National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 12

Episode Date: August 25, 2022

Today's stories include sitting bears, family reunions, yellow bugs, and lost history. All stories shared with consent. We 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 episodes, 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. Thank you so much to our partners, check them out! Babbel - Learn a second language! Save 60% on your subscription when you use our link. Modern Fertility - Get $20 off your fertility test when you use our link!Upside - Use our code NPAD to get $5 or more cash back on your first purchase of $10 or more.Bombas - get 20% off your first purchase when you use our link! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hey everyone, welcome back to National Park After Dark Trail Tales Edition. This very special edition is the same as every Trail edition where you send us your stories and we read them right back to you. And it's just so much fun. And boy, do we have some stories today? Yes. And we always want more. So send them on over to our listener story email, which would be what.

Which Danielle knows what that is. It would be. It would be N-P-A-D stories.com. Oh, nice. Yeah, that is it. There it is. So send them on over. We would love to hear from you.

They never get old. and I have three ready for you today. Me too. I have three. And then we, as we've been doing a lot recently, we have an extra little bonus one for our Patreon members. So if three stories isn't enough and you want a fourth one, you can head on to our Patreon.

You can find it on our Instagram and our link or you can go to our website, MPADPodcast.com and go to our Patreon from there. All right. Do you want to go first or shall I? I can go first. Okay. I think I'm old now because. I have to change the font from like, I remember in college I used to have it at 12 or something

and I'd be reading it and now I'm like 24 is a good. 24. What? Okay, we're like 16, but yeah. Mine's at 12. You're crazy. I can't do 12 anymore. Keeping my eyes young, making them work.

Yeah. All right. So mine is called Bear sitting. Hi, Cassie and Danielle. hope you are both doing well. First off, I just want to say your podcast is awesome, and I listen pretty much every day on my bus or in my car on the way to work. Wish I discovered you guys at the start of the pandemic, but happy I found the pod now. Anywho, I would love to share a story from the East Coast that took place in Shenandoah National Park. Sorry, it's a bit long. Also, even if it doesn't

make it into the trail tales, hope you both enjoy it. It did. It made it. You made it. You made it. it baby here we are i live just about two hours from the park in virginia which is so great because my husband and i get to travel and camp in our little camper and two beagle pups often it's the best you both need to visit in case you haven't already loved your episode covering shannon doa too by the way i've been have you been to shanandoah no it's a it's a very cute little park and it's um it's very pretty i liked it a lot i enjoyed my time there about 10 years ago my husband kyle then boyfriend and I had a fun camping slash hiking trip with a group of friends to Shandanoa. This was in the spring.

We camped at Big Meadows Campground and hiked up to the campsite from a couple miles down the mountain. There were six of us so we kept changing who would be the leader and it was at this time during the hike that I took the lead. We were crossing over a waterfall in the park and tracked up a hill when I suddenly stopped as I saw two bear cubs charging towards me. They heard us and got scared, but one thing I was thinking to myself was, where was Mama? When I stopped the group, I looked down at the waterfall that we were now overlooking and saw a huge brown bear mama fishing in the water. Her head was massive.

Immediately I told Kyle at the time to grab the bear spray and so did our friend, and we all got ready to book it up the hill. As soon as we started to move, the mama bear looked right at me and we made a little. eye contact. Rather scary, I might add. She seemed disinterested and went back to her fishing. We all kept moving quickly up the hill. Clearly, we were all a bit shaken, but relieved that we made it back to the campsite to make our camp for the night. We had three tents on site. Ours is a smaller two-person backpacking tent. Can't believe we used to camp this way now upgrading to a camper. Got to start somewhere. I feel that's so hard since I got a bus. I'm like, I'm never sleeping on the ground ever again. get ready when we go to Alaska and Canada for like two months next year. Yeah, except for next year

when we're living outside on the ground. Yeah, except for that part. Yeah. Yeah. Enjoy it while you can. Yeah. We stayed up by the campfire roasting marshmallows and having drinks with our friends. It was a beautiful night and definitely got pretty chilly in the 50s. When we were ready to turn in for the night, we packed up the trash, put everything away, and went off to bed. In the early morning around 2 a.m., I suddenly awoke as I felt a warm, heavy weight on my right leg. It felt like an uncomfortable pressure about 50 to 60 pounds on my thigh. Since this was a two-person tent, there was not a lot of room and my husband was sleeping next to me on my left. I was definitely a bit confused and tried to problem solve what was

happening, especially since I was half asleep. Then I noticed that the tent was indented from the outside and I saw something move when I tried to move my leg. That was when I heard a low grunt and realized, oh my God, it's a bear. Oh my God. Just taking a seat. It's like a bear sitting on your lap while you're sleeping. Oh, bear sitting. It's full circle. I didn't know if it was like bear sitting like baby sitting. Bear sitting. Bear sitting. But it's actually a bear sitting down. It's physically a bear sitting on her fucking lap. Oh my God. Thank God I didn't have the fly open on the side of my tent because I definitely would have

