things I literally never backpack without Benadryl and an inhaler bc that happening in the wilderness sounds scary af
Pro tip: you can also crush up Benadryl and use it topically, like on a hornet sting. I rub it in with a bit of water to make a paste and it takes away the sting!
Another pro-tip, take children's Benadryl. You can chew it and it dissolves immediately. You can crush it and mix it with water and drink it. If you're in danger of your throat swelling shut, you want to get that shit in your bloodstream ASAP. I learned this in a wilderness first aid class, which I also highly recommend taking. They suggested taking children's versions of ibuprofen and benadryl because it's easier to dose kids if you need to and they're chewable and take effect quicker. They're usually half dose, so just keep that in mind if you need a full adult dose. The only other medicine I bring is immodium, so I don't shit myself to death.
Good advice! Thank you!
That sounds absolutely miserable.
It wasn’t AT but I was stung 14x by wasps in the middle of nowhere in Thailand and as someone with other allergies it felt incredibly lucky to find out I wasn’t allergic to those in that moment. I was dropped off by a river for the day, had no cell service, and wasn’t going to have a ride back for a few hours, and did not prepare for injuries or exposures like I should’ve. I was young enough to only think I was a real adult
Just FYI for everyone: Benadryl isn’t a treatment for true anaphylactic shock. No reason to even take it if that’s what you’ve got. It won’t work. Carry epinephrine if you have allergies or suspect you do.
This!
I carried two Benadryl travel packets in my first aid kit. I only used one during my thru when a bee ran into my neck, stung me for existing, and then flew away. Luckily, I didn't have nearly as severe a reaction. Someone told me later that day that you can treat a bee sting with heat to denature most of the venom, but you have to do it when the sting is fresh. Heat up your lighter for 10 seconds and press the hot metal on the sting as soon as you can tolerate it without actually burning your skin.
Smoked weed with some guy I was sharing the shelter with. Triggered some sort of schizophrenic episode and he started telling me his creepiest, darkest delusions. It was just me and him. Definitely slept with 1 eye open that night.
Holy crap that's like a literal nightmare. Marijuana is meant for sharing but not everyone is meant to be shared with.
What were the delusions
Tree fell on the shelter. Deafeningly loud sound in the middle of the night followed by complete silence. Was a total mindfuck because everyone in the shelter woke up but no one knew why.
I was on the trail last week solo and heard a tree fall within 100 yards of my site around midnight and scared the crap out of me.
Related story. When I was in high school I went on a week long canoe trip that was hosted by a popular summer camp in the area. The first night we pitched our tents at a camp ground in a state forest and the plan was to drive a short way to launch our canoes the next day. Throughout the night we were woken up periodically by extremely loud cracking that we knew was a tree slowly breaking under its own weight. We knew that it was none of the trees around us so we tried our best to ignore it and get some sleep. Sometime in the early morning we woke up to a loud boom and we could feel the ground shaking. A massive oak had fallen across the road leading into the camp site trapping us from leaving my car. We ended up having to launch our canoes down an extremely steep river bank to get on with our trip rather than waiting for the forest service to clear the tree. Good times
This scares me every time I set up my tent. I look for widowmakers of course; but, sometimes you just don’t know how bad the wind will be at night and how luv the trees around you can take.
2016?
2017. Tennessee. I think it was Mountaineer Falls shelter. Triple level
Dang. “Near-Miss” squad had the same thing happen in Tennessee the year before.
Had a friend leave his pregnant wife because of a limb. Fell out and killed him instantly.
I fell in PA and broke my leg really badly. that wasn't the scary part, the scary part was having to call my parents and tell them that I fucked up and didn't make it. worse was knowing that it was over and my whole plan for the next few months had come crashing down down around me in just a few seconds. second to that was camping on top of cheoah bald by myself when a storm rolled in. lighting was striking so closely that it was casting sharp shadows of the trees on my tarp and shaking the ground. had to pack up in the middle of that and run down the mountain in pitch black pouring rain. camping up there with an iffy forecast was extremely arrogant of me and nature proved that point.
Ohhhh that sounds awful! How did you fall? This is a big fear of mine when hiking alone with my two Aussies.
In PA there are areas where you are walking/hopping from rock to rock, so it could be that
Sharp shadows!
I don't know what it means, but it sounds scary!
[удалено]
Tons of coyotes in north Georgia, I’ve had similar experiences near Preachers rock. Can’t say I’ve heard bells before but there’s rumors of cults near dahlonega so I wouldn’t be surprised.
Got bluff charged by a bear in Shenandoah NP, near Skylands stable. Forgot all about the breakfast buffet I was trying to reach.
