National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 1

Episode Date: February 22, 2021

Gather round as we share stories from you, to you in our first ever listener episode! From UFOs to the paranormal, spooky findings and search and rescue missions, you really nailed it! All stories shared with the permission of submitting partiesWe love our National Parks and we know you do too but when you're out there, remember to enjoy the view but watch your back. Please take a moment to rate and subscribe from wherever you’re listening to NPAD! Become part of our Outsider family on Patreon to gain access to ad-free episode, bonus content and more. Follow our socials Instagram, Facebook , and Twitter. To share a Trail Tale, suggest a story, access merch and browse our book recommendations - head over to our website.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, everybody, and welcome back to National Park After Dark. My name is Danielle. And my name's Cassie. And we are very excited to have you guys back this week because we are doing our listener episode. And we had a lot of people write into us with some really cool stories. So Danielle and I both chose two that we wanted to read to you today. Yeah. And we did receive a bunch of submissions through our website and our email and through Instagram. But because of duration of the episode, we just wanted to keep it kind of short and sweet. So we did only choose to each. So if you did send something into us, please know that we did read it and we did discuss them. We discussed each and every one. And we loved all, we loved every story. Yeah. They were all very interesting. And we were really

surprised at the different topics that were sent in. We were really blown away. So we just want to thank you. And obviously, we will be keeping those in our inbox. So we will share them in future listener episodes. We hope to do this once a month or so. Yeah. Depending on how many stories we get, we did get quite a few this time. And it was cool because I don't think we even got any that were in the same park, did we? Like, they're all near national parks, but none of them were in the same location. Yeah, that's true, actually. Yeah, kind of from all over the place. Yeah, and they're all different, too. We have paranormal. We have national park like search and rescue ones. We have a UFO story. It was really cool because we got a variety of stuff. So we chose four today that we wanted to read to you

guys. So, and we don't want to butcher these stories or mess anything up with them. So we're actually just going to read straight from the emails that everyone sent us. Yeah, exactly. So if you have a story of your own that you are wanting to send in after you hear some stories from others, please write us an email. You can find us at NPAD podcast at gmail.com. And our emails on our Instagram too, you can click the email link or I just added a link to our Instagram that has links to our website. M-P-A-D-P-A-D-P-A-D-P. podcast.com. It also has links to our Patreon, and it also has a link to where you can listen to our episodes too. So if you go on to National Park After Dark, our Instagram page, you can pretty much get to every link from there. Let's get going. Yeah, so I guess I'll start. Our first one that I

want to read is from one of our listeners named Robin, and she had a story for us from Yellowstone National Park, which we were super excited about just because of the location. And I'm sure you all will be too because I think all of us are following the Torons of Yellowstone now. It's an entertaining page for sure. And if you didn't follow it from our last episode that we talked about in Yellowstone, follow it now, Torons of Yellowstone. It's so funny and unfortunately very entertaining for the shit you see in Yellowstone. And we won't go into more than that because you all heard our tangent of Yellowstone and stuff. But Torans is just a funny way to look at it, I guess. But anyway, my first story is from Robin. So, hi, ladies. I found your podcast through a hiking group that I'm part of. Great show. You asked if anyone out there had ghost stories about national parks. So here it goes. Seven years ago, my husband and I took our kids on the first of many cross-country road trips in an RV. We stayed at Yellowstone National Park for several nights. My oldest daughter, Ella, was about five years old at the time. One night while we were camping in our RV in Yellowstone.

