Originally Posted by
rjc149
Didn't happen to me, but to a summer camp director I had. This wasn't a story she told people often because it actually traumatized her.
She used to go on solo backpacking trips in the Adirondacks, sometimes week long peak bagging trips. She was (is) a 46'er and pretty experienced, she was no damsel in distress when it came to the woods.
She went on one of her typical week-long solo summer trips. The weather was great, she managed to see a lot of wildlife, which isn't too common in the high peaks area. At one point she saw a large black bear, and saw the same bear the next day.
One night, she heard something rustling or trudging outside of her tent. Somewhere out there in the inky black, something was moving. The noise was really stealthy, like whatever it was, it was trying not to be heard. Of course she heard it, and blew her whistle and clanged two cook pots together to scare it off. The noise stopped, and uneasily, she fell asleep, thinking it was the bear she has seen. But the noise it made when walking -- it was too small, too light to be a bear. It would move slowly, then dart quickly, then move slowly, then stop for 5 or so minutes, as if hoping her alarm would pass before moving again... Mountain lion? In the Adirondacks? Maybe something smaller, like a bobcat? It was too small to be a bear, but too heavy to be a bobcat.
The second night, it came pretty close to her tent and it freaked her out a little. Whatever it was, it was bold. She scared it off, blowing her whistle and yelling into the pitch blackness speared by the beam of her flash light. After that night, the rustling stopped. She thought nothing more of it and simply enjoyed herself. The trip went off without a hitch.
She got home, unpacked her things, had a long-awaited shower and a hot meal. It had been a great time, and she remembered why she loved going solo. She followed her own schedule, unaccountable to anyone but herself. Solo is the only way to go, she thought to herself. It was just her and nature. But this time, there was something else.
When she developed the film on her disposable camera, there were several photos of her sleeping inside the tent.
Needless to say, that was the last solo trip she even took.
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I wonder how many people have done that. I did it to myself more than once. one time I really deserved it, I figured I would scare my then new wife. I hung a shirt on the back of a rocking chair in the bed room placed the pants and even put the boots in the legs of the pants, cap on a plant holder behind the chair and everything was set. I got up in the middle of the night heading to the bathroom and nearly had a heart attack and almost didn't need the bathroom. she never saw it and I haven't tried that little trick again.
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