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[Mason whining]

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My name is Mason.

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It's been a lot of years since this happened, but I feel like I need to tell it.

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I'm afraid that if I don't tell it now, I might not ever.

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I'm going to drop us in right where it all started one night, then I'll back up and tell

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you how we got to that point.

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We were already in our tent that night.

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I heard those heavy footsteps, and I froze so hard I was barely breathing.

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It was quiet for a few seconds.

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Then something touched the top of the tent.

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It was a huge hand pushing down on the fabric.

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It kept it there, waiting to see if we would do something.

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My girlfriend Jenna was next to me in the tent.

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I knew she was awake.

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I heard a couple of small squeaks like she was crying, but trying to stay quiet.

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I knew Tyler, my good friend, was sitting upright in the tent just like I was.

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We neither one said a word or made a sound.

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I couldn't see him in the darkness, but I knew he was looking at me because I was looking

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at where he was over in the darkness.

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Two or three heartbeats might have passed.

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Then the hand eased off the tent.

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I heard the sound of the nylon tent rustling as it pulled away.

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Then we heard the footsteps leaving.

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Big, heavy, steady.

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All three of us were scared.

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I can't lie.

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Now, I'm going to go back and tell you why some footsteps and something touching our tent

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scared us half to death.

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It was in the middle of October.

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It was great fall weather that weekend.

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Me, my girlfriend Jenna and my good friend Tyler all wanted to go do an overnight camping

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trip somewhere.

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We were attending Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

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And if you know that area, you know the way National Forest is right there.

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We'd already camped and hiked a lot over the previous year and a half through there.

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Tyler was the planner on this one though.

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He had been there a year longer at university than me and Jenna, and he said that he knew

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somewhere that he'd been to a lot in his first year with some other friends that he had

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back then.

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This was for me.

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All I can tell you exactly about where this was is we started on Wildcat Hollow Trail and

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we took the option for the longer trail.

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At some point we left that trail at a particular spot that Tyler knew.

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He knew it by some landmark on the side of the road, but dang, if I could tell you now

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what it was.

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Maybe some fallen logs?

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Some rocks that had been placed there?

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I don't remember.

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I've lost track with Tyler over the years or I would ask him.

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I never cared about where we left the trail because I for dang sure wasn't ever going to go

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there again.

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So the plan was that we would be camping in a non-designated place.

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Tyler had been there a couple times, a couple years before, and he remembered it as an easy

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in, easy out kind of hike.

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He also said that it was very popular with a lot of the kids from the university, sort

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of an underground place to go.

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We parked at a pull-off late that afternoon.

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We hiked in, and the hike was a little tougher than Tyler said it would be, and he kept saying

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he didn't remember it being quite like that.

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Finally we got to a clearing and Tyler was like, "Yeah, this is the spot."

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I remember thinking, "Well, he sure wasn't sure we were going the right way."

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I had trusted Tyler, but probably the last ten or fifteen minutes he seemed nervous,

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and he said more than once, "Maybe his memory had been wrong.

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Maybe he was going the wrong way."

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So I was relieved when we came to this clearing.

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We got to that spot, and it was just like he had described, and it did look perfect at

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first.

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We sat down our stuff and pulled some of our gear out and started to set up.

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The area was great, a nice flat spot near a creek.

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There was a ring of trees, with just enough open space for our tents.

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There was an old fire ring there with some stones, and some fallen logs that could have

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passed for seats.

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It did have the look of a place that had been used a lot.

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Then we'd been there a few minutes, and we saw tents in an adjoining clearing that we

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hadn't seen at first.

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There were two of them.

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Cheap dome tents still staked down.

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They weren't collapsed or anything at all.

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They looked as if they had just been put up, like someone set them up that morning, and

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walked away to go do something, planning to return.

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Timer stopped so abruptly, I bumped into him.

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What the heck, he said, and he pointed to the tents?

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And there were two coolers we saw right near the fire ring.

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One was half open.

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A plastic bag of bread sat on top of it swollen from moisture.

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A couple of folding camp chairs were knocked over.

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We figured that somebody was already there, so we started to call out, "Hello, hello!"

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And things like, "Anyone here?

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Any campers out here?"

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We never got an answer.

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The first thing I registered before the fear started to land was the smell.

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It wasn't like a garbage or a rotten food smell.

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It was something kind of sour and a little bit animal.

