Creepy Tales from the Bush.

[freq18hz]

Maybe but...then again who knows? Maybe I overreacted?

 

[cramsey3006]

I always have a handgun with me when I'm out and about in the outdoors. I'm waiting for my CCDW permit to show up, that I'll have one all the time, regardless of where I'm at.

My wife used to "humor" me about my stuff, but after the show Criminal Minds came out and she started watching it, she has NO problems with me carrying a weapon of some kind. Some of those are based on true stories. There's been several shows where she's said "And right now is where you'd be using your gun/knife to take care of it."

 

[cramsey3006]

Maybe but...then again who knows? Maybe I overreacted?

Over-reaction beats NO reaction, in my book. If you hadn't reacted the way you did, who knows what may have happened? It's good that you never had to find out.

 

[Pine_Tree]

Would you believe you can DO it?

Folks seem to be able to (visually) detect a set of binocular eyes focused on them. From what I can tell, even in a crowd, and even without intentionally doing it, if a set of predator-style eyes are on you, your brain notices it in your peripheral vision.

It's a handy way to attract people's attention in a crowd, across the store, even in a stadium. Stare at them intently, long enough that their peripheral vision catches you, and before too long you'll probably notice them focus in on you.

It's apparently part of the predator-avoidance mechanism in our brains.

 

[petah]

Where I live outside of Vancouver is a BIG rain forest. It’s Wet and Gloomy most of the year. Cold misty clouds cling to the Dark Rich forest. Dark green cedars, tall ferns overhead and moss, Bright red rotten cedars and cedar humus on the ground. The terrain is vertical slopes with the odd glacial boulder or Glacial Plucking/scraping poking through the forest floor. Very few flat areas.

Even in the Blazing sun in mid august it's Dark and wet in these woods. From what I have gathered from the history books here in town is that up here no native Canadians ventured. Only with the Gold rush and Logging did people come here and remnants of it are everywhere to be seen. Old boilers from steal engines and old bulldozers almost completely rusted away. Huge old growth stumps with notches cut in. (see picture as an example)

Now, The type of hiking I do is this: Go to the creek and follow it up deep into the forest. (this is behind my house.

Then I find an old logging trail or power line and follow it up the rest of the way, a very remote area for only being 45 min from downtown Vancouver.
So A few creepy stories…

~I was walking the tree line between the old growth forest and the old logged area. (Imagine a forest of 400 year old trees next to a forest of 90 years old trees) I heard the sound of two BIG rocks being hit together. Then the sound of two logs getting hit together . This is continuous for a few min. If it were just the logs I’d have thought it to be a Woodpecker but no. I had the worst cold sweats ever. I was more than a 4 hour hike (I made my own trial) and then across a lake on a log raft. Then about 2 hours down a logging road. There couldn’t be anyone up here. Just my friends in camp 4 hours away. My mind raced to the tails of Sasquach where they bang things together to scare you away… I was expecting to get rocks and branches thrown at me next (read the tails) but it didn’t happen… I ran out of there…

~A few months later I was in camp (same camp) in the dead of winter it’s impossible to get here in the Thick wet fog and snow. All animals are hibernating or are in the lower reaches of the valleys not here. I was wiser from my last experience and I brought my Lee Enfield jungle carbine with me. My buddies and I hear a two footed creature in the woods coming towards us… Well I was cocked and unlocked in a heartbeat and aimed at the sound. Turned out to be two lost hikers who were on the verge of death. They told no one where they were going for a hike… We fed them and took them out of there.

~Same camp the next summer in the dead of night. All sounds stop except for the banging of Rocks WAY off in the valley. It stopped a few hours later. I didn’t sleep that night. This happens a lot up here but it didn’t scare me as much before the encounter walking the tree line.

~End of the valley, doing some Gold exploration. See the story of Sumac’s gold up on a scree cliff Big ass boulders start rolling down at me. Again I am Nowhere were any hikers would be. Earlier I had a creepy feeling something was watching me but I was ok with it I knew No bears would be this high in the forest with all the Salmon in the valley floor so I thought it was just me. Well I almost Shat my pants. All the way till I hit the logging road boulders were rolling down the mountain even well past the scree slope. Unexplainable.

~ different camp near jones lake with my father and his best friend Shooting/Camping… I went for a short hike at night in the woods near camp (I was about 10) I see this White Light floating through the valley. No noise. It was about 30 feet above the tree tops with the valley walls towering well vertical from my position. I couldn’t sleep The Bear in camp didn’t scare me as much as the Light did.