screamed. I shook Kyle awake from his sleep and he honestly didn't believe me at first but as soon as we stopped to listen we heard the bear run away to another area in the campsite to what sounded like his mom. Definitely a cub and she was calling for him. That was a bit of a louder growl but luckily not near. us. Somewhat relieved and startled, I just sat there trying to figure out what had happened. Clearly, I had trouble falling back asleep, but eventually I did. The next morning, I couldn't

wait to tell our friends what had happened. Little did I know, another friend in our camp had a very similar experience over at her tent. She felt the same thing, heavy, warm weight on her leg from outside of the tent, but didn't wake so she fell back asleep and the weight went away. Clearly it was a little cub trying to get warm during the brisk night. It can get pretty cold in Chandonah in the evening. Although it may sound cute, this was definitely scary, especially if Mama was close by and thought her cub was in danger. Who knows how the story would have turned out.

The sad part is the reason that they were there in the first place was because we found out that the people were leaving out their trash and the bears were getting used to, one, humans and two, the free food. This bothered the heck out of me, and I know you both have spoken about how much this upsets you to when humans interfere with natural habitat of animals. Oh, by the way, totally following that Torons of Yellowstone IG account, which is both frightening and funny. Thanks for the recommendation. Hope you get to visit the East Coast soon to see New River Gorge in Shenandoah National Parks. Cheers and happy trails and camping adventures to come.

Whoa, I don't think that sounds cute. I think it sounds terrifying. Me too. I think that sounds so scary. I mean, there's kind of a small little cute aspect to it. It was like, oh, little baby cups just came to sit on your lap in the middle of the night to snuggle up and be warm. But it's not a dog. I was just going to say, if Blue was a bear, he would be that particular bear. He always sits right on top. I mean, that bear had the whole ass woods to go sit anywhere he wanted. But yeah, he had to be right on top of multiple people in a tent. You know, like Blue would totally do that. He always sits right on your face or right on your chest.

At Blue, for anyone who doesn't know, is one of my two dogs, and he's like 60 pounds. He's not a lap dog, but he thinks he is. He's a lap dog. He wants to be one. Yeah. I allow it. Yeah. This episode is brought to you by Prime.

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Watch only on Prime. I have one that has nothing to do with bears, but it does have to do with something that I offhandedly talked about. like I honestly forget which episode. I think it was like it was definitely the first handful of them. And it was a book, of course, obviously. Of course. Of course.

So you may not remember it because we didn't do an entire episode on it. It was just a side kind of chat. But I was really thrilled to get this email because it brought that back. So this one, this one begins. Howdy Danielle and Cassie? My name is Maria and I live in Dallas, Texas. I've been listening to your podcast for a little over a year and have enjoyed your stories. I really appreciate the time and the effort you put into the research for each story.

Y'all are amazing. Thank you. Thank you. It's very nice. I have a trail tale for you from a recent trip my husband, 12-year-old son, and I took last week. It's not scary, but it's pretty wheels off, so I hope you enjoy it. Here's a little backstory and history before we get right into it, because the history leads into my story. I recently finished reading Empire of the Summer Moon.

It's about Quana Parker, who is the son of Cynthia Ann Parker. In 1836, when Cynthia Ann Parker was just nine years old, she was kidnapped by a Comanchee war band and raised by Comanchees. Long story short, she assimilated and considered herself a Comanche and had no desire to return to her white family or culture. She married Chief Pita Nukana, and they had a son, Quana Parker, in 1845. I won't get into too much detail about the history. That could be a full episode of National Park After Dark, as the Comanches, aka Lords of the Plains, were in much of Texas, southwest Oklahoma, and parts of New Mexico and Colorado. Also, the development of the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Oklahoma was established by President Roosevelt largely due to

his successful relationship with Kwanah Parker. So that's the tie in Empire of the Summer Moon. Do you remember talking about that? I totally remember you talking about that book. God, I love that book. The Wildlife Refuge isn't a national park, but I guess we could say it's a national park adjacent. Quana Parker, as an adult and Comanchee chief, was widely respected by the Comanches, and also whites. He knew how to protect and take care of his fellow Comanchees, but also knew how to work with U.S. politicians, and he was known as a perpetual optimist. Skipping ahead, Quana's estate, known as the Star House, because it had giant white stars painted on the roof, was built in 1890 at Fort Stil in Lawton, Oklahoma, by White Cattlemen. He wanted a house that was suitable to his high-ranking

position among the Comanchees. Kwana died in the home in 1911. One of his family members stayed in the home for a few decades after his death, but the Star House was eventually sold to an individual who moved into his property in 1958. After that owner passed away, the property, including the Star House, was left to his nephew. And here is where my story begins. July 17th to the 20th, 2022, we are visiting the little town of Medicine Park, Oklahoma. It's located in southwest Oklahoma about three hours northwest of Dallas, Texas.

