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Hiking is one of those “hobbies” that you either love or hate. On the one hand, being cold, tired and beset by mosquitoes. On the other, health, mental wellbeing and some time alone in nature. However, that last point also has its downsides, as some have realized when in the wild.
Someone asked “What is the scariest experience you’ve had while hiking?” and people shared their most harrowing stories. Get comfortable as you scroll through, be happy you aren’t trapped outside for whatever reason, upvote the best examples and add your own thoughts and encounters in the comments below.
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#1
I’ll start by saying, as a disclaimer, that I was 8 years old when this happened.
I joined my aunt, uncle and their 5 kids on a weekend “get-away” with their church group (I went for the woods, they went for the prayers). It was a beautiful place. A couple log cabins, a mess tent for food and meetings, and other than that, nothing but forest. Beautiful. So very beautiful. It was upstate New York, but I don’t remember where.
So, my aunt Heidi and I went out to pick flowers or, IDK, do something but we had small wicker baskets and we were walking through this semi-open area with woods and high grasses on either side. She went off to one side and I went off to the other to look for… whatever we were looking for.
After about 20–30 minutes or so, I started calling her, ready to head back. No answer. Headed back toward where she should have been. No answer. Called louder. No answer. Then, through a small opening in the thick grasses off the path, I saw her laying on the ground. I called her, but she didn’t answer. I took a step closer—not too close—probably still a good 25+ feet away—and that’s when I saw, through the opening in the grasses, that there was an arrow sticking out of her chest. A frickin’ arrow sticking out of her chest!!!!
My 8 year old, overly imaginative brain freaked out, I dropped my basket and bolted back to the cabins. And it was quite a ways. Maybe 1/4 mile? A little less? As I got there, the people saw the look on my face, and how out of breath I was, and all I could do was gasp out words like “Heidi” “arrow” “dead” and point in the general direction.
They sat me down while a group of men went to check out what was going on…. and were back in only a few minutes….
Yeh, so my aunt found an arrow in the grass and thought it would be “funny” to lay down and pretend to be dead so that her 8 yr old niece would come across her and see her like that. Never occurred to her that I might freak the heck out!!! She said as soon as she saw me take off, she tried to yell for me to come back, that she was okay, but I was running on pure childhood terror-adrenaline and didn’t hear her.
So, was I in actual danger? No. Was it one of the scariest things I came across in the woods that made my hair stand on head? Heck yeah! What a way to traumatize a kid. Gees.
RELATED:
#2
Who stalks through the forest, tracking a young woman like prey? As someone who grew up in an isolated country town, I always felt safest in the forest. When I moved to the city I discovered a lovely riverside wilderness area where I could walk off my stress. The winding track was just big enough for one person and long enough to walk for an hour. One of the best things was that it was rather unknown, so most weekends I had the wilderness all to myself. In Australia the forest is very safe. There are no bears or wolves and dingoes are easy for an adult to handle. It’s heaven.
One sunny day I happily strolled along, stopping every now and then to listen to a wombat scurrying away through the dense undergrowth. But it was when I reached the furthest point from the car park that I realised I was not alone. Those scurrying noises? They stopped when I stopped. Again and again. And they were getting louder all the time.
At first I hoped I was imagining it, but then I had to face the fact that somebody was sneaking behind me, hiding behind the undergrowth. Heart thumping, I pretended I was unafraid. I bent down casually to fake-tie my shoelace, so I could look behind me. I could see nothing but dense bushland at first, then my eyes dropped to the ground.
Standing half concealed behind a shrub were two large men’s boots. In my shock I hoped they were empty, but as I looked a harder I could see legs inside the boots. Big muscular legs. A large man was there, watching me, sneaking up behind me as I walked.
Now I’m a small woman so a fight was out of the question. I quickly stood and kept walking, my muscles rigid with panic as I tried to work out an escape. If I ran I would quickly reach a dead end, and the man stood between me and my path to safety. As my terror grew it evolved into an angry mass of adrenaline. I vowed to put up a fight after all, do some damage to him even though it felt hopeless. I leaned down and picked up a stout branch, ripped the leaves off and held it like a baseball bat, then turned around quickly to look back at the man. I couldn’t see him now, but I could hear the crunching noise of a very heavy body running through the bush.
I think I had my eyes squeezed shut as I held my pathetic branch firmly, waiting for the assault. Then I realised he was running away from me. Tiny me! I don’t know what it is like to win the lotto, but I felt like I had won something massive. I was so thrilled and amazed. But I held my branch firmly as I walked quickly back to the car park on shaky legs. Sadly there were no more solo walks for me after that. But I still feel very very lucky.
Julia Mckinney 3 days ago
It sounds like you were lucky, brave and smart to have gotten yourself a weapon.
#3
A few years after my son died I was hiking in Aspen with my daughter and another man. I was feeling very sad and needed some alone time, so I walked down a path by myself and sat down and when I looked up I saw my son’s initials carved in a tree and his birth year. It really took me.
#4
I was on a hiking trail at South Mountain, in Phoenix, and was climbing up some steps near the top of a ridge when a bicyclist exploded over the top, sailed right over my head, and landed on the steps just below me. He didn’t fall, and was able to control his downward progress and zoom out of sight pretty quickly. But if I had been one step higher on that trail, he would have plowed right into me and might have [unalived] us both.
In case you’re wondering, that segment of the trail was not approved for bikes. He was one of those extreme bikers out for a thrill, and he managed to give one to both of us.
#5
My parents and I used to go camping in the Sierra Nevada mountains every year with some of our extended family when I was growing up. We would always end the night by roasting marshmallows. Before heading into our tents to sleep, everything would be put into their boxes and any food still out would be put into the bear locker - except once. One night my aunt was cleaning up and decided not to put the bag of marshmallows back in the bear locker. It was the only food still out and she was sure it would be okay since we’d never seen a bear close to the campsites.
That night a loud BANG woke us all up. My dad cautiously unzipped the tent door to see what was going on. Just a few feet from our tent was a brown bear rummaging through all our boxes! It paused to attempt eating a metal coffeemaker before finding the marshmallows. Then the bear circled around to an area with tall grass behind our tent to sit down and eat, leaving once it finished.
In the morning, you could see the impression the bear made when it sat and the remnants of the marshmallow bag right next to it. My parents kept the crushed filter from the coffeemaker - complete with holes made by the bear’s teeth (see below).
#6
Once while hiking in the Great Smoky Mts NP, we spent the night at a shelter, that had galvanized fencing across the front, with a gate. The next morning we were the last to hit the trail. As we were about to step thru the gate, a large black bear strutted by within a foot from where we stood.
Needless to say, we kept the gate closed, and waited to see what the bear would do next. He retreated about 25 yards down the slope, and watched us. We finally got brave and went out, relying upon our walking sticks to defend ourselves. Luckily, he kept in place, allowing us to go in peace.