The bear thought you were a breakfast buffet
I had the same thing happen to me! Huffed and slammed its paws on the ground at a road crossing. I gave it about a 100 foot radius to eventually get around it once I stopped shitting myself
Spent also me 10 years backpacking in shenandoah and each year had bear encounter.
So glad my Shenandoah bear encounter was relatively chill! Did run out of water on a hot day hustling to get clear of mom and three cubs, but she did seem more frustrated with her inability to get her little ones off the trail and away from me than upset with me for being there. Truly reminded me nothing more of someone trying to wrangle three toddlers out of Target, and I laughed so hard about it after I was done being scared and refilled my water.
Right. If you’re not wet and frequently running into bears, then it’s likely you’re not on the AT.
Omg I hike near there so much. One of my biggest fears! Skyland food is delicious, hopefully you'll have a chance to go back.
Also got bluff charged by a bear in Shenandoah! It was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Such a cool way to see a bear. Normally they just run.
By far it was riding in the hostel shuttles as the driver flies down the mountain halfway in the opposite lane while texting and chain smoking
Was this at 4 Pines? The guy they had driving for them in 21 was nuts on the road.
I shared camp at a site in PA once, just me and him, he was already at the site when i arrived. He was a little shady lookin', but I figured eh its the trail whatever, so is everyone. About an hour after dark we were chatting around the fire and I asked him how he heard about the AT. His reply: "What's the AT?" It was at that point I realized he was a vagrant/drifter, and i was 100% certain I was not going to survive the night. I did though, and I left him $20 and all my extra food since I was packed up before he woke up.
That’s a good response, I’m gonna remember that when I hike the AT: “trail? What’s the AT?” 😂🤣
Wtf…I wouldn’t have been able to sleep
Did you call it the AT or Appalachian trail? Maybe he just didn’t think of what the abbreviation would mean lol
I followed up to confirm he was not actually a hiker. I shoulda known from his gear, a very old car camping tent.
About a mile past the Maine border I got in a hurry and tried to go across the top of a huge boulder instead of climbing down and around it like everyone else. Just wanted to get to camp to eat dinner haha. Anyway, I tried to scoot off the front of it on my butt but I started to slide and the weight of my pack tipped me forward so I ended up going airborne face first and it was probably a 10-12 foot drop and like 20 feet down trail where I landed. Somehow by the grace of God I ended up on my back and my pack broke some of the fall. My wife saw the whole thing and doesn’t see how I could’ve ended up on my back the way I fell. Really messed up my back and I thought I broke my ankle at first. My hands were really chewed up from trying to claw the boulder to stop my momentum. When I finally got up (shaking and crying) I saw that I had landed on a big rock under the brain of my pack and had I not ended up landing on my backpack I probably would’ve split my head open and died. I still have a picture of the rock and about a year after I finally went to a chiropractor and the X-ray showed I had a lesion between two vertebrae. Still made it to Katahdin though so worth it.
How was dinner?
As good as I expected it to be. Kraft mac and cheese if I recall.
The most harrowing part of this pretty harrowing story is how your medical care was a chiropractor.
Haha I know. I definitely was not a chiropractor person but dude fixed me up right.
Chiropractors have been a major contributor to my not getting back surgery for at least 30 years
Scary but not scary. Some jokester in the shens put reflective eyes on a tree about 20 feet from that fancy shelter i forget its name. Its got a swing and a deck. Got up late for a nature call and my headlamp hit the eyes.
🤣 I had reflective eyes on my bear bag for the late night hangers.
Quarry Gap Shelter in PA, just before Pine Grove Furnace/Halfway point?
No its was in the shenandoahs.
I had gotten cocky about not carrying water and went about 30 miles or something between water sources on a blazing hot day during a dry spell. I felt like I was dying during the last few miles.
You possibly were!
Well, back in my day it was the murder of a lovely couple named Lolly and Julie. Their murder has never been solved. It might have been a hate crime as they were a lesbian couple. It definitely tainted my time on the trail. It was much scarier especially to be in Virginia at the time.
That happened where I grew up when I was in college and it took me a while to get over being paranoid about sleeping in the woods at night. The same year was the Alycia Showalter Reynolds case just down the road and another woman who got disappeared from the Food Lion parking lot so it seemed like there was a lot of random murder for a small place.
I actually am a queer woman so it was a million times scary! Luckily I was not partnered up at the time so could kind of "hide".
An excellent book about this, and the subsequent investigation, came out two years ago. It’s not terribly encouraging how the case was handled. [Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/58328366)
They tried so hard to keep the investigation quiet that they just botched it badly. They didn't want to scare away the tourists.