It's a super whimsical town with a lot of history. The nearby Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, Lake Latonka, and Mount Scott offer some great outdoor recreational opportunities. This area is steeped in Comanche history. Kwanah Parker's legacy is well preserved in southwest Oklahoma. This time of year is not ideal for outdoor activities, but it wasn't going to stop me from trying to visit Kwana Parker's Star House. I read online about how to schedule a tour there.

The information said that visitors needed to show up at the trading post at 2 p.m. And the owner can take visitors on a private tour. That seemed like a little unorthodox, so I called to confirm. When I called the owner, whose name I am excluding, but you can easily find online, was direct and stated that we can show up at 2 and he might need to start the tour later because he was to wait until the last customer leaves. He also made sure to mention to me it was literally the hottest day of the year. The temperature forecast was to be 111 degrees that day.

Oof. It's way too many degrees. Anything above 80 and I'm upset. I told him that I knew it was going to be really hot, but this was our only day to check it out and we'd be quick. So we showed up at 2 p.m. to the trading post. The trading post is a really, really run-down diner and gift shop at the front of a defunct amusement park and campground. When we arrived, the owner who was also the cook, server, cashier, gift store attendant, and tour guide,

informed us that he just got some customers, so we had to wait until at least 2.30 for the tour. We killed time by running to the ATM after reading a sign that the trading post said donations were accepted after the tour, and we didn't have much cash on us. When we got back, we still had more time to kill, so we looked into the windows of the gift shop, which is dark and obviously closed. It's completely a mess with boxes everywhere and items that looked really old.

More on that to come. Once his customers finished eating, the owner cleared the table, locked the restaurant, and put his dog, a super cute dog named Bandit, in the gift shop and locked the door. He told us to follow him to the truck and he'd show us the way.

He hopped in, we got into our Subaru outback and followed him to a locked gate. He got out of his truck, unlocked the gate, pulled his truck forward, and we followed him in. He stopped, hopped out, and lock the gate behind us. I half jokingly said to my husband, I hope we don't end up on dateline. As we followed him down the dirt road to his property, we saw a myriad of rusted and broken down farm equipment, vehicles, and amusement park rides. We also saw some livestock in the shade that luckily had a few small ponds in the vicinity. We had gone about a half mile. We came to another gate that needed to be opened.

But this one wasn't locked. He parked in front of it, so we parked behind him. He opened up the gate and proceeded to start walking. He didn't look back or wait for us. My son and I were wearing flip-flops, but brought socks and shoes and quickly put on our socks and shoes. My son didn't even have time to tie them before the owner was. out of view. My husband was ahead of me and my son and I ran to catch up. As we caught up to my husband and the owner, we were in what looked like an overgrown pasture with completely dilapidated

historical buildings, including Jesse James's brother's house, an old school house, a church, etc. The largest of the dilapidated structures that sat off a little ways was the star house. I lifted my camera and started taking photos. The owner, sat under a tree, reached up, and grabbed a branch like he was settling in, and he started reciting his very prepared tour script. It was 110 degrees at this point, and I wasn't at all interested in hearing about the other buildings that I knew nothing about. We are about 25 yards, or 23 meters for your metric system listeners, from the Star House, while he was giving this speech. All I wanted to do was to take my camera and get closer to that house. The house is deteriorating rapidly, and

visitors are no longer inside, as of about six months ago. The iconic roof with its white stars is covered with a blue tarp. When there was a lull in the owner's speech about the other structures, I asked if we could get closer to the star house to take photos. He made a snarky remark about how he is often interrupted by visitors who only want to see the star house and not hear about the rest of the tour. I was a little taken aback by his comment, but I told him that I was just trying to be efficient because it was so hot outside, and I had originally stated that we'd keep our visit brief, but it didn't matter. He was going to power through that entire tour script. After about 20 minutes of his speech about how his uncle acquired the structures and how the amusement park shut down in the 80s

due to high insurance costs, I was about to get closer to the house to take some photos. Because I was in shorts and the grass was tall, I didn't get right up to the house, but I was able to capture photos from the front and side of it. After I took pictures, we talked with the owner briefly about the home. I asked if the blue tarp was to protect the items inside. I could tell that my question about the condition of the roof was making him uncomfortable. If you read anything online about the Star House, you're sure to come across all sorts of comments about people verbally tearing him apart for not restoring the house, not selling it or donating it back to the Comanche Nation and just keeping it for profit. With that in mind and knowing that we're literally locked into this guy's property,

