Strange Encounters in the Woods, Mountains, or Desert

I've been listening to the podcast "Wild Thing", about Bigfoot. Its been entertaining. One topic often returned to is that (whether this is in favor of bigfoot existing or not) people see weird stuff out in the woods all the time.

So...what strange encounters have you had in the woods (or mountains, or desert) while out climbing? Bigfoot? Creepy Blair Witch stuff? Creepy people? Odd objects

One of my odd encounters was hiking up Mt Lincoln (14er in CO) in the dark at 3am at the start of a long linkup day. In the distance my headlamp was catching a strange reflection, then two strange reflections, then what looks like headlights. Sure enough I come to a (seemingly recent) jeep, abandoned in the middle of the talus at 13,800 feet.. My altitude-at-3am brain didn't knwo what to make of it. In retrospect in turns out the Lincoln is a 14er than offroaders try to summit. I guess someone got their jeep stuck. At the time it was creepy.

We came across a guy walking a turtle on a leash in the Moab back roads. We were trying to find some random tower and la ti da he came cruising along, so random.

i was also passed by a very dirty guy holding a long machete in the western Sierra. He looked mentally ill and I remember having the instinct to get the heck away from him ASAP. He yelled at me and pushed the knife out as I put my head down and scuttled by. I’ve always wondered if he did something bad out there…

Not the woods, but Joshua Tree. Out at Hound Rocks with a few friends. This 30+ year old guy, fit, comes walking in with a girl, maybe 10 years old, and a shovel. 

Kristian Solem wrote:

Not the woods, but Joshua Tree. Out at Hound Rocks with a few friends. This 30+ year old guy, fit, comes walking in with a girl, maybe 10 years old, and a shovel. 

I’ll bet they were burying the girl’s deceased goldfish/cat/other pet. 

One time I was hiking Mt Washington,  NH, in winter. It was windy and socked in with cloud, prob -20 with wind chill. I was pretty bundled up and moving from cairn to cairn, as visibility was about 100 feet. The snow was whipping across the surface of the exposed rock.. at one point near the summit a figure materirialized out of the fog coming toward me. A large dark bulk , that seemed to be carrying something. As I got closer I realized he had a bicycle.  A road bike. I yelled "Hi, nice day!", as I passed, to which he responded in kind with a heavy french accent. I couldn't see his face because he was all covered up, as was I, but I could tell he had a beard. It was too cold to try to have a conversation; wind was roaring in our ears. I have been wondering what he was doing up there with that bike ever since. 

"There are strange things done in the midnight sun."

lots of naked people. Mushroom hunters pretending to be wild animals.

Most peculiar thing i saw reminded me on a sea horse flying through the air. id blame it on the weed, but my buddy seen it as well.

Early in my climbing career I was on this pretty dirty 5.10 sport climb. It had a weird fall between two ledges which in hindsight was totally fine. However I get totally puckered on the thing refusing to fall. I look over and see this figure looking at me, kind of weirding me out with how intense the stare is. I get to an even worse rest look over and the figure is still staring and the outline looks exactly like mine. I shake it off and ignore it but am creeped out and keep going.  I look over again and they are gone. I make it to the anchor and my wife starts to lower me. I get to the ground and then see the creeper. He turns around and says, "Hey Bro."  It was my twin brother taking pictures of me, I still think he is a seedy looking dude. My brain was in panic mode and I guess I was not thinking clearly.

In RMNP on the way up Meeker, my partner in I came across an older gent (70+) on the trail at about 4:30 AM, he was wrapped in Saran wrap and Vaseline and had stopped to unwrap himself. He had on only shoes, running shorts and a tank top. He had RUN up to the talus field and was running back and became overheated in the sub-freezing air...

None of these are super interesting, but here they are.

Puppy Lovr and I found a 1950s truck under a boulder out in the woods once. He trundled it but the boulder was uninspiring.

Way up in the North Cascades I found an abandoned suspension tram/bridge over Agnes Gorge.

Up in the Gold Creek valley I saw a mine shaft on the slopes of Alaska Mountain. When I got to where it was, it had disappeared.

I've probably found several tons of 100 year old mining equipment basically everywhere in the Cascades.

Yesterday there was a butterfly on the clipping jug of one of the most popular 12as in Washington. It returned many times. I finally tried to squish it but it leapt away at lightning speed.

On top of Red Mountain, my sister and I met a strange character who purportedly lived at Goldmeyer Hot Springs. His name was Dakota and he was wearing floppy leather boots and wool pants (I think) and nothing else. When we left he was intending to descend this chossy pinnacled death ridge and climb Big Snow Mtn the next day. I always wondered what became of him.

