National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 15

Episode Date: October 6, 2022

Today’s stories include surviving a wall of white, sandwich stealers, bad vibes, and seeing the light.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! Stamps: Use code NPAD to start your 4-week trial, and receive free postage and a digital scale.Faherty: Use our link and code NPAD to get 15% off. HoldOn Bags: Use code NPAD for 20% off your order.Taos AER: Use code NPAD30 for 30% off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hello, everybody. Welcome back to National Park After Dark. We're doing trail tales today. I have to say that everyone has really been sending in so many amazing submissions. I had a really, really difficult time picking for today. to narrow it down. And I feel like the more I think about it, the more a little side pod of signs and serendipitous events may be kind of like calling my name. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm like last, we literally are last recording that we did. You're like absolutely not. I will not

to another podcast. And one episode later, maybe we're pre-recording these. So I don't know which one's coming out, but one or two episodes later, you're like, I'm going to launch another podcast. I don't, yeah, don't hold me to it. I have a lot going on up in my brain. I sent Cassie like four ideas over the last two days as well, just about random stuff too. So I don't know. There's a lot going on, but just know that I absolutely love getting the signs trail tales. They're just so amazing. And of course, I had to include a couple. Actually, I think, I think like, are they all signs? I don't know. I'm actually looking at. I'm like, oh, shit. Actually, every single one that it's okay if you did all signs because I didn't pick any signs, so it'll be a mix-up. Okay. Yeah, no, I think I tried to mix it up,

but yeah, it's hard to resist. So do you want to go first? Sure. Okay. Mine is titled Panthers in Australia, question mark. Hi, ladies, love your show and have been listening since the beginning. Thank you for being your awesome selves. You're both so good at telling these stories. and each week I just love your banter with each other. You always crack me up. Oh, thank you. Now, this story is not mine, but my dad's. He is a born and raised city boy, but has always loved the outdoors and would go hiking and camping any chance he got.

In fact, my parents met through a bushwalking group when they were in their 20s, but that's a different story. Is bushwalking hiking? I think so. I'm pretty sure. I picture like trail maintenance. Like they both have like machetes and they're like chopping their way. through a trail and then suddenly like the clearing opens and they're both standing in front of each other and they're like, I'm pretty sure that you said Australia, right, in the title?

Yeah. I feel like bushwalking is the name for hiking in Australia. Hey, Siri, what is bushwalking? It's hiking. It's bushwalking. I don't think it came through the audio, but in my headphones, it told me bushwalking is hiking. I think maybe I learned to that when I was doing the Uluru Kacha National Park, which I probably also just butchered right now because that was a long time ago when I did the Australian National Park about the tingo. Oh, okay. Cool. Well, now we know. Yeah, bar trivia fact. There you go.

This story goes back before then. Think early 1970s, a time before smartphones, before the internet, a time when you couldn't just Google any question you had and instantly have an answer. My dad was in his late teens and just getting into camping. An opportunity came up to go on a trip to Grand Pian's National Park, a truly beautiful place if you ever visit Victoria with two friends. One was the same age as my dad and the other was a couple of years older who had more camping and hiking experience. The older friend was telling a story on the way there how Panthers had been seen in the area and that they better keep an eye out. Panthers in Australia? Some people think so. Here's a little backstory on this myth. And yes, I say myth as I am not a believer. The theory goes that during the Second World War, American soldiers brought over to Australia, Panthers or Cougars as mascots.

But when the war was over and they were all heading home, they either couldn't take the animals back with them, so they released them into the Australia bush, or they somehow escaped. So this myth has been circulating for decades, and even today you will find stories from all over Victoria and maybe you'll find stories from all over Victoria and maybe other states. I'm not too sure with sightings and even the odd blurry photo of dodgy video. My personal belief is what people are seeing are feral cats, which are a serious problem here and people don't understand just how huge these cats can get, especially when they are living in the bush, gorging themselves on our beautiful native wildlife. Sorry, I could go on, but let's get back to the story. So the three of them arrive, hike in, and find a nice spot to pitch their tents.

Now at this age, my dad doesn't have much experience out in the bush. He's your typical city kid. The older friends send the two younger boys to go fill up their canteens with water from a creek a little ways away from camp. They get into the creek and are getting the water when they hear a growl. With the Jaguar's story fresh in their minds, they jump up and spin around, but they can't see anything. The growling continues, and it seems to be coming from all around them. As much as they try, they can't figure out where it's coming from.

They quickly start moving back to camp while walking back to back. constantly swiveling around, expecting to be attacked at any moment. They get back to camp and start explaining to their other friend what happened. So he walks down towards the creek a little way before bursting out laughing. He calls out to the other two, it's just a koala. Yes, my friends, a sweet, fluffy little koala scared the absolute crap out of my dad and his friends. Now, to be fair, koalas make a lot of different noises.

I have added a short YouTube clip I found so you can, can hear what they sound like. It's definitely not what you would expect to come out of such a cute little guy. And I have the recording here. Okay. Yeah. To be fair, that does sound like if you have the already the thought and fear of that legend or lore or myth or whatever about what is it, Jaguars or Cougars. I'm not sure I got confused. It looks like they were interchanged throughout the stories. Okay. Maybe both. So if you already have that in the back of your mom, mind about some big wild cat lurking in the bush and then you hear that thing. I'm not going to fucking think about a koala, but then again, I'm not from Australia, so I'm

not sure. But that, I never knew a koala made that vocalization. I would never guess that that was the koala noise ever. And I've been scared by much even less threatening things than a koala. So from their noises, so I can totally see how you could get scared. Yeah, well, I wouldn't have ever. I wouldn't have guessed. So I guess now everyone knows. Yep, everyone, now everyone knows what a koala sounds like.

