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Speaker 1: My brothers love to hunt in fish. They have thousands

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of dollars invested in gear. When hunting season is out,

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they're fishing. I like fishing, but not to the degree

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that they do. Now. I don't hunt. I have never

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enjoyed killing animals. I have nothing against hunting at all.

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It's a great way for people to enjoy the outdoors,

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gather clean meat, manage wildlife populations. But it's just not

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for me. My brothers make fun of me for this.

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That's okay, Well I do mind, I guess, but I

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don't let them know it. It's not that I don't

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like being in nature. My thing is hiking, and if

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any one of them would take a minute to notice,

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they'd all see that I hike a lot deeper into

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the woods than any of them ever hunted. I don't

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carry weapons. I only carry bear spray. I know the truth, though,

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I know that I go farther and harder than any

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of them just to take long walks in the woods.

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In their minds, the fact that they kill animals with weapons,

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they're more macho than I am. But I know for

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a fact that none of them could keep up with

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me for even a half day. Hike. I can outperform

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any of them, but I never say a word. Hiking

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is my favorite thing to do in my favorite places

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in the woods alone, just me and the trails and

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the animals and the fresh air. In my endurance, I

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come alive out there, or I did until last month.

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Now I don't care if I ever go into the

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woods again. There are monsters in the woods, folks, I

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have seen them. Fall is a busy hiking season. Everyone

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wants to see the trees in full color. And if

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you're serious about hiking, like I am or what it means,

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you have to go pretty deep in the woods to

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get away from the day hikers. Otherwise you're just going

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to be tripping over the amateurs and not seeing anything

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because they're always so noisy that they chase animals away.

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And if you want to really enjoy the scenery and

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all that nature has to offer, then you'd better get

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there early, and I mean a day or two early,

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and plan on hiking in with your camping gear and

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enough supplies to stay a couple of days. I park

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my car at the trailhead early on Wednesday. I figured

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I'd hike up for two days and then hike back

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down for two days and be home in my own

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bed by Sunday night and ready for work on Monday.

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Always check the weather before I leave, and then I

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do a gear check. Now I'm an ultra light hiker

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with a hammock and a light down sleeping bag, a

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microstove in just enough calories that I need to go

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as far as I like to go. I carry a

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change of clothes, a compass, a first date kitting, a knife.

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The less I carry, the lighter my backpack is, which

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means I can go farther. Hikers who are in shape

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and condition like me can run out of steam pretty

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fast with an extra heavy pack. I've seen them leave

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the trail many times just because their packs are too heavy,

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and a man learns to get by with a little.

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And the goal is not the gear, it's the trail.

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This is something my brothers will never understand, their gear freaks.

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I had picked a difficult trail to hike because I

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knew there weren't a lot of day hikers. It's only

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well maintained for the first couple of miles, and after

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that you have to know what you're doing to go

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any further. I was headed all the way to the

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top of this mountain. So I checked my watch and

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I stepped onto the trail. It was seven forty three

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am at noon. I stopped for a break and to

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take in the view of the valley below me. The

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trees had been bit this year. It was already a

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blaze of reds and golds, with bright splotches of yellow

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and dark patches of brown. There's something about sitting up

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there looking down on the world. A lot of people

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say it's humbling, but not for me. For me, it's empowering.

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By the time I set up camp the first night,

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civilization felt like another planet away. I picked a small

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clearing that gave me a decent but limited view of

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the night sky. The weather man assured me that I

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would have clear sailing, and he was right. If you've

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ever seen the sky without light pollution, you've never really

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seen the sky. I went ahead and ate a couple

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of power bars and drank some water, and I climbed

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into my hammock. Now nothing wears a body out like

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a long walk. I figured I'd be asleep within minutes,

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and I probably would have, but for one thing. It

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was too quiet. And when you go as far as this.

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There's also the absence of sound pollution. You can't hear

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cars and diesels rolling down the interstate. You can't hear

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radios blasting music, or people chattering or kids playing, because

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it's just you out there. But even then there is

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always some sort of noise. There's insects and small critters

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and coyotes. I was lying there in my hammock that night,

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I didn't hear any of that. It was so weird

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that it made me a bit nervous to make matters worse.

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And maybe because of that, I started feeling like I

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was being watched, and I didn't sleep well that night.