Looking back on it, I think black bears are smart animals. He timed his arrival expecting all hikers to be gone. He was just interested in finding some food scraps.
The danger happens by surprise close encounters, or by getting between a mother bear and her cub. If enough noise is made, a black bear will avoid contact.
The rules are different with grizzlies, when food is scarce. Overall, that backpacking trip thru the high Smokies was a wonderful trip of a lifetime, never to be forgotten, made on the summer solstice. The temperature was perfect, wild flowers and trees were in bloom at that elevation, with long daylight to arrive at the next shelter before dark. Happy Trails!
Maples Dad 3 days ago
If it's black, fight back. If it's brown, lie down. If it's white, goodnight.
#7
For about 15 years we lived in rural Claremont on a 15 acre parcel that had East Duffins Creek running through it. This is in Ontario Canada and just outside Toronto. It was morel season so I jumped on my ATV and headed over to the north side of our property where I had found morels in previous years. I hopped off and went for a hike down to the creek and up through some native apple trees. I had to part some cedar branches to get back to my ATV about 25′ away. When I climbed on the ATV a full grown Easter Cougar came out of the cedars in the same place I had just walked. Clearly he had followed me. I was afraid to start the machine as this would have required moving one arm and both feet and I was worried that the movement might trigger him to come after me. We stared at each other for a moment and then I jumped in the air and yelled BOO as loud as possible. Fortunately the big cat turned and ran. I went home and called the Ministry of Natural Resources to report this sighting and they weren’t too surprised. They said these Eastern Cougars are about 150 lbs, follow river corridors, have a hunting area of about 90 square miles and take a deer a week. Two months later my daughter-in-law captured this photo south of Barrie about 50 kms away. It was exciting but scary.
AtMostAFabulist 3 days ago
Holy guacamole! Beautiful animals, but my god that would freak me out!
#8
I wouldn't call it creepy, just a matter of bad timing. My wife and I climbed to the top of a local mountain. When we got there, there was a set of male and a set of female clothing on the rocks. I'm thinking there were two people who could not wait until we left
#9
Years ago I was backpacking and sat under a tree to have my lunch.
some leaves and bark fell around me and as I brushed them off I tilted my head back and looked up
about a dozen feet above me was a she- bear and her two cubs.
I stood up slowly and walked away, leaving all my gear.
#10
The wierdest thing i saw hiking was on a ridge on the Ouachita trail in Arkansas. We heard a large plane. As it got louder we started to scan the sky for it. It kept getting louder, and we couldn't believe we hadn't spotted it yet. When we were about to question our sanity, we finally spotted it below us. It was a C-130 practicing terrain following in the narrow valley.
#11
I was living in the Pacific Northwest and my boyfriend and I went for a day hike. We followed an old logging road up the mountain and after a while we came out of the forest and the road dead ended. It was open country with an unobstructed view. The trail zigzagged upwards to a distant mountain ridge, it promised great views of the valley. We were used to hiking and being on our own, so nothing seemed creepy at first. We parked the car in the empty clearing at the end of road (no other cars or people around) and took off.
We got a later start to the hike than planned, so we doubted that we would reach the uppermost ridge that day. The hike was visually rewarding but slow. The steep ascent had switchbacks and the trail was open to the sun and wind. After hiking for several hours, we checked the time and the position of the sun. We decided to start down the trail. At a comfortable pace, we could reach the parking area before sunset.
A while later we noticed movement on the open trail far below us. It was the figure of a man hiking upwards. At first it didn’t seem creepy. I commented that he was getting a late start for a hike, as the sun was slipping lower in the sky. The guy hiked at a rapid pace, he was really covering ground. We guessed that we’d meet up with the stranger in less than an hour.
We hadn’t seen any other people all day so maybe this created a mix of curiosity and apprehension. Soon the man was close enough to see that he was dressed in dark clothes. He never stopped for a break, just kept quickly climbing. For some reason I felt nervous about our eventual contact on the trail. My boyfriend didn’t say anything but he hiked ahead of me and stayed in front.
So finally the stranger was in front of us. He was a thin pale man wearing ordinary street clothing (shirt and pants), no hiking equipment, backpack, or water bottle. He stared at us and didn’t respond when we said ‘how’s it going?’ I looked down at the ground because of the weird vibes and here’s what creeped me out…as the man’s feet passed I saw he was wearing a pair of black leather dress shoes. WTF? He kept powering up the trail, into the late afternoon sun.
We hiked down as fast as safely possible and got to the clearing where our car was. No other vehicle was there and there were no trees or bushes where a motorcycle or bike could be hidden. So how did the guy get there? We drove for at least 30 minutes up the mountain to get to the trailhead. There were no towns or campgrounds in this area, it was logging country.
Our old car gave rattling sounds but started, we gratefully took off down the road. By then the sun had set and the mountain was in shadows. The way back was filled with questions.
There was his choice of clothing, totally unsuited for hiking or late in the day hiking — no coat, water, etc. Yes, the leather dress shoes, too.
The guy was either super fit (he was so pale and thin though) or who knows on some kind of drugs, to hike so quickly. We were both in our early 20s and in good shape, he hiked the same distance as we did in about half the time.
I wondered if the man reached the ridge top that night. And if so, what happened next?
#12
This scared me even though I’m sure more experienced hikers would not have been thrown one bit. Several years ago my sister and I went hiking on a trail that looped around in a big circle, it was somewhere between Tucson and Bisbee, Arizona (I’ve forgotten the name of the trail). Maybe in Patagonia.
I love to hike but I don’t do it too often. I had my cocker spaniel Bu with me. After a bit I felt tired and decided to go back to the car and my sister went on. I sat down on a log and rested. When I felt ready to go I stood up and was about to start down the trail leading back to the car when I saw a pack of javelinas grazing on the trail.
There were so many of them and it looked like they had tusks (?) A couple of them were on the trail and the rest were spread out on both sides of the trail. I didn’t know what to do and I think I was most worried about my dog but I also had no idea if they would be provoked by my walking towards them or through them!
Seems like I waited for a long time before the trail finally looked clear even though the pack was still grazing around the area close to the trail. I picked up my dog and carried her and I just walked very fast down the trail not looking at the javelinas - as if they weren’t even there. When I got beyond them I put my dog on the ground and we ran! It was actually funny in hindsight but I was scared!
My sister later said the javalina must be my “spirit animal”! Haha Another time in the mountains I was hiking with my sister and her very tall boyfriend when a weird squirrel came out of nowhere and went straight for the boyfriend’s leg! It leapt up and landed on his thigh! I screamed and her boyfriend shook it off and we all hightailed it out of there!
Later we saw a sign about a nuclear waste station nearby and we spent the day joking about the mutant radioactive squirrel!
