Unusual encounters in the wilderness

[louis_last]

I've heard a story about a gentleman who was trapped in the wild and he believes that during one of his darkest hours a huge black dog appeared to him and said that if he asked, it could get him out, I don't know if this story is true and if so whether it was just the psychological effects of isolation and exposure but I did myself once encounter something very strange in the mountains in Scotland and to the best of my knowledge my mental faculties had not been compromised at the time.
Obviously there are strong mythologies in the British isles surrounding various 'supernatural' creatures, including black dogs, but if you try to look into any contemporary reports or theories you tend to get swamped in conspiracy theories about aliens and inter dimensional beings. I don't buy into any of that stuff and frankly most of the people who adhere to these ideas come across as leaning towards the padded cell end of the eccentric spectrum but none the less I consistently fail to come up with a rational explanation for what I experienced.
What I would like to know is if anybody else has ever seen anything out there away from human habitation that makes you suspect there might be more to the world than meets the eye? It seems that people who spend so much time in the wilderness are the best people to ask.
Also I do of course love bushcraft, hence joining the forum.

 

[British Red]

Weird stuff happens alright. A little over a quarter of a century or so ago I was backpacking around Skye. Was out one night brewing up when along comes this bloke and sits down.

"Wotcha" says he.

"Evening" says I, "Beautiful spot".

"Thanks" says he "I like it".

We chat on for a bit.

"Here", says I, "you look just like that bloke out of Jethro Tull"

"Ian Anderson?" he enquired

"Yep - thats him" says I

"Pleased to meet you" says Ian Anderson

 

[Mike Ameling]

I have a bunch of friends that do Living History reenactments that have had ... encounters ... while camped on old battlefields - especially when they are pulling a night watch out where the battle lines were. Ghostly lights and shapes, and even meeting and talking with other soldiers who did not exist.

I myself have had ... feelings and touches on the shoulder ... to guide me through some areas of the woods. Often to guide me safely around dangerous obstacles or dead-ends. Plus there are certain areas of the woods/ridges near me that the coyotes always congregate on, and some they never go near.

And yes, I have occasionally woken up at oh-dark-thirty feeling a dog snuggled up and sleeping next to me. Yet I do not have a dog, and there were no sign or tracks of it in the morning. I just mark it down as Loki play a mild joke on me - or also wanting a little company for a nap.

And, occasionally, when we are setting or dancing round the campfire late at night, we have seen (and yet not really seen) an extra person joining the group for a time.

Am I nuts? Probably - depending upon your definition. But I also know there are ... spirits ... that also walk this earth, and if you open your mind enough you can hear them. Whether you follow their advice is your concern.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Chinkapin]

Go to: http://paranormal.about.com/ and then choose "True Tales." There are 10 or so per month and the back months are also listed. If you read these you will come to the realization that there are way more crazy people than you ever dreamed possible or there is way more weird things happen to ordinary folks every day than is ever reported. American Indians had many beliefs about strange creatures and beings that inhabited the woods of North American. Giants, dwarfs (remarkably similar to to Ireland's), tricksters, etc. Indians inhabiting the Ozark mountains sometimes felt being "watched" to the point of complete panic and fleeing until they dropped from exhaustion. I have never seen anything out of the ordinary in the woods, but I don't discount it either.

 

[louis_last]

I think there ARE far more crazy people than we might tend to assume but also 'paranormal' websites seem to attract them like a magnet, my problem is that if somebody told me that they had seen what I saw, there's no way in hell I would believe them but I'm also compelled to find out if anybody else has seen the same thing or something similar. I think I probably lean towards Mike's point of view about spirits, there's definitely more in heaven and earth than exists in my philosophy anyway.

 

[korvin karbon]

nobody seen the naked rambler then

as for a presence of others, never had that.

 

[Shewie]

There`s a bare footed monk who`s beeen walking the north of England since I was a kid.

EDIT:

Oh my god (excuse the pun), he`s even got his own Facebook page with over 9000 members.