Ellen woke me up. It was around 2 a.m. and her little hand was digging into my arm. She was terrified. I asked her what was going on and she pointed to the other side of the RV. She said, do you see him? It's an Indian. He's huge. Side note. She now knows that Native American is a more appropriate term, but she didn't at the time. She's five. Understandable. We'll give her a pass for five. Forgive her. She was practically curled up on my head at this point. She was practically curled up on my head at this point. and was clearly scared. I told her that I couldn't see anything and asked her to describe what she saw. She was whispering to me because she was scared that he would hear her. She said, he's tall. He has feathers on his head and marks on his face. He is wearing a brown skirt. And she said that he had some type of carved weapon on his belt. She kept pointing to him and asking me to look really hard. She couldn't believe I couldn't see him. I was a little freaked out, but also somewhat used to the fact that she occasionally saw people that I couldn't see. I had experienced this type of thing with her in the past. She's very intuitive and apparently it's not abnormal for kids to pick up on things that

adults wouldn't. I asked her if she felt like he might be nice and just coming by to check us out. That calmed her down a bit, as she did think he seemed nice. I told her that if she was scared she could politely ask him to leave since he was making her nervous. She was too scared to do that and whispered in my ear asking me if I could ask him to leave. I polite. said, if anyone is in here, we ask that you leave. My daughter is feeling nervous. According to Ella, he was gone as quickly as he arrived. Funny enough, after he left, Ella started to feel bad that we asked him to go. She had come to the conclusion that he was probably just a nice man who was curious. It took us a while to get back to sleep, though. The next day, Ella woke up

determined to find him again. She looked all around the campground in the woods and over by the lake. She never saw him again. Ella is now 12 years old, and I asked her last night if she remembered the story. She absolutely remembered it like it was yesterday. She even remembered what he looked like and that she wanted to find him the next day. So there's our ghost story. You ladies, keep up the good work, and I'll let you know if we encounter another spirit on our travels in the future. Robin.

Robin. I know. So nicely written, too. I know. It flowed well. I was intrigued the whole time. and there's just something about children in the paranormal that has such a creep factor, but also it's so intriguing because they are clearly seeing something that you are not.

And I know you see it all the time with children being more in touch with paranormal and spirits and communication with things that we have either lost the ability to see or never had the ability to see. And it's just fascinating. Yeah. The amount of detail that she goes into seeing this Native American man sitting across from them just makes you know she actually saw something. Kids don't come up with something so detailed and actively being so emotionally scared that she didn't see something. Like, I 100% believe that she did see a ghost that night. And I thought that story was so cool because I am a believer.

I've never seen a ghost. but I love hearing stories of people who have because it just reinforces my belief in paranormal. Yeah, and that there's more to life than just this dimension or this realm or whatever you want to call it. And I think that's a really special experience that Ella had. And for her to remember it now, however many years later, seven years later, that's a really special experience that you should hold close to you, Ella. So thank you, Robin for writing that in. Okay, so I'm going to bring us over to Washington. Ooh, your neck of the woods.

My neck of the woods. Hi, love the podcast and can't wait for the next episode. I wanted to share my story for Olympic National Park. I had actually forgotten about this incident until a few months ago when I was listening to another spooky stories podcast, and someone shared almost the identical story. Suddenly, the memories of this weird night came flooding back. It was the early mid-to-1990s, and me and my then-husband went on a weekend backpacking trip up Lena Lake Trail.

We'd intended to camp at Lena Lake, which was about three miles up the trail, but it was full of campers. We continued up the trail towards Upper Lena Lake, planning to find a place to camp along the way. Unfortunately, pickings were slim as it was a busy weekend on the trail. I hear that. Washington trails. I am coming to find out.

are very busy. That's what I noticed out in, I mean, I guess not when I was out in Washington, but just anywhere out west in popular areas, the trails just get so packed. And I understand why. I mean, it's just, it's gorgeous here and it's unlike anywhere else in the country, but it can get overwhelming with the amount of people. Yeah, it's so different than the East Coast, too, because I go out on trails all the time and I see like one person here. As the day grew later, we found a campsite next to the river, but most of it was. occupied by a large group of around 10 to 12 Boy Scouts and some Boy Scout leaders, aka Dads.