PunnyPanda 3 days ago (edited)
I didnt know, so thought I'd look it up for anyone else who didn't: Javelina, also known as collared peccaries, are mammals native to the American Southwest. They are social animals that live in herds and are often confused with wild pigs.
#13
True story. Crystal Lake in Virginia Beach. Drove out with a girlfriend for a dose of nature and beauty before the sun set. As it started to get dark, we realized it was close to closing time and the park entry gate would soon be shut. There were no other cars or people around. We jumped in our car and started driving toward the gate to exit the park. On the way toward the gate, we passed a young girl sitting by the side of the road on a cement block. She was dressed in a conservative, long dress, like something from the turn of the century and was holding a large red ball. She was pale and thin, with long, brown hair. Strangely she didn’t look toward us or acknowledge us at all, just stared straight ahead, across from where she was sitting. What was she doing out there, with no urgency to leave the park? As we drove on, we saw a strange man ahead of us in the middle of the road, intentionally blocking our path. He, too, was dressed from a different era, wearing suspenders over a filthy, white shirt, and black pants. He was waving his arms for us to stop. As we got closer, we could see he wasn’t hurt or needing help—he looked angry and aggressive and his face was scary as hell, so we sped around him. He turned and started running after our car. We hit the gas and barely made it out of the gate before it was locked for the night. Never went back again.
#14
I found human remains whist hiking in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. He was a man who crashed his plane into the side if the mountain. His remains were never recovered.
#15
To tell you about my experience in detail would take a book, but here’s a summarization of the worst trekking experience I’ve had. It was the first rains of the season and I and my friends had gone to Mt. Kalsubai(highest peak in Maharashtra). The trek began with a bang, my friends were quite energetic about the whole peak, always looking up to check the amount of distance left to climb. A part of the peak didn't have a sturdy path and hence the guides had tied a rope which offered support to climbers on that path. Amidst the chaos of climbing a safe path, I and my friends traced steps of previous climbers to stick to the safe path. Just when we thought that all was good, It began to pour cats and dogs and we realized that the path we were climbing was a stream route from where rainwater gushed down to the foothills. We had the mountain wall on one side and deep valley on the other. In a flash, a small path turned into a gushing water stream which made the climb dangerous and unpredictable. In the pouring rain, it was difficult to get a grip on the path and by now our trekking worthy footwear had started giving up. Holding on tight to the support ropes, we made our way inch by inch above to get ourselves out of that location. We finally managed to reach an even plane where we heaved the best sigh of relief. This experience stays with me and till date gives me goosebumps, remembering the situation we were caught in.
Julia Mckinney 3 days ago
That reminds me of the time my 7th grade biology class were hiking Mt. Rainier (Washington state), mid-70's. We were in the snowline of the mountain and the weather went from fine to snowing to white-out, fast. We each had to hold onto the jacket of the person in front of us as the teachers tried to get us to safety. I remember looking up during a brief lull in the storm and seeing the sheer drop from the path we were on and huddling even closer to the mountain side of the path. I don't remember being too scared until we got back down and the parks people were very glad to see us. If we hadn't come down in the next hour they were going to call in Search and Rescue. For some reason, there was just no talk about it afterwards. No parents asking how we got lost, no kids talking about how scared we were, nothing. It was as though it had been a normal field trip. Weird.
#16
When we were teenagers we went to the woods after dark to hang out, drink and have some fun. There were about 8 of us.
Once we got into the thick part of the forest, my friend and I had the idea to run ahead, then circle around and scare-prank the rest of our group.
About half way of our circling path, I told my friend to freeze! Naturally he smiled at me and acted like I was trying to scare him too. “No, seriously!” I said. “Shine your flashlight over there.” He did and it confirmed what I saw. A pair of human legs extended out from behind a large tree. We quietly approached and found what appeared to be a person who had died against a tree. He appeared homeless from his tattered clothes and weathered appearance. His eyes were just slightly open, staring into nothingness and he was slumped back against the trunk at the base. This was right in the middle of the forest.
We trotted back to our group and told them there was something they needed to see. Rude and disrespectful, I know now as an adult. But as teenagers, we weren't thinking sympathetically to whoever this person was.
They didn't believe us and thought it was all part of some elaborate prank. The girls in the group were getting frightened and asked us to stop the bullshit but we persisted even explaining thay we had originally planned to scare you guys…but then this happened.
When we finally got everyone to buy in to the truth, we found our way back to this large tree….lo and behold, the man was gone!
All I can guess is he was terrified of being found in the middle of the woods and froze up until we walked away and then ran full speed out of there. Or maybe we saw a ghost…who knows?
Regardless, to this day, no one in that group believes a word of it. Only two of us saw the man lying against a tree in the middle of the woods that night and that's how it will remain!
UncleJohn3000 3 days ago
Somewhere nearby, the town drunk began telling tales of being visited by pixies.
#17
1. A moose. Moose are more dangerous and unpredictable, and attck more people than do bears.
2. A rattlesnake. I’d accidentally just stepped across it, and it was rattling at me.
3. Wild boar when rock climbing near Finale Ligure, Italy.
#18
I was doing a snowshoe hike by myself around Lost Lake, in Whistler, BC. Now, hiking alone is very stupid, but is was a busy trail and close to the village. It was my first time in Canada, it was february, so it was a cold but gorgeous sunny day. I was very curious and wanted to photograph as much as I could, and enjoy the prettiest views I could find. That’s when I learned my lesson. Never, ever, go off trail. Don’t be that idiot tourist. I was that idiot tourist.
I came across a large rock, with a steep slope, covered with snow, about 10 meters high. it was slightly less steep on one side so I wanted to climb up the rock to see if I could see above the trees and enjoy the view (the trail was in between the trees for the most part). So I made my way up, and the snow shoes gave me a pretty good grip. Or so I thought. I almost made it up, camera in hand… when I slipped. I fell on my back, and slid all the way down. Since it was a bit sloped, I didn’t really make a flat fall, but it hurt nonetheless. My first response was to try and slow myself down with my hands. I was constantly using my camera so I wasn’t wearing gloves. That hurt. When I arrived back on the trail I sprained my ankle a bit, but nothing serious. I got very lucky. As I did more hikes in Canada I never went off trail again. I came across different points on hikes with signs that said people had fallen to their death. No way josé, lesson learned. I enjoyed the rest of my stay safely on the trails! Oh, and always take people with you! Had I fallen to my death or had I gotten stuck somehow, no one would know I was there! (except maybe for the company I rented the snowshoes from, anyway, don’t take the risk)
#19
I was sacred when we stopped for a breather and the guy with me said: “Why are those mountains moving? I said, “sit” (he did), I said “drink 4 big swallows.” 3 min later: “drink 4 big swallows.” After about 15 min the peaks were not rotating any more. I said, “good, drink some more.” I transfered more than half his load onto mine. After 30 min more we continued our down-slope hike “Still 12+ miles to our truck.” All turned out OK.