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It was faint, but it was there, coming and going when the wind shifted.

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Me and Tyler walked over to the tents for a better look.

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We saw then what we hadn't seen when we walked up.

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The nearest tent had a long tear in the side, down low to the ground.

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It was jagged and shredded, as if someone had been jerked up and back to get through.

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It wasn't like a clean knife cut, but the stakes for the tent were still tight in the ground.

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We thought maybe a bear had come through and a claw had torn through the tent.

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But only one claw really didn't make sense.

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But a bear doing this on its own did, so we went with that.

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I saw Tyler was looking at the ground.

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There were these impressions in the mud near the tent.

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It had rained much earlier that day, just enough though to soften things.

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At first I thought we were looking at boot prints, but they were too wide and way too long.

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In the shape wasn't clean like a boot.

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You could tell there were toes that had squished in the mud.

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Boots don't show your toes.

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Then Jenna called us to come look at something.

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We go over to the other tent, and we see the tent zipper was half open.

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The sleeping bag inside had been pulled toward the opening, the fabric bunched up around

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the opening, as if someone had pulled the person that was in the sleeping bag out through

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the opening, with the partial tent opening peeling back the sleeping bag fabric away from

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them, leaving it all bunched up on the inside.

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Another quick glance inside, and I saw a lanyard with a bunch of keys on it.

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The entire looked at each other and were like, "This isn't right."

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And I knew right then something bad was wrong here.

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The torrentent, the abandoned stuff.

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Whatever had happened here didn't end with someone strolling away calmly.

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Nobody leaves a bunch of keys behind.

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I know for sure I saw some Ford keys on there.

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Jenna said we should leave.

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I wanted to agree.

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But what if whoever this was was still nearby and needed help?

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What if they were out there on the forest?

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So I said that.

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And then Jenna said, "Fine, then let's leave and report it.

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We don't have to play hero here."

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She was scared.

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I could see it.

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Truthfully, I think we all were.

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I was trying not to be though, so I said, "Let's check to see if anyone is still around.

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Then we'll go and report this."

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And whatever happens, we don't split up, okay?

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We walked around for a bit and kept calling, but we never got an answer.

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We called out a few more times, and then from across the creek, maybe 50 yards away, a big

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branch snapped.

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This wasn't some little branch snapping.

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This was a big one.

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You could tell by the crack of it.

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There were a couple more big snaps sounding like they were coming closer.

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In all of a sudden, none of us were thinking about the campers anymore.

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Jenna was all like, "Please, please, let's go.

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Can we please just go?"

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Tyler was like, "Yeah, let's leave."

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And we should have.

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And that would have been the smart thing to do.

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But it was already deep dusk.

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The light was all but gone by then.

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The trail back wasn't some simple stroll, and it would have been almost impossible in

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the darkness.

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We didn't come prepared for a long night full of hikes through tough elevations and other

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dangerous areas.

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We got together and had a quick huddle, and we decided we'd chance it anyway.

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So we packed up our own gear quickly, shoving things everywhere without care.

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The whole time I kept looking up and around, thinking I was going to see someone or something

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coming at us from the shadows beneath the trees.

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We were just finishing packing up when we heard the first "woop."

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"I hate even writing that word."

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It sounds so ridiculous like I'm copying what others have said, or I'm talking about some

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weird sound effect from a movie.

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But that is what it really was, a great big "woop."

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It was long and drawn out.

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It came from our left somewhere on the trail.

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And we all stopped and looked around.

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I'm telling the truth when I say I thought the hair on my arms and neck raised up.

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My stomach flipped when another call answered from farther away, down across the creek.

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And then, much closer to us, answered a third.

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This one was lower and rougher sounding.

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Tyler whispered, "We're leaving right now."

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I wasn't arguing.

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We grabbed the last couple things, shouldered our packs, and started down the trail at a pace

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that could only be called reckless.

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Leaves were sliding under our boots.

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Branches snagged at our straps.

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We were all looking over our shoulders.

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Now, since he brought us then, and presumably could lead us out, Tyler was in front.

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Jenna was in the middle, and I was making up the end, which you know had me on high alert.

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And sure enough, only a few minutes in, I heard something behind us.

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Big old footsteps.

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Heavy enough that I heard when they hit the ground.

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And it was coming closer.

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I said for everyone to stop.

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I heard something.

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So we all stopped and we stood there on the trail, trying not to breathe too loud so we could

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hear.