~Last story. I was Dirt biking alone in a valley that leads to the water shed it was about dusk and I was heading toward the setting sun. I see a barrel like object Floating in sky against the setting sun. I almost crapped my pants and crashed my bike a few times trying to get out of there.

I dealt with Bears. Been attacked by Coyotes. Stalked by mountain lions. This stuff is ‘natural’ with common sense and some training you can deal with this stuff. But when it comes to the unexplainable it’s CREEPY.

 

[Mentor]

One time I was on a hill in the woods near Vancouver, minding my own business and banging a few rocks together, when I got this creepy feeling ...

Seriously, though, some of these stories are definitely creepy. To quote my favourite one-liner from the X Files, "Weirdness."

I have only had one really unsettling and inexplicable situation while out in the bush, and it happened at the north end of Murtle Lake in the BC Interior. I was there on a two-week canoe trip with a companion. We had spent a few days on the east side of the north arm, and had finally arrived at the northernmost tip of the lake. This turned out to be a strip of firm land between the mountains, with the lake on one side and a large marsh on the other. We set up our tents, did some fishing, and were cooking some nice fillets of kokanee when the sun started to dip behind the mountains. All of the sudden, and for no apparent reason, we both started to feel alert and creeped out. We looked around and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but the feeling didn't go away. Then the birds stopped chirping. I kept thinking that our location was less than ideal should trouble occur - steep mountains to both sides, a huge lake to the south, and a marsh that could not be traversed on foot to the north. As the sun was disappearing over the mountain, I said "Do you want to break camp and paddle to the next site to the south?" Without discussion, my companion agreed. We knew we were going to have to work like madmen to get everything broken down, canoe several kilometres to the next site, and get everything set up again before it was pitch black. To this day, I have no idea how we managed it, but we did. The really odd part is that the site that we paddled back to was where we had stayed - and had an encounter with a grizzly - the night before. We both felt that we would rather run the risk of another encounter at that site than spend a night at the northernmost site.

Whenever I go camping with the same companion now, right around dusk he says "screw this, let's break camp". It's our running joke.

Here's a view of the site, looking north over the marsh. Doesn't seem very ominous, eh?

And here's a shot of the site from the water. You can see the strip of sand and the thin line of trees behind it.

I still think that this is the most beautiful place on Earth.

Thanks for sharing your stories, gents!

All the best,

- Mike

 

[LMT66]

I've had that creepy feeling many times when out and about.

 

[HeavyHanded]

Maybe but...then again who knows? Maybe I overreacted?

From hearing your tale, I'd say you reacted just right. Reading it a couple of times, I'm pretty sure you and your girl were on the way to being statistics at the best, and a pair of missing persons at the worst. I'm not so sure pelting them with fist-sized rocks from a close range ambush would have been overreacting.

 

[DocArnie]

Maybe but...then again who knows? Maybe I overreacted?

That was one of the creepiest stories I've ever heard. If it happened the way you remember it, you were in serious trouble there, and even if you had had a gun with you, just hiding and avoiding those stalkers was definitely the best thing to do. Who knows how well they were prepared?
This story can repeat itself everywhere. My lady loves to go hiking with me and sometimes we get home late, too. I'm always afraid something might happen to her (though I never show it), but after reading your story I'm going to "overreact" with my choice of gear, too. Good thing she's not afraid of or annoyed by all my tacticlol stuff.

 

[LMT66]

Maybe but...then again who knows? Maybe I overreacted?

You most certainly didn't overreact after hearing what they said.
You did good by jumping off the trail and observing.

 

[dipbait]

This was eerie but not scary. A pal and I found a wooden glowing bridge one night. The thing had some sort of Firefox fungus and was glowing green.

 

[Walkabout]

Would you believe you can DO it?

Folks seem to be able to (visually) detect a set of binocular eyes focused on them. From what I can tell, even in a crowd, and even without intentionally doing it, if a set of predator-style eyes are on you, your brain notices it in your peripheral vision.

It's a handy way to attract people's attention in a crowd, across the store, even in a stadium. Stare at them intently, long enough that their peripheral vision catches you, and before too long you'll probably notice them focus in on you.

It's apparently part of the predator-avoidance mechanism in our brains.

There's an interesting book about this, called The Sense of Being Stared At.

 

[freq18hz]

Well keep in mind...

Looking back I think to myself, maybe I misinterpreted their whispers?
You aren't supposed to be on trails etc after dark so I think, maybe they were rangers hence the flashlight?