#20
While hunting on the side of a steep hillside, I saw a black bear. She was walking on the same trial as me. I really had no place to go as the hillside was very steep. I thought when she saw me she would run off. I waved my arms, yelled. A lot. Then her two cubs appeared behind her and she is getting closer. I yell a bunch more, wave my arms more. I hunt with a single shot handgun in a large caliber. I took it out and took aim while still yelling. She finally saw me, and charged. I had the hammer back, slack out of the trigger. She stopped about 20 yards away. Stood on her hind legs and woofed at me, then turned to leave. I hunted somewhere else that day.
#21
Oh, skiing down a slope which was on a sliding surface of a rock slab underneath, and breaking through a snow bridge. I had 1 leg and ski in the crevasse and the other outside. Changes your perception. I could have sworn it was twice as deep when I later skied up to the hole I punched through. Far worse than either of the avalanches that I’ve been in. Since that time I’ve also jumped into crevasses for rescue practice. Not nearly as fearful.
#22
About 6 months ago, I had the idea to have some time to myself & camp in the woods. I set up camp, called my friends on the phone, and then started stargazing after we hang up. After a while, I heard shuffling in the woods. I looked, and I saw nothing. I shined a small light from my phone into the woods, and it illuminated a pair of glowing eyes looking right at me.
Reasonably, I got scared. I grabbed my stuff and ran. I heard whatever it was following me, but I was too scared to look back & figure out what was chasing me. As I hopped into the car, I turned it on & sped off. Only then did I look in the rear mirror to see what was chasing me.. it was a fox. 😐
#23
Take your pick:
When I was a teen I was in the Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park with my parents. My parents learned of a scenic waterfall at the base of the mountains. To get there by road involved driving out of the basin and then along the foot of the mountains. There was an alternative route. You could hike to the "window" where the basin drains and then follow the trail to the falls. The trail is seldom used and follows the water pipeline route from the falls to the tourist facilities in the basin. We guessed the time hiking and driving would be about the same so I hiked and my parents drove. About 80% of the way there, I came across the park's water storage tanks and a giant cottonwood tree. The trail went under the tree and there was no way around. Normally that would be no problem but at the time there was an adult mountain lion resting on a branch above the trail. It sounded quite contented as it was purring. Was I it's next meal? If I didn't continue on, my parents would get worried and come up the trail to meet me. That would put them at risk. If I waited that might inspire the cat to make me their next meal. I decided to slowly make my way to the other side and continue on to the waterfall. I didn't have to go directly under the cat but it wasn't an easy walk. We watched each other as I made my way under the tree. I was glad the cat wasn't hungry.
Camping: when I was a real little kid, about eight years old, I went to the campground bathroom at Glacier National Park. After I finished, I opened the door to go outside. And there it was, a bear was right outside the bathroom door looking for fish in the creek that ran next to the bathroom. I closed the door and waited and waited. Eventually the bear left and so did I. Years later someone asked why I didn't leave as the bear could have trapped me in the bathroom. I said I thought about that and thought it would be safer inside than passing really close to a bear.
Not hiking but kayak camping - I was kayaking Lake Powell with my dog Elle. We headed up a nice side canyon with a great camping site so we made camp for the night. We then hiked further up the side canyon. Just as we reached the end' the weather changed. It started to cloud up and I could sense that rain was on its way so we hurried back to camp. The rain hit just we reached camp. It was late so I decided that we could eat cold food in the tent. We didn't have cell phone service and I only had intermittent satellite texting service with my sister. I texted her that I hoped that I picked the right camp site as the rain was starting to get pretty heavy. The sun set. It was pitch black outside. Thunder was frequent. Then I heard the roaring of a flash flood coming down the canyon. I could only hope that I picked a good camp site for Elle and me. I was nervous all night but I couldn't see anything in the dark at night. I the morning when I went outside, I looked outside to see an amazing sight. We had waterfalls on both sides of our tent and about seven or so waterfalls in the section of canyon we were in and a flash flood coming down the canyon floor we hiked up the previous day. We lucked out. Is have a video of our kayaking trip on YouTube I named it something like "Kayaking Lake Powell, Travels With Elle". It is a slideshow of our trip I did for a kayaking show.
#24
It wasn’t scary but certainly a concerning moment.
We decided to see the more remote western side of Glacier NP. If you haven’t seen it, plan on it the next time you are in the vicinity.
I was returning from a day of hiking up to a lake that was close enough to not be a big deal. The trail home seemed to be an unending grinding uphill to a ridge. I stopped to pant turned around and saw an adult (bigger than life) mountain lion sitting on the trail about 20 feet behind me licking her shoulder just as any cat would do - laying in the sun. She (found out about gender later) had a tracking collar. We sort of stood our ground looking at each other, she definitely seemed to be a bit more bored than I, and also was waiting on me in order to continue on the train. In one of those rare brilliant moments, it occurred to me I had a camera slung around my neck. My movement to bring it up to my eye was apparently the last straw. In that moment she had in a smooth motion jumped from the trail into the brush on the other side of a shallow swale. It was at least the distance between the two of us.
While she made noises thrashing her way through the overgrowth it dawned on me that if she wanted, she could easily have had me as dinner. As it was, she too was using the trail as the easiest way to get where she wanted to go. I carried the camera all the way over the ridge and down toward the parking lot — to no avail.
Much to my dismay, I didn’t get a picture of her. I did mention the encounter to a ranger down near the parking lot. He explained they had tagged the lions to identify their migration and habitat range. This one had a name and was probably Harriet. He said that it was typical behavior but surprised she hung out so long waiting for me to move on or even that I saw her. I had not a glimmer of how long she would have been following behind me.
Several years before a few of us were laboring over a 13,200′ pass on our way down to Curmudgeon Hot Springs outside of Aspen Colorado. There was a huge bear fecal deposit absolutely in the middle of the trail - still warm. That steaming heap proved two things:
Bears (and lions) take the path of least resistance - e.g., human trails.
That bears do not always do IT in the forest. Treeline was at least 3000′ below us.
At the hot springs, we were told by others in the small pond, that bears are often seen soaking in this spring - at near 11,000′.
Sure, I’d share a hot pond with a bear. Over the years I have noticed they have a way of being where they want to be.
ElfVibratorGlitter 2 days ago
My parents neighbors have a family of bears that take over their swimming pool a few times over the summer. The neighbors don't go in with them. 🤓
#25
My husband, two daughters, dog, and I were camping in 2017. We live in a small city/big town with mountains all around us so, at the least, we camp once a year (usually without a designated site, our mountains aren't zoned down to specific/individual spots).