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The next morning, I discovered that the weather man had

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lied to me. The brilliant blue sky I had hiked

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under the day before was turning gray. So I had

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to make a decision. I could continue my hike up

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on the mountain, or I could turn around and head

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back down. The third option was to stay where I

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was and then head down the next day. I hadn't

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slept well the night before and had to do with

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my decision. I didn't feel like going anywhere. I felt

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like sleeping a few more hours, so option three it was.

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I made some coffee, and I ate a power bar

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before climbing back into my hammock. I lay there and

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broad daylight, still conscious of the fact that there were

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no normal sounds of nature around me. But by now

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the sky was dark enough and the clouds overhead were

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full enough that I figured it was the rain coming

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in that had kept them silent. After a while, I

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decided that I wasn't going to sleep, and the sky

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was looking bad enough that I should try to get

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as far down the mountain as I could before the

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clouds burst open and drenched me. It was around noon

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when I started back down the mountain, but the sky

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was as dark as dusk. To be safe, I had

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already pulled out my headlamp from my backpack and I

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was wearing it. Then the rain came. It didn't start

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with a sprinkle, the heavy drops and then a solid

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sheet of rain. It came down all at once, as

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if God had dumped a bucket of water on me.

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Usually when it rains a heart it doesn't last for long,

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but I must have walked for an hour in that downpour.

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It wasn't long before I began to feel like my

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bone marrow was saturated, my eyes burned from constantly wiping them,

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and the damn headlight began to short out the sound

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of the rain beating the leaves off the trees, drowned

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out all the other sounds in the forest. I don't

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really know what I expected to hear in this weather.

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Any creature with any common sense at all was holed

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up in a den somewhere. But every now and then

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I heard a crack of a branch that I didn't

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think was caused by the storm. Maybe it was like

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a sleep from the night before, and maybe I was

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just weirded out by the weather. Whatever the case, I

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could not get over the feeling that I was still

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being watched and followed. When I couldn't take it anymore,

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I started looking for a good spot to wade out

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the rain. I was hoping for a cave, but even

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a wide spot on the trail where I could hang

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up my hammocked tarp would have been good enough for me.

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Looking around and seeing shadows in the woods freaked me

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out a little. Occasionally lightning would strike and I'd see

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something large moving. At first I would think it was

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a tree, but then it would move, and then a

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bolt of lightning crack the sky open and I saw it.

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I've never believed in bigfoot. It was a joke to me,

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and I had not thought about it ever. So what

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was standing in the woods twenty feet from me? It

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was ten feet tall, covered in shaggy brown hair, except

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its face was clean looking. The size of the thing

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was scary enough, but it was the face that scared

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me the most. Its skin was dark, and its mouth

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was wide, and it's an oscar seemed to be flaring

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like it was angry, and I locked eyes with it

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and saw something that I can't quite put my finger on.

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It didn't take long to decide that this thing wanted

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to kill me and eat me. That was plain to see.

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It opened its mouth like it was stretching its jaws,

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its fangs hung down like a baboon. I'm sure you've

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seen the pictures of the videos. It wasn't a yawn.

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He was showing me his teeth. My head would have

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fit into his mouth. And that's when panics set in.

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I don't know when or where I dropped my backpack,

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but it wasn't with me anymore. The trail had turned

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to a mud slick. I moved my feet, I think,

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and there was no grip to the earth, but I

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ran anyway, abandoning the rules of what humans should do

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when facing a predator. I ran like hell. Trees started

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snapping and cracking behind me. Was on from that first step,

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and I knew I was a dead man. I wasn't

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thinking at all. I was just running. I felt the

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vibrations of his feet hitting the ground behind me, getting closer.

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I heard the heavy rush of air being sucked into

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and pushed out of its lungs, and ahead of me,

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the trail made a sharp turn. I knew I was

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going too fast in that slippery clay, but I wasn't

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about to slow down, so I launched myself into the

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woods like I was diving off into a swimming pool.

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It would only buy me a few feet before it

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caught up, but I wasn't giving up yet, and instead

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of hitting the ground, I was snatched backward by the

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shirt and this thing's nails dug into my back. It

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turned me around to face it, and I was fighting

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like hell, kicking and throwing punches. I didn't hurt this

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thing a bit, but I remember it squinting its eyes

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when I would hit it in the face. The eyes

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it was closing its eyes voluntarily to avoid my punches,

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and then I remembered the bear spray on my belt.