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When we stopped, the footsteps did too.

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My skin and hair were up marching all over my body again.

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Worst thing was I couldn't see anything.

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The trail behind us was nothing but a tunnel of trees and darkening shadows.

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I was about to say, "Let's keep going."

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When something hit a tree off to our right, he was a big hollow thud.

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There was no mistaking it for some kind of a tree fall or a branch falling.

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This was a hard hit.

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Now whether a stick was thrown, a stone was thrown, or something was close enough to knock

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wood and we heard it, I can't say.

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All I know is something hit a tree trunk, maybe 20 feet from us.

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Now we looked at each other and I made a motion to go, go, go.

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So everyone started moving again, faster than before.

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We heard another thud from behind us to the right again, but we didn't stop.

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We didn't talk after that.

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We just kept moving.

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He was getting darker by the second, and then Tyler took a bad stumble over an upraised

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route.

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He went down on one knee with a sharp hiss.

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Behind us the crunching was getting closer, steadily closing the distance.

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We quickly helped Tyler up.

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You could tell he was hurt.

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His jaw was clinched, his eyes were wide.

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Go, he malved.

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We did, helping him go with us.

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By the time we hit the creek crossing, it was almost full dark.

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The water there wasn't high, but the rocks were slick.

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We went across together with one of us on either side of Tyler.

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Tyler though was the first one to get a look at the bank on the opposite side.

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That's because we were looking everywhere else.

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He was looking down.

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Tyler stopped, so we stopped.

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He was looking straight down.

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It took a second to see because it was getting so dark, but right there in the shallow

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mud was a print.

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It was big, really, really big.

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Toes pressed deep, and the heel sunk down deep into the mud.

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We stared at it for a second, then we heard a big, breathy sound.

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Best I can tell you what it was?

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It wasn't like a huff or some kind of nose blow.

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It was like when you've held your breath for so long, then you suddenly let it out.

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You can't stop how loud it might sound.

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We heard that not far behind us.

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We turned to look across the creek.

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When I did, I saw something darker than the darkness back in the trees, and it stepped

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out toward the bank.

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I can't even describe it.

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Let's just say big, dark, and scary, and that does not even cover it.

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I can't lie when I say it was the single most scary moment of my entire life.

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In that split second, I don't think I ever said to myself that we're being followed by

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a big foot.

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I might have known it, but I didn't think it.

240
00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,560
I was just thinking we had to get out of there.

241
00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,520
I know I wasn't the only one that saw it.

242
00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:06,560
We were all scrambling, then, slipping and catching ourselves, dragging each other like drunk

243
00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,960
people up across that creek bank.

244
00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:15,120
Once we were past the creek in the bank, we pushed as hard as we could.

245
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:21,640
But the fact is, we were in danger of getting lost now, in the worst kind of way.

246
00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:27,280
There wasn't an exact trail to follow, and it was now getting dark, and it had been

247
00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:30,360
years since Tyler had been there.

248
00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,680
After all, he said, they always were able to find their way back by looking at different

249
00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:35,680
landmarks.

250
00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,360
But we couldn't see those in the darkness.

251
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,640
We didn't even know if we were going the right way.

252
00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:48,360
And this is where the one necessary night happened.

253
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:54,520
Because for a while that trail runs along a ridge, and Tyler's ankle was shot, it was already

254
00:15:54,520 --> 00:16:00,280
swelling, and it was so dark, we were all tripping over things and about to walk into

255
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:02,040
the trees.

256
00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:07,480
We did have a headlamp, but the batteries were old and the beam kept dimming.

257
00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:12,800
As I said before, we didn't go out there prepared for long night hiking.

258
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:17,960
The most we thought we would ever need a headlamp for was a simple call to go do nature's

259
00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:22,560
business, not for a couple of hours out on the trail.

260
00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:25,800
And the worst truth of all is this.

261
00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:32,680
In that full darkness, with one person injured, and all three of us, close to pure panic,

262
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:38,000
sprinting blindly through those woods, could have killed us just as fast as whatever was

263
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,200
behind us.

264
00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,920
So we found a small spot just off the ridge trail.

265
00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,400
This wasn't exactly a campsite.

266
00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:50,840
Just a flat patch of ground tucked between some rocks and young pines.

267
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,440
We found it purely by mistake.

268
00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,160
The trailer said, "Let's stop here.