This particular time, we pitched a tent in a spot just off the main canyon road. The dog's bed was placed right outside the sleeping section, within the “front porch" area of the tent (an additional zippered section that was open at this particular time).
I'm always awake later than my family and this night was no different. Middle of the night, at the time of this event, I was sitting inside my car.
My dog suddenly starts barking, relentlessly. While it didn't cause much alarm, as it's not completely out of the ordinary for him (with deer or other small animals frequenting our yard), I hopped out to silence him.
Our children were only five and one at the time, so I reacted a bit more quickly to the volume than I would have, otherwise.
I made it to the tent within six to eight steps and shushed my dog. I then turned my sight in the direction of his to determine what he was upset by, with our backs now on the tent's entrance.
Directly in front of me (us), standing by the fire pit a mere 10 feet away, a bear (black bear) raised his head to make eye contact with me.
I immediately froze and started loudly calling my deep-sleeper husband's name, repeatedly, alternating his name with “bear.”
Only then did I realize the guns were in the car.
Fortunately, at the same moment, the bear turned around and ran off.
Our miniature dachshund thinks he's tough and barks accordingly… and, unbelievably, manages to scare off animals he doesn't stand a chance fighting against.
I gained 2 memories that night, including the show my husband gave me… a burned image of him flying out of the tent in only his underwear and boots. Almost bear-naked, if you will.
#26
A freaking sand cat, in the rub' Alkhali or the empty quarter in Saudi Arabia not only did i find life in it but one of the rarest ones, i mean camels are common donkeys are eh every now and then geckos and jerboas are so common i have to check my shoes every time and snakes are unfortunately common but a sand cat is way too rare and still my proudest experience
#27
I was hitch-hiking across America back in 1976 and I was down around the bottom part of Alabama in a pretty little park on the edge of a small lake. I had taken off my back pack and rolled out my ground cloth and I was settling in for the night. Dinner was simple, some sausage, bread, and fruit from an orchard I had passed earlier in the day. I ate, enjoying every mouthful while I listened to the crackle of the fire and watched the fireflies dance around the lake. I didn’t stay up long because the days travel had worn me out and I was looking forward to seeing an old friend who lived in Birmingham the next day and she was going to show me the sights of the city.
The next morning something horrible woke me up. I could hear something , something big, panting right over my head which was buried in my sleeping bag. Things passed through my mind as I lay there, so scared that I couldn’t move even a single muscle . I lay there smelling the fetid air that whatever monster was above me was breathing out and wondering what in the hell I had gotten myself into. I wasn’t ready to die but I was sure that I was going to…very soon. I lay there and listened as the animal slowly moved off in the direction of the lake and then I couldn’t hear it anymore but still I lay there.
Finally, I came to and lifted my head and looked around…nothing , nothing and nobody in sight anywhere around me so I got up, stripped then dove into the lake to wash the stink of fear from me. Never before and never again did I experience a fear so deep that I couldn’t move
#28
I was walking back from town to my parent’s cabin in Big Bear Lake, and four dogs came boiling out of their yards, I was in the middle of the street, and approached me in a threatening manner. I was able to run three of them off by throwing snow and ice chunks at and near them, but there was one that would not budge. After I had called his bluff charges and threatening growls he moved off back into his yard. We had experienced trouble with packs of feral dogs in that area, because the residents did not fence their animals in all that well and some were even proud of what their little pets had done while they were gone.
#29
Once I was hiking in a remote area we had to access by boat across a river. There were no roads on the far side of the river not even abandoned ones that had grown over were obvious. The whole area was very overgrown, which was not surprising given the difficulty to access.
While exploring trekking through the thick brush we came across a large hole in the ground. It was a perfect circle lined with concrete approximately 15–20’ diameter and from what we could see 15 or so feet deep… but the real depth is questionable because it had who knows how many years of leaves sticks, etc built up inside.
I don’t know what it was or why it was there, there was nothing else obviously man made anywhere nearby no sign of structures/buildings, etc. plus no roads, do it must have been there for a long time, materials must have been brought in by boat or perhaps horses?? But it was a lot of concrete, and a hole deep and wide enough that it would have taken a lot of time and effort to dig by hand, and lined with finished concrete??? Really no idea who what when or why. Maybe it’s a secret military silo, bunker, or something agricultural… really don’t know nothing really makes sense, it would have been a very bad day if someone fell in though.
#30
I am a solo hiker and I enjoy hiking with my dog windy. A week ago I was at my farm in a remote area. I was so bored, I asked the shepherd who works for me to take me on a new trail down the river. The boy is 17 years old and weighs just 50 kilos. He is quite experienced with the nearby wilderness. I am 59 years old and I weigh 92 kilos. In my mind, I thought I can always return if the trail turned out to be too dangerous.
In the beginning, it was OK, not so rough. We had to brush thorny wood plants to make our way and cross slippery stony ground covered with leaves. His younger brother who followed decided to take another path down to the river. The following are some photos from the trail.
Past this one dead tree, there was another dead tree but in better condition. At the end of the tree, I saw a slopped soft boulder with bushes around it. I grabbed a thick branch to step onto the boulder but it snapped like a biscuit and the ground under my feet gave way under my weight. I slipped on the soft boulder and landed on my back and right shoulder. A thorny bush prevented me from slipping any further.
I was badly hurt but I could move my right arm. I wanted to go back but I couldn’t. There was nothing to grab on the soft boulder to pull me up and I felt that half my power diminished. Apparently, I broke something. The shepherd told me to go down. There is no way up. I looked down beyond the bush that is holding me and I got scared. If that bush didn’t hold me, I could have fallen off a cliff to land at the bottom of a pine tree trunk. the cliff was about 2.5 to 3 meters deep. I could have broken my hip, elbows, or legs.
My only way was to go down sliding past the bush to land on the ground near the pine trunk. I used the branches of the spiky bush as ropes. I managed to reach the ground. Below the pine tree, there was a huge cliff about 20 meters deep.
The shepherd asked me to climb the pine tree to mount on another huge pine tree fallen making a natural bridge over a small valley. He demonstrated it. I just realized the big mistake. I followed the wrong guide. There is no way I will climb that tree to cross the natural bridge. At that point, I didn’t take any photos. My mind was focused on getting out. When I recover. I will give the shepherd my camera and ask him to go take some photos of the scene. It was stunningly beautiful.
My only way was to go back up. I used the branches of the spiky bush to climb back up onto the soft boulder. The shepherd managed to come back to the point where I slipped. With nothing to grab my left hand could reach the root of a tree barely exposed. I asked the shepherd to dig the soil around the root to make kind of a handle. He did. I had to move as high as possible to grab the root with my left hand and my feet against the top end of the bushes. I pulled as hard as I can to reach the tree trunk with my right hand. I did. I pulled myself up and he grabbed me to prevent me from falling back. We went back on the same route.
