National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 34

Episode Date: August 17, 2023

Today’s stories include mushy moments, thin veils, searching for friends and getting haunted. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!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!Apostrophe: Use our link and code NPAD to get your  first visit for only $5.Liquid IV: Use code NPAD to get 20% off your order.True Crime Obsessed: Follow and listen to True Crime Obsessed wherever you listen to podcasts. Earth Breeze: Use our link got get 40% off when you subscribe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Monday AI agents took over my work. And I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind now. They live inside Monday.com. So they see the full picture, my work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff,

knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com. Girl, winter is so last season. And now spring's got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress.

Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Hello, hello everyone. Welcome back to another Trail Tales. I feel like it's been a really long time since we've done one of these. We have so many interviews. Yeah, we've had a lot. Yeah, guests and interviews and authors and all of that. So we have a good batch today. And I would love for you to go first since I am feeling under the weather. I would love to go first. I know. This is the first time that you've been under the weather in an episode and it hasn't been me. I know. And it's like, I feel like, Everyone is getting COVID again.

And I don't have, I've tested myself twice, don't have it. But I think it's just being run down from like our travels and stuff and being in airports and just being around like a million people. Because I just, I felt like shit like the day after we got back from our second Alaska trip. And I thought it was just like being tired and, you know, whatever, time change and taking a red eye. and then like my nose started to get stuffy and my throat started to get scratchy. I'm like, oh no, I'm actually sick, sick.

Yeah, travel does that. It's hard. But I'm here. And I'm ready. You're here and ready. But I'll go first and we can give your voice a little break. My first story is titled A Very Mushy Moment on Mount Rainier. Hi, Danielle and Cassie. First let me start off by saying listening to your podcast is one of my favorite weekly routines.

As an adventure elopement photographer, I spend many of my days in national parks slash on public lands and feel like these spaces come alive and are more sacred to me with the rich histories slash stories you share. Not to mention, I spent a ton of time on the road traveling for my work in my van and I wouldn't be able to do the long drives without having the constant soundtrack of your podcast to carry me through it. Part of my job means I get to observe many profound exchanges of love between people in incredible landscapes. I've always felt that these natural environments do so much more than offer a pretty

backdrop, but play a significant role in each person's love story. They're jagged peaks, trickling waters, and lush forests are some of the best forms of company, bringing you to life while speaking peace, wonder, and wisdom over you during these pivotal passing moments. Today, however, I, Lexi, feel free to use my name, get the opportunity to share how one of these landscapes loved on me and played an instrumental part in my life. love story. Where to begin? I guess it all started on that late summer night in 2019. I was in Seattle lying in my bed in my Airbnb for the month, tossing and turning and unable to sleep. You see, at the time I was living in Richmond, Virginia, and was taking steps to prepare for a

move across the country to Seattle with this current trip I was on. It was all getting to me, leaving my community, my home of seven years, the fear of relocating myself and my business. Not to mention, I was beginning a relationship with a guy back in Richmond, silly on my part now that I think of it, and it was tying my heart further to that place. At 3 a.m. I had had enough of the anxiety. I spontaneously hopped into my rental car and began driving two and a half hours to Reneer in the dark, doing anything to quiet my restless thoughts. I had my sight set on a specific hike. I'd been hearing good things about the skyline trail. I got to the trailhead just as the light was beginning to illuminate the mountain with pink color and all the parks wild and half

were starting their day, singing in the trees, and scurrying through the dew-filled grass. I was immediately greeted by a black bear, stumbling its way down the trail, and veering off into the forest when it saw me. Yikes. I pushed onward through and spent the morning with the sun rising, spilling my worry to the mountains, and grounding myself with the insignificance of being in the face of all its grandness. I spoke aloud about the fear of saying goodbye to my friends, possibly losing this relationship, and the insecurity brewing within me. It was one of the first of the fear of of the most fulfilling mornings of my life and I truly felt like the towering mountain was a friend listening to my troubles encouraging me onward. That very same day, the guy I was seeing called me

and broke things off. It left me pretty devastated, but I had no idea what was in store. Fast forward to the summer of 2020. Despite all the craziness of COVID, I had made the move, was meeting friends, going on adventures, and was even starting to see this guy. One of my friends Alex, nically invited his cousin, Andrew, on a camping trip in hopes of setting us up, and I was smitten. Alex and Taylor, his girlfriend, really wanted to see the blooming wildfires at Reneer, so they made a plan for us all to do the Skyland Trail that weekend at sunrise. Do you see where this is going? Wait, I think you said wildfires.

She wasn't going to see wildfires. It's wildflowers. To see the blooming wildfires at Reneer. to see the blooming. What a romantic. Yes, we see where it's going. You're going to burn. No.