Such a dad thing to do. Such a cute dad thing to do. I know. It wasn't the quiet, idyllic retreat we had been looking for, but at this point, we were tired, hungry, and just wanted a place to camp. We pitched our tent as far away from the Scouts as we could, maybe about 30 feet from them. Since our little patch of ground was literally feet from the river, the sounds of the water

drowned out a lot of the scout noise and we were able to eventually drift off to sleep. At some point during the night, we were awakened to what we thought were a couple of flashlights shining across our tent. We were annoyed, thinking it was the scouts trying to prank us. My husband yelled at them, but the lights didn't stop. He decided to get up and give them a piece of his mind, putting his shoes on and exiting the tent. Shortly after, he mumbled something like, oh shit. And then I heard another man's voice, one of the scout dads from farther away, say, what the fuck is that? My husband kept loudly whispering at me, get out here, get out here. So I hurried outside to look. He pointed at the river. Hovering over the river in the pitch darkness was a large,

dark, saucer-like object. It could not have been more than 30 feet off the river and was barely moving as it drifted oh so slowly upriver from our camp. I mean, she just painted. I mean, she just painted. It's such a, I feel like I'm there. Like I can... I feel like I can see what she's talking about. Every few seconds, it would shoot a few beams of light into the forest, sometimes on our side of the river, sometimes on the other. Our minds tried to rationalize what it was.

By this time, the scout dad was also standing with us. We figured it was some kind of search and rescue helicopter, but it made no sound, and it was not shaped like a helicopter. Maybe we thought it was a search plane. Again, it made no sound and was. not the shape of a plane. We shined our flashlights at it, but they didn't penetrate the darkness enough to reach it. We stood there watching it for several minutes until it disappeared around a bend in the river. Then the three of us spent several more minutes trying to rationalize what it was. It's funny.

The term UFO wasn't ever mentioned. We were still in the mindset that it was some type of search and rescue vehicle looking for a lost hiker or something. I don't think we ever went back to sleep that night. The next morning, we cut our trip short and hiked back to our car. I remember when we asked a few people along the river if they heard about a search and rescue operation, but nobody had. When we got back to the parking lot, a Forest Service truck was there, so we asked the ranger about the search and rescue operation we had seen the previous night. He said there were no active search and rescues going on anywhere nearby at the time. When we were so insistent, he even used his radio to confirm this. When we told him what we had seen, he just shrugged.

I still have no idea 30 years later what we saw. When I heard the almost identical story on another podcast, I wondered if it might be the scout dad sharing his experience of that night. I've hiked many times since and had never had a similar experience again. Thank you for listening to my story, Jennifer. Wow. Jennifer. So cool. And so close to you.

So close to me, which is just, I mean, I look up into the sky every night and just, no matter where I am and just really hope I see something that I'm. I can't explain, but again, what an experience. And I thought about this after the first time I read it. And I think it's very interesting that during that entire time that they were standing there watching this phenomenon, whatever they were witnessing, nobody ever mentioned, like she said, they never mentioned UFO or aliens. Even though they couldn't identify what they were seeing, their minds didn't go immediately to that and they were trying to rationalize. Yeah, they were trying to find a logical reason for what

they were seeing. Right. Another thing about this is not to discredit children's stories or obviously our previous story just had an experience from a child, but these are adults. They know what they're seeing and they know it's not a plane. It's not a helicopter. It's not any type of aircraft that they can recognize. Yeah. And to imagine being in a situation like that where you are seeing something that you literally can't wrap your mind around and is right in front of you. And then you ask about it to other people and no one has any idea what you're talking about either. Like the people who would know if something was going on there. Yeah, that's nuts. And another thing that's really interesting about this is, like she said, she just heard this exact story being recounted on another podcast. So

obviously somebody that was with her, like she said, the scout dad or someone is a part of that other group, is recounting the same exact story as she remembers it and she has no idea who they are. So there are clearly other people that were involved that saw the same thing she did or her and her husband did at the time. And it has stuck in their memory for 30 years. And it's made that big of an impact that they're still thinking about it. I mean, I totally believe that there's life on other planets. There's no way that Earth is the only place that doesn't have, or that does have living beings on it. There has to be extraterrestrial life out there. And I think that they're probably just down here checking us out, seeing what we're doing, you know, doing their own research.