269
00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,480
Just for the night, just for a few hours.

270
00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:04,560
We'll leave at first light and we'll take turns on watch."

271
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:06,960
Now none of us wanted to stop.

272
00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:12,800
None of us wanted to camp overnight, but there wasn't much else we could do was there.

273
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:17,320
We set our tent up mostly from touch and memory in record time.

274
00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,640
We made no fire because we had nothing prepared for it.

275
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,240
We had no food and we did no talking.

276
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:29,720
We crawled into the tent with our shoes and clothes on, but I have to tell you, there was

277
00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:34,080
something in me that did not want to be in that tent.

278
00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,720
I remember the smell in there, too.

279
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,840
Denylawn, the sweat, the fear.

280
00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:46,000
The condensation from our breath had already started to beat on the tent almost immediately.

281
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,840
Outside the woods settled into that nighttime hush.

282
00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:54,760
Over just a few minutes, I thought maybe we had overreacted.

283
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,080
Maybe it was just someone out there messing with us.

284
00:17:58,080 --> 00:17:59,840
Maybe it was an animal.

285
00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,440
Maybe it was just our imaginations.

286
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:08,800
I had that false sense of security, and then we heard the footsteps again.

287
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:13,480
They were far off at first, but unmistakable.

288
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:18,200
They came in from the left and they kept coming closer.

289
00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:24,880
Then it would go a little bit farther, then closer, then I realized it was circling the

290
00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:25,880
sight.

291
00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,520
It was mapping us out.

292
00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:33,280
Me and Tyler had pocket knives, and all I had was a small hatchet that would be used

293
00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:34,280
for firewood.

294
00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,200
That's all the protection we had.

295
00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:43,840
I held the hatchet across my chest in a death grip, while Tyler held his pocket knife in

296
00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:46,160
his fist.

297
00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,360
Now here's where I started this email.

298
00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:53,280
This is where things really started going off the rails.

299
00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:59,000
We heard the footsteps, and they came in right toward us, right at the tent.

300
00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,880
The moon was rising and was opposite the plateau.

301
00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:07,720
I bet in the daytime it would have been a breathtaking spot for a lookout.

302
00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:12,200
But at that time, in the middle of the night, it was a terrifying setup with the moon's

303
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:19,360
half-light casting faint shadows, just enough to see, just enough to terrify, but not enough

304
00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:21,680
to illuminate.

305
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:27,000
The shadow I saw wasn't like what you'd get if there was a full moon in the sky, but

306
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,720
it was enough that I knew it when I saw it.

307
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:35,160
That tent wall was a little lighter on that side because of the moon.

308
00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,440
Then all of a sudden it went mostly dark.

309
00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:45,360
Then Big was now blocking the moon light, except for the far left and the far right, and part

310
00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:50,080
of the top of the tent where the light hadn't completely been blocked.

311
00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,640
But dead center on the tent wall?

312
00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:57,200
There was a tall, broad mass that darkened the tent fabric.

313
00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:03,360
I saw the shadow was it reached out and pushed down on the top of the tent, testing it,

314
00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:07,600
letting its hand bounce a couple times as it pushed it down.

315
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:12,160
I heard the sound of the nylon as it pulled its hand away.

316
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:19,360
The smell hit like a wave, wet animal, old earth, something coppery, like old blood that

317
00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:21,920
was never cleaned off.

318
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:29,200
In the tent wall pressed in, not from the top this time, but from the side.

319
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,600
Something leaned close enough that I could hear, sniffing.

320
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:37,560
It was inhaling, like it was pulling our scent in through the nylon in Big,

321
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,480
deep long breaths through its nose.

322
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:47,800
We were all turned and watching that tent wall, none of us making a sound.

323
00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,480
I'm not sure that I was breathing at that minute.

324
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:58,280
The pressure on the tent changed, shifted downward, and for a horrible second I thought it was

325
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:02,800
going to knock the tent down like a stack of cards.

326
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:08,000
But then it stopped, bouncing its hand against the nylon again.

327
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:13,200
Maybe it was deciding what to do or was waiting for us to react.

328
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:16,880
Maybe it just liked the feel of the nylon.

329
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:22,080
It had been taking in a lot of deep breaths, sniffing through its nose.

330
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:28,560
But I don't think it ever exhaled during that time, or if it did, I didn't hear it.

331
00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:33,080
But at one point it exhaled right up against the tent.

