Scary tales from the trails?

[DG Rider]

Here it is nearly Halloween...

As Charlie Daniels says, theys some things in this world you jest caint explain.

Share any unsettling moments you've had on the trails!

2 things from me:

Growing up, we rode all private property back in the woods of the NC mountains. There were a few old homestead remains scattered about.
One of them was infamous for...shall we say, unusual events.
Still mostly intact, mostly hidden by thick tree cover, and next to a creek that had to be crossed on one of the main trails, it was used for drying beadwood leaves by my aunt/uncle often. On a few occasions, their dog simply stared up the stairs and started to growl, fixated on something, yet there was nothing there.
There were also tales of "something" flying out of the nearby bushes. My neighbor, friend, and riding buddy...who was not prone to exaggeration, experienced this once. In his words, "something the size of a man" flew out of a nearby tree. They left. Rapidly.
The only thing i ever experienced myself was that a few of us were sitting where the yard once was, talking about the reputation the place had, when i mentioned the former owners name. We all heard a distinct "SHHHH!" noise. We left. Rapidly.

In time, the area was logged, and with a lot of daylight, the place seemed less menacing from the trail, but always retained a creepy vibe. After all this had taken place, I was told by my grandfather that the former owner had gone insane, and it took 4 men to restrain him when he was taken away.

The other was a little more explainable, but still a little eyebrow raising at the time. Way out in BFE, Arizona near a long-gone mining camp named Minniehaha flats , we stopped to take a shot of...er, i mean, to warm ourselves. Well after dark. Owls darting through the headlights... Another place that, though not really scary, did have an usual vibe about it, with various gravesites, abandoned mines, and a possible prepper stronghold not too far away.
We were standing there enjoying the desert night, just about to load up for the last few miles to the trailer, when we heard what i can best describe as a bark/scream combo that repeated several times. By that point, i had spent plenty of time after dark in the deserts, and i have never heard that sound before on since. We left. Less Rapidly...but we left. In retrospect, it was probably a Javelina, as they can make somewhat of a barking sound...but can't say for sure.

 

[Admin]

 

[lee]

Ok, I'll bite.

Background:
I grew up in a small town in the middle of nothing (Alice Springs, Australia).
This was pre-SxS, Pre-ATV.
3 wheelers existed but I never remember seeing one.
We rode clapped out endure bikes (mid 1970's).
I could push the bike for 2 blocks and be out of town where nobody cared about legality.
Alice was on the edge of 4 great deserts in Australia, honestly I think they named the same desert on the four coasts of the continent and Alice just happened to be where everything met up.
And in the small town lived a small group of displaced American teens (all angry at the fathers for making them move to such a forlorn place).

The story:
So a group of us gets the bright idea to steel a bunch of construction flashing lights.
Big yellow flashing light with a battery case.
Some one had figured out how to turn them on and off - poke a wire in a hole and it toggles the switch (we thought we were rocket scientists with this knowledge).
The plan was to ride around to the back side of Mt Gillen, climb the hill, scale the TV tower on top and hang the lights.
For some reason we thought this needed to be done at night (in hind sight any weekend would have found the facility vacant till Monday but you got to figure teen age boys are not rocket scientists).

So in the dark we work our way around to the base of Mt Gillen.
As we start to climb this hill (walking up the access road as we could not get vehicles past the gate) we hear this thumping noise.
It sounds like a large rock rolling down a hill.
thump, thump, thump.
Then nothing, just silence.
So a little bit freaked out we go back to climbing.

Then we heard it again, thump, thump, thump.
The sound was just outside the range of our flashlights in the desert scrub.
Then on the other side of us thump, thump. thump.

So by now we are in full freak out mode.
We ditched the constructions lights (they where surprisingly heavy while fleeing like a bunch of school girls).
Running back to the gate where our bikes where stashed and high tailed it back in to town.
We had several working theories as to what had happened.
Maybe it was the aboriginals from one of the camps on the edge of town.
They have mad bush survival skills and we where quite sure they could see in the dark.
Maybe it was kangaroos that where hopping out of our path to avoid us.
Who knows.