1,000%. It's not even up for debate in my mind. And to be honest, I'm not trying to exclude any group of people, but for people that are flat out refused that there is no possibility of life on other planets, other galaxies, other star systems, I don't have time for that to go back and forth with you. Not to single out any group, but if you don't believe in UFOs, you're wrong. It's not bad. It's not that. It's more so of extra-contrasture life can be anything from the typical, you know, E.T. aliens that we think of from movies down to amoebas on different planets. Yeah. Or water. Water with algae or... Right. So if you think that we are so special, get over it. Okay. Thank you, Jennifer. Again, that was a story that I will keep with me for a while, and especially the next time I'm in the park,

which hopefully is this weekend. Okay, so we'll go into our next listener story. And this one is coming from Zion National Park, which is really cool place. And I was stoked to hear a story. This one's a little sadder, but I was still stoked to hear a listener story from Zion. So this one is from one of our listeners named Sam. Hey guys, huge national park enthusiast here. Really been enjoying your podcast. I had an odd experience lately. I'll give you the quick version. I go to Zion usually twice every year to do big hikes. And in 2017, I was hiking the Angels Landing Trail super early in the morning with my friend Brian. You were driving from Denver to San Diego as Brian was relocating there for work. And he's one of my best friends and decided to hit some of the Utah parks. So anyway, to beat the crowds, we started before sunrise. and hiked with headlamps to the chain section.

And along the way, we randomly saw a credit card on the trail. It's a really vague memory, and I must have just picked it up and put it in my pocket and planned to give it to the front desk staff at the lodge in the park. So fast forward several years until three weeks ago, I've gained some weight and no longer am able to fit in the pants I was wearing that morning, and hadn't worn them since, apparently, and donated some of my gear that no longer fits to my twin brother. So he texts me the next day and says he found a credit card in the pocket, which at the time I didn't even remember about. So it all comes back to me, and out of curiosity, I Google the person's name on the credit card.

By this time, it's expired. And suddenly I see several articles pop up about this person. He was a Florida man named Tate Volino, who tragically fell to his death from the Angels Landing Trail just days before we were hiking and found his card. So creepy and really sad, but I thought the story was a long. lined with the ghost story slash mystery vibe you guys have going on. Anyway, I just thought I would share. I have other stories about hearing creepy things while hiking alone at night in remote areas and stuff like that too. Kudos on the work you're both putting into this podcast and thanks again. Sam. Thank you, Sam. Wow. Such a freaky coincidence.

I'm almost, if I were him, I would almost be happy. I found it three years later because if I found that right after it happened, that would freak me out. So true. I didn't even think about that. All I was thinking is what are the odds that you, I mean, when you're hiking and going through the parks or even anywhere and you see something, you know, garbage or litter, you pick it up and, you know, we all put in our packs, or hopefully we do, put in our packs and discard it later. I don't know if I would have even thought to Google the name, I guess.

Yeah. Three years later, obviously, if it was that day and I found a credit card, I was like, oh, man, and someone's probably missing this. I don't know. I'm such a creep. I would have gone on Facebook and Instagram and like looked up this person's whole family relationships. That day that you found it? Or even after? No, no, three years later. Oh, okay. All right. Yeah. I mean, I don't know, though. Like, I don't know. It's just, I just think that it is so, the stars have a aligned in such a weird way that the chances of you finding that, A, B, the chances of you finding it, and then losing it and then find it again three years later and deciding to Google the name

just for shits and giggles. And then you find out that that person had to literally just fall into their death right where you were hiking a couple days before you were there. I don't know. It's just the way that- Crazy coincidence. That all worked out is just really spooky. And I actually googled his name, too. And there are a lot of articles because he was an author in Florida. He wrote a couple books. And there were a lot of articles on him falling from Angels Landing. So it's a pretty, it seemed like at the time it was a pretty covered story that happened. It's tragic no matter who it happens to. And it happens to a lot of people there. You can count me out of Angels. On Angels. Not me. Not me. Not me. I. I am 100% down for Angel's Landing. I went and I was so close and I really wanted to hike it. And my best friend who I love dearly is very afraid of heights.