I suddenly realized that my dog's leash was in my pocket. I could have used it to get out. Too late now. We used it to climb back up. He tied the leash to a tree and I used it to pull myself up to higher grounds. We finally reached a safer route to realize that I lost my pocket full of money, identity, and credit cards. Omar, can you go back and find it? Now in addition to worrying about my health, I have to worry about recovering all these documents. Omar went back and half an hour later came back with my pocket. Of course, I gave him a reward.
My relative who is a surgeon arrived at my farm and called me to see if I am there. I told him that I am going back from a hike but never mentioned that I was injured. I was too proud to call anyone to come for help. I wanted to spare myself the sarcasm and humiliation.
I made it to the main road. The shepherd went back to my farm and drove my car to pick me up. At that point, I called my relative who took me to the hospital for an x-ray to discover that I have a broken rib.
I am currently healing. A broken rib is not fun; it is hard to stand up, sit down, or flip. Sneezing or coughing is forbidden. It takes six weeks to heel. Although I love hiking I don’t like extreme sports.
The problem was that I fell in the first drop-off I came across. There was no warning. The dangerous path revealed itself after I fell. When I feel better, I will send my drone to take footage of that beautiful place and update this post.
I learned a valuable lesson. From now on I will never hike alone even on safe routes. Nobody knows what could happen. Safety in numbers.
Few months ago I went with the same Shepherd to shoot photos and videos of that beautiful dangerous track. In one of the footage, my dog windy stood in the exact spot where I slipped and appear to be resisting the slippery ground.
#31
For me it is thunderstorms. I’ve encountered bear and venomous snakes and had no problems with them at all. Thunderstorms on the other hand strike fear in my heart. When laying in my tent or hammock at night and I hear a distant rumble, my ears perk up. Is that a distant jet? Distant fireworks? Or a thunderstorm? If the latter, is it headed this way or will it miss us? If it is headed this way, how strong is it? My mind is racing.
When I make camp and there is a chance of thunderstorms in the forecast I won’t camp in open fields, elevated areas or near the tallest tree, even in a deep forest.
Early in my backpacking life I experienced a series of really bad thunderstorms in the Catskill Mountains. We were camped near the summit of Panther Mountain. I could hear a storm coming and it sounded like a bad one. The thunder was almost constant, meaning a lot of lightning. When it was about to hit I grabbed all of our cooking gear, any metal framed packs and moved them a few hundred feet from our camp.
My companions retreated into their tents. I was thinking I didn’t want to be in a tent with aluminum poles so put on my rain gear, grabbed my sleeping pad and found the nearby lowest area and squatted on my pad and sat out the storm and it was a severe one. The lightning was frequent and often very close. That flash/bang that tells you it was striking nearby was constant. My friends thought I was nuts.
The storm passed and we went to sleep, but a few hours later I was woken up by the sound of another severe storm and could tell by the direction it was coming from that it would hit us.
I started putting on my clothing and rain gear to head outside and my brother, who was in my tent saw me doing that and started doing the same. Then he asked “why are we doing this?’” I said I can’t be in a tent with aluminum poles and he said “You’re crazy” and went back to sleep. I rode out the second storm in the same spot where I rode out the previous one. The lightning sounded like an artillery barrage. My heart was racing. Then one of my friends looked out and saw me and came out with a bottle of brandy and said “Take a big hit”. I swallowed it as if it was a glass of water. Didn’t help.
Fast forward a few years and I was backpacking in the Adirondacks with my now ex-wife. We were camped a hundred yards or so off the the trail and next to a stream. When I heard a major T-storm approaching I started thinking aluminum poles and next to water and didn’t want to be inside that tent. Again I put on my rain gear and started walking. I walked back to the main trail in my rain gear and started walking along it and kept walking until the storm passed.
It was then that I realized that I forgot to bring a flashlight and couldn’t find the narrow animal path that led to our campsite. It was 3 am and I walked back down the trail to where I thought our camp was and no way was I finding that path in the dark. I started screaming my ex’s name and no response. I knew there was a trail shelter about a mile away and figured I would finish the night there, then realized that if my ex woke up the next morning and I was gone she would probably freak out.
So I kept screaming her name and eventually heard a faint, distant response. She was awake and wondering where I was. Thankfully I was able to follow her voice back to our campsite.
Another time I was backpacking with my friends and we were near another Catskill summit. It was mid afternoon and when I heard a storm approaching, I started running down the trail back to the car. I ran for about 10 minutes when the thought crossed my mind that the car was 8 miles away. By the time I arrived there the storm would be long gone and I would have to climb the mountain again. Sanity struck and I turned around and walked back to where my friends were and we waited out the storm together in our rain gear.
Obviously the scariest thing for me is thunderstorms.
I’m much older now and and I now camp in hammocks instead of ten
#32
What is the scariest thing you have come across while hiking or backpacking?
When I went up Angel’s Landing in Zion N.P., snow had already fallen and left ice in many of the footholds. I had asked a stranger to go with me to take a picture at the top, and he had gotten ahead of me. Otherwise, I might not have gone further.
Otherwise, the scariest encounters that I’ve had have been when a storm hit and I couldn’t reach a spot that I felt was truly safe from lightning.
#33
I’m not afraid of any animal so no animal would startle me and I know what to do if I saw one that is dangerous, but for me, falling was the scariest. I have acrophobia (fear of heights) which my physician father diagnosed in me at about age 4. He loved to hike up a mountain and stand at the top and look out at the view and fast space. He tried to get me to go to him to look “over the edge” and I was terrified, he kept urging me on and I was crawling out to him and then when he told me to stand up, I climbed up, hanging on to his pant-leg for dear life.
Later, I understood about the phobia and took flying lessons to help combat the fear, and it did. But when I went up in a two seat (tandem) glider once with a friend, I was scared the whole time, I just didn’t trust those warm air thermals to hold us up! That aircraft engine gave me security. I overcame the phobia of heights enough to not let it stop me from hiking. I even went up in a very tall radio tower once with a friend who got special permission and the man in charge of maintenance let us ride up in the elevator with him to the top. I was terrified and got the giggles but suppressed it! I went up to the observation floor in the Empire State building but didn’t enjoy looking DOWN! I was mostly just testing myself. I have flown all over the world and enjoyed it, even was invited up to the cockpit years ago (today, since 9/11, they keep the cockpit door locked now. My greatest aviation thrill was flying in the Concorde (a Christmas present to me) in around 1973 and I knew everything to expect. I sat right behind the bulkhead where a display of instruments showed us altitude, etc. and yes, I could see the slight curvature of the earth but what I did NOT expect at all, was how dark and purple the sky was at mid-day up at 58,000 feet! I was surprised at that, no one had told me it’s really dark up there away from the earth! Since then, I’ve researched and understand it technically, but not then!
