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Your weirdest woods encounter
- Thread starter kr1
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That story reminded me of a time I was fishing out of a boat around midnight. I was by myself in a reservoir, enjoying the best fishing of my lifetime. Channel cats and blue cats were biting like mad. I was sitting in the stern pedestal when I heard a commotion and then a Great blue heron landed in the bow. Scared me, I shouted and it lit off.
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It's 1987. It's three o'clock in the morning. Five miles into the desert north of Salton Sea in SoCal.
I'm in the middle of nowhere. I step out of my pickup and my foot sinks 8 inches into the sand. WTH? I pick my foot up and the sand rises back up with my foot.?
WTF?
I tell my buddy to check it out and his foot does the same thing.
Then we get a flashlight and shovel and dig up a piece of 8 inch thick 1 foot square foam rubber that was buried there. How in the heck had I parked right in that spot. How in the heck did the foam rubber get buried there?
There was no evidence that that spot had been used by anyone else. No trash, no tracks, no signs of a camp.
That was a weird one for me.
I'm in the middle of nowhere. I step out of my pickup and my foot sinks 8 inches into the sand. WTH? I pick my foot up and the sand rises back up with my foot.?
WTF?I tell my buddy to check it out and his foot does the same thing.
Then we get a flashlight and shovel and dig up a piece of 8 inch thick 1 foot square foam rubber that was buried there. How in the heck had I parked right in that spot. How in the heck did the foam rubber get buried there?
There was no evidence that that spot had been used by anyone else. No trash, no tracks, no signs of a camp.
That was a weird one for me.
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Back in the late seventies driving through Pennsylvania on I-80 I saw three oriental gentlemen walking down the shoulder of the highway, miles from the nearest exit, each wearing identical suits and hats but of different colors. Another weird road encounter was near Front Royal, Virginia in the mid-seventies during deer season, two Arabs walking along the road in full robes and head dress carrying rifles that must have been seven feet long.
Esav Benyamin
MidniteSuperMod
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File this one under creepy encounters. When I was in grad school, my 'thesis' was basically starting an outdoor education program at a small school. It culminated in me leading groups of sixth graders on three day hikes near Mt. Greylock in western Mass. First trip went off without a hitch. On the afternoon of the second day we reached the Adirondack shelter where I had planned for us to stay. We settle in and get dinner started. At maybe 5PM these three guys walk into the campsite, surprised to see fifteen twelve year olds milling around. One guy asks if we mind them sharing the campfire to cook on, because they weren't packing a stove. The three of them are not menacing looking, but just don't look like hikers. their gear is all wrong. I say fine, but decide to keep an eye on them as they set there tent up a little ways away, and break out the booze. I should add that this took place on Memorial Day weekend, and I'm thinking it's three buddies getting away from their wives up in the woods (not that there's anything wrong with that!) A bit later my buddy who ran the program with me comes up and says that when he turned the corner on the trail, the three are getting baked. OK. As darkness fell, and the kids are waiting for their s'mores and a ghost story, I catch a look, a kind of a drunken leer the one dude has towards a couple of our girls. Was it overt? Not really, but instantly I felt the gravity of the entire situation change. I said to my co-chaperones that I didn't like the looks of these guys, and that we would split the night into shifts so there was always an adult awake. i even thought about breaking camp then and there, but it was hard enough to sheperd these novice kids up a mountain in broad daylight, and wasn't going to descend in the dark where they could get hurt. Nothing happened and they were probably just up there for fun (a slightly different fun than we were having!) but I still kept my Buck Pathfinder handy that night.
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I have two.
I was very young in this one...
I was on my way home from fishing for Crappies at a reservoir, about half an hour away from my home. I couldn't have been much more then 12 years old at the time. I was with my mom and a friend... it was late in the evening and we were making our way down a very rural, very dark woods lined road when nature called, I had to pee. Having just left the park and still being a half an hour away from home my mother made a quick right and slowed to a stop. She stopped at a small gravel parking lot in the middle of nowhere, it was deserted this late in the evening. The parking lot was one that we had passed many times and was still visible from the main road. It appeared to be as good a place as any so I hopped out and began to pee, approximately halfway through relieving myself is where it gets strange...