Epilogue:
The next morning we drove back around and recovered our stolen construction lights.
A few weekends later we accomplished this mission in the early dawn light.
Arriving back at our parked vehicle (Brian's Dad's Landrover) at 7:30 am - having done everything between the pre-dawn light and when we figured anyone would report to work. (us being rocket scientists it never occurred that the TV studio would be in town connected to the tower by cable).

 

[JTW]

Scariest thing I’ve encountered while riding was a tranny named Jackal! Lee knows all about it!

 

[Eltobgi]

Here it is nearly Halloween...

As Charlie Daniels says, theys some things in this world you jest caint explain.

Share any unsettling moments you've had on the trails!

2 things from me:

Growing up, we rode all private property back in the woods of the NC mountains. There were a few old homestead remains scattered about.
One of them was infamous for...shall we say, unusual events.
Still mostly intact, mostly hidden by thick tree cover, and next to a creek that had to be crossed on one of the main trails, it was used for drying beadwood leaves by my aunt/uncle often. On a few occasions, their dog simply stared up the stairs and started to growl, fixated on something, yet there was nothing there.
There were also tales of "something" flying out of the nearby bushes. My neighbor, friend, and riding buddy...who was not prone to exaggeration, experienced this once. In his words, "something the size of a man" flew out of a nearby tree. They left. Rapidly.
The only thing i ever experienced myself was that a few of us were sitting where the yard once was, talking about the reputation the place had, when i mentioned the former owners name. We all heard a distinct "SHHHH!" noise. We left. Rapidly.

In time, the area was logged, and with a lot of daylight, the place seemed less menacing from the trail, but always retained a creepy vibe. After all this had taken place, I was told by my grandfather that the former owner had gone insane, and it took 4 men to restrain him when he was taken away.

The other was a little more explainable, but still a little eyebrow raising at the time. Way out in BFE, Arizona near a long-gone mining camp named Minniehaha flats , we stopped to take a shot of...er, i mean, to warm ourselves. Well after dark. Owls darting through the headlights... Another place that, though not really scary, did have an usual vibe about it, with various gravesites, abandoned mines, and a possible prepper stronghold not too far away.
We were standing there enjoying the desert night, just about to load up for the last few miles to the trailer, when we heard what i can best describe as a bark/scream combo that repeated several times. By that point, i had spent plenty of time after dark in the deserts, and i have never heard that sound before on since. We left. Less Rapidly...but we left. In retrospect, it was probably a Javelina, as they can make somewhat of a barking sound...but can't say for sure.

 

[DG Rider]

Well...another year, another Halloween.

Anyone got anything to add this year?

Nothing too strange in my time in KY, but did learn about an local legend down around Wildcat. There are a few abandoned railroad tunnels just off Wildcat property, and some tall tales have surrounded the area for well over a century. Esp tunnel #9.
Caleb: fact for fiction

Certainly, there are deep hollars in the area where the sun struggles to penetrate. And plenty of water (some Ghost Hunters types believe water and "activity" go hand in hand). I can see people getting the willies after dark.

I went through #9 a few times with the GoPro on. Once late in the day as the sun was getting very low, and the swelter of a thick KY summer was giving way to cooler temps. It was enough to cause mist to rise in old #9, and haunted or not, it sure looked the part.

The tunnel makes a slight "S" curve and has reliefs in the walls so workers surprised by a train in the tunnel had a place to get out of harm's way. Due to the curves, there are no signs of light in the center, and you can "feel" the man doors slipping by as you pass. And running water throughout.

The place is kinda creepy. I have found most any old tunnel is, but it's hard to separate true gut feelings from reputation, sometimes.

I saw nothing. I did stop at the south portal once and heard a rhythmic tapping well back in the darkness that sounded like water hitting an old plastic bottle. Then it stopped abruptly, and never happened again. At that point it had been several minutes since i passed through, so any sloshing pools of water moving such a bottle from underneath falling water would have long since dissipated.

Not what I'd call an event...but just enough to make you wonder...

 

[CumminsPusher]

Well...another year, another Halloween.

Anyone got anything to add this year?

Nothing too strange in my time in KY, but did learn about an local legend down around Wildcat. There are a few abandoned railroad tunnels just off Wildcat property, and some tall tales have surrounded the area for well over a century. Esp tunnel #9.
Caleb: fact for fiction

Certainly, there are deep hollars in the area where the sun struggles to penetrate. And plenty of water (some Ghost Hunters types believe water and "activity" go hand in hand). I can see people getting the willies after dark.