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In a fast, lucky grab, it came free from the

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holster and I sprayed that bastard square in the face.

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Apparently it released me and swung at me. At the

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same time I assumed to knock that can of burning

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the shit out of my eye stuff out of my hand,

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and then everything went black. I don't know how long

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I was out, but when I woke up, I was

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lying next to a pile of bones. I don't know

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what kind of bones they were. I remember deer skulls

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and other critters, but when I saw a human skull

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over at the edge, I knew I was in trouble.

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I heard something grunning. I remembered it from our fight.

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It has been over a pool of water, washing the

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bear spray out of its eyes. Hell. Yes, I thought

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this thing's gonna kill me, but I heard it, and

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that gave me a sense of victory. The desire to

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keep fighting and live was still there, and I looked

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for a way out of there. The trail we must

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have come in. One was off to my left. I

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put my hand in the mud to get off the ground,

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and pain shot up my arm. I looked down and

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I could see plainly that my wrist was broken, and

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I admit that tears rolled off my face. The broken

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bones might be the worst pain ever. I lifted my

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head and that monster had jumped up and was looking

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at me with those red, swollen eyes, and I pointed

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at it and I laughed out loud. Maybe I knew

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everything was lost, and those blistered eyes just set me off.

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You ain't gonna forget me, you son of a bitch.

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That's exactly what I said to that bigfoot. It came

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across that pile of bones and smelly rot, and it

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snatched me up by my head, palming it like a

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basket ball. It shook me, wrenching my neck, and then

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it started to squeeze. My skull was about to collapse.

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I was going to be defied to the end. And

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I stared it straight in the eyes and I started

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swinging again, trying to connect with its face, but my

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arms wouldn't reach it. That mouth came open and those

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teeth came out, and its breath was horrible. He was

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enjoying this. I could see that plainly, and I was

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about to black out, halfway between dead and alive. I

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remember feeling a swift gust of wind and then falling

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to the ground on my broken arm. I waited on

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my senses to come back from that head vice that

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he had me in and trying to get the pressure

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off my arm, and I didn't see where the monster went.

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I wasn't even thinking about it, I think, looking back

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on it, I was in and out of consciousness, and

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when I could finally think a little, I had a

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grand headache in my arm throb like crazy. There was

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00:14:05,759 --> 00:14:08,639
no way I could get away now, feeling this dazed

242
00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:12,000
and confused, but I looked around anyway, trying to figure

243
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,320
out a way that I might run. I got to

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00:14:15,399 --> 00:14:18,080
my knees and over that pile of bones, and I

245
00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:21,440
saw two of those creatures now, and they were fighting.

246
00:14:22,159 --> 00:14:25,440
They looked just alike in my mind, and I watched them,

247
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,320
with blurry vision, whip the crap out of each other.

248
00:14:28,799 --> 00:14:33,120
They were biting and hitting each other. In any other setting,

249
00:14:33,159 --> 00:14:35,559
it would have been awesome to watch, but I knew

250
00:14:35,559 --> 00:14:38,039
they were fighting over which one was going to eat me.

251
00:14:38,759 --> 00:14:40,600
I had to find a way and get out of there.

252
00:14:42,559 --> 00:14:45,000
I didn't know where I was, and there was no

253
00:14:45,159 --> 00:14:47,799
time to look at my compass if I had even

254
00:14:47,879 --> 00:14:51,320
been able to find my compass. There was a path

255
00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,360
to my left, I remembered, and it went downhill, and

256
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,159
that is where I wanted to go, downhill and off

257
00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,399
this mountain. I staggered that way. There was but a

258
00:15:02,399 --> 00:15:05,039
few steps, and I got my balance and I was running.

259
00:15:06,039 --> 00:15:08,679
Fifteen minutes or so later, I had to stop and

260
00:15:08,759 --> 00:15:12,679
catch my breath. That's when my arms started aching again,

261
00:15:12,759 --> 00:15:15,639
and I was getting dizzy, and I wondered what sort

262
00:15:15,679 --> 00:15:18,080
of damage that thing had done to my brain. But

263
00:15:18,159 --> 00:15:20,639
I was on my feet and I started running again,

264
00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:25,279
always downhill. I wondered if the fight was over, and

265
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,320
if either one of them even felt like coming after me.