So I'm standing there... peeing... and I remember noticing out of the corner of my eye that my mom is flashing the lights on the car, I turn to see what's going on and just as I turn to look she rolls down the window and tells me in a stern panicked voice "Get in the car right now we need to leave!" I hurriedly zip up and jump into the car, obviously shaken. I immediately ask her what's wrong as she begins to make a hasty U turn... no reply. Now, picture if you can, the road is narrow, and I got out of the right side of the car to pee... and we are in the middle of nowhere, it's very dark and there's woods on either side of the road and my mom starts turning the car around to the left... feverishly. And like I said previously, the road is narrow, so when she went to turn around she didn't make it in the first shot, she had to back up and cut the wheel again. So by the second attempt our vehicle is completely blocking the road, its front end pointing straight into the woods... and it's at this time my mom yells "I new I saw him!".
I will never forget this next part... there in the woods about 25 feet off the road is a man, crouched down in the fetal position his head tucked in his arms... motionless. Needless to say we completed the U turn and got the hell out of there.
After everybody settles down, and we call the police to notify them of a suspicious individual,I get my moms side of the story. She tells me that the man caught her attention when she noticed him moving towards the car from out of the woods... directly across the road from were I was relieving myself (on the left side of the vehicle). He crouched down when he heard her yell for me out the window. I sometimes wonder how that would've ended if she hadn't noticed him moving towards our vehicle.
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Disclaimer:
Don't do drugs. This story is not meant to promote the use of marijuana, posession of marijuana, or how much fun it is. It is simplu part of the story. ... and the reason i can no longer spell.
Once, when I was about 17/18, my friend Matt and I went for a hike that took us waaaay back through some thick North GA woods to a cave. We had been there a couple of times before with another friend of ours, Scott, so we knew where to find it. It was probably a good 3 miles back in some good forest with no trails. We wanted to do an overnighter in the cave to check it out and see if it would be a good spot to take some girls we knew that liked to go camping.
So there we were, tromping through the woods, not being quite at all. It was still thick snake season so we wanted to let them know we were coming. It was well into dusk so visibility was going away. Needless to say, we didn't exactly start this trip off correctly. We should have gone out there much earlier. This is before I started carrying a gun with me in the woods all the time so i had nothing but a good size camp knife and an axe to cut firewood. We got almost to the cave and I here it... *racking a shotgun*!
I put my hands up and and turned around. Matt, seeing what I was doing did the same thing. Standing in front of us were three backwoods crazies, two of them with shotguns in hand and one just standing there scratching his nuts. I thought, "this is it. We're getting plugged and killed right here."
The nut scratcher says, "wut er you boys doin out her? Don't you know it's dangerss out her in these woods at night? I thank yall done stumbled inta sumthin ya art not too."
While he's talking to me, I'm looking around and notice that we're standing in the middle of a giant patch of weed. I'm talking big stalks, the kind you see in High Times magazine, just hundreds of them. Matt is looking at me and he is terrified. I was about two seconds from pissing all over myself too. I hadn't smelled it while we were moving through it cause my shirt still smelled like a christmas tree from earlier that day.
Crazy Nuts says again, "what er you doin out her. Answer me boy."
I did the only thing I could think of. I slowly reached my hand down and lifted the giant hog leg joint I had rolled before we left out of my shirt pocket.
I said, "Just looking for a place to set up camp and smoke this doob. We didn't mean to stumble across the church you guys are building out here."
The guy tilted his head like a dog that heard a strange noise and looked at me puzzled for a second. Then he started laughing.
He said, "church... hahaha. I like that. That's a goodun there."
I said, "look man, I promise you we weren't trying to find this patch or anything. We were going to camp out in the cave that's down by the waterfalls. You know which one I'm talking about?"
He said, "Yeah I know where that is."
I said, "We're not trying to rip off anyone or anything. We didn't know that this stuff was out here. Not only are we not going to tell anybody, but if you got a phone number, I'd like to give you a ring when this stuff gets harvested."
He said, "That's cool man. I'll give you my brother's number, he's the one that sellin it. In the mean time, we'll help you guys find that cave. You are way off course."
We all gave a chuckle and he said, "follow us. We'll take ya out ther. There are some crazy f@#$ers out her."
They took us right to the cave and said, "yall have a goodun. Give my brother a call on that weed."
I said, "you guys wanna help us blaze this sucker, we got a bunch more with us?"
One of them said, "hell, I caint. I gotta git home. Gotta watch the kids tomorrow mornin."
The other two said, "yeah man. We'll stick around. You guys like corn whiskey?"
I said, "damn man. You guys do it all out here, don't ya. Shine and weed? You guys got a meth lab out here too?"
Scratchy Nuts said, "naw man, we hate them sumbitches. Always stinkin and blowin stuff up."
