Speaker 1: My girlfriend and I always enjoyed going for weekend camping
trips pretty frequently. We used to live right inside the
Appalachian region in Virginia, so obviously we'd find new places
on or near the Appalachian Mountains. Both of us had
pretty stressful work lives during the weekdays, so getting out
in nature and staying away from home on the weekends
really helped us. At the time this happened, we had
already been on dozens of camping trips in the Appalachian Mountains,
but none of them had ever ended like this. It
was Saturday morning, and we decided on a very small
three mile trail that leads to a nice isolated camping
ground on a flatter part of the mountain. We had
never been to the specific spot before, but from the
amount of reviews the trail had on Google, we assumed
it was a pretty well known trail in campgrounds. We
got our bags ready and packed the truck with our
camping gear, and then we made our way out there.
It was only a forty five minute drive from our house,
but as we got closer, it began raining quite a bit.
This was pretty normal around the mountains here, so we
were used to being out in the rain and didn't
bother us enough to turn around. We pulled up to
the trailhead, which was actually just off the side of
the road, and we saw one other car parked on
the side. We actually expected there to be more people,
considering the popularity of the trail, but we were glad
it wasn't crowded though. As we started getting our gear out,
my girlfriend pointed out that the parked car's passenger door
was cracked open a few inches. We both looked around
to see if the owner was nearby, but with no
signs of them, I decided to go over and push
it closed, as we assumed the owner must have accidentally
left it open. The whole passenger seat was soaked from
the rain already, but at least wouldn't get any worse.
I came back to our car to grab my stuff,
and then we both started making our way down the trail.
We talked about how weird it was that the door
was open, and how most people would probably notice that
their car wouldn't even lock due to the open door.
It's worth mentioning, too, that it was clearly a pretty expensive,
newer car, which just made it more strange. Anyways, the
rain started picking up at this point, so we began
walking faster so we could get to the campsite and
set up our tent. I want to say it took
us about two hours to get to the end, as
it was mostly uphill. Once we were there, the first
thing we noticed was a tent already set up in
the middle of the flat area. It was pretty small,
definitely a one person tent. We figured they were probably
in there sheltering from the rain, so we went to
a far corner on the site and set up our
tent there. Sat inside for an hour, eating some food
we brought and laying some of our stuff out to dry,
before hearing voices outside. The rain hitting the tent was
too loud to hear what they were saying, so I
unzipped the front and looked out. I jumped a little
bit as there were two men kneeling down and looking
at us from just a couple feet away, but then
they smiled and introduced themselves. They said they were staying
in the tent in the middle, and that they'd been
here a few days. I quickly introduced my girlfriend and
I and told them that we were just here for
the night. Then they headed back and I zipped up
our tent and looked at my girlfriend. The whole interaction
seemed a little off, and they seemed to be acting
a little strange. I noticed that both of the men
were wearing tightly fitted jeans and regular T shirts, and
their tent was way too small to be fitting two
full grown men. It really just didn't seem like they
were here camping or hike, and definitely not for a
few days like they had said. We decided to leave
the zipper partially open so we can keep an eye
on them just in case. Another hour went by and
we didn't see anything unusual. Actually we didn't see anything
at all. I guess they were just cramped up in
their tent the whole time. Anyways, it was pretty dark
out at this point, so we decided to call it
a night and get our sleeping bags ready. I zipped
the tent back up and laid down next to my girlfriend.
I must have fallen asleep pretty fast, though, because I
didn't even remember anything after laying down, But I woke
up a few hours into the night having to use
the bathroom. It was still raining, so I put on
one of my cheap plastic rain ponchos so that I
wouldn't have to go back to bed soaked. Then I
headed out a few feet behind our tent and behind
one of the trees, but through the rain, I could
hear voices. It was really hard to tell where they
were coming from, though. I turned my head all around,
looking in every direction as I started to get a
little paranoid, but I didn't see anyone. Then I looked
over at the small tent in the middle and noticed
the front zipper was open. It was hard to see
in the darkness and through the rain, but I was
pretty sure that nobody was in there. I knew that
the men had told me that they were staying the
night in the tent, so they started to get me
even more worried. I ran over to my tent and
shook my girlfriend awake and told her about the situation.