332
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:35,040
I heard it, and worse.

333
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:36,720
I smelled it.

334
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,120
It was a stinking smell.

335
00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:44,000
Worse than the worst halitosis breath you've ever smelled.

336
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,400
It was something so much worse.

337
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,520
I was gagging.

338
00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:50,960
I thought, "Okay, well this is it.

339
00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:51,960
We're goners."

340
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:57,400
But no, to my surprise, the footsteps began to back away.

341
00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:02,340
It didn't leave, though, and it made sure that we knew it was still there from time to

342
00:22:02,340 --> 00:22:04,040
time.

343
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,160
Sometimes something would hit the side of the tent.

344
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,160
It might have been a rock or a stick.

345
00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:15,720
Sometimes it would come back, and I would hear the heavy footsteps circling again and again.

346
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:16,720
It paced.

347
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,040
Slow circles.

348
00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,960
Sometimes close enough that the tent wall vibrated with each footsteps.

349
00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:30,840
Sometimes it would go quiet for a very long time, lolling me into a sense of full security.

350
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:36,020
One time it had been quiet for more than half an hour, and I thought, "Maybe.

351
00:22:36,020 --> 00:22:40,640
Maybe we should just leave everything, and we could make a run for it now."

352
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:44,960
I slowly unzip the side tent window to look out.

353
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:50,000
And I about had a heart attack when something big and hairy moved right in front of that

354
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,480
little window, blocking everything.

355
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,440
It seemed to be bending down, so I zipped it up quick.

356
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,920
I did not want to look at its face.

357
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,160
The hours crawled by.

358
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,120
None of us slept.

359
00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:11,760
I stared at that tent wall and the zipper seam until my eyes burned in the darkness.

360
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,320
Just before dawn, the woods changed.

361
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,640
A faint grey light began to seep in.

362
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:23,160
The air became colder, crisper, cleaner.

363
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,160
The sounds of mourning started up again in the woods.

364
00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:33,600
Cauchess at first, a simple bird call, but then came another, another, and then hundreds.

365
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,200
And it was like a switch had been flipped.

366
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,600
The footsteps were gone.

367
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,240
The dark shadowy shape was nowhere to be seen.

368
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,880
And we're not sure exactly when it left.

369
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:52,440
We waited for more than an hour after full sunrise before we tried to unzip the tent.

370
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:58,680
I was sure it was going to be right there waiting for us, just watching.

371
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,800
But nothing was out there.

372
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:06,800
And when I say we moved fast, I mean we moved fast to get out of there.

373
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:12,200
Tyler's ankle was pretty ugly looking by then, but he didn't complain.

374
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,840
We helped him and we just kept moving.

375
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,440
We reached the car mid-morning.

376
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:23,680
We got in, locked the doors, took a few deep breaths and sat there for several minutes

377
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,520
without talking.

378
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:31,520
After a while we talked and we all agreed we were going straight to the Ranger Station,

379
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,280
and we did.

380
00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:37,000
The closest office was more than 20 minutes away.

381
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:41,480
We walked in looking like people who had just been pulled out of a ditch.

382
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,280
We were all muddy, white-faced, and Tyler was hobbling.

383
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:50,080
The Ranger behind the desk asked if we were okay.

384
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:54,800
Tyler told him about the abandoned campsite, the torn tents.

385
00:24:54,800 --> 00:25:01,720
The keys still laying there, the tracks, and the sounds, the footsteps.

386
00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:07,960
He tried to not sound crazy, but his voice kept rising and the words got faster and faster

387
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:09,640
as he talked.

388
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:15,840
And then he would stop, back up, calm himself, and try again.

389
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,480
The Ranger did not laugh.

390
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:24,920
He tip-notes, he asked exactly where we had been, and Tyler did his best to tell him, even

391
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:28,640
tried to show him on a map as best as he could figure.

392
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,720
He asked what time we found this campsite.

393
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:38,480
When we mentioned the tracks and the weird calls and the dark shadows shape, the man's expression

394
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:43,160
tightened a little bit just a fraction, like he didn't want to hear that part.

395
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:47,000
I'm sure he didn't write that part down.

396
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:52,440
He said they would send someone out right away and that we did the right thing, leaving.

397
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:58,360
He told us to not go back, but to stay available if they had more questions.

398
00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:04,080
So we made sure to give all of our information to him where they could talk to us in Athens.