So thank you, Naomi, for setting this in. They ended it with, sorry, this turned into a long one. Hope it gave you a laugh. And it certainly did. It did for sure. So mine is not as funny. Switching gears. This one is titled, A Coyote Stole My Family Soul, but we got it back.

Hi, ladies. My name is Angela, and I am a new listener, but I've had a lot of fun listening to your podcast. I'm a big fan of Morbid and your recent collaboration was excellent. Thank you. We had a lot of fun doing those. Yeah, it was really cool. I have a trail tale to share with you. It's not technically in a national park, but it goes along well with your stories about dreams, animal souls, and reincarnation.

See, it goes well with the theme. We have a theme. Like, we always had a theme. Yeah, no, this is like a branch off of the theme that I was, you know what I'm saying? Okay. Uh, yes. Right. Plus, it shouts out to a great small nature preserve.

near me, Carpenter Lake. It's going to get dark, but I promise if you stick with it, you will get happiness in the end. Now for some background, at the time of this story, 2016, I was living with my parents and three siblings at our home in Farmington Hills about 20 minutes north of Detroit. We had a spectacular dog named Luna, who was my mom's baby. That dog was her shore in a storm. She came to us right when you needed her the most. She was funny and sweet and the coolest Yorkie you've ever seen. She, of course, loved walks. My parents have a huge two-acre lot, huge for that area, and is surrounded on three sides by forest. There is a hill that goes down to a creek and the whole place is so serene and magical. She especially loved going for walks at Carpenter Lake, a nature preserve about a mile from our home. One day, we went to the park and had a nice long walk with some drinks in the river and a seat in the meadow. It was one of the most beautiful days ever. Unfortunately, that all changed at 5 a.m. the following day. My mom is a nurse and had to be at work super early. She is always up at 5 and her routine is to let Luna out into the yard to pee while she makes her tea.

That day, Luna was barking and running in the dark and playing with our cat. They grew up together when suddenly Luna yelped and then silence. She did not come back inside when my mom called her and after my mom looked around for a bit, she woke us all up so we could all go look. We looked all day. But by the end of it, we all just stared down the driveway like zombies. hoping against all odds she would come trotting back, covered in mud, or burrs, or with her ball that was way too big for her, but she always ran with anyway. After the next day, we all realized what had really happened.

Along with the yard and forest comes wildlife. Most of the time, the worst thing to come of that was deer eating all of my mom's plants before they had a chance to ripen. This time, it was a coyote. A coyote killed our beloved dog slash child. The city said there's nothing that they could do, since coyotes. were all over and not traceable or easy to catch. That was the first and only time my mom has talked about getting a gun or killing anything. Our cat was very shaken up as well, so we think she saw it happen.

We were all depressed for a very long time. I know my mom and I drank a lot more than we ever had before, and I couldn't drive by the preserve without bawling. I had to drive by it every day to go to work, so I stopped putting makeup on until I got there because it just came right off. Then we all started having these dreams. We didn't realize it, a while since we didn't want to talk about it, but we were all having very similar dreams.

I'd be sleeping and I'd hear my door creak open and see her pop her little head through and smile at me with her head tilted. I'd say her name and she came in, wagged her tail and snuggled up under the covers with me. She always slept under the covers and moved room to room as we slept. At first, I was sad when I woke up and found it was a dream, but after having this dream a few times, it became to really help me deal with her passing. We were all having pretty much the same dream. I think what we were actually experiencing was her soul visiting us and telling us she was okay. Well, it turns out she was letting us know she was planning on coming back. We got her from a friend of mine's mom who breeds two Yorkies. She treats them so well and loves each one of them as her own because they are.

I will be forever grateful to her, not only because of Luna, but because she bred Luna's parents one last time so that Luna's sister, Stella, was born. Yes, we had our moon. We had our moon. and our star. The moment Stella was born, the dreams stopped. That's when we all realized we were having the same dreams. I truly believe that Luna came back to us because she knew that we weren't done with her. Stella is so wonderful, but also slightly different than Luna. She has the same spunky spirit, though she does not like being under the covers. The first time we took her to the park, it's like she already knew everything about it. She healed our souls and brought us out of pure darkness. I now live away, actually just purchased our first home with my hubby, and with the pandemic,

I was not able to see Stella for a long time. I think she thought I was dead. But now I get to see her at the farmer's market, loving the constant attention from all the admirers and licking up my nose. Anyway, thanks for listening to my story, even if you don't read it on the podcast. I hope it will bring you some comfort that people and animals we love never really leave us. They're just waiting for us to join them or for them to rejoin us. I believe that. I believe that. that all our souls tend to travel together in this world through all types of relationships, lives and loves. We tend to find ourselves together again. Love Angela. God, that was hard. Wasn't it sad? Wasn't it sad? I mean, she warned us. It was so sad. She did. She warned us.

Oh, my. When as soon as I knew where it was going, as soon as there was like a little yelp and gone, I was like, this is the story. And I'm like, how are we going to come back from this? And like, because I remember at the beginning, they said, stick with it. It gets happy at the end. And it did. It did. But oh, my, I'm so sad for poor little Luna. I know.