266
00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,440
I remember hoping they had heard each other so bad

267
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:36,399
that they would call it quits, but they didn't. Even

268
00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,399
while running and heaving, I could hear that thing coming

269
00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,080
after me, like a bulldozer off the hill behind me.

270
00:15:42,919 --> 00:15:45,000
I was staying on the trail, but this thing was

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00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,559
bushwhacking straight at me through the thick woods like it

272
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,639
was nothing. I didn't know if I could get away

273
00:15:51,679 --> 00:15:55,000
this time. I guess I figured it was over once again.

274
00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:57,639
But I had made it this far. Maybe I had

275
00:15:57,679 --> 00:16:01,039
a chance if I could just keep going. I had

276
00:16:01,039 --> 00:16:03,600
it straight down the trail and ran with all the

277
00:16:03,639 --> 00:16:06,519
strength that I had left. That's all I could do.

278
00:16:08,559 --> 00:16:11,519
A head I could see daylight through the trees, as

279
00:16:11,519 --> 00:16:14,360
if there was a clearing. I thought it was a

280
00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,759
field maybe, which was not good. For some reason, it

281
00:16:17,799 --> 00:16:21,039
felt better in the trees and the brush. In my mind.

282
00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,360
At least that was something between it and me. In

283
00:16:24,399 --> 00:16:27,519
a field, i'd be easy to catch. I don't know

284
00:16:27,559 --> 00:16:30,200
why I thought these things. I guess our mind naturally

285
00:16:30,279 --> 00:16:33,159
works out any advantage that we can while in a

286
00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,960
situation like this. But the daylight I saw wasn't a

287
00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,000
field or a clearing. It was a ledge. It was

288
00:16:41,039 --> 00:16:43,480
a top of a bluff that dropped down into a

289
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,720
river or a stream. I realized this after I fell

290
00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,480
several feet and saw the water coming up at me.

291
00:16:51,559 --> 00:16:54,080
When I hit the water, the cold felt good to me,

292
00:16:54,679 --> 00:16:58,799
almost like freedom. I hit the rocky bottom and luckily

293
00:16:58,879 --> 00:17:02,720
didn't break my arm worse than it was. My head

294
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:05,079
popped out of the water, and I looked back up

295
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,200
at the spot where I think I fell from, and

296
00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,559
I saw that thing standing at the edge, and it

297
00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:14,119
was roaring at me. The current pulled me away from

298
00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:17,039
my enemy, and he followed me down the ledge for

299
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,880
a distance. I remember turning and looking ahead of me,

300
00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,519
hoping the bluff that he was on didn't slope down

301
00:17:23,519 --> 00:17:26,240
to a bank, because the way he was moving he

302
00:17:26,279 --> 00:17:28,079
would have been able to keep up with me and

303
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,640
eventually catch me. But as far as I could see,

304
00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,559
the bluff stayed at the same elevation where he stood,

305
00:17:34,559 --> 00:17:38,720
and it even got higher in some places. Something kept

306
00:17:38,799 --> 00:17:41,480
him from jumping in after me. I'll never know what

307
00:17:41,599 --> 00:17:44,039
it was, but I'm glad he stayed on the bluff.

308
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,440
I let the current just take me down river. A

309
00:17:49,519 --> 00:17:52,200
curve in the course of the river ahead took me

310
00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:54,640
around to a point where I could not see the

311
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:58,200
monster anymore. I was beginning to think that I might

312
00:17:58,319 --> 00:18:02,200
make it out. I don't know how far I floated

313
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:04,759
down that river, but it wasn't long before I was

314
00:18:04,839 --> 00:18:07,759
too cold to stay in the water, and now I

315
00:18:07,839 --> 00:18:11,759
was thinking about hyperthermia. At some point I would have

316
00:18:11,839 --> 00:18:13,720
to get to the bank and try to warm up.

317
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,400
But what I knew for sure was that I would

318
00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:18,519
not swim to the side of the river that that

319
00:18:18,559 --> 00:18:22,119
thing was on. Ahead, I saw a gravel bar and

320
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,519
I started kicking to get there. My feet started digging

321
00:18:25,559 --> 00:18:28,519
in the gravel to push me closer and faster, and

322
00:18:28,599 --> 00:18:33,000
I could finally stand up in front of me. In

323
00:18:33,079 --> 00:18:36,759
the distance. Down the river, I saw a bridge. There

324
00:18:36,759 --> 00:18:40,720
were people on the bridge. I went straight into the river.