She was clearly tired, but I could tell that she
was just as worried as I was. As we were
discussing what to do, we both heard it voices coming
from behind our tent. I wasn't sure what to do,
but I knew sitting in the tent didn't feel very
safe anymore. I told my girlfriend to pack the bags
quickly and be ready to leave if we had to.
Then grabbed a small pocket knife and quickly got out
and looked over at the trees. I saw the two
men from earlier standing there, just a few feet from
our tent. I remember this moment very clearly, as both
men looked at me with absolutely no emotion. They didn't
make any facial expressions or even move at all. I
knew at that moment that these men were planning on
doing something horrible, and they were not scared of me
at all. A second later, my girlfriend looked out of
the tent, which took me out of my state of shock,
and I yelled at her to go, pointing at the
trail back down the mountain. I followed after her, leaving
my bag in the tent behind. I looked back just
as we made it to the edge of the campsite,
and the two men were still standing there. They didn't
even try to chase us or anything. They just stood
and watched us as we ran away in total fear.
I'd say we were full on sprinting for ten minutes
before slowing down and walking quickly for the rest of
the way. When we got back to the car, we
saw the other parked car was still there, but the
passenger door was opened again. I immediately drove us down
to the nearest gas station, where we called the police
and were met by them a few minutes later to
talk about what had happened. A few days passed by,
and then we get a lot more information, and it
made everything even more terrifying. When an officer went down
to investigate the area, they found that the car belonged
to an older man who had recently been filed as missing.
All of the belongings from the car had been stolen,
and they were able to confirm that the tent on
the campground was the old man's as well. They didn't
find the two men, though, and they didn't find any
real evidence other than their shoe prints. The old man
wasn't found either, and as far as I know, he
still has never turned up. Just made my girlfriend and
I both feel sick knowing that we could have been
just seconds away from something horrible. I guess we'll never
know for sure what those two men were actually up to,
but I think we can all make a pretty good
guess based on the whole situation. But what I do
know is that the image of those two men standing
in front of me still haunts my memories to this day.
I was lucky enough to have a job that allowed
me to travel a lot in my late twenties and
early thirties. I would usually only spend a couple of
days in one location, though for work, so I was
limited to how much I could actually do when I
was staying somewhere nice. But I had a job out
in Pennsylvania for a week and ended up finishing a
day early, which meant I'd still have to stay there
for an extra day before my flight. Since I never
got to get out much, I figured I should use
this time to my advantage and do something fun. I
decided on a long trail that went through some of
the pretty forests and trees here. I've always really enjoyed nature,
but I felt like my job forced me to be
inside buildings or planes all the time, so this was
a good chance for me to enjoy the nice weather
and scenery. I woke up early, but I actually had
to go to the store to buy some hiking clothes
as I didn't pack any with me. The trail was
about an hour away from my hotel and I ended
up getting there just before twelve pm. It didn't look
like anyone else was there, which I was pretty happy about.
When I looked up the trail online, it said it
would take about six hours there and back, so this
was pretty much an all day thing. I had a
little backpack with a water bottle and some snacks, so
I brought that and started making my way down. The
first hour was really nice. Just being alone on a
path between the trees was really peaceful and a nice
way to get some relief from my stressful work life.
But as I was walking, I noticed a man sitting
on the ground next to the path up ahead. He
looked almost as though he were sleeping, with his head
hanging down and a hoodie covering his face. As I
started to get closer, he looked up at me, almost
staring me down. As I walked past him. I had
no idea what to make of him, but it was
a little creepy, so I continued to check behind me
occasionally for the next few minutes as I continued down
the trail. After a couple hours, I got a little
tired and hungry, so I found a small log on
the edge of the path and sat down to have
a snack. I was probably there for three or four
minutes before the man that i'd walked past earlier appeared
down the path, making his way towards me. He was
still a good distance away, though, so I decided to
quickly pack my bag up and continue down the trails
so I didn't have to interact with them. Apparently my
plan didn't work, though, as only a few minutes later
I heard loud running footsteps coming up behind me. I
turned around and saw the man jogging in my direction.