my husband and I treaded lightly with our further questions. The owner could tell we weren't coming for him, so he started to open up a bit more. He stated that a nonprofit organization wanted to buy and restore the home, but they wouldn't let him continue doing for-profit tours. He didn't make mention of the fact that the Comanche Nation offered to buy it while it was still salvageable, and I didn't want to go there with him. It appears that the historic star house is going to crumble like the other structures on his property. When we were finished with the tour, we followed the owner back to the trading post. He asked if we wanted to look around the gift shop. Based what we saw just peeking through the windows, we definitely wanted to check it out. But we also didn't want to make him

stay longer just for us. He said that if we bought something, he'd make money so it would be worth opening the store even just for a few minutes. We were good with that. He unlocked the store, but didn't turn the lights on. He gave us a heads up that his dog bandit, who's still hanging around the store, uses the store as a bathroom, so we should watch our step. What? This is all just bizarre. Since this part of the story takes place indoors, I won't spend too much on it, but we saw so much stuff that was legit vintage. It wasn't like the owner went out to find vintage items. He just literally had everything for that long. I'm talking 40, 50-year-old greeting cards, t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. So we bought a few items, walked out with him as he locked the store back up behind,

and watched him get into his truck and drive away. We sat there for a few minutes in awe of the experience we just had. Can you feel like you didn't know what to expect, but also feel like that wasn't what you expected? Can something exceed your expectations but also leave you feeling a little brokenhearted. It's saddening to know that the Star House, which is such an important piece of Comanchee and U.S. history, is quietly deteriorating and is very unlikely to ever be restored, sold, or donated to the Comanche Nation, or even a non-profit entity. There's nothing anyone, including Comanchee Nation, can do to save it. I am thankful I was able to see it while I had the chance. Attached to the email and listed below are some of the photos.

of our adventure. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Love y'all. Mean it. Maria. Wow. I just feel so hard for that because I read the book. And it is such an incredible story. Like Quana Parker and, I mean, the Comanchee Nation as a whole and his legacy and his family. And just to know that this the Star House, which is just so iconic, is literally just like, she, said, just crumbling and deteriorating and somebody who just doesn't want to let it go because of the however much money every year he makes from selling tours here and there. I don't know. It's just really sad. I just felt really sad for this building. It feels a little bit selfish for history and for something that didn't originally belong to his family either. Right. I know.

It just, it doesn't feel right. And of course, I did. I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. know what the Star House looked like. So of course, during that, I Googled it. And it's literally like they had stated it's a big red roof with stars on it. Yeah. Yeah. So I'll post, like she said, she did post or send along some pictures. So I'll make sure to post one or two of those on our socials that she took just so you can get a good idea of what it looks like now. Because, yeah, it is a little depressing. Well, that's very, very interesting. That's a very interesting. experience to have. And thank you for writing that in because that was really long. So I know that that took a long time to write into us. So I super appreciate that. That's a really cool story.

My next trail tale is going back into history, but in a totally different way. Okay. Mine is titled Meeting After 140 Years. Hi, Cassie and Danielle. My name is Katie. I'm a college student from California. And I I've been listening to the podcast for about six months now. I absolutely love history and nature, so NPAD is a perfect blend for me. I was recently listening to Trail Tales 10, and you were mentioning how nothing is truly a coincidence, and I thought of this story. This happened during my second year of college in spring 2021, when I was traveling with my cousin, who's also named Danielle.

Best name out there. It's the best name. I think everyone not named Danielle will just. agree with you. I don't know that many Danielle, so. I feel like I don't personally know a lot of Daniels, but I know that there are a lot of people named Daniel. What, statistically? Or like on a Facebook or something. I just feel like I see a lot of Daniels. But you're probably the only Danielle on my phone. Well, I'm the only one that matters, so to you. That's right. To you. That's right. That's right. You're like, you're not allowed to have any friends named Daniel.

That spot's taken. Anyway, go on. We both attended the same college and wanted to visit our parents, my aunt and uncle, during our spring break. They live in Washington and our school is in Idaho. So we crossed through some beautiful areas on our way home and wanted to do a hike before we returned home. We decided on a trail near Lolo National Forest, the Blue Mountain Trail in Missoula. And we figured it would be the perfect social distancing activity away from large crowds.

while we were prepared to hike, the exact trail that we chose was only decided on that day as we were driving, which makes this story even crazier. The trail itself is known for hiking and mountain biking and was absolutely gorgeous. It has a beautiful view of the Bitterroot Valley and surrounding mountains. On our way back down, as my cousin and I were stopped for a drink, a mountain biker came down the path suddenly, losing control and crashing his bike. we immediately went up to help him as his friend caught up to us. He wasn't terribly injured, but he did think that he had broken his foot. So Danielle and I told him that we would want to stay with him as his friend went down to get help from some people farther down the trail with an ATV. We got to talking with him and found out his name was James and he was visiting from Mount Airy, North Carolina.