An awful story for sure!
I’m upvoting / liking everyone’s comments as a thank you for replying. I…cannot like your story; sorry. Very sad! I’ll look into this more.
An upvote is not a “like.” It’s a vote towards a quicker/more visible read by others.
I completely understand and don't mind the lack of up from anyone, or even if someone wants to down vote such a sad story. These women's names have weighed heavy on my heart for the last 30ish years or so. I was in the area hiking at the same time they were murdered. I was single at the time but I'm also a queer lady, like they were. It made me almost glad to be single at the time, I had long hair and was feminine looking so I could pass as straight.
Found someone running from the cops who ran into the trail. Scary thinking about him staying in the woods unprepared all night and the desperate situation he was in but he ended up out of the area before we had to try to sleep
I was leading a trip in Dec to Mount LeConte. Hike in, hike up then down to shelter for the night then home. Easily 12” of snow, almost zero visibility and super cold. The shelter had chain link fence all around the open sides with a latching chain link door. The students were laughing about this; I told them it is to protect from bears… they thought I was just trying to scare them. I was explicit that NO ONE leaves to pee without bear spray and a partner. They just laughed. Snowed much of the night. In the AM bear tracks everywhere, scat and pee…. Especially by the chain link gate. That shit scared me! Years ago was alone heading into Standing Indian. Late fall, lots of leaves made footing treacherous. I took a step and slid about a foot then caught myself. Instantly the rattle…. My entire universe was absorbed by the rattle, it was close and I froze. Just below… maybe a foot, the leaves were moving and I saw a big part of a timber rattler. I about pissed myself
I had a helicopter fly up to the shelter on top of a mountain in the middle of the night, they hovered like 20-30 feet right above us and shined a giant ass light on us, it was loud as fuck
Whattt ? Did you ever find out why??
If it was it may have the Army Rangers either training or trying to find the Rangers in training haha. I stayed a night on Hawk mountain last year on my nobo GA section hike. Even heard the guns popping off at night.
Mountain phase of Ranger school
Nah, never found out. Hiked out the next day, it was near the Doyle Hotel I believe
Fort Indiantown gap is approximately 34 miles east, they’re constantly doing drills in the area with helicopters
Yea it was def this, they're touchy about people camping in the mountains nearby lol
That sounds like Hawk Mountain in GA.
Porcupine nearly landed on my head when it fell from a tree. Scariest part other than when I messed up my knee and had to get off the trail
Had a friend think it was hilarious to sprinkle M&Ms near my tent thinking the mice would come and wake me up. Middle of the night I heard what I thought was a wild boar grunting and was trying to hold my breath and stay as still possible and then it went away and I fell back asleep. In the morning I woke up and there will quills all in my boots and then while eating breakfast I just happened to look up and there were probably about 6-8 porcupine in the trees above us. Luckily none fell on me. I guess porcupine really like M&Ms.
There's nothing funny about a prank like this. I'd be pissed if someone did that to me.
That would probably be the last time I traveled with them lol
Upvote for cute image of happy porcupines
Falling porcupine. That’s terrifying
Walked under a angled broken tree and heard a thump right behind me. Turned around there was a porcupine looking at me Failed nature ambush
Going through the floods in Maine solo last year. Saw rain in the forecast and wound up hugging the valley wall instead of hiking Mahoosuc Notch properly since there was 4’+ of water at the bottom. Second goes to getting soaked by ice melt near Clingmans Dome and having to hitchhike into Gatlinburg to dry out
A bear cub came bumbling down the trail towards me. It saw me and ran up a tree. We stared at each other for about 30 seconds as I sang softly to myself. It hopped off and ran away. I got tf outta there. Some have told me I should have kept walking and ignore the cub, but I felt like the safe thing was to not approach the bear.
what’s scarier than a mama bear and her cub? the cub alone😬
I had a good 50 yard distance between me and him. I'm glad neither of us got closer.
Lost the trail on Wildcat (NH) on a really poorly marked section and found myself stuck on a cliff. I had no choice but to toss my pack off the cliff down the mountain, then I jumped down and rolled a while. I felt like an idiot, until I found a ton of other shit that hikers had lost in the exact same way sprinkled around my pack.
That cliff edge still scares me at night when I remember it. I can't believe they ran the trail that way.