And you know what I remember, God, the, when we worked in New Hampshire together, I just remember, for some reason, that hospital, I felt like we saw so many little dogs. Like they were. I loved it. I was like, what is going on here? But we saw so many little dogs. And I remember there was a little, it wasn't a Yorkie, it was a Maltese. And remember I did a dental on it like two months before. And then it came back. It was a DOA, a dead on arrival. And it was in a bag and a coyote had gotten to it. Do you remember? I do remember that. Yeah. And we had to, yeah, prepare her for cremation. It was so sad. And then I remember a lot of, there was like two or three different families that had smaller type dogs. And I remember talking to them about the same thing. Like they lived near. maybe not near a whole nature preserve, but wild spaces. And coyotes are everywhere, obviously. I think regardless in the United States, they're everywhere, whether you see them or not,

but especially in more rural areas. And they had gotten the coyote vests for their dog. You know, it looks like a thunder shirt, but it has spikes on the back. No, I didn't know that that was a thing. Look it up. It looks like they look like little stegosaurus when they have it on so that they can't be grabbed. Like the coyote will grab them. they'll get spikes to the face. Oh, wow. This is so interesting because my dad and I were actually just having this conversation. I visit him the other day and he was saying that there's coyotes around and he gets nervous every single night that he brings, he has a little chihuahua. You met him, Taco. Taco, obviously. And it's just, and my dad's so cute because he's like six foot four

big guy and he just loves this little chihuahua. It's so cute. But he was talking to me and he's He's like, I get so nervous bringing him out at night, but he has to go to the bathroom before bed because I can hear the coyotes and I can hear them like sometimes rustling around. He lives out in the woods and I'm going to get them a little. It's an option, especially for dogs that like kind of like this story when you just let him out, you know, and I even get nervous when I let the dogs out here, I get nervous about mountain lions because my dogs would like at least be able to put up a good fight with a coyote at least.

But I get worried at the mountain lion. but with littler dogs and you just let them out, especially at dawn or desk time, if they're unattended, like putting that little vest on them. Oh, it's made from Kevlar material and it's bite resistant as well. Yes. Yeah. That's Kevlar. That's like motorcycle protection. Well, they need some help. And there's other things, if you really want to get into this. I don't know why I know so much about this, but there's also, I think there, you might actually, if you have Google up right now, I think they might be called coyote rollers, but they're literally these attachments you can put up on the top of your fence. And they're literally just rollers so that it's hard for animals to climb over because they slip off of it.

Oh, I see it. Yeah. Like you can't get traction. Yeah. Because they literally roll. Yeah. And of course, again, I mean, I wouldn't put much past coyotes because they're so intelligent. And I feel like they can MacGyver pretty much anything and maneuver through different obstacles. But it's just something that I remember learning about too. I don't know where. But it might be something where if it's a pain enough, they'll just go somewhere else. Yeah. Especially because they're not trapped in a place.

Like if they're like, oh, this is kind of hard, they might go somewhere. Yeah. So anyway, all right. Sorry, Angela, for your family's loss. But it's nice to know that her spirit lives on in another dog. Her sister. Full sister now. Yeah.

Did they send photos of them? Yes. Yep. I'll post them. I love Yorkies. I think they're just the cutest little things. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session.

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Skinwalker Scare. Dear Cassie and Danielle, I have debated on sending this in or not, but I figured you two would love to hear a good cryptid slash Bigfoot slash Skinwalker story. You would be correct. This happened back in 2020 during the height of the lockdowns. Me and my husband, spent most of that time out and exploring state parks, nature preserves, and abandoned locations. We had so many cool experiences, but this one takes the cake for being the most memorable and scary. Before I go into this story, I want to preface that I am from Appalachia. Growing up in that region of the country, I was taught to have a fearful respect for the wilderness. There are mountain lions, black bears, and bobcats. But there are also things unseen, things lurking in the shadows.

You hear disembodied voices in the woods, see shadow figures lurking just out of light's reach, you hear stories from your elders about things that will make your skin crawl. This will be one of those stories. My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, moved up to my hometown when we started dating. And that is where we spent the first year of our relationship. When the pandemic hit a few months into us living together, we took that time to take advantage of the beautiful nature all around us. Since I was trying to introduce him to the area, each day was a new adventure to somewhere he had not seen before.

One day, we decided that we were going to explore an abandoned elementary school out in the middle of the woods. It was at the end of a long country road with only a few houses at the beginning of the road. We pulled up to the ghost of what was a school built in the 1950s. I will try to find some pictures we took of the school and attached them for you to view. Most of the windows were missing, vines were growing up the walls, and trees had already taken over the playground and facade. As we got out of the car, there was already an ominous feeling, something my great-grandparents and their siblings always told me to take as a sign to turn around

while I still had some sense. I tried to ignore it and move forward. We begin looking into the windows and doors trying to find a way in. What we saw was like a scene of a dystopian novel. The roof had begun caving in, causing water to leak everywhere. One room had a piano slumped in. into a pile in the corner, while another still had the teacher's desk in front of the classroom surrounded by the bed of ferns. Once we finally found an entrance to the school, we shared a

moment's glance with each other, took a deep breath, and moved forward. We found ourselves in a long hallway, standing in a few inches of water. I had started to walk down that hallway, but I began to get the overwhelming feeling of dread and something deep down telling me not to go any further. So I turned around and followed my husband into the auditorium. The room was huge, but it had lots of Bibles and other things telling of history of the church that used to occupy the building after the school closed. We decided after a few minutes that it would be best to go back outside because the smell of mold was very strong.