I told him how me and Danielle's ancestors used to live in that area before moving west with many other settlers. I'm a family history nerd. He then asked me my last name and on the off chance that he knew any of our relatives. And to our surprise, we all had the same name. I pulled out my phone with my family history app to try and see if I could find out if we were closely related. And after investigating our family's name, I figured out that James was our fourth cousin. What? Okay, first of all, you have a family history app just like on demand.

You know, it sounds weird, but I also, coincidentally, today I got an ancestry DNA kit in the mail and downloaded the ancestry app and shipped out my saliva to find out my family history. Okay, you say coincidentally, but we have gotten far enough in this that we don't, that word doesn't apply anymore. We don't believe in coincidences. Yeah, so for anyone new here, just, that's not a thing. No, everything happens for a reason. Okay, wait, so... Everything's connected. Yep.

And we'll get to that more because I have a coincidence story. But anyway, um, okay, so this, their fourth cousins. Yeah. What? Just randomly met this guy who crashed in front of them and found out they're related. Oh, okay. Says, uh, next. They go on to say, our great, great, great, grandfather, William was born in Mount Airy in 1821 and had five sons,

including my great-great-grandfather, Isaac, who moved west in 1880, and James's great-great-grandfather, Jesse, who remained in North Carolina with most of the family. So about 170 years after our great-great-grandfathers were born, and about 100,000,000, and 441 years after my great-great-grandfather left most of his family in North Carolina, their descendants randomly met because of a bike accident that happened at the random time and place that Danielle and I decided to take a water break on a trail that I had randomly chosen earlier that day. What are the odds? I'm a firm believer that nothing is ever truly a coincidence and this experience only further solidified that. Oh my God. Is that the

of it before I said anything else. Okay, go ahead. I'm like, we just said that. We agree with you a thousand percent. Yes, agree. Anyway, that's my little tale. I will forever kick myself for not taking a picture of the three of us, but we did exchange Instagrams and still keep in touch. His foot wasn't broken, by the way. Thanks for all you do. I can't wait to see what stories you have next. I totally forgot about the crash. It's like, oh yeah, we don't care. Oh, yeah, his foot. We're glad we're good. But you're related? my God. That is just so wild. Yeah. What are the odds? What are the odds? That's amazing. Just a random day, a random trail. And then he randomly crashed. I just have to know, does he frequently crash his

mountain bike? Was that a weird thing too? Or was he actually like crashing the whole way down the trail? And then it was just like another crash and she happened to be there. Who knows? Who knows? Either way, that's awesome. That's really cool to connect to like long-loss family members like that. All right. Well, I guess I'll follow that up with my coincidence story. Maybe. We always do this, I feel like. Coincidence isn't planned. Or sign or whatever. I told you, I don't know if I said this on the Patreon story or the main feed story. I have no idea. But I swear to God, like with the amount of signs and coincidence stories that have poured in since I've started sharing some of my experiences with my new type of relationship I have to have now with Ian. It's just like I want to collect

them all and just like read them all in like some sort of side project because these are all so special and cool. And I know not everyone is a huge believer. But until you, you're in a position where all you have is needing to believe in something, you'll take it seriously then. So this one is, there's no title, but it begins, hi Danielle and Cassie, as I'm sure everyone who writes to you says, love the podcast. Thank you for sharing these stories with us. Since listening, I've been to a few national parks featured on your show, and it really enriches the experience to know some of the history and the cautionary stories of the places I'm visiting. I'm currently working as a travel speech language pathologist,

and I'm having the amazing experience of being in Washington State during the summer. Oh, you chose the right time, for sure, obviously. I was hiking at Wallace Falls State Park, and of course, I was catching up on NPAD. I listened to the most recent Trail Tales episode, number 11, and heard Danielle's story about asking for the sign of a moose from Ian. I have been so inspired and touched by Danielle's connection to the spiritual throughout the series, but especially in how she has embraced it in Ian's passing and found ways to stay connected to him. Okay.

It's like, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. But that's so nice. I know, but, God. Recently, I have been considering a moved to Colorado with my boyfriend, who I am currently in a long-distance relationship with. I've been feeling really scared about this potential move. Ryan, my boyfriend, is absolutely wonderful and a fellow NPAD fan, but I have moved for a relationship in the past, and that relationship had become very toxic and painful.

It's been hard for me to know if it is just fear holding me back or something more. After listening to Danielle's story, I thought about how beautiful her faith is and how I should put a little more faith in the natural world around me. I decided if I saw a yellow, bug, I would know it was the right decision to move. I was nearing the end of the trail, feeling a little bummed as I could see the parking lot up ahead and had not seen any. I noticed some purple flowers on the side of the trail and walked over for a closer look. As I approached, I saw a bee on the

flowers, wearing his yellow jacket and black sweater, as bees do, a yellow-ish bug. However, I wasn't exactly convinced. Does it matter that the bee wasn't completely yellow? Now, here I go again, doubting the signs. But as I was driving home, I saw multiple police cars zoom by. As I approached, I saw the car that they were driving too. I think it had just broken down. There was no visible damage other than cars around and the people who were standing next to the car, unharmed.