I went through #9 a few times with the GoPro on. Once late in the day as the sun was getting very low, and the swelter of a thick KY summer was giving way to cooler temps. It was enough to cause mist to rise in old #9, and haunted or not, it sure looked the part.

The tunnel makes an "S" curve and has reliefs in the walls so workers surprised by a train in the tunnel had a place to get out of harm's way. Due to the curves, there are no signs of light in the center, and you can "feel" the man doors slipping by as you pass. And running water throughout.

The place is kinda creepy. I have found most any old tunnel is, but it's hard to seperate true gut feelings from reputation, sometimes.

I saw nothing. I did stop at the south portal once and heard a rhythmic tapping well back in the darkness that sounded like water hitting an old plastic bottle. Then it stopped abruptly, and never happened again. At that point it had been several minutes since i passed through, so any sloshing pools of water moving such a bottle from underneath falling water would have long since dissipated.

Not what I'd call an event...but just enough to make you wonder...

That is seriously cool as heck! I’d love to run through there late night. Awesome story DG

 

[DG Rider]

That is seriously cool as heck! I’d love to run through there late night. Awesome story DG

Crash at @JTW's. He's not too far away from it (2-3 hrs?).

You spend a lot of time out in the backcountry. Surely you've seen something unusual?

 

[100Acre]

Ok, I'll bite.

Background:
I grew up in a small town in the middle of nothing (Alice Springs, Australia).
This was pre-SxS, Pre-ATV.
3 wheelers existed but I never remember seeing one.
We rode clapped out endure bikes (mid 1970's).
I could push the bike for 2 blocks and be out of town where nobody cared about legality.
Alice was on the edge of 4 great deserts in Australia, honestly I think they named the same desert on the four coasts of the continent and Alice just happened to be where everything met up.
And in the small town lived a small group of displaced American teens (all angry at the fathers for making them move to such a forlorn place).

The story:
So a group of us gets the bright idea to steel a bunch of construction flashing lights.
Big yellow flashing light with a battery case.
Some one had figured out how to turn them on and off - poke a wire in a hole and it toggles the switch (we thought we were rocket scientists with this knowledge).
The plan was to ride around to the back side of Mt Gillen, climb the hill, scale the TV tower on top and hang the lights.
For some reason we thought this needed to be done at night (in hind sight any weekend would have found the facility vacant till Monday but you got to figure teen age boys are not rocket scientists).

So in the dark we work our way around to the base of Mt Gillen.
As we start to climb this hill (walking up the access road as we could not get vehicles past the gate) we hear this thumping noise.
It sounds like a large rock rolling down a hill.
thump, thump, thump.
Then nothing, just silence.
So a little bit freaked out we go back to climbing.

Then we heard it again, thump, thump, thump.
The sound was just outside the range of our flashlights in the desert scrub.
Then on the other side of us thump, thump. thump.

So by now we are in full freak out mode.
We ditched the constructions lights (they where surprisingly heavy while fleeing like a bunch of school girls).
Running back to the gate where our bikes where stashed and high tailed it back in to town.
We had several working theories as to what had happened.
Maybe it was the aboriginals from one of the camps on the edge of town.
They have mad bush survival skills and we where quite sure they could see in the dark.
Maybe it was kangaroos that where hopping out of our path to avoid us.
Who knows.

Epilogue:
The next morning we drove back around and recovered our stolen construction lights.
A few weekends later we accomplished this mission in the early dawn light.
Arriving back at our parked vehicle (Brian's Dad's Landrover) at 7:30 am - having done everything between the pre-dawn light and when we figured anyone would report to work. (us being rocket scientists it never occurred that the TV studio would be in town connected to the tower by cable).

Yowie thumping his hump mate on the backside...of the mountain...

 

[CumminsPusher]

Crash at @JTW's. He's not too far away from it (2-3 hrs?).

You spend a lot of time out in the backcountry. Surely you've seen something unusual?