So we walked back out. I stole a quick glance down the hall and that same dreadful feeling washed over me again. Once we were outside, we walked around to the playground that was beside the auditorium. That is when things took a terrifying turn. The dead silence was brought to life with the sounds of items crashing and things breaking. I ran around to the back of the building and as soon as I rounded the corner, that is when I saw it. I honestly don't know what it was, but it was massive. Crashing out of the back door was a large humanoid figure. It was very dark and ran with a little bit of a limp. Even with the limp, it moved too fast for me to catch much detail of it. But I do know everything in me told me to book it back to my

car. It never stopped to look at me, but ran straight for the woods. At first, I thought it could have been a black bear, but what bear runs on two legs like a human? To this day, we don't know what it was. Could it be Bigfoot? Or is it more ominous? Could it be a skin walker? The way the energy changed around the school leads me to believe that it could be. I hope you found the story amusing. I figured that two Bigfoot enthusiasts would find it to be interesting. If that experience taught me anything, it was to listen to the warning of my elders. I hope y'all have a great day and remember, always enjoy the view, but watch your back, for you never know what might be lurking in the shadows.

Elijah. The vibes were off, and Elijah was like, I'm a push through anyway. I love the sentence that just says, my elders always warn me to follow my instinct. And the vibes were off, so I continued. I don't know. It's like, okay, so we're ignoring that. I mean, we've all been there. Honestly, same though. I'm like, this feels weird, but... But does it? Yeah, I'm actually... Today, I signed up for a, like, an online intuition and, like, mentorship class. Oh, very cool.

So as far as, like, following the vibes that you are picking up on, instead of, you know, because we all have them. We all have situations like that. That one was obviously scary and a little more apparent. But we all have those gut feelings of things sometimes. And then it seems like the only times that we pick up on them is when we realize that we went against them. You know what I'm saying? It's like, oh, shit, I had a feeling about that.

You know, it's funny you saying that. It was two days ago, I was visiting my dad and in the morning for some, reason in my mind it came across like one of the first things I woke up my mind said to me be careful today you're going to get in a car accident and I was like so immediately it was like my first thought and I'm like okay stop you're fine like everything's fine I'm driving with my dad and I drive by an accident that just happened that day I mean it had happened minutes before the first responders weren't there there were a bunch of people pulled over already so we didn't stop but we drove by and their airbags had deployed.

There were still a person in it. You could see blood when you drove by. And I don't know. Like, I just think back to like your intuition, something. And my very first thought in like all day when I was driving, I was like, be careful. There's like you could get an accident. You could get an accident. And then my dad and I drove by that.

And I was like. And that doesn't happen every day. I mean, accidents happen every day, of course. But to see it especially that soon after. And that's what I'm saying. It's like we all have these like. I mean, that one was a little, I was like word for word. You received that.

It wasn't like a... Well, it was like you're going to get in an accident was what I thought. And then all day I was nervous. But every day when I get in my car, I don't think I'm going to get in a car accident. You know, I'm not worried about it. And then to have that happen the same day, I was like, okay. Yeah, I don't know whatever you saw, Elijah. I don't know if it was Bigfoot or like what...

I feel like that's more, not more than Bigfoot, because Bigfoot is always enough. But I'm just saying like... Bigfoot has nicer vibes than... Whatever that was. Yeah, seems a little different. Okay, so my next one is another animal attack story. Like a story of an animal being attacked. I don't know what's wrong with me.

I know. Everyone's like, I feel like there has to be a trigger warning before these because we all have to brace ourselves. This one's... This one, again, has a good ending. This one is titled Pico and the Wolf. Hello, I discovered NPAD on a long road trip from Washington to Colorado this summer and I was immediately hooked. It helped keep my sanity while my three young kids lost it in the back. I love nature, animals, creepy encounters, and supernatural stories.

They're the best. I wanted to share a story that happened to my mom a couple years ago that still blows my mind. And she gave me permission to share. My mom lives in a beautiful rural town in Washington state. She has horses and will often go on long trail rides up through. the hills and mountains. This particular spring day, she and a friend trailered their two horses and her dog Pico to do some trail riding. Pico often tags along with the horses and is a good boy on the trail. As they started their ride, they decided to go on a heavily forested trail that is less traveled. A little

ways into the ride, my mom began to notice that something was shadowing them off to the side in the woods. They thought it might have been a coyote, but they weren't sure. To be safe, they decided to get off their horses and leash up Pico. However, before my mom could get him secured, he took off after what they could now see was a wolf. The wolf started to run in the opposite direction, but turned as Pico quickly approached and took him down. At this point, my mom and friend were trying to hold onto their horses while screaming at the top of their lungs. My mom was so scared that Pico was killed, as he is not a very big guy at only about 30 pounds. The yelling distracted the wolf momentarily and Pico was able to twist out and run back. As Pico ran, the wolf continued to pursue and came up to the trail

right in front of my mom, and they locked eyes. The moment happened very quickly, but my mom says she will never forget the look in the wolf's eyes. There was amazing intelligence, purpose, and no fear of the two women with their horses. My mom's friend carries a firearm in her saddlebag for protection when she's in the backcountry. Since the wolf showed no sign of backing down, my mom yelled at her to fire off a shot into the air in hopes to scare it away. Thankfully, the loud noise stopped the wolf from advancing, and it chose to turn and retreat back into the woods. My mom's horses were amazingly calm for having encountered a wolf,

intense screaming, and the smell of Pico's blood, as well as a gunshot. It is remarkable that they didn't spook and bolt after all of this commotion. My mom quickly assessed that Pico was badly injured on his back end. She picked him up and rode as fast as possible to the trailhead with him bleeding a her lap. She said one of her favorite shirts was sacrificed to stop his bleeding. Well worth it. They drove straight to the vet and thankfully his injuries were not fatal. He was put on a strong antibiotic, had lots of stitches, and a very long and slow recovery. My mom reported the incident to fish and wildlife as they take wolf encounters very seriously. The next day, three big trucks