We ended up hanging out with those guys for a few more hours and had a bunch of laughs. They looked all scary and crazy, but they were some pretty fun and funny guys. Of course that could have been the weed. Either way, we had a good time.
Now city folk movies tell us, that situation could have easily gone the other way. Now I don't encourage people to smoke the cheeba, and I certainly don't do it like I used too, but it sure saved our asses that night. We could have easily just disappeared, just a couple more jackass kids that went into the woods in bumpkinville never to return. There would have been stories made up about us. .."If you be real quiet while you're out there, you can still here the faint screams of two dumbass teens getting cornholed by weed tending, itchy nut rednecks.
Coincientally, we ended up buying weed off that guys brother quite a few times.
Don't do drugs. This story is not meant to promote the use of marijuana, posession of marijuana, or how much fun it is. It is simplu part of the story. ... and the reason i can no longer spell.
Once, when I was about 17/18, my friend Matt and I went for a hike that took us waaaay back through some thick North GA woods to a cave. We had been there a couple of times before with another friend of ours, Scott, so we knew where to find it. It was probably a good 3 miles back in some good forest with no trails. We wanted to do an overnighter in the cave to check it out and see if it would be a good spot to take some girls we knew that liked to go camping.
So there we were, tromping through the woods, not being quite at all. It was still thick snake season so we wanted to let them know we were coming. It was well into dusk so visibility was going away. Needless to say, we didn't exactly start this trip off correctly. We should have gone out there much earlier. This is before I started carrying a gun with me in the woods all the time so i had nothing but a good size camp knife and an axe to cut firewood. We got almost to the cave and I here it... *racking a shotgun*!
I put my hands up and and turned around. Matt, seeing what I was doing did the same thing. Standing in front of us were three backwoods crazies, two of them with shotguns in hand and one just standing there scratching his nuts. I thought, "this is it. We're getting plugged and killed right here."
The nut scratcher says, "wut er you boys doin out her? Don't you know it's dangerss out her in these woods at night? I thank yall done stumbled inta sumthin ya art not too."
While he's talking to me, I'm looking around and notice that we're standing in the middle of a giant patch of weed. I'm talking big stalks, the kind you see in High Times magazine, just hundreds of them. Matt is looking at me and he is terrified. I was about two seconds from pissing all over myself too. I hadn't smelled it while we were moving through it cause my shirt still smelled like a christmas tree from earlier that day.
Crazy Nuts says again, "what er you doin out her. Answer me boy."
I did the only thing I could think of. I slowly reached my hand down and lifted the giant hog leg joint I had rolled before we left out of my shirt pocket.
I said, "Just looking for a place to set up camp and smoke this doob. We didn't mean to stumble across the church you guys are building out here."
The guy tilted his head like a dog that heard a strange noise and looked at me puzzled for a second. Then he started laughing.
He said, "church... hahaha. I like that. That's a goodun there."
I said, "look man, I promise you we weren't trying to find this patch or anything. We were going to camp out in the cave that's down by the waterfalls. You know which one I'm talking about?"
He said, "Yeah I know where that is."
I said, "We're not trying to rip off anyone or anything. We didn't know that this stuff was out here. Not only are we not going to tell anybody, but if you got a phone number, I'd like to give you a ring when this stuff gets harvested."
He said, "That's cool man. I'll give you my brother's number, he's the one that sellin it. In the mean time, we'll help you guys find that cave. You are way off course."
We all gave a chuckle and he said, "follow us. We'll take ya out ther. There are some crazy f@#$ers out her."
They took us right to the cave and said, "yall have a goodun. Give my brother a call on that weed."
I said, "you guys wanna help us blaze this sucker, we got a bunch more with us?"
One of them said, "hell, I caint. I gotta git home. Gotta watch the kids tomorrow mornin."
The other two said, "yeah man. We'll stick around. You guys like corn whiskey?"
I said, "damn man. You guys do it all out here, don't ya. Shine and weed? You guys got a meth lab out here too?"
Scratchy Nuts said, "naw man, we hate them sumbitches. Always stinkin and blowin stuff up."
We ended up hanging out with those guys for a few more hours and had a bunch of laughs. They looked all scary and crazy, but they were some pretty fun and funny guys. Of course that could have been the weed. Either way, we had a good time.
Now city folk movies tell us, that situation could have easily gone the other way. Now I don't encourage people to smoke the cheeba, and I certainly don't do it like I used too, but it sure saved our asses that night. We could have easily just disappeared, just a couple more jackass kids that went into the woods in bumpkinville never to return. There would have been stories made up about us. .."If you be real quiet while you're out there, you can still here the faint screams of two dumbass teens getting cornholed by weed tending, itchy nut rednecks.