399
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:09,240
I then asked if there was somewhere that we could call and check back to find out about

400
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,600
the abandoned campsite and its owners.

401
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:17,680
He looked at me weird, paused a second, and then said something that has been stuck in my

402
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,280
head ever since.

403
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,800
You know, people just disappear out there.

404
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,560
Sometimes it's simple, and sometimes it isn't.

405
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,640
Either way, don't make yourself part of it.

406
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,520
Go on back and forget about all this.

407
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:38,640
Now before we left, we waited for a deputy who did show up, and he took a statement from

408
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:41,040
us before we did go.

409
00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:46,560
They asked a lot of questions all over again, and we answered all that we could.

410
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:51,520
We asked him about how we could check up on the people from the campsite.

411
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:56,320
The deputy just said they'd look into missing person reports and check the site.

412
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:58,320
There were no other promises.

413
00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:02,360
And he totally evaded an answer on how to check back.

414
00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:05,680
I guess we would just have to call the Sheriff's Department.

415
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:10,880
But we all left having the feeling that they really didn't want us to.

416
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,760
They drove home in silence.

417
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:19,560
I wish I could tell you there was some clean resolution that we found out later that it

418
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:25,040
was just a bear that scared them off, and they were okay, or that it was some pranksters

419
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:31,120
from the university who set it up, knowing that lots of people go out there every weekend,

420
00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:36,120
or that it was a couple who got spooked and left all their stuff behind.

421
00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:38,360
No, I can't tell you that.

422
00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:41,040
But all I can tell you is this.

423
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:45,340
I followed up a week later because it was eating me alive.

424
00:27:45,340 --> 00:27:49,280
The Ranger station said the campsite had been located.

425
00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,480
They confirmed it was abandoned.

426
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:56,840
They confirmed there were signs of animal interference as they called it.

427
00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:02,800
That was the phrase they used, the exact phrase, animal interference.

428
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:08,320
They said if there was an actual investigation, it wasn't information that they could share.

429
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:13,360
I asked if they had found the owners or at least identified them.

430
00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:17,160
There was a bit of a pause and then the Ranger said very carefully.

431
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:21,160
No, they have not been found.

432
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:27,360
But if you ever are out there and you see something like that again, you leave, you leave right

433
00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:28,360
away.

434
00:28:28,360 --> 00:28:33,000
And I want you to know you did the right thing.

435
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,040
And that was all you would give me.

436
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,960
I didn't even get that far though with the Sheriff's Department.

437
00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,280
So here's what I'm left with.

438
00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:47,720
Two tents standing like the people inside were torn out of their sleeping bags.

439
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,640
Important keys left behind.

440
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,160
Tracks with toes in the mud too big to be human.

441
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,200
And something that didn't act like an animal.

442
00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:02,760
And no correlating missing people's reports that I've ever found.

443
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:10,280
But the biggest thing though is that none of it felt like some random animal thing that happened.

444
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,080
It felt deliberate.

445
00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:17,080
It or they, because I believe there were at least three of them that night, they followed

446
00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:18,480
us.

447
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:22,640
Then they spent the night circling us, testing us.

448
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:27,000
Now how or why we didn't end up like the other campsite people?

449
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,120
I'm not sure.

450
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,520
Maybe there were three of us, unless of them.

451
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:37,800
I don't know how many were in those other two tents, but maybe there were only two people,

452
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,360
or maybe there were just four women.

453
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:41,560
Who knows?

454
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:47,880
But believe me, I've thought about this every which way I can, and I can't put it together

455
00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,520
or make it make sense.

456
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:55,000
This happened to me back in the 90s, back when I was at university.

457
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,720
But I don't think anything has changed to today.

458
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:02,280
If you do find an abandoned camp like that.

459
00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,520
You leave, you leave immediately.

460
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,880
Do not stay poking around looking for the people.

461
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,760
Go, get out, and report it.

462
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,160
Because you don't know the situation.

463
00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:19,160
And for all you know the trouble, might still be around.

464
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,400
It might follow you.

465
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,360
Whatever the case, just leave.

466
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,560
You had best, just leave.

467
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,960
Signed Mason.

468
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,880
Keep in listening to the Buckeye Bigfoot podcast.

469
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:37,240
Find more stories, hundreds more, over on our YouTube channel.

470
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,040
Just look for Buckeye Bigfoot.