325
00:18:41,079 --> 00:18:43,599
I could take a few more minutes of cold. I

326
00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,519
needed help, and there it was, right in front of me.

327
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:50,599
There was a group of kids on the bridge and

328
00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,200
they saw me, and I could hear them yelling. I

329
00:18:54,279 --> 00:18:57,119
managed to work my way to the bank. The first

330
00:18:57,119 --> 00:18:59,720
thing I did was look around both banks to see

331
00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,279
if I could make out that monster anywhere. I don't

332
00:19:03,279 --> 00:19:05,799
know how far I floated down that river, but I

333
00:19:05,839 --> 00:19:08,640
had not stopped thinking that he was following me the

334
00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,440
whole time. But when I looked up, I didn't see

335
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:15,480
it anywhere. I stood up and started walking up to

336
00:19:15,519 --> 00:19:18,640
the road. The group of teenagers met me halfway and

337
00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,240
helped me up to the blacktop. An adult woman ran

338
00:19:22,279 --> 00:19:25,240
to me and threw a blanket over my back and shoulders.

339
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,400
I was never more happy to see people in all

340
00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:32,440
my life. And not long after that, an ambulance pulled up.

341
00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,599
Someone must have called nine to eleven. They treated me

342
00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,240
with what they could and they stabilized my arm, and

343
00:19:38,279 --> 00:19:40,960
they loaded me up and took me to the local hospital.

344
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,759
The inside of that ambulance was so warm. I remember

345
00:19:45,839 --> 00:19:51,079
that vividly. At the hospital, doctors treated my wounds, and

346
00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,079
they put a cast on my arm, and they gave

347
00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:56,880
me some painkillers. I had broken ribs. They said that

348
00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,720
I had never felt pain from I guess that was

349
00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,480
from the tumble into the water. I was kept one

350
00:20:03,559 --> 00:20:07,400
night and discharged the next day. Someone from the hospital

351
00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:09,920
called a cab to take me to my car, and

352
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:15,279
by that afternoon I was home. Now I'm not a writer,

353
00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:20,200
and I don't keep journals. Writing the thoughts and experiences

354
00:20:20,279 --> 00:20:23,319
of my life for day or week has always seemed

355
00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,240
like a waste of time to me. When I got

356
00:20:26,279 --> 00:20:29,000
home and after a long sleep, I woke late in

357
00:20:29,079 --> 00:20:31,240
the night and I thought that I would try to

358
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:35,359
write my experience. I knew that as the years passed

359
00:20:35,359 --> 00:20:38,680
I would forget the details, maybe forget the whole thing,

360
00:20:38,799 --> 00:20:43,039
and sort of a mind preserving blackout scenario, and I

361
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,759
wanted to remember everything about this experience, no matter how

362
00:20:46,759 --> 00:20:50,599
disturbing it was for me, as strange as that may seem,

363
00:20:51,599 --> 00:20:55,079
for several hours way into the daylight the next day,

364
00:20:55,519 --> 00:20:59,279
I wrote everything I could remember. Not all of what

365
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,720
I wrote that day is in this email to you,

366
00:21:01,799 --> 00:21:04,400
because as I have heard you say before, stick to

367
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,920
the story that you don't need the minute details that

368
00:21:08,039 --> 00:21:10,400
do not add to the story. So that is what

369
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,599
I have sent you. Thank you very much, sir, I

370
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:16,559
appreciate that I will describe to you the most profound

371
00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:21,200
aspect of that day. In my view, it wasn't that

372
00:21:21,319 --> 00:21:25,240
I was attacked and nearly eaten by one or more sisquatch,

373
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,920
and that may sound off kilter. It was at the

374
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:34,039
hospital that weirder things happened. It isn't a complicated part

375
00:21:34,039 --> 00:21:36,079
of this story, so don't worry that I'm going to

376
00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:38,519
go on and on here, but to me it's the

377
00:21:38,559 --> 00:21:43,200
most shocking. Naturally, I was questioned by the people who

378
00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:46,359
were taking care of my body about what had happened.