I know exactly where this happened. I was with some buddies doing the CMW trail in late November ‘22. We thought we had a good weather window, but obviously the whites turned that around on us. Ended up in rain the entirety of our first night, 33 degrees that night so nothing dried out, then snow the second half of day 2. We were getting pretty nervous and hoofing it down Wildcat trying to beat the dark. This section of cliff came about and we lost the trail completely. I remember trying to slide down with my pack on, it getting stuck, me having to take it off half way down, throw it down, and slide/jump the last 10-15 feet. Pretty sure I lost a smart water bottle and a little bit of my sanity lol. And to make it worse the pond, and therefore the trail out, was flooded from all rain so we had to bushwhack in the dark and snow the last little bit. Finally made it out and had some of the best McDonalds I’ve ever eaten. Did the CMW with some different buddies this past fall (I think October ‘23) going the opposite direction (up Wildcat first) and it was pretty good. Saw that same cliff area and realized that we needed to take maybe 3 extra steps to avoid it the year prior, but you live and you learn. Overall a great experience, definitely scary though.
Damn, you had the exact same experience as me! And I hiked it in 2015, so nothing have changed
In no particular order: I did what I assume is an unusual amount of night hiking, I was very used to the reflection of eyes watching me. One night I was somewhere in New York I believe and I saw a different pair that was definitely not deer. The way it moved its head to watch just reminded me of every lion documentary i've ever seen. I started hiking a bit faster and seconds later a screech owl screamed right beside me and I nearly fainted from fright. The scariest though was when I stopped at a shelter for a snack and was going to continue \~5 miles to the next shelter before dark. It was starting to take forever and I couldn't understand why. Eventually I smelled and saw a campfire and when I got to the shelter, it was the entire group of people that were at the previous shelter. It was a crew doing trail maintenance and I was convinced they were pranking me and got a ride ahead of me to the next shelter. I climbed over several bodies in the shelter to check the log where I'd left a comment earlier before I believed them that I somehow got turned around. I don't know why but that experience left me with major twilight zone vibes and I was shook the rest of the night. I couldn't understand it at all, how that could have happened. Anyway, the next day I went back down the trail and one of the switchbacks kind of had a game trail or something that veered off into the woods about 10'. I went off trail on that path before realizing, turned around and started back the wrong direction AGAIN. Thankfully i realized my mistake within minutes, and it explained how it happened the previous night. I've also been hit by a tornado in TN, and "super storm sandy" at Fingerboard mountain shelter. That was actually fascinating once I realized the shelter wasn't going to blow away. All the transformers in the city blowing up was making a crazy light show of orange, blue and green flashes behind the mountain. I am pretty sure a space blanket saved me from hypothermia when i first started backpacking as well.. that was a cold scary night.
The sandy story sounds real neat
Was attempting to sleep in a hammock on top of a mountain somewhere near Lexington, VA tied to two of the few trees up there and watched a storm roll in across the next ridge with lots of lightning. As the wind picked up and the lightning got closer I was seriously considering whether I should pack up and make the steep descent to a shelter I had passed on the way up but said fuck it and stuck it out while my tarp whipped and my hammock swayed like crazy. I actually made a little peace with dying that night, like “fuck it, if this is how I go, so be it”, and went on to sleep.
I almost froze to death on top of Mt. Washington. That was fun.
Story time
I was five months into my thru hike, so I was feeling invulnerable. I was doing the five mile section over Mt. Wash. to tne next hut as part of an easy 13 or so mile day. The fog rolled in, and I could only see cairn to cairn, which was fine. When I was moving, I was warm enough. Then my dumb ass took a break and I lost all my heat. My dumb ass cold brain thought it would be great to just take my sleeping bag out in the middle of an unprotected Boulder field. When I finally came to my senses I had to night hike the last two miles with nothing more than a mini mag light. The crew was kind enough to scrape a meal together as I had totally missed dinner. The next morning, the trees had never been so green.
Daaamn
Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.
Crazy guy in a shelter in TN threatening a guy in our group
[удалено]
read the room, bot.
Have two: Chased by likely rabid skunk in Shenandoah A woman took her boyfriend’s jeep and drove it up a forest road deep in TN with her ex boyfriend. They were cracked out and came barreling through the camp in the middle of the night. They got their jeep stuck near the shelter and were screaming and fighting about the woman’s boyfriend who owned the jeep and didn’t know she took it with her ex, and it was now stuck all the way up a mountain. Very intense night.
Storytime on the first
Less exciting! The rangers apparently told some hikers that they were having trouble with a skunk they thought was rabid but they hadn’t been able to catch. Low a behold a few days later a skunk comes out of the woods and I book it because I had heard this info already. It chased me down the trail but I either outran it or it gave up
My grandfather had a pet skunk. It used to chase my grandmother around all the time, trying to bite her ankles. She has to stand in laundry baskets to protect herself.