 

[Sniper]

I've never seen or heard anything like that in all my life but I have in the past had strange feelings in certain spots while sitting quietly on my own. Nothing tangible, just feeling the place was'nt quite right even though it was a good spot with everything I needed around, a sort of uneasy feeling. It would only last a few minutes before I would give myself a shake and tell myself to get a grip, but the feeling would'nt shift. I've never moved because of the feelings but never have I returned to those places either. Yes I know it was most likely all in the mind but those places where I felt uneasy regardless of how good a spot it was to site my camp, I just never enjoyed but I could'nt tell you why.

 

[Sniper]

nobody seen the naked rambler then

In the summer if I'm in a remote spot with my solar shower set up, and I've been there a couple of days, might have been me, now that IS a gruesome sight.

OK I'll get me dressing gown!

 

[wicca]

I'm not sure if this comes within the scope of your post louis_last but this is a memory that will always stay with me. In late summer 2006 just before I sailed from the UK bound for Portugal I decided to wander off on one of my rambles. I'm not a Bushcrafter, I backpack and wild camp and on this occasion decided on an easy one. To walk back from Hampshire along the South Downs Way, a ' National Trail ' Not difficult, but some of the uphill bits make you puff a bit, well they do me anyway, with 4 days rations, water and camping gear in my bergen ..

Camped well off the trail, I made a final check before turning in and was more than a bit surprised to see 2 Roe Deer within 60 feet of the tent standing almost like some heraldic pose beside this thorn tree. One each side, looking down at something. I'm familiar with their habits, I often see them feeding along the woodland edge, these seemed to ignore my tent completely. Of course by the time I had the camera, they were gone, not panicked, just slowly moved away.

Dark now, I went to the tree with a torch and what I saw at first startled me.
I slept well though, my beliefs fully accept the spirits of nature, in fact I had a feeling that I had company. The following morning I took these photos.

Who is she? I know she's almost certainly a garden ornament, but heavy though! especially heavy to carry a long way up onto the High Downs. Does she mark the grave of a loved pet? Is she a memorial to a lost child perhaps? And why were the Roe Deer seemingly just standing there?Almost as if on guard? Whatever the answer, to me she was where she should be, asleep in the warm English sunshine, where I left her undisturbed.. To me she will always be the Downland Fairy. wicca.

 

[novembeRain]

I've had "feelings" outdoors and occasionally wondered if I'd seen something but couldn't be sure.

Where I used to live, I took to shooting out of the bedroom window into the big field behind the house with my .22 rimfire, sticking to a maximum of about 80yds I swear EVERYTHING I shot would drop and stay down only to run away a few minuits later, phesants, rabbits, partridge (naughty, I know) anything! The only thing I managed to get in the cooking pot was a hare but even that took 8 hits to the head and chest before it gave up! I gave up, I decided if what was in that field wouldn't die, who was I to try to change that.

Shortly after that, a couple of years ago, I started working at a powder coating place. Basicly, you spray powdered plastic (charged with static) onto metal and bake it at about 200'c in an oven the size of a garage (6m x 2.5m inside). The heat would erm, collect, in certain areas - especially the upstairs storeroom at the opposite end of the building. On a number of occasions I noticed a man stood just on the edge of my vision, always dressed in a black suit and stood still and always in the "hot spots" but he'd dissappear when I looked round. One of the guys ran out of the spray-booth one day begging not to be made to go back in there, he'd looked down at his side and seen a little boy stood there! And I was once stood waiting for the powder to "cure" in the oven, typing a text message on my phone when I saw a shadow approach me. Fully expecting a telling off for not doing anything, I looked up to find I was alone.

So, yes I believe in these "things" but I'm a little unsure how I feel about them. If I ever discuss it at length, I "fill up" like I'm about to cry - I don't feel sad, and I don't do anything to incite it. THAT I find spookyist of all.

 

[firecrest]

not really had anything happen to me. I remember watching shipwrecked (or is it castaway?) where they put young nubile students on an island to compete with another island.
well the island used to be a leper colony and two constestants both had dreams of being chased by people with limbs missing.