At camp yes,not so much on the trails.
The scariest to me while riding was out past Gold Creek just off of Lake Pend Oreille about 25 miles in. A big group and I were just cruising an easy trail when our old cooler bounced out of the Pioneer.
We were last in line so it went unnoticed for a bit. Us and one friend went back to get it and found it had exploded all over the trail. It was just getting dark out and we started picking everything up putting anything good in the cooler and everything else on the inside of the box. I remember how quiet everything seemed, the machines were off only the backup lights on.
I got that hair raising feel and knew something was there, kinda finished quickly and took off. Didn’t really say anything. We went back to camp and went for another ride later that night. Just me and a couple of friends in my rig. Actually took the dirt road around that trail and still got that that feeling. On way back through from the lake my friend was driving and we had a flat within 100 ft of the cooler blowout. As we were plugging the tire my friend got this terrified look and asked about my pistol but my son had it, he said something watching us. No flashlights or guns. We turned in the compressor slowly airing the tire as we stood close to the machine, we stopped before it was near full but as it turned off there was some big branches breaking and falling to the ground about 15 ft maybe from the machine from a tall ass tree. We f***ing took off without saying anything got about 5 miles up before pulling to a stop to finish filling the tire. Didn’t talk about this in front of the kids when we got back.
Went back the next day and that feeling was all gone. We looked everywhere there wasn’t any tracks or sign other then broken limbs on the ground and a few missing branches in the tree

 

[JTW]

Well...another year, another Halloween.

Anyone got anything to add this year?

Nothing too strange in my time in KY, but did learn about an local legend down around Wildcat. There are a few abandoned railroad tunnels just off Wildcat property, and some tall tales have surrounded the area for well over a century. Esp tunnel #9.
Caleb: fact for fiction

Certainly, there are deep hollars in the area where the sun struggles to penetrate. And plenty of water (some Ghost Hunters types believe water and "activity" go hand in hand). I can see people getting the willies after dark.

I went through #9 a few times with the GoPro on. Once late in the day as the sun was getting very low, and the swelter of a thick KY summer was giving way to cooler temps. It was enough to cause mist to rise in old #9, and haunted or not, it sure looked the part.

The tunnel makes a slight "S" curve and has reliefs in the walls so workers surprised by a train in the tunnel had a place to get out of harm's way. Due to the curves, there are no signs of light in the center, and you can "feel" the man doors slipping by as you pass. And running water throughout.

The place is kinda creepy. I have found most any old tunnel is, but it's hard to separate true gut feelings from reputation, sometimes.

I saw nothing. I did stop at the south portal once and heard a rhythmic tapping well back in the darkness that sounded like water hitting an old plastic bottle. Then it stopped abruptly, and never happened again. At that point it had been several minutes since i passed through, so any sloshing pools of water moving such a bottle from underneath falling water would have long since dissipated.

Not what I'd call an event...but just enough to make you wonder...

That’s cool.. it’s hard for me to go to Wildcat knowing Windrock, rrb, brimstone, Tackett creek and the sort are just down the road. My buddies are wanting to go back. So maybe I’ll take the wife and make a couples trip of it.

 

[100Acre]

Crash at @JTW's. He's not too far away from it (2-3 hrs?).

You spend a lot of time out in the backcountry. Surely you've seen something unusual?

Usually Squatch think of me as one of their own and leave me alone....That's usually the case after I consume a few too many Guiness' and end up smelling like them in the end...My grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee Sasquatch. The only thing that really scares me these days is thinking about the Dems coming to power. A truly very scary scenario. That's coming from a guy who spends a butt load of time outdoors in remote backcountry areas and listens to 3-4 hours a day of Sasquatch encounters especially before bed...the type 2 and 3's really get my goat though. It's why I don't wear deodorant.

 

[DG Rider]

That’s cool.. it’s hard for me to go to Wildcat knowing Windrock, rrb, brimstone, Tackett creek and the sort are just down the road. My buddies are wanting to go back. So maybe I’ll take the wife and make a couples trip of it.

I was going to mention that in my last post. Hard to chose it over other options, all things being equal.