I really think the thing that bugged me the most was that they didn't say Hi at all, and that we hadn't seen hardly anyone all day. Given that the trail was so linear, I just couldn't understand how someone would end up behind us. And then the walking fast, I mean even initially we were moving at such a quick pace that you would have to sweat to keep up with us.

I dunno, it was an odd time. I'm not used to feeling anxious or with a lack of control like that.

 

[hiwa]

Well keep in mind...

Looking back I think to myself, maybe I misinterpreted their whispers?
You aren't supposed to be on trails etc after dark so I think, maybe they were rangers hence the flashlight?

I really think the thing that bugged me the most was that they didn't say Hi at all, and that we hadn't seen hardly anyone all day. Given that the trail was so linear, I just couldn't understand how someone would end up behind us. And then the walking fast, I mean even initially we were moving at such a quick pace that you would have to sweat to keep up with us.

I dunno, it was an odd time. I'm not used to feeling anxious or with a lack of control like that.

I think rangers would of likely identified themselves. Giving them the slip was the best thing to do. I don't go paranoid around in the bush , but I consider all strangers a threat ,unless proven otherwise. Sometimes it's blatantly obvious they're not , otherwise , I'm always watching my 6 and planning ahead. I trust animals a lot more than I do people. If I ever do come across a sasquatch, my opinion may change though!
I've had that sixth sense of being watched lots of times, and usually I found out that I was. Now , I find myself being the "watcher" , as I try my very best to be aware of my surroundings wherever I am.

 

[coyotebc]

Where I live outside of Vancouver is a BIG rain forest. It’s Wet and Gloomy most of the year. Cold misty clouds cling to the Dark Rich forest. Dark green cedars, tall ferns overhead and moss, Bright red rotten cedars and cedar humus on the ground. The terrain is vertical slopes with the odd glacial boulder or Glacial Plucking/scraping poking through the forest floor. Very few flat areas.

I guess I shouldn't tell you about the ghost of the Barnett Hwy then

 

[6shooter]

I guess I shouldn't tell you about the ghost of the Barnett Hwy then

Hahaha, I'd love to hear about that

 

[coyotebc]

Hahaha, I'd love to hear about that

Typical female ghost hitch hiker story, that happens on dark rainy nights.
I can do the whole story if you want.
This story dates back to when the Barnett was only one lane in each direction, and no street lights.
My dad used to tell me the story in the early 1970's if it was dark and rainy and we were driving on the road

 

[coyotebc]

I think rangers would of likely identified themselves. Giving them the slip was the best thing to do. I don't go paranoid around in the bush , but I consider all strangers a threat ,unless proven otherwise. Sometimes it's blatantly obvious they're not , otherwise , I'm always watching my 6 and planning ahead. I trust animals a lot more than I do people. If I ever do come across a sasquatch, my opinion may change though!
I've had that sixth sense of being watched lots of times, and usually I found out that I was. Now , I find myself being the "watcher" , as I try my very best to be aware of my surroundings wherever I am.

I agree officials of any type would have identified themselves, plus don't rangers in your area usually wear uniforms.
I think you were lucky that you kept your wits about you

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I don't go paranoid around in the bush , but I consider all strangers a threat ,unless proven otherwise. Sometimes it's blatantly obvious they're not , otherwise , I'm always watching my 6 and planning ahead. I trust animals a lot more than I do people. If I ever do come across a sasquatch, my opinion may change though!

I used to spend a lot of time walking around Van Cortland Park at the northern edge of New York City. I rarely met other people in the woods, and those few were like me, out for a stroll in a peaceful natural area. We wave, say hi, and keep going.

During migration seasons, it is a prime bird sanctuary area. I've seen fox, possum, wild turkey, pheasant -- and people on horses. Public areas with the golf course, picnic grounds, and ball fields are busier.

One day I turned off a main trail to take a break by an old picnic table I saw just inside the bushes. Blood and feathers: someone had been sacrificing chickens there. I never went by that area again, even though I was sure it was safe enough by day.

It's a shame in a way. I have no objection to people sacrificing chickens. They kill them about the same way the meat processing industry does. And I know people who are into religions that do this sort of thing.

But it's not a good idea to bump into strangers doing it, who might not trust me to keep my mouth shut.

 

[SouthernCross]

I've had that creepy feeling many times when out and about.

Looks like you've got your old men of the bush too

Kind regards
Mick