showed up in her driveway, a sheriff, a fish in game warden, and a wildlife conflict officer. They wanted and to verify that Pico's attack was from a wolf and to get the location where the attack occurred. Wolves have just recently been reintroduced to the area where my mom lived in 2014. She later learned from a conflict officer that this particular wolf was not acting in a predatory or hunting manner. The wolf they encountered had a den near the trail that my mom was riding on. He or she saw Pico as a threat to the den of pups and was acting defensively. Thankfully, in an interaction like this, the wolf was not hunted down and it continued to live out its days. It was an unfortunate fate of timing that they crossed paths on the trail. Pico is now 14,

and we still remark how awesome he is for surviving the jaws of a wolf. My mom says it was a very significant event in her life, and she is so thankful that Pico survived it as he is her best bud. She wants to make sure that anyone listening to this story knows that she still thinks wolves are beautiful and amazing. Coming face to face with one is something very few people get to experience, and she can still picture the intelligence in that wolf's eyes. My mom and Pico can still be found on the trails enjoying the beauty of Washington. She supports the reintroduction of the wolves and holds no ill will. She hopes they continue to thrive and coexist with our modern world and all of its challenges.

Attached are some pictures of Pico and my mom on her horse, Miller. Miller just passed away and is greatly missed. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed all the best, Caitlin. Well, I see why you chose that story. Yeah. That's like a given. Yeah, it has Washington, has Colorado, it has wolves, it has dogs, it has attacks. It has it all. Yeah, it's like your dream story written up in an email. I mean, I'm glad Pico's okay. That's so terrifying. Yeah, that's really scary. Also, your mom is badass. She just hops on her horse. She wraps up your dog in her shirt and then gallops away with a dog on her horse. And I mean, the whole story is just, wild and your mom's pretty badass and pico's very very cute i'll post picture of him but i want to see pico yeah it's just um it's so terrifying because i have the you know like because in the story she describes that they see something in the shadows they're like all right we got to like we got to hook him back up

here and then he just bolts the other day this is literally not the same at all but i had the same like sinking feeling yesterday. Was it yesterday or the day before? I parked my Jeep in the driveway and the dogs were in the back. And I kind of, you know when you park your car and you just sit there for no reason? You're just like, I don't want to get out yet. And you're just sitting. It's a common thing I do before I go to the gym.

I sit there. I'm like, oh, don't want to do this. Yeah. Don't make me walk inside. Yeah, I was sitting there. Oh, it was because I was avoiding packing, you know, classic avoidance tactics. and I was just sitting there and probably 20 minutes goes by. The dogs are completely fine, like not even a peep.

And I'm finally like, wipe my tears away. I'm like, okay, I got to do this. I get out of the car, go around back to open it up. And they had their leashes on them. And as soon as I opened up the back tailgate of my Jeep, they burst out of there. Like I was like shoved to the side. And usually I open up the back tailgate and they, you know, they wait and they jump down. This they were like, it's like they were waiting for their moment.

And they book it right into kitty cat alley across. Kitty cat alley. Oh, no. I was like, no. Oh, yeah. Kitty cat alley is like literally a little alleyway driveway, dirt, gravel road directly across from our driveway that Ian and I call Kitty Cat Alley. Because all of the neighborhood cats hang out there because all of the cats in the neighborhood are indoor, outdoor. And Blue and Chaska happen to like that alley.

And there must have been in a flash. I look over and I see there was like two cats just like sunning themselves out there. So the dogs for the whole 20 minutes that I was sitting there, they were just had their eyes on those cats. And we're like, just you wait. And as soon as that latch opened, they were like, the leashes slipped through my hands. Like I was like, no. And they booked it so fast. Thank God there was no cars coming because they have to go across the road.

And they were gone. I was like, oh, God, oh my God, those cats, I hope they're okay. And I'm just waiting for like a meow, like a, ah. But nothing came, thank God. I finally rasseled them down. I'm like, get inside. You're so bad. But I just imagined, I'm like, I'm going to have to tell somebody's owner, like somebody's kid that their fluffy is dead.

And I was just like, my dogs did it. Oh, that's so much anxiety. It's so much anxiety. But, al-al-al-and-fluffy is okay. Yeah. Alas. Nothing happened. But yeah, that feeling of like them taking off and knowing something bad is about to happen is I think what I was just about to try and say. And I just like went off the deep end. But yeah, that's what I was trying to say. Yeah, slightly different than your story. But I can see the connection. Yeah. Well, for my next trail tale, this one is pretty long. But someone wrote us in like a real survival story. that we would probably feature, we have featured similar stories on the podcast, but it's from their dad. And it's really interesting. It's a little long, but it is titled Pyrinese Mountains Survival Tale. Hello ladies. My name is Marjorie. You can use it and all the other names have

been changed already. I want to start off and say that you don't have to read this on the pot if you don't want to. I just thought you would appreciate this survival tale. I am fairly new to the podcast and I found you thanks to your collab with Morbid. I am so happy. to have found you and I have been listening nonstop ever since. Oh, that's so great to hear. But on to my story. Well, actually, my dad's story. My dad is French and grew up in Toulouse, France, just north of Pyrenees Mountains. He and his best friend, who we will call Rooster, spent most of their adolescence and early 20s scaling the mountains of Pyrenees, and they were taught how to climb by Rooster's father. Now, I want to start off and say that my dad and Rooster were not inexperienced climbers. My dad had scaled his first peak in his teens,

