This was in 2015. I had taken a road trip to a forest a few hours from me. There was a hike up to an abandoned fire lookout that I was really excited to explore.
I should mention it was technically illegal to go inside it or camp in it as it wasn't kept up with and could be structurally unstable. I'd done some research online, though, and most people said that it seemed okay, but the last post I could find about it was 3 years ago, so I really didn't know what I'd find when I got up there. Anyway, I found a small ditch on the side of the road that I could park in.
Then, I got out my backpack with 2 days worth of gear and started the hike. With trips like this, there aren't usually defined paths to get there. So, I used a handheld satellite GPS that allowed me to make sure I was going the right way, but really the whole time I was just cutting through unknown terrain in the woods.
The hike from the road was about 4 to 5 hours. The further in I got, the more dense and rough the terrain got. I was really banking on the fire lookout to still be intact and good enough for me to camp out in.
But I guess if not, then I was just going to have to find somewhere else nearby to set up my tent and sleep at. After the pretty tiring several hours of hiking through the woods, I finally got there. I could see the building peeking out above the trees, and when I got closer, it actually looked decently in shape.
The paint was worn off, of course, but it seemed to be holding up well. I gave the support beams a few pushes and they were really solid. So, I tried my luck climbing up the ladder.
It was metal and felt sturdy, but still creaked with every step up. When I got to the top, I was in awe for a moment at the views. I could see basically the entire forest.
There were no buildings or roads or houses for miles in all directions. It was just the woods. After taking in the view, I went around the ledge and inside the lookouts.
It was really small, not like one of those big ones that you see get turned into Airbnbs or whatever. This was just one room, maybe 150 square ft. It had a decaying bed in the corner and an old wooden desk in the other corner with rotting windows spanning the entire wall.
There wasn't too much else to look at in there, so I put my bag down and rolled out my mattress and sleeping bag, then heated up a meal on my mini camping stove. Once the sun was setting, I walked out to the ledge and watched it. It was by far one of the best views I'd ever seen.
I felt like it went by quick, though, and then it was just darkness. It was cloudy out, too, so no moonlight or stars were lighting up the sky. With nothing else to do though, I stayed sitting out on the ledge for a while.
It was probably an hour into the night when I saw something below me. There was a light moving around in the trees. What was strange about it, though, was it wasn't like an artificial light.
It had this orang-ish hue and was kind of flickering, kind of like a campfire would, which led me to believe it was a torch. He was moving between the trees in the forest, not too far from where I was. The chances of someone else being out here at the same time as me in such a remote part of the woods were really slim given there wasn't even a trail to get here.
Also, traveling around at night without a normal flashlight and using a torch was pretty odd. I watched as the light moved under the trees for a while. Then it went behind something where I could no longer see it.
For the next 30 minutes, I never saw it appear again. I still stayed out on the ledge, though, taking in the calmness and quietness of the night. Eventually, the wind started to make it a bit cold, so I stood up to take in one last view before heading inside.
When I looked below the ledge, though, someone was there. They were standing at the bottom in the grassy area between the fire lookout and the woods. It looked like they were looking directly up at me.
Maybe it was the person with the light I saw earlier. "Hello," I called out. I didn't know what else to say.
They didn't move or say anything back to me. It was just this strange 10 or 15 seconds of looking at each other before they lifted up their hand, like in an acknowledging way or apologizing. Then they turned around and walked into the woods, still with no light on.
Obviously, that was incredibly creepy and eerie, but for some reason, in the moment, I felt so sure that it was just another hiker wanting to stay in the lookouts. It was probably just looking up trying to see if anyone was inside already. Why he hesitated to respond and only lifted his hand up, I don't know.
I stayed outside for a little longer, but not seeing anything else, I went inside and got my sleeping bag to warm up. It was a little bit hard to fall asleep because of the wind hitting the windows and the wooden beams creaking under me, but eventually I did manage to pass out. It's hard to really know how much time passed, but when I woke up, the wind had settled down and it was still very dark outside.