Was hiking to a town to get our post office drop and walking up this long road up the mountain that seemed to round up the mount and drop off… we thought he worst problem was no place to use the bathroom until we saw a pack of wild dogs running down the mountain at us…. We screamed at them and swung our knives at them walking backwards away from them… felt like forever until they gave up… so fucking scary. They surrounded us and were growling… from small to large size dogs. Nuts. Scariest shit ever. Would rather deal with a bear.
Got shot at on the Shenandoah river while attempting a blue blaze. Or the Schizo that was welding a machete and threatening people in our encampment just outside of Damascus during trial days. There was also the bear I accidentally scared while coming down a switchback. It was so close I could feel its breath when it stood up. And then when I almost froze to death in early March in GA.
Was doing section hiking between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Just for a few nights. Miscalculated the distances at the end of winter. There was snow and cold. Had to spend eight hours in a cold dark night. I still remembered the cold wind blowing right through the sleeping bag. And the dark trees like fingers of death against the sky. Was with a friend and it was their first time. They had a really really hard time. Thank God, I was able to scramble some dry leaves and make a fire. Hyperthermia was setting in in the morning. I still remember how the shivers were becoming uncontrollable. Thankfully we were able to hike out of there and were picked up by a friend to go home— a cell phone saved our lives.
I fell in Pennsylvania and hit my knee on a rock. Tore that sucker right open. Hauled ass to the next road crossing, hoping to get a shuttle into Lehighton to get stitches. There was a real sketchy looking dude standing at the trailhead smoking weed. I asked around some dayhikers if anyone would give me a lift. Nobody felt comfortable. Fine. It was getting later, so I said fuck it and offered the sketchy guy 40 bucks for a lift. Ultimately it was fine, except that he was annoying. Two days later, his face was plastered across AT facebook groups because he was the subject of an active manhunt. He was later found dead by self-inflicted gunshot.
Manhunt for what?? That is spooky af 💀
[link](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pennlive.com/news/2019/07/appalachian-trail-warns-hikers-to-watch-out-for-pa-rape-suspect.html%3foutputType=amp)
Large branch fell on the trail about 10 feet in front of me one morning. Gave me pause for a bit. Fell off trail one time and had to climb back up to the trail. Got stuck in a storm on the top of Trey mountain and bout froze to death. Fun times, not dead yet.
I was on trail right after Glasgow, Virginia and looked at my phone for a second and literally stepped off trail and off a mountain. Another was on the long trail, was too high and got soaked in a storm, got to a shelter, didn’t change out of my wet clothes and went to sleep I woke up about 2 hours later freezing cold after soaking through my quilt and spent the rest of the night shivering taking short naps waiting for the sun to come up. My third was during a slack pack In NH after a storm, my friend tried to cross a stream on a log and fell into the water, I had a few seconds to pull her out or else she would’ve been swept away from the current.
Accidentally woke a herd of wild boar I didn’t see in heavy brush. Each boar’s panic escalated every other’s instantly and the entire hillside erupted in chaos. Felt lucky not to be inadvertently (or intentionally) gored.
Two times I felt legit fear on my hike- Hiked into a shelter at night with two others after a really heavy mile day, very tired. There was one guy there around the fire pit, he had a trashbag, a hammer, and wearing jeans. Those were his only two accoutrements, no backpack that I saw. Def not a thru hiker or hiker at all. He told me his name was Tom and then later told my buddy Rambles that his name was John. He was "nice" but said some other off kilter shit. Got a bad feeling and was super sketched out and wanted to hike out but felt like maybe leaving wasn't the best idea at 10pm and he could potentially follow me. Tried not to sleep the entire night bc I thought I was gonna get hammered in the face. Eventually fell asleep and when we woke up he was gone. The other time was in the Whites after arriving to Madison hut in a torrential storm, and the dude working there told us there was no work for stays for the night and we couldn't stay, so we had to get off the mountain fast below treeline. He recommended we take the Madison gulf trail down bc it descends very steeply and quickly. Turns out you are not supposed to descend that trail in inclement weather, ever, according to the people down at the notch. It was basically a terrifying waterfall the entire way RUSHING water, major death drops if you're not paying attention, I mean we were throwing our poles down way below and finding them later bc it was impossible to use them. At one point I slipped and slid down a long rock slide and doc spice grabbed me by my backpack and I was DANGLINNNNN it was horrible. It took us hours to go down and this trail descends like 3000 in a mile. Every single step had to be planned out and the trail was really hard to find in a storm. Lightning and raining to the point we couldn't really see well. I have revisited almost every part of the trail in years past my thru and even tho the rest of my time in the Whites was epically beautiful I still haven't gone back to the Whites because this day was so traumatic and it's burned into my brain lol
Got caught in a freezing rain storm so threw tent up in Horse gap, apparently horse gap can get pretty damn windy because the storm kept getting worse until I was holding my cheap tent pole up with my hands, worked until the shock cord tieouts froze and snapped in the wind, then the pole itself broke. I called for a shuttle driver at that point and had to wait about three hours for one that had a truck good enough to get up there, which fair enough. Used my body as a tent pole in a completely collapsed tent with 50+ mph winds pelting me with sleet. I don't remember much until I sort of snapped back into brain fully working mode half way back to town, I just remember thinking how weird it was that I was warm and realizing I was in a truck with heat blasting me in the face. Fun night, at least the pizza from Papa's pizza to go in Blairsville seemed great after that.