 

[louis_last]

These must all make for some great stories round the camp fire, that account of the deer with the statue is pretty cool wicca, was the statue made of metal?.
I can really relate to the description of strong feelings when recounting the event as the hairs on the back of my neck still stand up when I think about what I saw.
I think probably a lot of encounters with seemingly impossible beings or creatures can be put down to hallucination of some sort but it's always harder to accept that explanation when you're not the only person seeing something, in my case both myself and my companion saw exactly the same thing and the dog appeared to have a strong reaction to it too, I had always imagined the text book 'strange beast' encounter to be fleeting and uncertain or for 'monsters' to have a sort of faint ghostly quality to them but the creature we saw didn't seem in any hurry to get away, in fact it followed us and we had a completely un-obstructed view of it for about 5 minutes before it walked into a cliff face. For me the most frustrating aspect of the experience is just the fact that I will never really understand it, especially if it was purely created by our minds, I suppose sometimes it's just necessary to accept these things for what they are and try not to over think it. Has anybody heard of the grey man 'fear liath mor?' that's almost exactly what we came across but not on ben Mcdhui.

 

[Fonly]

neat Idea guys,

I think the weirdest thing that happend to me was while back east. I was on some family property, was heading out to check a few snares, and I heard a few voices. I stopped and litend and it sound more and more like a radio channel playing, there was music and then the announcers inbetween the songs. It was kinda distubing considering I was 15k from any house(which would have been mine) and it was family property, so I would have knowen who was there, but there was noone. I looked for the location of the sound, but its was like to just kept moving around me, at this time I was ready to go home.

 

[durulz]

What a fascinating thread.
I'm essentially a materialist (in its philosophical sense rather than the economic sense- it means I only believe in the physical). However, I have long held a deep interest in the psychical and occult because...well, because it makes a good read.
But even the physical world can provide possible answers to these phenomenon. We are probably all familiar with the world of the ancient Greeks, and how natural spots, be they pools of water, a copse of trees, a group of rocks etc, often had a nymph associated with them.
More often than not, these nymphs would be female.
Psychologists have offered explanations about this. The Freudian argument is that some young Greek lad, whilst out for a stroll, stops by a pool and rests beneath a tree in the afternoon sun. There he is, by the pool on a summer's day. Quite naturally, his thoughts turn to how much better it would be if there was some 'up for it' young lady with him. And so he sits there, imagining some beautiful, naked, young lady bathing in the pool. And so powerful is this thought (I'm sure you'll agree) that he leaves a kind of 'thought blueprint' in the area.
Now, later, along comes someone else. They also rest beneth the tree and somehow psychically pick up on the previous young man's thoughts and they too believe they can see a ghostly young lady bathing in the pool.
This theory has been extended to visions of ghostly phenomenon and many other kinds of visions - that is, we somehow 'tune in' to the radio waves left behind by someone else's thought patterns. Not necessarily erotic, but intense nonetheless.
An interesting theory.

 

[Shewie]

For me the most frustrating aspect of the experience is just the fact that I will never really understand it, especially if it was purely created by our minds, I suppose sometimes it's just necessary to accept these things for what they are and try not to over think it. Has anybody heard of the grey man 'fear liath mor?' that's almost exactly what we came across but not on ben Mcdhui.

Check this out Louis

http://www.biggreyman.co.uk/

 

[wicca]

Louis, the little statue was made of some kind of dense stone or fine concrete and weighed maybe 8-10 lbs. She had been there a long time, the grass underneath was long dead and there was the usual collection of beetles and worms living on the bare soil.

