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Speaker 1: My brother Jason, and I moved out to Colorado several

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years back. We both wanted to live by the mountains,

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but neither of us could afford to on our own,

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so we split the rent on a town home in

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the suburbs right outside of Denver. This worked out perfectly

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because we were only ten to fifteen minutes away from

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a huge line of mountains. One thing I will mention

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about these nearby hiking and camping trails, though, is that

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they're pretty packed. It's so accessible to everyone around and

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to tourists that almost any time of the year it's

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hard to find solitude. Because of this, me and my

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brother decided to plan a three day backpacking trip that

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would take us away from the crowd of people and

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hopefully give us some peace in quiet. I trusted him

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to route our trip, and a couple weeks later we

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drove down to the trailhead. Only one other car was

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parked there when we arrived. It was some old looking

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suv covered in dust, looking like it had been through

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a rough drive. Seeing as it was likely only one

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other person was hiking this route, we went in with

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a positive attitude. The first day of backpacking was an

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eight mile hike. Most of the terrain was actually flat

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until we got to the last couple miles, where we

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started up a mountainside. It was pretty tiring, but Jason

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promised that the camp site would be worth it, and

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it turned out he wasn't lying at all. About three

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quarters up the mountain, there was a small flat area

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right on the side of the cliff with a view

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of the whole valley. It was stunning, especially with the

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sun starting to set. After taking in the view, we

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started pitching our tents, then gathered up some sticks and

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stones to make a fire pit with. Once the fire

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was going, we sat down and just talked. I don't

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even have any idea how long. We were talking for

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at least two hours or something. When we both heard

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something from the trail. We instantly went silent, listening as

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footsteps started making their way up the trail in toward

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our campsite. A minute later, a man came out of

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the dark and into the far light coming from our fire.

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He wasn't wearing a headlamp, which every hiker and camper

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knows is an absolute must when there's even the possibility

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of being out in the dark. As he walked up,

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I think. Both Jason and I knew something was wrong.

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He had a grin on his face just as he

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approached the campfire. Hey, did you need something, Jason asked,

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standing up. The man looked at Jason, then at me,

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keeping his grin as he started to explain himself. He

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said he was a park ranger and had been following

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our trail for a while. He said this section had

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been closed off for the season and we couldn't be here.

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Something was really off, though, because we knew this park

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was open, and we had even gotten permits from the

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state the day prior to camping out there. We also

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knew that park rangers would not be out here in

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the middle of a mountain trail at night. But if

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he wasn't who he said he was, then what was

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he doing out here? I could tell Jason's mind was

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racing two as we both looked at the man and

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started asking questions, but he cut us off quickly. You

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both need to leave with me right now. Pack up

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and follow me. I'll lead you guys back to the trailhead.

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We stood there in silence for a moment, taking in

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what he just said and realizing that there was something

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seriously wrong. Here. The man still stayed by the fire,

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with that same grin on his face. No, we're staying here,

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Jason said. The man looked at him again, then at me,

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keeping that same eerie grin, as he just turned around

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and walked away. Terrified, we didn't even speak for a

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few minutes, just listening to make sure he didn't come back.

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Then we grabbed some more dry sticks and rekindled the fire.

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Neither of us were sleeping. We stayed up the entire night,

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sometimes hearing what we thought were footsteps again, but never

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seeing the man. Once the sun was up, we packed

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and left, cutting our trip short and retracing the trail

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back to our car. When we got back, that same

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dusty suv was there, which got us both wondering if

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that hiker had run into the same man as us,

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and what happened to them. We notified the police, but

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ultimately found nothing out of it. There was no doubt

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the man was lying about being a park ranger, but

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the fact that he tried to lead us out into

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the woods in the middle of the night means he

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was likely trying something horrible. What that was we don't know,

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but it seems like the other hiker may have been

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unfortunate enough to find out. I used to go camping

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all the time with some of my buddies from college,

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but once we graduated, we could never find time anymore.

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Everyone's schedules were different, so I ended up going out

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on my own. There was a camping ground that we

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used to go to a lot, so I played it

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safe and went to that same place. It was somewhat

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far out and not the easiest to get to, but

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that's why I liked it. Nobody would ever be there

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because there were a lot of easier options nearby to

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camp at. Knowing the route, I got there no problem

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and set all of my stuff up. Not long after, though,

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a man showed up. He looked like any other hiker,

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but he only had a small backpack, so definitely no

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tent or camping gear. The only thing that had me

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questioning why he was here was that this wasn't a

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very scenic spot or anything. It was a nice place

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to camp because it was an open area with trees around,

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but if you're not camping, then there would be no

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reason to hike all the way out here. I didn't

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think all that much about it at the time because

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the man seemed normal enough. Maybe he just wanted a

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quiet space to relax for a bit. I stayed by

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my tent and the man stayed on the other side

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of the campgrounds. Around six I walked away from my

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tent to cook my food, and it was around this

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time that I saw the man finally leave. I thought

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it was a little late to be walking back, because

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it was going to be completely dark in less than

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an hour and the hike was probably three hours. Other

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than that, I was just happy to be alone now.

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I boiled some water with my mini stove and made

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one of my freeze dried meals, then went back near

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my tent and sat down. The sun was just about gone,

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so I brought out a small lantern and hung it

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on the side of the tent. As I stayed outside

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and took in the atmosphere, it suddenly hit me that

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I was alone out there, and that usually this is

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when we'd all gather around and talk by a campfire,

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but by myself, I didn't really have anything to do.