I opened my eyes, wondering why I was suddenly awake, but then I heard a familiar sound. The soft metal creek of the ladder outside. I sat up thinking I must be mistaken, but then I heard it again and again.
Someone was climbing up the ladder. I couldn't tell how far up or down they were. I could just hear the hinges at the top of the ladder creek with every step up they took.
Outside the windows, though, it was completely dark. I unzipped my sleeping bag and got up, heart racing as I grabbed my backpack and walked onto the ledge. During the 20 or so seconds that it took to get up, the creaking got louder and faster, like they were hurrying before it suddenly stopped just as I made it out to the ledge.
I stood in place for a moment, waiting for another sound. Then I slowly walked around the walkway and peered around the corner at the opening to the ladder. No one was there.
I carefully walked closer and felt my heart rate increasing as I leaned over and looked down. Nobody was on the ladder. I was just in shock for a second, confused and scared and unsure what the hell was going on.
Then a sudden sequence of footsteps came rushing around the wooden walkway behind me. I only caught a glimpse of their dark figure running between the windows on the other side. I didn't hesitate to lower myself onto the ladder and hurry down.
It was terrifying trying to climb down the slippery metal ladder as my whole body was shaking from the adrenaline rush with someone chasing right above me. I got halfway down before I saw their head peer out from above. I didn't stop until I got to the bottom and into the woods.
Honestly, I don't know why I even grabbed my backpack when I got up to see what was going on, but it was the best decision I ever made. Maybe even saved my life. With my flashlight and GPS on me, I was able to hike my way out of there and back to my car.
As far as I know, I wasn't followed. I drove away and never looked back. [Music] I was camping at a small lake for the weekend.
Really, this wasn't supposed to be anything special. Just a few days in the woods by the water to relax and nothing more. The first day was exactly that.
I got there, set up camp, and chilled for the whole day and night. This was kind of out in the middle of nowhere. It had a thin footpath leading to it, but it wasn't marked on any maps online or anything, so only locals would probably know about it.
My dad used to take me here when I was a kid. In all my years going out to that spot, both as a kid with my dad and as an adult by myself, never once was anyone else here. Honestly, there was never even any signs of anyone else ever having been there.
Anyway, on my second day, I spent my time walking around the water and I guess just thinking to myself, I must have circled the lake three or four times. During those hours of walking, everything was quiet and nice. But then on one of my laps around the lake, I happened to spot some footprints in the dirt just on the edge of the treeine.
I had been walking the same circle over and over and never saw them before. Where they were, it was so clear and obvious. I don't think I would have missed them.
They also looked pretty new. And what was really strange was not only that the footprints meant somebody else was out here, but that they were literal footprints. like barefoot, not shoe prints.
The part of the lake I was at didn't even have any easy access to the water, so it's not like they took their boots off before going for a swim. Not to mention, I would have seen them in the lake. Seeing this really creeped me out for some reason.
Why didn't I see them nearby while I was walking around? Were they watching me and didn't want me to see them? It was hard not to get paranoid about it.
From what I was able to see, it looked like the footprints went up to the treeine, looking out at the lake, then right back into the woods where it seemed to go straight back for a while. I didn't want to follow them into that unknown territory of the forest. So, I just walked back to my campsite.
I kept looking out to the lake, or I guess the tree line around the lake, seeing if anyone was out there. I never saw anyone. As the sun started to come down, the paranoia started to build up again.
Something about the footprints just felt off. And knowing that they were likely still nearby, it wasn't a comforting feeling. When it got darker, I fueled up my campfire with a good supply of wood and sat around it.
I did whatever I could to keep my mind off of it, but it was pretty difficult. Part of me felt justified in feeling uneasy, and another part of me felt like I was overreacting for no reason. But not too far into the night, I heard footsteps approaching from the trees.