 

[Yankee]

Fellars out my way in tn theres a mountain called short mountain and on the north side of it there's a place called hippie holler... It's where a bunch of charles mansons followers live. Bunch of queers and hippies without electricity so I try to stay away from it as much as possible. But there is a dirt road on the top side of that holler that we used to use as a short cut from time to time called butter cup ridge. U dont wanna ride it in the spring when the butter cups r blooming but thats another story. Far scarier than any creepy vodoo crap. But on this road theres this old hippie camp with shelters made out of old scavenged lumber and tarps. Rarely ever seen anyone there. By the side of the road next to this camp there is a skeleton that looks human except for the head that is a skull of a billy goat. On the other side there's a podium with rocks and trinkets on it in the middle of this circle of make shift benches or logs. Looked alot like witchcraft and devil worship to me. Good freind of mine amy wanted to stop and check it out one day and while she was looking it over a old hippie came out of the woods in nothing but shorts. Tried to get everyone to join him for a seat round the podium to explain the universe to us. There's some strange people out there but that is the reason u will not c me in the woods without a firearm period.

 

[OldToby]

At camp yes,not so much on the trails.
The scariest to me while riding was out past Gold Creek just off of Lake Pend Oreille about 25 miles in. A big group and I were just cruising an easy trail when our old cooler bounced out of the Pioneer.
We were last in line so it went unnoticed for a bit. Us and one friend went back to get it and found it had exploded all over the trail. It was just getting dark out and we started picking everything up putting anything good in the cooler and everything else on the inside of the box. I remember how quiet everything seemed, the machines were off only the backup lights on.
I got that hair raising feel and knew something was there, kinda finished quickly and took off. Didn’t really say anything. We went back to camp and went for another ride later that night. Just me and a couple of friends in my rig. Actually took the dirt road around that trail and still got that that feeling. On way back through from the lake my friend was driving and we had a flat within 100 ft of the cooler blowout. As we were plugging the tire my friend got this terrified look and asked about my pistol but my son had it, he said something watching us. No flashlights or guns. We turned in the compressor slowly airing the tire as we stood close to the machine, we stopped before it was near full but as it turned off there was some big branches breaking and falling to the ground about 15 ft maybe from the machine from a tall ass tree. We f***ing took off without saying anything got about 5 miles up before pulling to a stop to finish filling the tire. Didn’t talk about this in front of the kids when we got back.
Went back the next day and that feeling was all gone. We looked everywhere there wasn’t any tracks or sign other then broken limbs on the ground and a few missing branches in the tree

Sasquatch, obviously. I grew up in the area you’re talking about, and In the old days everyone was either a logger or a schoolteacher (or worked at ‘the mill’), and all those old loggers had Sasquatch stories. Not a very imaginative bunch, generally speaking, and they didn’t go around telling everyone about their encounters or posting about them on forums (and no YouTube in those days; the only tubes we had were picture tubes and vacuum tubes, and a few of us had tubes of toothpaste), but they’d talk about them if they knew you. Those drainages up there — Gold Creek, Grouse Creek, Rapid Lightning — are ugly with Sasquatch.

 

[DG Rider]

2019 version...

Anyone get "hainted" on the trails this year?

 

[CumminsPusher]

Been a quiet year for us. Only issue I had was up late with wolves watching me at camp. Caught one set of eyes from the awning light then another not too far away in the bushes. Wasn’t really nervous till the wife shut off the awning light while I was watching the glow of the eyes.

 

[William]

I got stuck in a water hole/slough/pond on my p500 a couple years ago. Probably 10 people watching.. I went to push on the cage, and as soon as a bowed up I $hit all over myself... I mean a lot! Lucky it wasn’t clear water and I was wearing shorts. Kept riding...

 

[RB3offroad]

I have to say we went on a ride on the back side of Roosevelt lake. I don't know the name of the road or trail. But at the top there was an old abandoned tower it was dark and we swear we heard something up in it and looked like someone was in it. Then coming out of the trail we noticed rocks on a mound that looked like a fresh grave... OMG Creepy......

 

[DG Rider]

I got stuck in a water hole/slough/pond on my p500 a couple years ago. Probably 10 people watching.. I went to push on the cage, and as soon as a bowed up I $hit all over myself... I mean a lot! Lucky it wasn’t clear water and I was wearing shorts. Kept riding...

That is pretty scary...

 

[DG Rider]

Ok...another Halloween near.

Any new stories to tell for 2020?