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After a while, I turned off the lantern and went

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inside my tent, laying down and turning in for the night.

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Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up

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to the sound of footsteps nearby. When I opened my eyes,

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it was pitch black, and I had no idea how

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long I'd been asleep for, but the footsteps came closer

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and closer, until they stopped on the other end of

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the campground. After a few seconds, I felt around for

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my lantern and turned it on, then unzipped the tent

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and looked out. Twenty or so feet from my tent.

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There was the shape of a man standing right by

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where I'd seen the guy from earlier standing, and from

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what I can make out, it was likely the same person,

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but they were just standing there, not doing anything. It

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was far enough into the night that this was immediately disturbing,

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no matter the context, and having turned my lantern on,

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he definitely saw me. Hey, are you okay, I called

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out to him. I waited a couple seconds, but he

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didn't show any signs of acknowledging me. I couldn't even

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tell which direction he was facing, but he was either

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facing away from me or directly at me, and I

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don't even know which way was more disturbing. I reached

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for my pocket knife from my backpack, then did the

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only thing I could do, which was stay sitting there

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and wait. The most increasingly uneasy fifteen minutes of my

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life passed as I looked at this man standing there

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and barely move before he suddenly turned and walked off

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in the same direction he had gone before. And I

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could see from the way his figure moved when he

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turned that he had been facing me, so that whole

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time he was there, he was just staring at me.

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I felt chills run through me as the man's footsteps

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got quieter and quieter, fading out in the distance. I

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didn't know what else to do other than stay up

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in case he came back, and as far as I know,

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he never did. I left in the morning and got

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back safely. But since then I haven't been out camping.

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I don't know what that man was doing, but there's

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no world in which that wasn't extremely disturbing. Maybe I

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scared him off by waking up and watching him to

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make sure he didn't do anything, but that just terrifies

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me to think about. If I hadn't woken up that night,

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I was out camping in the back country near where

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I lived. I'm not much of a hiker, so I

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never take trails more than a mile or two. This

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one was just over a mile from the camp site

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to the trailhead where my car was parked. I'd been

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spending the weekend there camping out by the lake and

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was planning on staying for another two nights. On the

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third day, I spent the morning hiking back to my

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truck and grabbing my fishing rod and some spare food,

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then hiking back to the camp. I thought i'd try

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my luck at fishing while I had the time. When

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I got back to the camp, though, there was another

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tent set up. It was farther down on the edge

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of the lake, and I didn't see anyone by it.

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Initially I didn't care, but then it came through my

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mind that I hadn't seen anyone on the only trail

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leading to this part of the lake. Then again, there

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could be some other path that I just didn't know about.

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Whatever the case, I set up my rod and got

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to fishing. Every twenty ish minutes, i'd glance over at

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the tent on the side of the lake, but at

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no point during the three hours I was out there

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did I see anyone. Once the sun was starting to

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get lower, I packed up my rod and went back

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to my tent. I ate and got some sticks for

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the campfire, then waited for it to get a little

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darker before lighting it up. As soon as I did,

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I saw someone's shadow move in the forest ahead of me.

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They were just far enough for the light to not

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reach them, so after that quick glimpse, all I could

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see was total darkness. I made the assumption that it

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was the person with the tent down by the lake,

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probably gathering sticks for a fire. It was weird that

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just when I lit up my campfire, they were right

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outside my camp but I chose to not overthink it.

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I leaned back in my chair and reli looking at

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the fire, the sky, and the lake. It was so

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calming I almost wanted to fall asleep in the chair.

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But just a half hour later I looked past the

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fire and saw several figures coming from the forest. Once

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they were closer, I counted four men, all coming right

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up to my campsite. There was a lot going through

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my head, but I tried to suppress any nervous feelings

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and hoped it was just a nearby camping group in

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need of help or something. When they came into the light,

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I could see that they were all in their thirties

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or forties and had straight faces. Once they were just

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a few feet from me and were still walking, I

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got up from my chair and nervously began asking what

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they needed. None of them responded, only continuing to walk up.

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Two of them went behind me, going straight from my tent,

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as the other two pushed me aside. There was no

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doubt what was going on now, but I knew fighting

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back would only make things worse. I watched the two

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men start searching through my things as the other two

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continued to push me further away. I tried saying anything

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I could, but the men had an emptiness to their

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eyes that showed they did not care at all. I

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was telling myself in my head to just stay calm

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and let them take what they want, but the two

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men kept pushing and dragging me further and further out

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away from the camp site and away from the light.

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After a minute, I could barely see where we were

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going and couldn't hear anything but our footsteps in the

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silent forest. Then we stopped. I turned and faced them,

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and as we stood in the darkness between the trees,

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all my fears just hit me. At once. One of

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them reached for something and I instantly took off running.

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All I could hear were my footsteps pounding against the

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leaves and grass. As I got further out, I still

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had a general sense of direction, so I tried to

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get back to the trail. When I did, I went

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straight from my truck, and from what I could tell,

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nobody followed me. I reported the case to the police,

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but in the end almost all my stuff was stolen

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and no trace was left to help figure out who

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they were. What they were dragging me out into the

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forest to do is probably obvious, so I think I

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was beyond lucky. I've made it out with my life.