I moved over to the side, hoping he would just
pass by, but he ended up stopping right in front
of me. I'll admit I was pretty nervous and felt
really uneasy about this guy. He didn't say anything and
reached into his pocket, and then he holds out a
wallet and says, I think you dropped this. The wallet
definitely wasn't mine, though, and I could tell it was
completely empty too. I told him that he must be
mistaken and that I didn't bring my wallet with me.
He responds telling me that he knew this was my
wallet and I needed to take it back. I honestly
didn't know what to do or say, but I could
see in his eyes that he was getting mad. I
was pretty sure this guy was trying to do some
weird trick in order to rob me or something. But
I didn't know what other options I had other than
to just listen to the guy, So I just said
okay and picked up the wallet from his hand. Then
he looked at me in the eyes, smiled, and said
you're welcome. Then he began making his way down the trail.
I stood there for a minute, processing the interaction I
just had. Then I held out the wallet and looked
at it more closely. It was one of those typical
brown folding wallets and looked pretty worn and old. I
opened it up and checked every pocket in it, but
there wasn't a single thing in there. I was so confused.
I had no idea what to think, but I knew
I didn't want to run into this man again, so
I just started making my way back to my car.
It was four pew and I had a little over
two hours to go before getting back to my car.
I tried my best to enjoy the walk, but I
couldn't stop thinking about what happened, and it kept making
me more and more nervous. I was constantly looking around
to make sure he wasn't following me. But finally I
could see my car up ahead. The sun was just
beginning to set, casting a long shadow on everything, and
my car was parked facing the trail, so I was
walking towards the front of it. Once I was a
few feet away, that's when I noticed a man's shadow
coming from behind the car, as if they were crouched down.
I stopped in my tracks, staring at their shadow next
to my car. I knew that running away would almost
surely end badly, but I also knew that he was
probably going to try and steal my car and rob
me once I tried to get inside. After a few seconds,
I quietly reached into my pocket to feel for my keys,
then started walking towards the passenger door. I quickly unlocked
the car and got in through the passenger side. I
could hear the man instantly jump up and run straight
for the driver's side door, but I locked it from
the inside just before he tried to open it. He
started banging on the window. As I crawled into the
driver's seat and turned on the car, I could clearly
see it was the same man from earlier and he
began screaming at me to give him the wallet back.
I ignored him and reversed out of there and onto the
main road, where I drove away as quickly as I could.
As I was pulling away, he ran back onto the
path and into the trees. I guess my planet worked,
assuming it threw him off by not going to the
driver side door and gave me time to get in
and lock it. There was a police station I remembered
seeing on the way, so I stopped there and went
inside to report the man and give them the wallet,
and then I headed back to the hotel. I called
one of my friend friends to tell them about it
that night, as it was just such a crazy situation.
It's pretty obvious he was either trying to rob me
or steal my car, But I find myself still questioning
what the purpose of the wallet was, as it didn't
seem to have any real significance. Anyways, I'm just happy
that I was able to make it out safely and
without losing anything. I always carry a small pocket knife
with me whenever I go for walks now, as you
never know what crazy situations you can find yourself in.
It was near the end of October last year, which
always makes for the best hiking weather as it's not
too hot and not too cold. I had a group
of friends that i'd go hiking with a lot, but
most of them had jobs with no set schedules, which
would make it hard to find days where we could
plan a hike together, so often I'd go for some
shorter hikes alone and just enjoy the peace and quiet.
I had the weekend off, so I found a nice
hiking and camping trail nearby and drove up there on
Saturday morning. I had actually been on this trail a
couple years before and had always wanted to go back.