379
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,720
That's usual stuff. What happened to you? Did you have

380
00:21:49,759 --> 00:21:53,119
a hiking accident? Yes, that's what happened to me. I

381
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,720
told them. I slid off the mountain into the river,

382
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:57,920
and I got lucky to have come out under a

383
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:02,319
bridge where there were people. Okay, they said, looks like

384
00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,640
you had a bad day hiking. That was it. My

385
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:10,039
injuries lined up with just that. Once. They had me

386
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,519
on painkillers and the edge had worn off, and after

387
00:22:13,599 --> 00:22:17,200
some sleep, my head began to clear and I remembered

388
00:22:17,279 --> 00:22:20,359
what had happened. Now. It's not that I had forgotten.

389
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,000
It had just been a crazy day with so much

390
00:22:23,039 --> 00:22:26,960
going on. But later that night the activity had fallen

391
00:22:27,039 --> 00:22:30,119
off and I was alone in my room. It was quiet,

392
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:34,680
and I had my thoughts to myself. At some point

393
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,920
after midnight and I had been dozing in and out,

394
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,039
the door opened to my room. I expected the pesky

395
00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,799
nurse to come in and check my IV or my

396
00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,200
blood pressure or something. They're on a schedule to wake

397
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:52,400
you every hour for that nonsense. This time it wasn't

398
00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:56,680
someone from the hospital. Two men walked in my room.

399
00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,279
They pulled up chairs, and they made themselves at home.

400
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,920
Sitting by my bed, I saw one reach into his

401
00:23:03,079 --> 00:23:06,279
jacket pocket and he pulled out a device and switched

402
00:23:06,319 --> 00:23:09,519
it on. A red light blinked a few times, and

403
00:23:09,559 --> 00:23:11,880
he laid the device on the tray and then rolled

404
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,240
it toward me. They were going to record what I said,

405
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:22,000
never once introducing themselves. The first words were, now tell

406
00:23:22,079 --> 00:23:25,640
us what really happened. Well, I just looked at them

407
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:30,079
and I didn't speak, neither did they. The silence was

408
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,039
uncomfortable at first, but then I decided I wasn't going

409
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,519
to say a word of these jerks, so I let

410
00:23:35,559 --> 00:23:40,000
the silence hang. There. We're waiting, the other man said,

411
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,039
I slept off the trail in the rain. I said,

412
00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:49,039
already told three people this. I'm going to repeat myself

413
00:23:49,039 --> 00:23:53,240
only once. Now you can tell us what really happened,

414
00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:59,720
said the first man, or what I said. They said

415
00:23:59,759 --> 00:24:03,920
in room for several more minutes, maybe fifteen or twenty minutes,

416
00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:07,640
and finally gathered themselves and left. And in all that

417
00:24:07,759 --> 00:24:11,880
time we never spoke. I will never know who they were,

418
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:16,160
or where or what organization they came from. What I

419
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:19,160
know for sure is that they knew what had happened

420
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,759
to me that day, And that fact alone should say

421
00:24:22,799 --> 00:24:26,599
to everyone who reads this that they, whoever they is,

422
00:24:27,319 --> 00:24:30,000
know what is in the woods that we hike and

423
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,559
camp and hunt and fish in. They know, and they

424
00:24:34,559 --> 00:24:38,759
are not warning you or warning us. Why are they

425
00:24:38,839 --> 00:24:42,720
not warning us. Well, that's the million dollar question, isn't it.

426
00:24:44,039 --> 00:24:46,319
The day before I had looked a myth in the

427
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,559
face and laughed at him because I had heard him.

428
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,599
I had scalded his eyes with my bars pray. It

429
00:24:53,759 --> 00:24:55,960
was and is the best part of the whole story.

430
00:24:56,599 --> 00:24:59,119
The second part is that in my mind I was

431
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,160
laughing at those jackasses in my room that night in

432
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,559
the same way. They weren't getting anything from me, and

433
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,720
I knew it was scalding their ego, just like the

434
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,720
bear spray had scalded that bigfoot's eyes. Now, had I

435
00:25:12,759 --> 00:25:15,240
told them the truth or not, they would not have

436
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,720
used the information to warn the public. So I was

437
00:25:18,799 --> 00:25:23,200
not going to conform. I doubt I will get back

438
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:27,000
to hiking anytime soon, maybe never, but at least I

439
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:30,240
know what I'm up against if I do, And now

440
00:25:30,319 --> 00:25:34,160
you know, and you can do whatever you want. But

441
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,680
if you do go into the woods on this continent

442
00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:39,920
and you get caught in a situation like I was,

443
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:46,119
fight like hell. You can survive it. That is the

444
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:52,200
only advice I can give you.