Rooster was pretty much breastfed while hanging in safety harnesses on the side of a mountain. Not literally just trying to drive the point home. They weren't rookies, and they knew these mountains like the back of their hands. That being said, the following tale is a perfect storm that nearly killed my dad twice. It was February of 1979, and so my dad had just turned 23. He and Rooster and Rooster's girlfriend, who we will call song, set off to ascend the face of Mount Purdue, which translates to the face of the Lost Mountain. It was a particularly challenging ascent, and the path that they had chosen was one that only experienced climbers would take. Song was also a very experienced climber, so no worries there. On the way up, they stopped and informed the high altitude mountain rangers of their plans en route.

The high altitude mountain ranges are actually a branch of the French military, and they kind of serve as a similar function as the Coast Guard on the mountain border between France and Spain, as well as the Alps. The weather forecast for that day was fantastic. Temperatures slightly above freezing at all altitudes, very little wind, and clear skies forecast for at least a week. They had a full 10 days worth of supplies, food, butane gas, and unlimited supplies of water due to the ice and snow.

The rangers wished them luck, and they were on their way. Their plan was to make it to the refuge of Tukaroy, which was a valley over from where they had started, About two hours into their trek, they reached a plateau where they could admire the view of what lay ahead. But from behind, a very cold wind was coming from above. This slowed their ascent considerably, taking them two hours to cover about 1,000 feet along the slopes of the peak. As they traversed, they had actively calculated how to cross each slope as no two crevasses along the slope were the same. And a single misstep could be dangerous.

But as mentioned, they were very seasoned climbers, and they weren't working. Finally, they reached the Butte-day Tukeroy, which is a peak that is at the front of the corridor that leads to the refuge, a small cabin at the summit of the corridor that would mark the beginning of their true ascent to the summit of Mount Purdue. Before they even started making their way up to the refuge, the wind picked up to 50 miles an hour, and the temperatures fell to negative 30 degrees Fahrenheit. As they climbed, the wind grew stronger, and they stayed very close together so that they wouldn't lose each other. I'll mention here that this weather came out of nowhere, and since all the forecasts had predicted perfect climbing weather, they hadn't gotten the rope out yet. The corridor was narrow, so Rooster took the lead and Papa took the rear as they were more experienced, with song in between them. Due to the cold and low visibility, every step was painful until they finally reached a break in the ridge.

The ridge had been providing a little bit of shelter from the wind, so when it broke, the wind was so strong that it flattened Rooster and saw against the cabin while it threw Papa over the ridge. As he fell, he drove his ice-axe into the ice, saving him from a 1,000-foot fall, and certain death. To this day, he still doesn't remember how he made it to the refuge. Somehow he did, but there were so much snow that he and Rooster had to dig to get to the top of the door. Eventually, they all made it inside the cabin, and at negative 10 degrees Fahrenheit, it felt pretty warm. Papa and Rooster were cooking some tea and soup when the door burst open and two men fell in. We'll call them Brock and Ash, and they were high altitude mountain rangers who had been climbing the southern corridor when the storm moved in. Ash was in bad shape. Two of his fingers were frozen, completely black with frostbite.

They had gone climbing with very little supplies as it had been a planned, day climb, and the weather forecast had been perfect for it. Little did anyone know that within the hours of setting off, the worst storm that Pyrenees had seen in decades would move in and settle right over them, with Papa, his friends, and two Rangers caught in the middle. Wind was later recorded as blowing over 100 miles per hour, and the weather dropped to under negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Papa remembers that night clearly. They put ash in one of their sleeping bag, and they only had three song in another and papa brock and rooster would rotate one would sleep and one would heat water for soup and tea and the third would work to save ashes fingers by lashing them with a belt

to try and restore the blood flow oh my god that sounds so painful this is brutal the weather conditions alone negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit like the winds a hundred mile an hour winds you have to dig your way into this cabin it's negative 10 degrees in the cabin and that feels warm. Right. It was kind of warm. It's like, oh my, yeah, these are rough. This is rough.

Come morning, they had a hard decision to make as the storm was still raging, but Ash was not getting any better. Papa Song and Rooster knew that they could hold out, as they had plenty of supplies. But if Ash didn't get to the hospital soon, then gangrene would set in and he may lose his whole hand. If it started to rot, it could put his side. life at risk, not just his hand. They decided to dump all the gear that wasn't essential and to climb down the slope facing inside due to the sharp incline. They split into two groups on two ropes,

Papa Song and Rooster on one rope and Ash and Brock on the other. The cold was intense, and Papa, Song, and Rooster had covered their gloves with socks for extra insulation, but within minutes of their descent, their fingers felt frozen. Rooster led, then Papa, then song. For four hours they made their descent when suddenly, boom. It sounded like a cannon going off and they all stopped, looked up, and saw a tall wave of white coming right at them. Papa only had time to unbuckle his backpack and secure his grip on his ice axe before the avalanche hit him. He remembers first it hit his shins, then his waist, and then he was engulfed. He tried to swim through it to do something, anything. But in the And all he could do was hold onto his axe and try not to panic.

Finally, it stopped. Puppa had been swept with the avalanche down the mountain. It was silent and all he could see was white. He started to dig his way out using his elbows and his axe. After climbing up a few feet, he stopped. He used his elbows and his arms to form a small cavity, about three feet in diameter. He made a snowball and released it. It went up.