She said, I really wanted to see the blooming wild flowers at Reneer. The four of us left their house at 3 a.m. and had an incredibly idyllic morning hiking under Reneer. We admired the whistling marmits, vibrant wildflowers, and radiant sunshine. An added bonus being that I got to behold all the views that had comforted me so deeply before. It wasn't until later that day when I was reflecting on the beauty of the adventure and scrolling through the pictures on my phone that I stopped and thought, holy shit. It was all exactly one year later at the exact time on that exact hike that I had spontaneously done in my

solitude and worry back in 2019. This time instead, with new friends and what would become the love of my life. It was like the mountain had heard me, encouraged me forward through the fear, and blessed me with everything I was longing for. Like it was saying, I told you, you could do it, and look what it brought. I know it's cheesy. I will never forget the feeling of amazement and gratitude for the friends we get to have in these wilderness.

I remember how devastated I was in 2019 when that relationship ended, but it was exactly what needed to happen. I still can't believe the incredible partnership that was awaiting me around the corner in my relationship with Andrew. Andrew has given me so much. He's helped cultivate a confidence. I didn't know I had to be in the outdoors, leading me to new heights and teaching me valuable skills along the way. He said yes to and also planned himself countless adventures I will forever hold dear.

He's my best friend, the only person I've been able to bear my entire soul to. And lastly, he's brought me alive in a way I didn't know possible, bringing so much beauty to this life we get to live together. With that, I'll conclude my very long story and mushy moment on Mount Rainier. I've attached some pictures I took on that hike in 2019. as well as my very first picture with Andrew a year later on the same hike. Thank you both for the hard work you do to share such significant stories and educate us on these special places we hold so close to our hearts. So enjoy the view and talk to it like it's your friend. You never know how it'll soothe your soul and give you what you need to change your life forever.

XO. Lexi. I love it. I love it so much. I love Rainier. You have a special connection to Rainier. Yeah, I do. But you do. You never know. I am such a firm believer in saying things out loud that you want or like a vision that you want.

It's like the whole manifesting thing. I really believe that your thoughts have power. I think it's also this story is a really good reminder that wherever you are in a point in your life right now in this moment, even if you're feeling like really upset and really sad or if you're going through a really hard time, you don't know what the future holds. and in a year from now, you can look back just like Lexi did. And she looked back and she saw how much better she was doing how far that they've come. And it's just, I think that it's a really sweet reminder that life changes and things change. And things can change for the better. And there are paths that maybe you're on and you don't even know.

You don't even know that there's something in store. And I feel like that was kind of like the underlying message of her story. And I totally agree. And also, I see. see you over there. Shuffling trivia cards. Man, I was trying to be all sincere and sweet. And now, flash trivia. What category would you like? Oh, God. Animals. Animals. Please. Why are you doing this to me? I'm sick. I know, but I've been waiting to take these out for so long. In our Trail Tales episode where I

asked you trivia just came out. So it's time for another one. Let's see. I'll give you a true or false one just to be friendly. Okay. Joshua trees have growth rings that can determine their age, true or false. Okay, first of all, that's not animals, so I feel upset by that. It says plants, animals and water. Okay. I specifically ask for animals. And I feel like, why is this a, is this a true question? Don't all trees have growth rings? What's your answer? I guess false because I feel like I'm being tricked. You were being tricked. Joshua trees are actually a giant species of plant in the Agave family, not trees. So they don't have growth rings. Instead, researchers generally use the size to estimate their age. They grow around an inch a year and can live to be over 150 years old.

Okay, well, this is, I don't know, like if you plan this or not, but my first story is titled The Vail is Thin in Joshua Tree. I did not plan that. I just picked the top card on the deck. Okay, well, it leads us right in. We're going to Joshua Tree. We're on paths we didn't even know. Right, where trees don't have growth rings because they're agaves or something. Or something, yes. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book-to-screen favorites you've already read twice. Off-campus, L, every year after,

The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. Hello, Danielle and Cassie, long-time listener, first-time caller. Before I get into my story, I want to say I've listened to your podcast regularly over the last few years, and it was in constant rotation during my PCT through hike last year. It may seem ridiculous to be wandering through thousands of miles of backcountry alone,

while listening to a podcast like yours, but it really set a fun tone, and the whole time I was hoping to experience something strange, unexplainable, or frightening, that may be worthy of a trail-tale email, while simultaneously wishing I don't somehow become the subject of a future episode. But nothing bizarre, scary, or paranormal stood out on that adventure. By the end of that experience,