And we did not do Angels Landing for that reason. But I am so down for Angels Landing. Yeah, no, I'm with her. I can't. I just see people's GoPro footage of that. And even sitting in my living room watching it makes me nauseous. Like I can't even imagine. No, I love that feeling.

I love the, like, you look down over the edge and it's like this huge drop in your stomach. Sam, that was a great story. And I wonder what you, what did you do with that card? You keep it after. Or send it back to the family or. You mailing it to Danielle because she's wondering if she can add it to her collection of creepy shit. That I think is a little too creepy. I have a lot of dead things, but I don't know if I could deal with it.

There's just an added layer of goosebumps to that. This last story is titled Search and Rescue Story. Hello, love the podcast. I wanted to share a story involving search and rescue in Joshua Tree National Park. This is not my story, though I was there at the start. My parents and their dogs, photo of one included, are part of the Joshua Tree Search and Rescue team. Because of this, they are often in the park searching for lost hikers or rescuing injured ones. Many missing hikers perish due to injury or dehydration.

Some also die due to more nefarious reasons. The story is a bit of a mystery of which category it falls under. I was visiting my parents at the end of July in 2017. While there, my parents were called out to search for a missing pair of hikers. After over 2,000 hours of searching and many months, the bodies were finally found thanks to a rainstorm washing evidence into the open. After the bodies were recovered and an autopsy, was performed, it was confirmed that they died by gunshot. More specifically, murder suicide.

Here's where the mystery comes in. When found, the woman had evidence of a head injury and a bandage around her head, plus, you know, a bullet wound. Some claim the couple were found in an embrace. Note, those claiming this never actually saw the bodies, while other states, one body was simply lying on top of the other. The motive is still unknown. Was it an act of mercy? They had no water, and were injured, better a swift death, or was it a planned event? The man had been seen earlier in the summer mapping out the park. And the couple had broken up before the trip. My parents know much more, but couldn't tell me all of the details. But they do say some of the details reported are not completely true. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story, and now I must return to learning

about the caves in Kentucky, Tori. I will say right off the top. What a, what a note. I don't want to But what a fucking cool. What a fucking cool job or way to spend your free time or volunteer. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. I think that that's so cool. What fun little like retirement gig to do after like just spend your days outside helping

search and rescue. And hopefully like outside of this experience, you're actually rescuing people and not recovering them. Right. And with your dogs. That's so cool. And I just have to say, I really appreciate that she included a photo of their little search dog, a little golden with the hard hat on. In the search and rescue truck. In the search and rescue truck, just being like the goodness boy. We're cute. We'll post that picture because it just stole the show. Yeah. And you guys are probably like, stop baby talking. But you'll see the, you'll see the picture. And it'll be like, oh my God.

goodest, the goodness girl, the goodest boy. Exactly. It's so, that, that picture is awesome. And thank you to your parents or anybody out there that does volunteer your time to do search and rescue operations. Clearly, they're very important. 90% of the stories that we have read about, done stories on, are going to do future stories on, all center around acts. and tragedies that happen in national parks. And if it wasn't for people volunteering their time and dedicating some of their lives to search and rescue operations like that, a lot of people would not have happy endings. So thank you for that. I love these listener stories because there are stories that we would never know about or would be able to Google.

So we're going to end it at that. I know it was just kind of a little sampling, a little teaser. Yeah, a little short episode this week, but we kind of thought since our last episodes have all been like over an hour and a half each. Give you a little baby episode this week. And we really like, yes. But one last thing before we get out of here, we do have one last story that was on the longer side, but it was super interesting. It centered around. And we want to share it with our patrons. It's a cool, it's a cool story that is a little bit longer. So it will take up more time, but it's very detailed.

And we wanted our patrons to have a special story. If you are not a Patreon member, but you are interested in becoming one, you can go on our website, MPADPodcast.com, and sign up for our Patreon. Or you can go straight to our Instagram and there's a link to our, our website that will bring you to Patreon as well. That's it for this week's episode. If you have any listener stories, send them our way. If you have any questions, email us, DM us. We try and respond to each and every person. We really appreciate your support and we can't wait to come back next week. So enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye. Bye.

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