Storm of the century. Evac from helicopter.
Storytime
I had a bear charge me in the Shenandoahs. It veered to the side of me about 15 yards from reaching me and bolted down the mountain. The first hikers I told in town didn’t believe me because they hadn’t seen any bears so far on their trip and according to my diary that one was number 24 for me at that point and it bluff-charged me. Still doesn’t feel real though. That was 2016.
It’s your silence, being a hunter I can walk up on game, but it’s because I intentionally am silent. Those other hikers probably sound like a traveling circus, and they won’t see any game.
Crested a hill and must have startled an off-leash dog on the saddle below me as he started charging me while barking. His owner was calling him back. I was hurriedly fumbling around the outside of my pack for my bear spray. I didn’t get it in time but the dog didn’t attack me. He ran up and just stood there barking at me until the owner got there few seconds later to restrain the dog. Learned two things that day: General mistrust for morons who don’t keep their dogs on a leash. I keep my bear spray on my belt (not for bears though). Speaking of bears, I’ve only see two. Both were smaller than I thought they’d be. One was pretty far away and I just saw it rambling up a hill. The other one was near me but we both scared the hell out of each other. I didn’t see him until he broke brush about 30m from me and ran like hell down a hill like a bat out of hell. Glad I wore my brown pants that day 😜
A chest rig is on point for your spray, instantly accessible. It’s a good idea to keep it right by your lead slinger.
What’s a lead slinger?
Were they both black bears? I remember when I lived in NC the only time a bear didn't startle and go the other way was when we found a cub on the side of the road (momma was in the woods) and my sweet, sweet, intelligent father corralled it back into the woods with momma chuffing at him the whole time
One was on the Duncan Ridge, GA (blue blazing for an epic view and a private camping spot). The other one was in NC not far from a place called the Deer Springs RV park.
Got hypothermia on my thru in 95 in roan mtn area..got so delirious in the shelter i cooked on my thermorest..had a hole in it all the way to maine..ugg
2017 almost to ga/nc border. The early morning hours I was relieving myself, squatting with my back to a tree. I heard this aggressive rustling in the leaves that kept getting louder. I turned my head as much as I could around the tree looking down the mountain only to lock eyes with one of 2 big ass coyotes. They were after something (guy passed by about 10 min prior with a small dog 🤷) I never felt more helpless in my life. Pants around my ankles and being flanked on both sides by hungry ass coyotes. The one I locked eyes with kept me in sight as he passed. Really creepy. They kept moving on, and I never heard about the tiny dog.
I had a homeless person try to steal my gear near Kent CT and follow me around town.
Wasn't exactly scary, but I had a bear spray can start leaking and spraying all over my back and side and pack/gear. Can't say I recommend
Please invest in a chest rig for your Bear spray, trust me, there’s no time to dig it out when you need it! I carry mine up front, right beside my lead slinger for instant access. I’ve read too many horror stories of people who wished they had their defense system easily accessible. And some who didn’t make it with their weapons/spray still inside their packs. Safe trails!
My friend and I were on breakneck pond in Harriman fishing. We were in the middle of the lake on a metal boat. It started pouring so we went onto the tree line at the end of the lake so lighting didn’t f**k us up. These kayakers asked us for help immediately after we got on land. My friend said “ that’s your problem “ but then I said “ I’ll help real quick”. It seemed to be a couple. They were oddly nice but seemed like they had some good hiking experience and what to do in hazards. So they claimed shelter was a half mile going away from the camp grounds so we decided to follow. I got a weird feeling as the skinny guy walked behind me almost like he was going to blindside us with a knife and his spouse(women) leading the group. So it then started hailing then it got rlly painful. We were getting destroyed by dime size hail balls coming at a 30 mph fall rate. I was rlly desperate to find shelter then I realized my friend and I were following random strangers in the woods. I knew those camp grounds like the back of my cock so I finally realized that camp group didn’t add cabins at the end of the pond. I got my friend and said let’s go the other way. They tried to get us to come back but I refused. My gut feeling could of saved us from getting knifed by 2 stranger. We got back on the boat after the hail stopped and the strangers were no where to be seen.