I thought if I didn't experience anything trail-tale-worthy, I probably never will. Fast forward to May 17th of this year. I was about a week into a cross-examble, cross-country road trip with a very loose itinerary. I had just visited my cousin in Vegas, and some other relatives in California had something come up that gave me an extra day in the desert. Being so close to Joshua Tree National Park, I took the opportunity to visit this legendary place. What transpired there will stay with me forever for the rest of my life. I will share a journal

entry from shortly after my experience when it was all fresh. But first, a little background slash context. My grandparents were the most important and influential people in my life. They saved me from living in other poverty and a regularly abusive household. I would not be who I am or where I am today without them. And I spent the majority of my 20s as their caretaker until their final days. In the time since we last saw each other, I have radically changed my life. I've lost over 200 pounds, quit smoking and drinking, achieved a lifelong dream of joining the army, even though I got pretty swiftly medically discharged, long, stupid story. I hiked the PCT, worked with outdoor brands as a professional photographer, continue to travel across the country, and will have my rookie season of

wildland firefighting this year. I don't say any of this to gloat. I say it because my grandparents never got to see any of this, and that fact constantly eats away at me. They never got to see that the person they tried their best to raise eventually got his shit together, although I still am a work in progress and is at least making an honest attempt to be a better person and to leave this world a little better than I found it. And that's all because of them. There is also a great deal of closure I've been chasing and assumed I would never get after their deaths. Oh, and one more clarification. I was completely sober during this following experience. Anyway, here's my journal entry. After high-tailing it from Vegas to Joshua Tree in one shot, I hastily made my way to the first-come,

first-served area of the park. I was in luck. I claimed my space. I claimed my spot at the Hidden Valley Campground, picked my pack off the California sand, and threw it onto my back. I'm not used to it being this light. For the better part of five and a half months on the PCT, I burdened this thing with arguably more than it was meant to hold, but now it almost felt empty by comparison. This was no backcountry tramp. Nope, this was very casual. This was a day hike. I looked around and see that I'm surrounded by vehicles and other campers here to climb and play their guitars. For a split second, I felt my ego swelling, but then I remind myself that not every instance of being in nature needs to be a hardcore multi-day excursion, and my ego shrinks again. I spent the latter

half of the day exploring the area around the Hidden Valley Trail of Joshua Tree National Park. By now, I had spent plenty of time in the desert environment, but this was unlike anything I had experienced to date. Between the rock formations, the vibrant plant life, and of course, the abundance of Joshua trees, I felt like I was on the set of a 1950s science fiction film. At any moment, I could round the bend and see people in silver jumpsuits with fishbowls on their heads, ray guns in hand fending off a horde of humanoid reptilians, but instead it was just the occasional rock climber. Every time I hear, this obviously is my interjection, but anytime I hear something about Joshua Tree, I think of Graham Parsons and like that era.

Me too. Remember when they were in their like nudie suits and stuff? Yeah. After exploring the Hidden Valley until the last shred of daylight faded, I returned to a camp and broke out the jet boil. I had some leftover mountain house and peak meals from a resupply I never got to use during my hike, so I treated myself to a gourmet dinner of mango sticky rice and canned chicken under the dim red light of my headlamp. I sat in silence for a while and thought about my life. I had driven 2,500-plus miles in the last five days and had a few thousand more to go.

This place was just a pit stop on a much longer journey ahead of me. life is in a strange, if not exciting place. I guess I'm a nomad. Nowhere to quite call my own until I start my new job in Washington, and even then, only for the fire season. But I have a purpose, and that is worth more than anything material to me. I'll figure out the rest of the details along the way. The last seven years have been an insane journey of losing 200 pounds, rebuilding my life from the shattered pieces of broken dreams, rediscovering myself and a will to live on the PCT, and now uprooting my life to travel across the country to become a wildland firefighter. I take one last look at the sky and see clouds rolling in to obscure it. An unfortunate turn of events as I hope to get a photo of the stars.

I crawl into my single person ultralight tent and my toes graze the walls as I sprawl out. It's not as comfortable as I recall, but it feels right. I drift in and out of consciousness several times, and the next thing I know, I'm standing in my grandparents' farmhouse, the place that meant more to me than anywhere else. To my left, my grandfather, to my right, my grandmother, the two people that meant more to me than anyone else. I tell them I'm sorry for what I did when I didn't know better. I'm sorry for not doing any of this sooner and being stronger when they needed me to be. I tell them what I've done with my life since we last met and what I was currently doing.

They are as I remember them from when I last saw them. My grandfather in December of 2013 and my grandmother in August of 2016. My grandfather is ecstatic. He tells me how he always wanted to do what I'm doing now, to travel across the country. I tell them that he can and I can help him. My grandmother was confused as she often was in her final days, but we explained to her the plan and that I'd help them get on a journey across the country. There was already an RV in the driveway.