He had been digging upside down the wrong way. He turned himself once again and started to dig. And soon discovered that he was only about three feet below the surface. Once he reached the top, he looked around and found Rooster about 50 feet below him on the slope of the mountains. But Song was missing. Instead of climbing down the mountain, they climbed up, poking into the snow with the butts of their axes. Then Rooster hit something hard. They dug hopeful only to find it was a fir tree.

The snow had buried the trees completely, but they didn't give up hope. They continued up, driving their axes, searching until they hit something. It was Song's boot. And when they grabbed it, she kicked back. She was alive. Next, they searched for their gear, knowing that without it, they wouldn't survive their environment. By the time they found their gear, Brock and Ash had caught up to them, and together they trekked the rest of the way down the mountain.

Trigger warning for the next part. Thoughts of suicide. When I sat down with Papa to record this story, this part was very hard for him to tell me. He released the words in pieces, acknowledging the weight and meaning behind each one before he shared it with me. So I will use his exact words.

As we progressed, I would look at the virgin snow and all I could think was dig a hole, escape the wind and pain, go to sleep and suffer no more. I ignored the fact that this would mean death. It was only later that we found that each of us had been thinking the same thoughts. But we saw each other and staggered on.

And so long as we saw the others going, we each persevered and lived. They followed a now visible trail, and after an hour they saw a ranger helicopter. They waved their axes, jumped in the air, but the blizzard was still raging, and it didn't see them. So they continued. Another hour passed and they met a fisherman. He took ash in his truck to the hospital and the rest of them continued on foot down the gorge. Shortly after the helicopter reappeared and this time they saw them and they landed. Brock dropped his backpack and ran to it, but here's the catch.

The high altitude mountain rangers are a part of the French military. Papa, Rooster, and Song were civilians. As a member of the Rangers, the helicopter would take Brombe, Brock back, but it would not take the civilians on board. But Brock returned to them and said, You are civilians and the helicopter belongs to the military, so they will not take you. Although I am one of them, I choose to continue with you. He strapped on his pack and started down the gorge. This is when the helicopter crew waived their protocol. Since Papa, Rooster, and Song had saved their men, they would take them. Within 15 minutes, they were back of the ranger station and were given their

first meal of the day. Papa grinned when he said, hot soup. Two years later, my father read an article in the magazine for the French Alpine Club. The bodies of five climbers were found on the slopes of Mount Purdue. The film from their cameras was dated February 23rd, 1979, and offered beautiful views from the same summit that Papa and his friends had set out to climb that very same day. As Papa's group was going up, this group was climbing down, and they were caught in the storm. In 1980s, my parents met Ash in a bar, and he had, in fact, lost two fingers on his left hand. He thanked my father for saving his life and credited him and Rooster as the reason he hadn't lost more. Papa has mild frostbite on the tips of his fingers with reduced sensitivity to touch in the affected areas.

I'm sorry if this story is too long, but I felt that it needs to be told. It's important. I tried to find the article about the hikers to show you, but I couldn't. Probably. because some of the story is referenced from a writing project my dad did on it for college. So I don't know the actual name of the magazine. But mostly, I got it from him in a rare moment where he told me about it. I hope you appreciate it. And if you do read it on the pod, I am sure that you'll do it justice. Thank you for your work.

Please never stop. Love you, ladies, Marjorie. That's super intense. Yeah, just the weather, the survival. I mean, this, like I said at the beginning, this is a survival story. that we would, it's the same type of survival story that we have covered on the podcast before because it's just so, when she was describing the avalanche and him getting caught in it and him digging, it brought me back to the episode that we did on Patreon.

The deadliest ski avalanche in history out in Tahoe. Yes. And I remember I read the book about it and this book went in detail of what it's like to be stuck under snow in an avalanche. So when I was reading it, I was just imagining like how there's not a lot of air, how you're like stuck and you're just like all the claustrophobic feelings of being stuck under feet of snow. Well, creating the snowball and dropping it is brilliant. Yes. Absolutely. Like what direction am I facing. Brilliant. Yeah. I would never have thought of that. I would have definitely just like freaked out and died. It just like inhaled all the oxygen way

too fast. Well, so the film that was recovered from the other group, they were, it was the same, like, imagine, you know, hearing about that and knowing that it, you know, could have been you. It almost was you. And I mean, they were in the avalanche, so they were somewhere in the same area. In the same area. Yeah. Wow. What a story and what a, what an event to survive and a bond to share with the people that you were with. You know, that lasts forever. So, wow. Yeah. Yeah, thank you for sharing that with us. And thank you for your dad for sharing that because it sounds like it was a very difficult time in his life and an incredible survival story as well. Okay, so my last one is called The Sinkholes. Hello, ladies, to start off like everyone else, long time listener and in love with your show. A little bit of background to start off this trail tale, I was born and raised in North Central Florida. While Florida is a huge vacation destination for tourists, the area I am in is pretty local besides the college students.