I instantly turned and faced the darkness they were coming from. There were more than one. It sounded like two people slowly walking closer to my campsite.
I stared in their direction until they suddenly came into the light. It was a man and a woman walking next to each other and stopping just at the edge of where the light from the fire could reach. I couldn't see much of their faces or really anything more than their basic shape.
I couldn't even tell how old or young they were. Can I help you? As soon as I said that, the woman turned and sprinted back into the woods, completely disappearing.
But the man stayed where he was. He didn't move or even look back at the woman. It was about then that I looked down and realized he wasn't wearing any shoes.
These were definitely the ones who were out by the lake. I asked again if I could help him, but then he too turned around and quietly walked back into the woods. I pretty much had an internal freak out after that.
That was the most unsettling and strange encounter I'd ever had. Almost not even feeling real. I didn't want to be in those woods for another second.
I immediately started to pack my things. I'm not the kind of person to stick around when things get sketchy. Thankfully, my setup was easy to put up and take down, so I had everything tied down in my bag and ready to go within a few minutes.
I didn't know where they went, but I didn't want to still be here if they came back. I kicked out all the unlit logs from the fire so it would burn out soon after I left. Then I hurried into the woods.
The walk was nearly 2 hours. For the first 10 minutes, I was really on edge, unsure if I was being followed, but the further away I got, the better I felt. It was about 40 minutes into the walk.
The whole woods was silent. Not even any crickets or anything, when I suddenly heard running footsteps nearby. It was in the distance, maybe a 100 ft from me, and it was definitely a person.
I couldn't see anything, though, so I had to just keep walking. Only a few minutes later, I heard it again, this time on the other side of me. The footsteps seemed quieter than they should have been, too.
Which led me to believe that they were running barefoot and that it was the same two I'd seen at the lake. If they'd been stalking me this far into the woods, who knows what they were trying to do. For a while, I'd keep hearing running footsteps in the distance.
Just short bursts like they were quietly stalking me and then suddenly sprinting away. I can't think of anything that would have been more terrifying than that walk through the woods. Somehow though, I made it back to my truck.
I was able to make it out of there. I wish I had more to say or that I figured out who that man and woman were or what they were doing out there, but I have nothing. Maybe I'm insane, but sometimes I wonder if they were even alive or not.
I don't know and I'm not sure I want to. I never went back. [Music] I'm a 24year-old female from northern Arizona.
This was a couple years ago. At the time, I was living out of a small camper van traveling along the West Coast. There is a lot of different lifestyles.
People like to live in these types of vans or RVs. I always tried to keep out of the big cities and stick to small towns for camping in between destinations, but for the most part, I liked to camp out in the back country. Being in the middle of the woods with nobody else around was where I found myself most comfortable and where I most enjoyed the lifestyle of traveling.
I think part of it is that it was always safer to be out by yourself in the forest than it was to be stealth camping in a busy parking lot in the middle of a city. Don't get me wrong, it can still get creepy at night, but I always know I'm better off out there with nobody around. This week, I was slowly traveling between two big cities in Washington.
I was taking my time, staying on the back roads and hunkering down at campsites for several days at a time. On this day, I pulled off the road and onto a small dirt trail going deep into the forest. There were a few pull-off spots, but none were taken.
And it looked like nobody had been down here in a while. So, I kept going, hoping to secure a larger and more scenic spot. At the end, there was a large circle to pull off on.
It wasn't scenic, just surrounded by trees, but it was large and secluded and peaceful, and even had a stone circle in the middle for a campfire. I leveled out my van and parked. Since it was the middle of spring, it was raining pretty much every day here in Washington, so there wasn't much for me to do outside.
I opened the side door to my van for some fresh air while I cooked a meal on my propane stove. It was around sunset, so I still had several hours before I'd be in bed. Over the next 30 minutes, the sun fell past the horizon and the rain started picking up.