 

[Treeclipper]

I have seen something similar to the Black dog with a couple of friends about 10yrs ago. We were out on an allnighter in our local area, we had a nice little fire going and were well settled in for the night ,no alcohol was present, as far as I remember we were about to start telling some tales & one of my friends thought he saw something just outside the circle of light. We all had a look and sure enough it looked like a large dog circling us just outside the firelight, we got up a couple of times to chase it away or see exactly what it was ,but it always just stayed on the edge of sight .
After about 15minutes of this it was begining to bother us a bit ,but the clincher was when it came back just to the edge of the firelight and stood up on its hind legs and growled, I bet you've never seen 3 grown men run as fast in your whole life, I don't think we looked back until we got in the car lol.
The 3 of us talk about this occasionally but none of the 3 of us want to say what we thought we saw , but all admit that when were are in that same area we never stay around for long after dusk.

I've seen a few other things but I must admit this one freaked me out & still does when I think about it.

 

[HillBill]

I wasn't going to reply to this thread, but on the replys given i feel i should contribute.

I have had many experiences that are not something i would openly discuss, i have tried explaining them but got the usual reactions so now i don't bother.

Firstly, let me explain about the human eye. From a young age we are taught how to use our eyes, taught how to 'see' properly, by focusing both pupils on an object. This is the standard way how everybody 'looks and sees'. This is all well and good, only there are many ways to use our eyes which we are not taught and using our eyes in this one way damages them. When your in the woods at night and its dark and you look at something it kind of dissapears from view, you look to the side or above/below it to see i clearly, correct? This is the damage caused by how we use our eyes. The peripherals work far better than the centre of vision for certain things. It's entirely possible to train your eyes to work in many different ways. Think of them as a camera lens with adjustable focus etc, different settings = different picture from the same view. With practice its possible to have complete control over the adjustment of all aspects of the eye. Trust me when you can do this you really can see things that are lets say out of the ordinary.

Take auras for example, to some they exist to most its all a load of tripe. But thats all perspective, the auras are always there. most just can't see them because they aren't looking 'properly' they don't know how to adjust there eyes to get the image. Then you get labeled as a nutter because your seeing things. Well, are you guys all nutters because you have seen things others have not???? No you are aren't if anything you are privelaged to experience the other things that share our world that we have little understanding of, i don't believe it's random either, people can be chosen to see these things for reasons we will never know. Also i think it's got something to do with the mind and its unconscious side that we have no control over.

My experiences are many and varied, but i have an open mind these days especially after Africa and the things that happened there, in fact i'd say more than open i'd say accustomed. I accept strange things, i used to believe i was going mad indeed it would have been a releif at the time for that to be true but i wasn't and time has proved that.

In Africa, we were on patrol one day when we came accross a small village, as is custom we stopped off for a quick chat with the head honcho and a rest. As i was getting water, a group of women and children were also at the well. It wasn't until after i'd drawn water and turned to leave that i saw an old woman sat in the shade against a hut wall. What drew my attention to her was that she was pointing at me and telling me to come to her. As i got closer i realised she was blind, bit strange then that she knew where i was and her hand was aimed staight at me. I went over and offered her a drink and she thanked me by my name. The thing that freaked me out was that she used my REAL name and not my legion one ( nobody in my unit knew my real name btw) ok i thought ***. Then she asked me to sit a while, which i did. The conversation that followed shook me to the core ( and for weeks afterwards). She knew things about me, she had been waiting for me, she had a message and a request for me. The request i agreed to and the message i now live my life by. I left that village reeling. A week later we passed through the village again and i sought counsel with the woman but i was told she had died the night we left last week. Then a woman started talking to me in the local language and i didn't have a clue what she was saying. She looked at me perplexed and asked how i had a conversation with the woman who died. We spoke english i said. The old woman didn't know english apparently and whats more she hadn't spoke to anyone for years, and yet i spoke to her for a while in perfect english. The contents of the conversation are not going to be given out especially on the net. It affected me so much it changed the course of my life big time. Her departing words linger in my ears to this day.

"Go with your companion Englishman, keep yourself alive for your country will soon need it's three lions."

Make of it what you will, but they are the words she used.

 

[korvin karbon]

HillBill, thanks for sharing that, i believe in spirituality more than enforced religous dogma. There are things that cannot be explained and that is what makes life interesting. Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.