There isn't a whole lot to do here, but we have trails like there is no tomorrow. While there are only a couple of national parks in Florida, we do have 175 state parks, and I am proud to say that I have made it to 85 of them in my 25 years of life and our three national parks. Wow, that is, that's a big accomplishment. that's a lot of parks to visit. Yeah, it is. At this point, it's an ongoing joke in my office and friend group that one day I won't show up because I finally took the plunge and I'm living in the swamps of Florida with the critters and gaiters. This trail tale takes place in one of my favorite state parks, also the best local one in my area, the San Velasco Hammock Preserve State Park, or as I call it, the sinkholes. I could go on for hours about my favorite memories there, but after listening to your most recent trail tale and Taco of signs from faith and nature. One memory came flooding back like it was yesterday. San Falasco is one of the trails I started when I was just beginning high school and walking the sinkholes became part of my favorite activities. This park has multiple trail walks at various

lengths, so it's great for long walks and short quote unquote hikes. Normally, I stick with the three to five mile trails since they get further into the woods and you really feel by yourself out there. Four years ago, my grandmother passed away after a three-year battle with leukemia. Not to get into too much detail, but my whole world shattered and I lost so much of myself. I stopped exploring and barely left my house except to work and quick trips to the store. About eight months after her passing, I was laying in bed in what felt like hitting my lowest point in the depression that followed her death. I don't know what came over me, but I got out of bed, put on my hiking shoes, and drove to the the sinkholes. It was a bright, sunny day, not a cloud in sight, and it felt wrong to be going into

such a beautiful world when my personal world was the equivalent of a 10 car pile up on I-75. I just, I'm like raising my hand. I understand that sentiment so deeply. Like, that's such a beautiful way to put it, because it's so true. I got to the trails and that day, I decided I would finally try out the one-mile trail since the long one sounded like too much of a battle at the time. It wasn't anything special. You barely got up close to the sinkholes and one mile seemed like it would go by in seconds after only ever doing the longer trails. About a quarter mile into the walk, I started talking to my grandmother and asking her for a sign that everything was going to be okay. About five seconds later, the loudest crash of thunder erupted out of nowhere and the sky became dark. Not really

the sign I was expecting and to be honest, it made me feel even more hopeless. At this point, Turning around wasn't an option since the downpour of rain started immediately after the thunder, and the roots that acted like stairs had turned into a small stream. I decided to stay put and wait out the rain, listening to the thunder and feeling like this weather was more accurate for the way I was feeling inside. The rain finally slowed down after about 20 minutes. I was soaked to the bone. My shoes felt like 100 pounds from how much rain water was in them, and I really just felt defeated. I stood up to finish the rest of the mile and was taken aback.

The rain had filled up the mainstream enough that the small overflow of creeks were actually flowing, twisting and turning through the clover patches that were in bloom. The dark skies cleared up just enough that the sun shined so brightly on that spot that it seemed like the storm had taken me from the sinkholes into an enchanted forest. The water dripping from the trees shined like crystals falling from the sky, the critters and bugs re-emerged from their hiding places to explore the newly flooded land. That was the sign she sent me. The storm was ugly and intense, but the aftermath was beautiful and enchanting. There is always light at the end of the storm. I stood there for 10 minutes,

then took off my shoes, and began to explore again. I let the muddy earth squish between my toes, followed the small streams deeper into the clover's, and embraced the sunbeams as they warmed up my face and shoulders. That day, I found my way back to the woods. The woods I have always known, but now it felt like the first time stepping foot in. My grandmother was the one that created my love for the state parks, and I really do believe that she is the one that led me back there when I needed it the most. To end my trail tale, I ask one thing from you and your listeners. My home state is more than just Disney and beaches. It's wild and it's amazing. There is so much beauty tucked away behind the tourist destinations. If Florida is one of your vacay spots, then take the time to go see one of our many

state parks. Explore the creeks and the springs. Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints. Go see what the true beauty of Florida is really like. I will always say, do your research before going into environments you aren't used to. It's beautiful, but can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Gators, snakes, spiders, and bugs can turn your beautiful adventures into a horror movie. Make sure you bring lots of bugs spray because mosquitoes are no joke down here. Thank you for taking the time to read my trail tale. I hope you continue to enjoy the view, but watch your back. Much love, Kate.

What an awesome story. I loved that. I love the whole sentiment, one, because it's a sign and we have been obviously really on the looking at signs, but also just the sentiment behind the really awful storm and the beautiful things that come after it. Yeah, like it doesn't last forever. It's going to get better and make your way back to what you love because it's still there and you'll find peace in it eventually. And I just thought that it was so beautiful. And what an amazing sign to receive, especially when you need it most. You know, from what I've, my own personal journey and reading of others is it's not only the sign you receive, but it's when you receive it. That is important. And it sounded like she received it at the time she needed it the most in that at that point in her life, you know, eight months into it. And so, yeah, I really enjoyed that one.

And it had, I could just envision myself there too, like the way that she wrote it. I just felt like I was laying in the Clovers along with her, you know. It was very beautifully written. So that's all we have for the main episode. We did pick two more to share for the outsiders over on Patreon. if you want to head on over there, you can hear two more. I have my, mine's nice. Okay, I had to double check. Mine's nice. Mine is nice too, actually. Mine's kind of funny. Yeah, so if you want to check us out on Patreon, you can find it on our website, NPADPodcast.com, or you can find it in the

link in our bio on Instagram, or you can just search Patreon, National Park After Dark. We're on there, but we're going to head over. We're going to do the bonus episodes. But for everyone else, enjoy the view, but watch you're back. 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. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at National Park After Dark and on Twitter at NPAD podcast. Become an outsider by joining our Patreon where you'll gain access to monthly bonus stories and exclusive content. And remember, when you support our partners,

supporting our show. To access our special discount codes along with source information from today's episode, check out the show notes. For information on the show, to shop our merch store, sign up for our newsletter and more, visit npaddpodcast.com. And if you're enjoying the show, please rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you may not know yet. Drivers who switch and save with Progressives save over $900 on average. Pop over to progressive.com, answer some questions, and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by.

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