It was a yellow Volkswagen bug. And not just any bug. It was decked out. Big decorated antenna and Daisy Hubcat covers. It was a yellow bug that couldn't be missed, not even by me. No coincidences, right? That means we are Colorado bound. Thank you, Danielle and Ian.

Sorry, fuck. It's okay. For helping me trust the spiritual, and thank you to both of you for making a binge-worthy podcast to listen to on our road trip there. Any suggestions for hikes in Colorado are greatly appreciated. sending so much appreciation and love your way, Cater and Ryan, even if he doesn't know it yet. I loved that. Oh, God.

Like, that is just, that's what I'm saying. It's like, you know, you ask for something or guidance or a sign or something. And then something comes across and you're like, yeah, I guess that fits the bill. but it's not like exactly the thing. What I asked. And then they're like, they're like, okay, here's this, like a giant, like, take this, like, right in your face. And it's when, I mean, at least in my personal experience, when you've become accepting

and you recognize it and say, you know, thank you, I got it. Like, you open yourself up to more experiences. and I feel like they just come a lot more, I wouldn't say prevalently or easier, but your eyes are opened to a different kind of world. And it's so special and I'm so happy that that happened for you and that you're on a new adventure and you feel a little, hopefully you feel a little reassurance on your decision. That you're making the right decision. And we hope you guys have such a wonderful.

adventure in Colorado and that this is the best decision you could have made. Yeah. And a bright yellow bug car. I mean, you never even see those anymore, first off. And it has like the antenna and like it's decorated like an actual bug. Yeah. I mean, that was like here's your, here's your sign. There's no.

There's nothing else we can do. You know. And I'll share mine really quick again because I feel like. Like people, we got, we have so many different signs, stories like I said. So I'll just share mine, especially because I love, it just brings me so much joy in a really, really shitty time. So, and Cassie already knows some of this, but or all of it. Because as soon as this stuff happens, I'm like, Cassie, said the other day, literally like two or three days ago, I was in my car crying about something very similar to this. story. I have an opportunity to, you know, move to Colorado again. And I had, you know, the lease in my

hands and I'm just staring at it, like, not in the car. Before this, I wasn't reading and driving and crying. That would have been horrible. You're doing a lot. I was doing the most. But it was right before that drive. And I was just like so torn up. Like, this wasn't the plan. I wasn't supposed to be doing this. Is this the right thing? Should I go somewhere out? Should I stay in Washington? Like, what what do I do? This is the worst. You know, I should be making a decision like this with Ian. And anyways, so I'm like not rolling down like tears. Like I'm like, what do I do? And right when I got onto the highway, merging onto the highway, there's a huge box truck with one word on it. And it's the town in Colorado that I would be moving to if I decide to sign this lease.

No such thing as coincidences. The world knows. The universe knows. I literally was just like, what? Like through my tears. I was like, okay. I got it. Thank you.

I can breathe now. Thank you. Like there it is. There it is. So something very similar, like, you know, with a decision to move and all of that. And just getting little reassurances are helpful. you know, to your soul and I'm just really happy for you. So my last one that I'm ending on is labeled Wolf Encounters. I like it already. Hello, Danielle and Cassie. My husband and I

married last year and did a hiking honeymoon at Isle Royal National Park. We fell in love with the wilderness and made a promise to at least one national park every year. This year we went to Zion and in preparation for the trip I researched different hiking trails. I ended up coming across your episode of the observation point trail and quickly became obsessed with the podcast. I recently listened to episode 61, caught in the crosshairs, and it made me want to share the wolf stories of my family cabin. Yes, there is more than one. I know you have many stories and little time to tell them, so if you only want to tell one or none, I 100% understand. I hope you enjoy hearing these stories as much as I do. I'm sure Danielle will, as I understand, she is a wolf

enthusiast. Wolf girl. My family has a cabin in Ontario, Canada that is located deep in the hardwoods and white pine forest of Algoma Highlands. The cabin is situated along a rocky river in the woods and is surrounded by deep, clear lakes that you can almost guarantee a fish with every cast. One summer night after a long day of adventuring, everyone went to bed and my aunt stayed up to read a book by the river. It was starting to get dark, so my aunt put her book down and was getting ready to make the 100-yard trip back to the cabin when something caught her eye from across the river. There was a large, white wolf staring straight at her.