Settled for Infamy 3 days ago
Wow. What a brave way to work on a phobia, tackle it head on. A bit jealous of OPs Concorde ride
#34
Oh my. I’ve seen many strange things. One in particular was an arrow stuck in a tree at a height of about 30 feet. It was a Tamarack and it’s cover was gone. I could only look at it and wonder what someone was shooting at that high up.
geezeronthehill 3 days ago
Probably a stray arrow. Fired at something, missed, and never recovered because the archer lost sight of it.
#35
Nearly stepped on a Rattler in the Utah Canyonlands a good 12-hour drive and 6 hour walk from Anti-Venom ….never been lost but I was a might confused for 24 hours following one blind Canyon after another on the same trip trying to find one that would get me back to the plateau where my car was parked.
#36
Scariest: an explosion very close to where we were which was on a trail near an active gold mine, and where dynamite is often used, Problem is, our map indicated the mine was abandoned thus we had no idea we were going to be walking in a virtual mine field type setting. Oddly, this was a very remote region and we had not seen any other persons nor vehicles for 2 days, yet all of a sudden we hear KABOOOM from very close distance. So close by the ground rumbled under our feet.
Weirdest: driving around a bend on an old one-lane gravel and dirt mining road, which we were taking to get to a trailhead, and seeing in a meadow not too far from the road, a group of men and women in the buff/ nudists . None of them wearing anything. A sight fortunately that has left my mind’s eye …. not a bunch of fit folks but instead fat/obese. Weird to see this anywhere here in Alaska, especially on this remote road.
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 3 days ago
But I suppose a bunch of SKINNY naked people would have been the thrill of his week.
#37
I think in this case, we were the “weirdos,” as the line in The Craft. I belonged to a Marine Cadet group, and though nominally we were Marines, we were led by active duty Army officers. We used to go out on weekends to a Boy Scout Camp Derrick owned by the state of New Jersey, in Monroe, and we went to the State Home for the Boys in Jamesburg to get the keys. This was a juvenile prison with guard towers and such. The two army officers said We better leave this behind, and the dashboard of their Land Rover was covered in knives, pistols and such. They came back and said, They told us to keep an eye out for two boys who escaped. They often go to Derrick to hide out.
A day later, we were all gearing up in front of a building, in camouflage, face paint, knives and guns, and the two boys walked up on us unexpectedly from a trail around back. They nervously said hello, and went on. We didn't rat them out, we figured they'd get hungry and go back to the Boy's Home, which they did.
#38
The scariest scenario I encountered was on a February day in the White Mountains. The sun was out. Temperatures were inching up towards the freezing point. The trail was also quite icy.
As my friend and I approached the summit, we encountered an exposed scramble that was quite steep and very slick. I fiercely dug in with my traction, thinking that the scramble will not be fun at all to come down.
My friend had less trouble with the scramble. This did not surprise me. She is much taller than I am, and was often able to negotiate a lot of challenges that gave me trouble.
We had lunch on the summit, then began to head down. When we arrived at the scramble, I said that I could not go down it the way I came up. I would need to route around it. She understood, and watched patiently while I figured out my descent.
“Nicely done,” she shouted to me when I reached the bottom. “I can make this, just gonna take it slow.”
“Take all the time you need,” I responded. “I’m in no hurry.”
It was my turn to wait patiently. She slowly made her way down with small, conservative steps. Until I head her scream. She had fallen on her back and was now sliding, out of control, down the scramble, down the trail.
“S**t……s**t….s**t……s**t…...” she mumbled.
Her head was raised, staring straight ahead. She slid past me. Her expression was aghast. I was horrified.
“Nooo!!” said a voice in my head. I didn’t want to scream, I didn’t have the luxury doing so. She had to find a way to stop herself. The only thing I could do was not make matters worse by distracting her.
I turned down hill to follow her. We were not on a technical climb; neither one of us had ice axes. She slid further down the trail, away from the exposed section and back under the cover of pine trees. I watched as she took her poles and gripped them just above the baskets, plunging them in to the trail.
The ice gave way to snow. She dug in with her hands and feet….and stopped.
“Talk to me!” I shouted, as I hurried towards her. “Did you hit anything? Do you need dry clothes?”
She smiled at me, then mumbled a few choice expletives. She was fine.
“Well THAT is not exactly how I planned it,” she joked, flashing a wide grin.
We made our way back down. The rest of our hike was wonderfully boring. We arrived at the trail head and packed up our vehicles.
“Wanna get a beer?” I asked.
“Nah, the wife wants me home in time for dinner.” she explained. “Next time?”
“Next time!” I affirmed.
I exhaled sharply, and watched her exit the parking lot and pull on to the street.
I’m so glad there will be a “next time”.
#39
Once, hiking between my home in Castro Valley, [southeast S.F. Bay Area], CA and Walnut Creek, [northeast of the Bay], I stumbled upon a rural ranch property. My intention was to cut through it to the road system and proceed on that to my destination—a friend’s house in Walnut Creek. However, I spotted two young girls behind a barn smoking what smelled like m*****ana. The older of the two, she seemed about twelve, ran to an unknown destination. At the time I thought nothing of it and proceeded to continue on my way.
Coming upon the house, from which I could see the end of the road in a kind of courtyard, there suddenly emerged a very angry papa with a rifle! [My guess is that the girl had run to the house telling her daddy quite a story!] Papa, waving the rifle at me, made it clear I was to go back wherever I came from! I pointed to the road, but he wasn’t having it! So I back tracked a bit.
The moment he turned back towards the house, I ran towards a nearby trail, but was spotted as he turned back again!
He began to come towards the trail, still carrying that rifle, which I had great respect for! Now running up the trail, as soon as I was out of the line of sight, I jumped down off the trail, hiding under a huge bush, and taking off my sweatshirt, which was a quite visible red and blue! I could hear him but didn’t dare look! He turned and headed back toward the house right in front of that bush!
Mabelbabel 3 days ago
Why all the exclamation marks?! Is it really necessary?! To have them at the end of every sentence?!
#40
Summer of 1978 I went camping with the same three girlfriends I'd camped with for years; we'd mostly camped in Northern Los Padres National Forest, near Big Sur, Arroyo Seco, Palisades, Nacimiento-Ferguson Road areas, and hiked & LOVED them ALL; we'd decided to go north, check out Shasta! We'd done the whole Pacific Coast Trail the previous summer together, and decided we wanted a weekend at Shasta; so off we went! As always, NO MEN; it seemed it was a lot less trouble that way, no boyfriends!!
We got to a parking lot and camping area early Friday afternoon, got gear, food and equipment ready, then started hiking up; after more than two hours, we found a gorgeous meadow, little flowers growing, no ants or little critters that we could see: PERFECT!! Set up camp, ate dinner, then cracked a beer, juice, or soda and prepared for deep slumber, looking forward to a big hike after sunrise - we thought!