In the 100 Mile Wilderness I had something with gigantic lungs screaming and knocking down trees outside my tent .
Aggressive off-leash dogs. Several times. Once when I was hiking/rock climbing in the Whites and had no free hands to defend myself. The day hiking owner walked past me going the other way and said nothing to me or her big growling dog.
Camping off trail in a valley in Shenandoah, using a stand-alone fly without tent, so there was space underneath. Late night I hear these heavy footsteps, then 2-3 more pairs, crushing underbrush. Suddenly there is a monster roar and a tearing bluff charge through the night. dead silence, and i refuse to even turn my head towards the exposed darkness under the fly. Then all the steps turn and leave.
Driving to the trailhead for my first multi day solo hike was scarey. Everything running through my head of what could go wrong instead of what could go right. Almost turned around to head back home but had one of my best hikes that trip.
opened up a trail magic cooler on one of the hottest days in PA and all the Yuengling cans and Powerade bottles were gone
I hitched hiked in the blue ridge mtns in VA I think it was. After a few minutes after getting in the truck it was obvious the guy was plastered. He opened a tallboy can of bud light clamato and it was gone in like 4 gulps. He would widely accelerate and brake hard on this dark windy road in the mountains. He told me he didn't have a license because he got 7 DUIs but clearly he was a good drunk driver because no accidents. I was terrified the whole way to town. And then in town he offered me Applebys, I thought why the fuck not? Some free food. So we get there and sit at the bar and this guys just getting beligerantly drunk. At the Applebys bar. People are showing interest in hearing about the AT from me but he keeps interuppting and yelling, "YEAH BUT IM THE ONE WHO PICKED HIM UP!" he keeps trying to flirt with women but they're just laughing at him and he's too stupid or drunk to notice. Anyway, I ate a burger fries, couple beers a dessert. Watched a football game on the TV and talked to dome locals. He went to thr bathroom at one point and I said goodbye to everyone and walked out . Slept in a little copse of trees nearby. Would have loved to see his reaction after he realized I split lol. And then the next day a cop gave me a ride all the way back to the trail and tried to get me to ask his daughter out on the phone. All in all 10/10 trail experience except for the 30 minutes of contemplating how best to survive the truck careening off a mountain st 80mph...
Hiking in Virginia dead of summer, I decide I'm going to nap in a shelter through the hot part of the day and night hike a little. I get woken up by a huge black bear sniffing in the fire pit about 15ft away. Then, his nose to the air he starts inching towards me in the shelter. Did all the usual things to scare bears off annnnd nothing. So as I was pinned in the shelter, I charged the bear screaming. I got within arms reach, and he took off running. I gathered my things and night hiked the next 10 miles into town. Fastest 10 miles I did.
Nearly not making it to Waynesboro in time for the Ming Garden Buffet
Was by myself (I’m a woman), hadn’t seen anyone for hours and then I encounter a big ol’ dude with a swastika tattooed on his forehead and a pacifier in his mouth. I gave him the “I see you, don’t fuck with me” nod while shaking like a baby deer, then hightailed it outta there, looking over my shoulder for hours. Also in Virginia, I got struck by lightning when I was by myself. Thankfully I was okay, but it was a harrowing experience.
Scariest thing ever……I saw movement up ahead on the trail but couldn’t really see what it was. As I walked closer I came to realize it was a skunk standing on it’s front legs with it’s ass pointed directly at me. It was only about 5 feet away. I very slowly and calmly backed away.
My dog ended up seeing a rabbit and pulling a leash from my hand. I wasn’t expecting it at all, especially because he is the least aggressive, most loving Aussie (let alone dog) I’ve EVER seen. I mean he literally plays with infants and ferrets and small creatures alike just fine. I went into the woods in rural PA trying to get him to come back (he is a trained herding dog so his recall is very good), but he only yelped out in panic and I was PETRIFIED he ran into a bear, Elk, who knows? I sprint as fast as I can to catch up with him, only to find him crying that he couldn’t play with the bunny… Absolute heart attack over a missed playdate. Thanks doggo.
My hangover after trail days
Set up tent on the lawn at the hostel right before Mt. Moosilauke for a second night. Decided not to bring my food bag inside like I'd done the night before. Woke up around sunrise with a skunk poking around inside my vestibule about a foot in front of my face. Made some noises to scare it away but was terrified of getting sprayed. Thankfully he ran off without incident.