She was frozen and unsure exactly what to do, so she stood her ground and maintained eye contact with the wolf. Eventually the wolf turned and slowly retreated into the woods. My aunt let out a sigh of relief, gathered her things, and quickly headed back to the cabin. She only made it about 30 yards when she heard some branches snapping close by. She turned to find a large black bear, only 20 to 30 feet from her. She decided not to get into a stair down with the bear as she did the wolf, and walked as fast as she could back to camp. At this time, she was terrified, recalling how her hands were shaking as she locked the door behind her when she was finally in the camp. but looking back now, she has a different outlook.

Sitting by the river, reading her book was quiet, peaceful, and beautiful. It's no wonder the wolf and bear wanted to join. She is grateful for the experience but urges others to be safe and not travel alone at camp because while her encounter was harmless, you are deep in the wilderness and need to be respectful and aware of the animals around you. Which brings me to story number two. Late one night we were fishing at a lake close to our cabin, known as the Mountain Lake, because you have to hike one mile up the side of a mountain to

to reach the lake. We packed our gear and headed back to camp to prepare the fish we had just caught. On our way back, my brother remembered he had taken his chain necklace off to swim and forgot it was hanging on a tree branch. He was at the end of the group and figured he could quickly run back to the lake, retrieve his necklace, and get back to camp before anyone realized he was gone. As he was running up the mountain, he kept seeing dark movement in the trees from his peripherals. He stopped once to take a quick look around, saw nothing but trees, and kept running until he reached the top. Something felt off, though, like he was being watched. He tried to look for his necklace but couldn't find it, and the feeling that he wasn't alone kept growing.

He quickly gave up searching and started running back down the mountain, this time running. much faster. The black movement in the trees was there again, but he wasn't going to stop this time to see what it was. As he was running, he noticed his shoe lace came untied. He ran until he crossed the river and stopped to tie his shoe. When he did, he looked to see if he was really being followed or if it was just his imagination. From across the river, a large black wolf emerged from the trees, walked the riverside for a few feet, then returned to the woods, staring at my brother the entire time. He ran as fast as he could back to camp, screaming at the top of his lungs. Wolf!

My brother states that he was more excited than scared by the encounter. He was even so amazed with his experience that he got a wolf tattoo. Overall, these stories of wolf encounters have made us respect the animals more and are happy that so many wild creatures call our camp home. We enjoy the views our camp rings, but also have learned to watch our backs. Oh, God. I love that one. Straight to your heart.

How special to have multiple peaceful encounters out in such a wild and rugged place. And I love the balance of like this was really special and great. But like also you should probably be careful. Yeah, it's like this could also be dangerous, but just a lot of. I'm walking eyes with a wolf out in the wild. That just has to be such a magical experience. Yeah, I mean, it was magical in captivity every time. Yeah.

You know, you've experienced it. It just hits differently. It truly does. I don't know what it is. But, yeah, to add the entire, you know, this is a wild animal and you're having that experience, it just makes it so much more unique. Okay. So my last one is, does not have a title, but it begins, hi Cassie and Danielle. My name is Joel.

Feel free to use my name and all other names shared in the story. And I am a huge fan of your show. As a fellow podcaster, outdoor enthusiasts and lover of true crime stories, your show instantly intrigued me. I've been obsessed ever since my first listen. Anywho, attached as a PDF file with my trail. I hope that you enjoy reading it and feel called to share it in an upcoming episode. I also want to take a moment to acknowledge your loss. It sounds like Ian was very similar to Mike, who my tale is about, and who we also lost too soon. I just know that Ian and Mike are dancing and howling with the wolves and writing songs together in a campsite in the afterlife. I'll start this message the way that most people probably do, gushing about how much I freaking love your show.

As an avid outdoorsman, trail runner, and lover of all things involving water, I've been drawn to state and national park since I was a child. I grew up in northern Michigan, just down the road from Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore and essentially grew up on the dunes. I tell people I was raised by the Great Lakes, because not only was I quite literally raised in the area, but these five bodies of water are an essential part of my identity too. Living in a rural, small town, my family didn't have the financial means to travel or go on many vacations, but my family instilled a sense of passion for the outdoors in each of my siblings and I because camping was something we could afford to do. Still, to this day, camping is one of my favorite activities. As an adult, I no longer live in Michigan.

I have moved from the Great Lakes region to the Colorado Rocky Mountains and now live along the Missouri River in South Dakota. Some of my favorite places are the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. This was featured in a trail tale and I geeked the fuck out. Garden of the Gods, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Badlands National Park. My favorite national park, however, will always be Isle Royal. Oh my God. So weird. How are we picking the same stories?