Coincientally, we ended up buying weed off that guys brother quite a few times.
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Sadly, I can relate to the weed story. I grew up in Mendocino County in Northern CA, and the hills were full of it. Hiking in unfamiliar territory could be dangerous.
My mother was my weirdest woods encounter. I recall, after one particularly bad rain storm, going out to clear a mudslide off the road that led to our spring. This was a very remote location. My dad drove the truck, my mom sat in the passenger seat, and my brother and I rode in the bed. On the way my dad saw some debris in the creek and pulled over. After a long hike down a muddy hill we came across a bundle of chicken wire, empty gallon jugs, and empty bags of fertilizer...all wrapped in a ball that had washed down from the hills. My dad says something like, "looks like some sort of raft." My mother, knowing better, just glared at my brother and I. My brother and I put on our "innocent" faces and did our best not to crap ourselves on the spot. Years later, over a few beers, mom told me that she knew all about our gardening endeavors, but figured that we were good kids and would work through it. Glad she was understanding.
My mother was my weirdest woods encounter. I recall, after one particularly bad rain storm, going out to clear a mudslide off the road that led to our spring. This was a very remote location. My dad drove the truck, my mom sat in the passenger seat, and my brother and I rode in the bed. On the way my dad saw some debris in the creek and pulled over. After a long hike down a muddy hill we came across a bundle of chicken wire, empty gallon jugs, and empty bags of fertilizer...all wrapped in a ball that had washed down from the hills. My dad says something like, "looks like some sort of raft." My mother, knowing better, just glared at my brother and I. My brother and I put on our "innocent" faces and did our best not to crap ourselves on the spot. Years later, over a few beers, mom told me that she knew all about our gardening endeavors, but figured that we were good kids and would work through it. Glad she was understanding.
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The hawk story reminded me of what happened in my front yard a couple of years ago.
I don't sleep well, and that night I just decided to go for a walk. So I was out with the dog at about 0200, coming home from about a three mile long walk, when I heard a rustle in the big pine tree in the front yard, and then some screaming. I jumped back and looked up, shined my flashlight up there, and there was a huge owl with a live pigeon/dove in his claws. He took off with the little bird, screaming his head off, and landed on the air conditioner on top of my neighbor's house. He stood there screaming for a few more minutes before he settled down and ate his dinner.
The only reason I think it was the owl screaming is I've never heard a dove make a noise that loud. 'Course, I'd never heard an owl making a noise like that, either ...
I don't sleep well, and that night I just decided to go for a walk. So I was out with the dog at about 0200, coming home from about a three mile long walk, when I heard a rustle in the big pine tree in the front yard, and then some screaming. I jumped back and looked up, shined my flashlight up there, and there was a huge owl with a live pigeon/dove in his claws. He took off with the little bird, screaming his head off, and landed on the air conditioner on top of my neighbor's house. He stood there screaming for a few more minutes before he settled down and ate his dinner.
The only reason I think it was the owl screaming is I've never heard a dove make a noise that loud. 'Course, I'd never heard an owl making a noise like that, either ...
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- Feb 21, 2007
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- 950
The hawk story reminded me of what happened in my front yard a couple of years ago.
I don't sleep well, and that night I just decided to go for a walk. So I was out with the dog at about 0200, coming home from about a three mile long walk, when I heard a rustle in the big pine tree in the front yard, and then some screaming. I jumped back and looked up, shined my flashlight up there, and there was a huge owl with a live pigeon/dove in his claws. He took off with the little bird, screaming his head off, and landed on the air conditioner on top of my neighbor's house. He stood there screaming for a few more minutes before he settled down and ate his dinner.
The only reason I think it was the owl screaming is I've never heard a dove make a noise that loud. 'Course, I'd never heard an owl making a noise like that, either ...
I don't sleep well, and that night I just decided to go for a walk. So I was out with the dog at about 0200, coming home from about a three mile long walk, when I heard a rustle in the big pine tree in the front yard, and then some screaming. I jumped back and looked up, shined my flashlight up there, and there was a huge owl with a live pigeon/dove in his claws. He took off with the little bird, screaming his head off, and landed on the air conditioner on top of my neighbor's house. He stood there screaming for a few more minutes before he settled down and ate his dinner.
The only reason I think it was the owl screaming is I've never heard a dove make a noise that loud. 'Course, I'd never heard an owl making a noise like that, either ...
Toucan Oasis
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