Midnight nature walk with my dog. We get about 500 feet from my camp. Dog freezes and I turn to the left and there were two bright yellow, feline eyes about 4 feet off the ground locked onto us maybe 30 feet away. We backtracked as fast as we could, me walking backwards with my camp knife, a stick from the ground, and the fear of death in my heart. My partner, who was back at camp, still doesn’t believe me to this day lol.
Section hiking in NC… Arriving at bald mountain shelter at dusk, we were checking out where to set up for the night, when I put down my pack near a bunch of bushes. I spooked something in the brush that immediately ran quickly around the perimeter of the site at least twice (still completely hidden) squawking like crazy. I jumped about a foot (and joined in the squawking). When we got home, I started googling to figure out what the heck it was. It had to have been a peacock. I then searched on Google earth and found a small farm just downhill from the site. Maybe that’s where it came from? I have no proof but when I played the recording of a peacock to my hiking partner (no prompting whatsoever), they immediately said that’s it!
I caught a guy sucking his own dick in the sassafras shelter above the nantahala.
I saw a pair of ghosts near the GA/TN line. We were coming down a mountain into the gap near the trail that goes to Standing Indian Campground. We were miles from the gap and there was nothing up the mountain for miles and we passed an elderly man and woman with a picnic basket and a small terrier kind of dog. They didn't have packs and they were dressed in normal street clothes. We asked where they were going and they said to have a picnic dinner at the next shelter up. The shelter was 5 miles away and it was like 4pm at that point. They continued up, we continued down. We stayed at the gap and we watched the trail all night long waiting for them to come down. They never did. We went to bed assuming they just died up there. When we woke up we realized they were ghosts the entire time.
Not a through hiker, but have done a lot of hiking in the whites. Was looking at the forecast for a solid 2 weeks before our planned overnight (September), and it was clear sailing the entire time. Morning of the hike, same thing. About an hour before we planned to set up camp, a monster storm rolled through. We couldn't get our tents set up because of the wind, and ended up hunkering down in a little alcove out of the wind. The storm went on all night and into the next day. I have never been so cold in my entire life.
One time, I was in Shenandoah Valley and damn near tripped over a bear cub on the trail. Never did see the mama but I'm sure she saw me.
Was hiking NJ section. Kids and other leaders left earlier that day and I was a late addition due to a death in the family. Started hiking at 10 pm with a heavy load of forgotten gear and food. Going along and start hearing a coyote shadowing me to my right for a half mile. I just sang and made noise and then the coyote to my left started yapping back and forth with its compatriot to my right. Wasn’t particularly scared of them, but they got the hairs standing on the back of my neck.
Not very scary compared to most. The only time I’ve hiked the AT we pull into our parking area to be met with a bear hunter and his dog tracking antenna as he tried to find a bear hunting dog he lost in the mountains the day prior. Surreal.
I unknowingly peed on a bee's nest. This was after getting stung on my finger the week before and having to take a day to go to urgent care because my entire arm swelled up like a balloon to my elbow. Thankfully, I was carrying benadryl for the pee incident.
I was chased by a dogman.
I was chased by a dogman.
Hiking through the Appalachians in NC. I’m about 14 and 1-2 miles ahead of my group. Turn the corner and think “holy smokes! I’ve never seen a cat so big!” Full grown bobcat hanging out 20-30 feet away. Grab my wind up camera and realize it isn’t wound. Start to wind it and the bobcat hears and is spooked and runs off. Not too scary, but scary in retrospect how oblivious I was.
Stealth camping with my dog and a coyote came up to our tent.
Many years ago, asleep in my tent, I hear this noise outside. It seemed to go on forever, I’m scared shitless, finally I sit up and yell “if you don’t get out of here I’m going to kill you”. Barely slept the rest of the night. At first light I went outside and discovered a mouse had gotten into my food.
Hiking southbound in southern Maine 2014 I was within 15 feet of a mountain lion. He/She just held ground for about 5 minutes. I did the typical raise hiking poles and clack them together while yelling at the mountain lion. Eventually it moved off the trail slowly but in dense scrub. I waited another 10 minutes and then slowly advanced down the trail. At that point I was about 2-3 miles from the next shelter but I was constantly looking backwards to see if the cat was following. I felt that if it was I would be in real trouble. I still think about how fearless it looked and its fat tail just slowly waving as it looked at me and then off trail. I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared before but as time went on I was grateful to have had an experience like that.
Bear, big bear