I shut the door to keep the water out and instead cracked open one of the small windows near the back of the van. I sat on the bed and watched a show on my laptop. But midway through it, a glare came in from the open window behind me.
It was a light reflecting onto the screen of my laptop. Before I was able to react, it went away. It didn't move away, though.
It turned off as if someone switched the light off. When I turned around and looked out the window, I saw nothing. It was really dark and still pouring down outside.
I had no way to know how far the light came from or what it even was. Being on a trail with other pull-off spots, I had to assume it was just another camper. Maybe their headlights that somehow found its way through the trees and shined into my window.
Then they quickly turned their vehicle off. The only problem with that was the light didn't come from the road I came down. Behind my window was just trees.
Maybe there was another trail I didn't know about. There wasn't much investigating I could do anyway, so I turned back around and went back on my laptop. Occasionally, I'd check out the windows or think I'd heard something outside.
But with the rain clanking against the metal roof, it wasn't clear if I was actually hearing something or not. Every time I looked though, I never saw anything to confirm that something was out there, so I didn't worry myself too much. I want to say it was about 10 or 11 when I decided to call it in for the night and try to sleep.
I turned off everything in the van, closed all the windows, and drew the shades. It was nearly pitch black inside. I got under the covers, and tried to sleep.
Usually, I didn't have much trouble at all, but tonight I just couldn't manage to fall asleep. Unfortunately, the rain picked up even more after an hour and thunder started rolling in. It was very loud and made it impossible to even try to sleep.
About 2 hours into the night, and through all the harsh rain and thunder, I swear I heard something move outside. It was just loud enough for me to know I really heard something. It sounded like someone or something running and kicking over a branch on the ground somewhere just outside of my van.
As soon as I heard it, there were no other sounds. It was so dark I couldn't even see the ground beneath the window. The longer I looked out there, the more uneasy I felt.
I just had this feeling like someone else was looking back at me. I put the window cover back down. I sat there and tried to tell myself I was overreacting, but only a minute later, I heard a voice.
It was a male voice, kind of in a loud whisper, like they were talking to someone else. I sat in silence, too scared to open the covers and look out the windows again, knowing they'd probably see me if they hadn't already. However, they likely already could assume someone was in the van, which makes it all the more terrifying.
There was a good two or three minutes where I didn't hear anything aside from the rain and thunder before there was suddenly something outside the sliding side door to the van. It sounded like bending plastic, like someone was leaning against the side door. Then there was a knock.
A few seconds later, they knocked again. Even though I was sure they knew I was in here already, I still was too scared to speak. Maybe they weren't sure how many people were inside or if I was a man or a woman.
So, I felt safer not giving them anything and just staying quiet. A very disturbing and anxious 5 minutes went by as the knocking continued every few seconds without anyone saying anything. They had to be drenched by now and probably couldn't see at all through this weather.
But then they finally said something. Sheriff's department, open up. What?
I didn't believe that for a second. If it were true, why wouldn't they have said that from the beginning? They continued knocking and calling out different lines, all basically stating that they were an officer and I needed to open the door.
This seemed like a desperate attempt to get me to open up without violence. I slowly lifted the window cover and looked out. All I could see was a dark figure moving near the door, but from the shape of it, it didn't look like he had any sort of law enforcement gear on, so I was sure this was about to get really bad.
I debated in my head what to do for 30 seconds as it felt like the knocking got more and more impatient before I decided to risk getting into the driver's seat and trying to drive away. As soon as I went up there and turned the car on, I heard two sets of footsteps running up to the side of the van. I began pulling out just as a figure appeared in the window next to me.
Thank god the van didn't get stuck and I was able to get out onto the trail. As I drove away, I never saw any other vehicle down the road, which makes the intentions of these unknown people likely really disturbing. I put in a report with the county, who of course said no officers were out there that night, but I never got any followup.
Things could have gotten really bad out there, but I haven't had anything else happen since then.