Saw two lights on a remote hillside in the Inyo Mts last year.  I first thought they were hikers but they never moved and there is no trail.  They stayed lit all night and were about 100 yards apart from each other.  In the morning I hiked up to see what was there and found nothing.   Kinda creeped me out as I was alone.   Could have been solar lights but they didn't appear the next night.   I even have pictures of the lights.  

All of these are great, but nothing compared to the stuff that non-climbers have seen. Groups of people hiking out into the woods carrying massage tables and beds. Dirty hobos with ropes and knives. Crazed voices in the wilderness calling for the Devil to "TAKE" them. Shit's weird out there.

Was doing a leisurely solo backpack of Pikes Peak via Barr Trail years ago. The Barr Camp logbook had an entry by someone going by "Priestess Lioness" and the caretakers mentioned that she had wandered through camp with no food or water. I think they said she did end up eating something at the camp, but I can't remember. I ran into her just below the A-frame. She said she was out on a vision quest and was "living off the land," having had some berries, which she couldn't describe to me. She did not carry a pack or equipment of any kind. Then she asked me for food. I was feeling charitable and gave her some dried pineapple and continued up to the A-frame area to make a small camp, just before a huge and scary hailstorm rolled over the peak, crashing mad lightning and letting loose with marble-sized hail. I summited the next day (remember: leisurely) and ran into her at the A-frame again on my descent, where she asked to use my filter. Apparently she'd summited in the hail storm and had spent the night huddled against the summit house for shelter. I had, of course, sat in my 1-person tent just above treeline praying to a god I didn't believe in during that storm.

Lioness, indeed!

Dude i just met on natl forest land is giving me a tour of his tricked out camper van. Opens one of the doors and I immediately spot this creepy looking naked doll laying on top of a pile of stuff. He sees that I see it and immediately shuts the door without saying anything

Ryan Never climbs wrote:

Iv met a man walking wiener dogs in a rain coat in the Sierra...and numerous naked people. Looked for an hypoxic old lady that ended up hiding under a Boulder. Passed out frat boys in the woods, cowboys in lightning storm, drunk hunters Looking for the big one, Cadillac in the desert...naked skiers in the desert 

What is it with naked people in the Sierra? I’ve only ever seen naked people backpacking in the Sierra.

I work at a summer camp taking kids on canoe trips for a few days at national parks. One night after setting up campsite and quenching the fire I was doing last check of the campsite. I looked at the lake and saw this lone man paddling a canoe. I thought it was pretty strange but it’s not out of the ordinary, the only weird thing being that he was alone. He waved so being polite I waved back. Went to bed in the staff tent and everything was normal. I had a bit of trouble sleeping that night so I decided to go star gazing as that usually calms me down. I exit the tent and see this man on our campsite, looking through our tarps and bags. For what I don’t know, maybe drugs or food but that’s not important. This stranger is by the campers I am responsible for. We make eye contact and this guy stands up. He is tall as all hell and I am quite short so I quickly grab the first thing I can think of. A can of bear mace. This stuff is meant to fend off a charging bear so I hold it ready to spray and tell him to gtfo of my campsite. We don’t really speak just like Oh…I…didn’t…see…you…guys. when he is leaving I immediately wake up the other staff and we make sure he leaves. We use our SAT phone to call park rangers with our position, the guy’s characteristics and tell them the story.

Without a doubt the scariest moment I had on the job. I’ve learned not to fear animals, as for the most part they are predictable dumb and not malicious… But people on the other hand. The scariest and most dangerous thing to encounter out in the wilderness is a person.

B P wrote:

What is it with naked people in the Sierra? I’ve only ever seen naked people backpacking in the Sierra.

There's a light tradition of hiking naked on the summer solstice (late June) among PCT thru-hikers. Hike Naked Day. They're usually in the Sierra on that day, so that could be some of it.

I am loving this thread. Keep it coming. 

James C wrote:

There's a light tradition of hiking naked on the summer solstice (late June) among PCT thru-hikers. Hike Naked Day. They're usually in the Sierra on that day, so that could be some of it.

Unfortunately some of what I’ve seen can’t be unseen….and there’s no way some of those folks have been hiking from Canada 

The scariest and most dangerous thing to encounter out in the wilderness is a person.

From a dangerous encounter standpoint I've long believed the most dangerous time is 0-15 minutes from the trailhead. This is especially true if one is solo. And if returning to the car after dark? Depending on where that trailhead is located all I can advise is to come in silent, lights off and stop frequently to watch, listen and smell... watch for movement, listen for people, smell for cigarette smoke. Don't rush in and when you do, have your car keys in hand and at the ready.