Sometime in the night, Susan woke me up, saying in a whisper, "There's something out there Cheryl, get your gun out!" Tammy and DiDi (Diane) were awake, wide-eyed, so I (being the supposed 'brave one') went out of the tent with my .38 and looked; what I saw was very dark, and it STUNK, and was much bigger than any bear I'd ever seen, plus it was walking upright, but just far enough away that I couldn't tell exactly what it was! We huddled in that tent for another about five minutes, some were crying, I had to figure out what to do! We could see & hear thru the tent this huge shadow grunting and almost roaring, DRAGGING something smaller, like a small deer, or...? They kept telling me to use my gun, but I told them, my little .38 S&W would be like a peashooter, would only piss it off. I told the girls the plan, convinced them that whatever it was could easily have killed us - I think it just wanted us off its mountain!! So I slowly unzipped the tent while it was in the back, then SHOVED the other three girls out, running after them; it was right on our tails!! Not being the quickest girl, I'm slow to start; once I get running, I actually gain speed (I was an athlete in schools, long-distance runner, trail runner - unlike them), paced myself, unlike the other three who were exhausted and slowed way down after the first half-mile or so, and I passed them, one by one; hey, I figured if that monstrous sucker caught anyone, it's gonna be the one that's last, and I'm NOT GONNA BE LAST!! I didn't ever look back either; I've watched those horror movies, every time a person looks back at their persuer, they get caught - plus, I did not want to see it, I was afraid of what I might see, and thought it might anger it more! I just kept yelling at the other girls to run faster, keep up, you can do this, we're almost there, etc...
After not slowing down even in the parking lot, I reached my car; what had taken me more than two hours up, was only about 20-30 minutes down that mountain! Winded, I opened the doors, then waited...and waited...finally, here they came! They jumped in, we locked the doors, and pulled the car over closer to the other cars, with people fast asleep in their camps; we feel asleep, huddled in our jackets and whatever things we could find in the old station wagon.
After sunrise we waited about an hour, and I convinced the others to come back up that mountain with me to gather MY camping gear; none being THEIRS, of course they balked - but they came, I had the keys. We looked at the area quickly, saw huge strange footprints and where something big WAS dragged round & round the tent! We didn't roll the tent up, nothing was put away as I usually wanted them clean and perfect and ready for next time; they were dirty and wadded up, and partly dragged down that mountain - quickly, as we were still very spooked. We stuffed it into the back of my car, then left, with other campers giving us the funniest looks - we said not a word, we just wanted GONE!!
We pulled out, and before I-5, there was a tiny cafe/store, so we went in for a quick breakfast. Sitting in the booth talking, two of the girls were very loud, even though me and the other tried to shush them. Eventually, some old man who was drinking a beer (mid-morning, I know...) came up and said he'd heard us, and could he talk to us. Okay we said, sure. He pulled up a chair and told us he was an Indian, from a tribe local to Shasta, and had grown up in the area. He asked us to tell him what happened and where we went, so we did. Then he told us this:
"Ever since I was a little boy, our elders have pounded it into us, to NEVER go up past the treeline, which is where you were. There have been times when kids are bad, or did not believe their elders, and sometimes once in a while, some of them haven't come back home. There have even been adults come up missing from that mountain too, and lots of White kids and adults, because they won't won't listen to us!!"
We bought him another beer, which he graciously accepted, finished up our meal, then headed back home, to Salinas Valley. I have never went back there, never will; I've driven past it on I-5 about 20 times over the years, each time I get chills and a little nausea.
Svenne O'Lotta 3 days ago
Wtf kinda AI-written nonsense is this? "Prepared for deep slumber" are you kidding me?
For those who find the thrill of heights and sheer drops exhilarating, there's a unique vacation home concept in Australia that might pique your interest. The idea of a house clinging to a cliff, designed by Modscape Concept, mirrors the adventurous spirit of those who seek experiences that challenge comfort zones. It might offer an interesting contrast to a serene hiking trip, while still embracing the beauty and unpredictability of nature.
What do you think ?
Boop the Snoot. Pound the Paw. 3 days ago
This list reminded me that I can only read posts with two small paragraphs or less.
Nice Beast Ludo 3 days ago
I skipped to the final paragraph on most. Except for the well written ones, with those I enjoyed the scenery
Load More Replies...
BrunoVI 3 days ago (edited)
I was on a 22-day wilderness expedition in the Adirondacks, about 14 years old, the youngest and second-skinniest there. Some of the kids were there to face challenges, some were just looking for adventure, or just summer camp. We came to the top of a cliff, and would have to rappel down; you basically grab a cable and walk backwards until you're leaning backwards off the edge of a cliff. I was nursing a sprained ankle, so was bringing up the rear, behind "Rose." Rose had battled anorexia; because she was so thin, she was packed extra light. After she backed down, the cable came coiling back up. I can't picture how she did it, but somehow, she managed to catch enough of the cliff not to plummet to her death. The more experienced climbers scrambled up the cliff to relieve her and I of our backpacks. (I would now have to descend the cliff by climbing without gear.) I can't imagine how anyone else could've caught themselves, or why the cable snapped for the lightest person.
Apatheist Account2 3 days ago
Never hiked, never camped, never will...and that's in the UK. We have our fair share of weirdos and drunks, not so many dangerous animals, but I prefer a warm bed and a roof.
Boop the Snoot. Pound the Paw. 3 days ago
This list reminded me that I can only read posts with two small paragraphs or less.
Nice Beast Ludo 3 days ago
I skipped to the final paragraph on most. Except for the well written ones, with those I enjoyed the scenery
Load More Replies... BrunoVI 3 days ago (edited)
I was on a 22-day wilderness expedition in the Adirondacks, about 14 years old, the youngest and second-skinniest there. Some of the kids were there to face challenges, some were just looking for adventure, or just summer camp. We came to the top of a cliff, and would have to rappel down; you basically grab a cable and walk backwards until you're leaning backwards off the edge of a cliff. I was nursing a sprained ankle, so was bringing up the rear, behind "Rose." Rose had battled anorexia; because she was so thin, she was packed extra light. After she backed down, the cable came coiling back up. I can't picture how she did it, but somehow, she managed to catch enough of the cliff not to plummet to her death. The more experienced climbers scrambled up the cliff to relieve her and I of our backpacks. (I would now have to descend the cliff by climbing without gear.) I can't imagine how anyone else could've caught themselves, or why the cable snapped for the lightest person.
Apatheist Account2 3 days ago
Never hiked, never camped, never will...and that's in the UK. We have our fair share of weirdos and drunks, not so many dangerous animals, but I prefer a warm bed and a roof.
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