Or stories that intersect in ways. I don't know. Will always be Isle Royal, which I visited for a few days during spring break, my senior year of college. If you've not visited this island park, prioritize it. You won't be disappointed. side note if you've never been to the upper peninsula of michigan put that on your list asap anywho enough about my pass in the parks i've been to it's time for a story first it's important to note that this is not my story to tell but i do have permission to share so here it goes i met my best friend monica on the first day of college at northern michigan university in 2012 monica and i were in the same block of classes essentially all first year students were

assigned a block of courses with a cohort of approximately 30 students with the same schedule their first semester. I think the purpose of this was to help facilitate relationships and aid in the transition to college. It doesn't really matter why we were there, though. It just matters that Monica and I were in the same block, and we are, of course, the only outspoken, extroverted, 18-year-olds excited for the first day of class. We quickly fell in love the way that children do, asking each other if we wanted to be friends and taking ridiculous pictures on the photo booth app on Monica's MacBook. The rest is history. We're inseparable and I've spent the last 10 years adventuring, burping, farting, dancing to Nikki Minaj, brunching and moving across the country together.

But this tale isn't about us either. I digress. I learned quickly that Monica and her brother, Mike, were the best of friends, closer than any sibling pairing I'd ever met. It fascinated, me how close her family was, and I was kind of jealous of them. Monica introduced me to her family, and I too fell in love with Mike. I saw the magic that he exuded. He was an adventurer just like the rest of us, perhaps even more so. He was a musician, an artist, a philosopher. He loved talking about the good stuff, and he couldn't be bothered with small talk. Mike wanted to know your story. He wanted to be part of your story. He wanted to retell it. Mike would often serenade his friends on the guitar or ukulele singing songs and stories of life and love.

He danced like no one was watching. He wrote down everything in a journal and was always doodling his next tattoo idea or writing his next lyrical moment, if you will. While Mike spent much of his time with people he loved, he spent more of it in the places he loved doing the things he loved, which brings me to the beautifully morbid part of this story. Mike worked as a guide at Denali National Park for a handful of years. Senior year of college for Monica and I was no different for Mike, except for the fact that he wouldn't make it to his first shift of work that summer season. Mike arrived at Denali a few days early with plans to do a solo hike before embarking into the wilderness with groups of people all summer. It was during the solo journey that Mike was the first to summit a peak in the park. He named it Purdy Peak as a nod to his family.

Mike shared this excitement with Monica and the rest of their family, and of course this exciting news was relayed on to me too, but after the summit, no one heard anything more from Mike. Days passed, and Monica started to become concerned that something bad had happened. I continually told her Mike was fine and that he just was off the grid, enjoying his last few days of solitude. But Monica knew better. She had this intuition thing that is beyond strong and impressive, and she knew he was gone. On May 1st, the day after we graduated from NMU, we received the phone call we were all dreading. Park employees had found Mike's body. He had slipped off a cliff and had died a few days earlier. He suffered from head trauma in the fall, but did not die on impact.

Video footage and photos showed the fall after capturing. Mike singing to a herd of doll sheep and even captured some of the images of the sky from his vantage point on the ground. While we were all devastated for this heart-shattering and unexpected loss, we found solace in the fact that Mike appeared to have died happy and fulfilled. He didn't seem to be scared or in pain, and we're all beyond grateful for that. Now, when I go out onto adventures, I know that Mike is with me. I see him in the animals, trees, clouds, and other things. And I know that he's watching over all of us wandering souls.

The moral of the story here, enjoy the view, but watch your back. Thank you for reading. Cheers to many more adventures, Joel. Oh, my God. Just make me cry for a little while to show. Holy shit. That is so awful and sad. And like...

I'm laughing, but I'm crying. I'm really trying to keep it together. the show as of three months ago and I feel like the beauty of editing has been in our favor most of the time um but yeah some of them just really get you and they get you for a reason because you know like no one escapes being touched by loss in this world and when it happens to you it's it's so earth shattering and I just, Mike just seemed like such like the coolest person and the coolest guy and someone that I can just like, I don't even know what he looks like, but I can picture him. It's just like the energy.

Yeah. And I wanted to read it because I think you did a beautiful job of highlighting his life and his love for it and his death was just kind of the side note as far as like it's not what should be remembered about him and I really enjoyed reading about your friend. Well, thanks for leaving us all on that note. I'm sorry, I didn't plan for it to be. Maybe I should have done the coincidence one at the end. It's too late. It's too late. We're here and all of us are sad. I guess for if you want a little bit of a pick-me-up story we are going to keep going on for we each have an additional story for patreon that we will be reading so if you're interested in those stories you can head on to

patreon you can have the extended version of this episode yeah and i promise mine's not sad it's not i just had to check i'm like oh shit um no it's good yeah mine's not mine's another wild animal encounter. So, okay, so we're good. We're good. All right. We're good. That's it for everyone else, I guess.

Sorry. See you Monday or whatever. Yeah, and I guess enjoy the view. But watch you're back. All right, bye. Thank you for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale you'd like to share, send us an email at NPAD Stories at gmail.com.

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