It was a loop trail, so it basically went into
a big circle from the start, and it was around
a day and a half long. I parked my car
in a small gravel parking lot and made my way
up to the trailhead. The first few miles were flat
and mainly just went through grassy fields before eventually leading
into a forest at the bottom of a small mountain.
At this point, it was probably midday and I was
well into the forest when I saw a man walking
up ahead. He was too far for me to tell
at first if he was walking towards her, away from me,
but as I continued forward, I realized he was walking
towards me. This wasn't a very popular trail, and the
last time I hiked it, I don't think I saw anyone,
but it was the weekend, and I figured maybe he
just had the same idea as me. As he got closer, though,
I noticed he didn't have a backpack on, and this
was pretty unusual, as I was probably six or seven
hours down the trail and there was no way someone
would go this far without even a water bottle. He
waves at me once he's a few feet ahead. I
returned the gesture to be polite, but still being cautious
due to being in such an isolated area. As he passes,
I hear his footsteps stop and the dirt crumble, as
if he turned around. I looked back, and sure enough,
he's facing me, and then he asks me something really strange,
where's your group at? I wasn't sure how to respond,
as all I could really think about was whether this
stranger knew that I usually had a group, or if
he was just trying to figure out that I was alone.
Either way, it was unsettling and made me really nervous,
I responded, telling him that they were on their way
a couple minutes behind me. I couldn't think of anything
else to say, but I definitely didn't want this man
to think that I was alone. Good, he replied, then
smiled and began walking again. I continued on in the
opposite direction, further down the trail. A few hours went by,
and I spent most of the time thinking about that
guy and how weird the whole situation was. The fact
that he didn't have a backpack so deep into the
hike made the whole thing even more unsettling. I decided
i'd find a good place a little ways off the
main trail to set up my campgrounds, just to be safe.
I found a nice flat area about half a mile
from the trail and pitched my small tent. The sun
was starting to set, so I sat outside my tent
and just tried to stop thinking about the guy. I
had a prepacked lunch made for the trip, so I
got that out and finished it before laying in the
tent to try and get some sleep. I was laying
there for probably over an hour, unable to sleep, before
I started to hear footsteps coming from the trees behind
my tent. I froze listening to them moving towards me.
I tried to reason with myself in my head that
it was probably just some animal or something, but the
steps were all too recognizable as a person's. It sounded
like they were fifteen to twenty feet away when they
suddenly stopped. I waited there for what felt like hours,
laying still and listening intently, with my heart racing, but
there were no more footsteps. I knew they had to
be waiting nearby, as I would have heard the footsteps
fade out if they had left. Eventually, four hours had
passed and the sun was just starting to rise. I
knew I had to get out of here at some point,
and I was so tired that I was questioning if
maybe i'd somehow just not heard the footsteps going away.
I unzipped the tent and lifted the flap up a
little to peek outside, but I didn't see anything, so
I got out and looked around. It was very quiet
and the trees were blocking most of my view, but
from what I could see, nobody was there. After a
few minutes, I cautiously packed up my tent, still looking
around frequently, as I was definitely on edge and every
small noise would make me jump. I attached my tent
to my bag and started heading back towards the trail
as quick as I could, but I only made it
a few steps before noticing clear footprints in the dirt
just behind a tree that was right by where I
had my tent. I began panicking and didn't even look
for any more footsteps as I sprinted towards the trail.
I was terrified now as I knew there was someone
stalking me in the middle of an isolated forest, hours
away from anywhere safe. Once I got back to the path,
I quickly began walking back down the way I came.
It was probably quicker at this point just to continue down,
but I figured that whoever was watching me would probably
be waiting for me to continue that way. Luckily, nothing
else happened the whole way back to my car, which
I didn't get to until nearly sunset. I told my
friends about the strange man and what I heard and saw,
and they all said that I was lucky to get
out of there without anything else happening. I contacted the
police just to report the suspicious activity on the trail,
but not much was able to get done about it.
I'm definitely more cautious when hiking and camping, though, and
I rarely go without my group of friends anymore. I
will never know what that guy's true intentions were, and
I hope nobody else has to know either,