I guide my grandmother inside and ensure she's comfortable in one of the seats. I can still feel the silk of the nightgown she adorned and the weight of her body leading into me for support as we made our way inside. My grandfather and I embrace, and for the first time in my life, I feel a long-lasting physical effect from a dream. I've hugged this man countless times, and now in this vivid moment that I'm having trouble distinguishing from reality, I can tell you I felt this as if it was real. My grandfather was a strong, sturdy man, even in his final days from a lifetime of hard labor on a dairy farm, and I could feel that in this dream. I was taller than him, so his shoulders were about chest tight against me.

He had on a green sweater that he always wore, his full head of gray hair pressed against my beard as we held on to each other for what seemed like an eternity. After all those years of having dreams where I only see him from a distance or tell him a quick, frantic sentence before an abrupt end and no resolution, this was a long time coming. I wake up. The muscles in my chest and arms slowly relax. I opened my eyes to see my hands were outstretched as if I was still holding my grandfather. I then check my watch to see it shortly after 3 a.m. My eyes shift to the open roof of my tent and it looks like the sky cleared up.

I grabbed my camera and quietly crawl out of my teary. to capture the night sky. For the rest of that night and the next day, I could feel pressure on my chest where my grandfather's shoulders would have been. My grandparents never knew me as I am today. The last time I saw my grandmother, she was in the early stages of dementia, and I was still well over 400 pounds, just starting on my weight loss path. When my grandfather was still alive, I was mentally and physically at my lowest. I always wish they could have seen the person I've become and try to live my life the way that would make them proud. I'm receptive of the idea of otherworldly things. or phenomenon, the likes of which we don't have proper understanding of.

I approach it all with great skepticism, but the fact of the matter is something happened to me in that desert, something well beyond my knowledge. I have no idea what, but I'll carry it with me for the rest of my life. If nothing else, I'm taking it as a sign that I'm on the right path, that the piece I found over the last year is genuine, and that I'm living my life right by them. I really want to emphasize the long-lasting physical effects I felt for the next 24 hours after this experience. The pressure on my chest was persistent, but not painful or uncomfortable, just there. I also felt like I had motion sickness as soon as I woke up, which also persisted for the same

amount of time. I've had crazy dreams in the past, I've had lucid dreams, but I don't know what this was. To call it a dream seems to not do the experience justice. I'm not religious. I don't have the slightest clue what happens when we die, or what happens to our energy, for lack of a better way to put it, but I do think it goes somewhere. I'm open to the idea that there are other planes or tears of existence that intersect with our own in ways we're either not aware of or forget about over time. There's a sort of veil between them.

In some places, that veil is thinner than others. I know it sounds insane, but after replaying the situation and its effects repeatedly, I think I had an out-of-body experience or some sort of astral projection to wherever my grandparents are now. That might explain my motion sickness and other physical, effects after. In the end, it's not something I can brush off, and I finally have a sense of peace knowing that they are aware that their hard work and the lessons instilled made a difference to me.

I'm taking the experience as a good omen. My life is strange and uncertain, but now I'm finally convinced I'm on the right path. I feel like a part of myself is bound to a handful of places, and Joshua Tree is now one of them. I can't wait to return someday. So there you have it. The weirdest thing I've ever experienced in one of the most surreal places I've ever been. Whether you choose to share it or not, I thought you might appreciate it. Thank you for putting in the work you do. It's been fantastic and inspiring to see you both grow the podcast the way you have. I look forward to your continued success in future episodes.

Keep stoking those coals of curiosity regarding the strange and paranormal. Best regards, Joshua. That was definitely a visitation dream. A hundred percent. Yeah, for sure. And I'm not too versed in astral projection or like lucid dreaming or anything like that. but as far as visitation dreams go, speaking from personal experience, I've only had one visitation dream from my dad in the last however many years. I mean, this comes out, I think the 17th,

and so in 10 days will be his 14th, 15th year anniversary of his death, and I've only had one. And I've had dreams of him in it. Like, he's been a figure in it. But it wasn't the same. But it wasn't the actual visitation dream. that I got from him many years ago. And then Ian, I can't stay away from me. He's, I've had a few with Ian and they're all very, very special. Like Joshua said, like, I've had dreams before. Like, I've had a variety of dreams before and you just know they're different.

Like, Ian has been in my dreams. I've had stress dreams regarding Ian, but I've also had visitation dreams with Ian. And, like, you just know when you know. And this is, you had a visitation. dream with your grandparents. And I think that is just like so amazing because it does. It sucks. It's like I have so much to tell you.

So much has gone on. My life is so different. Like I want to thank you or just tell you. And I think it's their way of just popping in and being like, we know. And like we want you to know that we know. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think the last visitation dream I had was I was in Alaska with you.

Yeah. Yeah. that was super recently. Yeah. What, a week and a half ago? Yeah. And I woke, I mean, I didn't wake up with like my arms outstretched. You know, like he's like, it's like you wake up and you're like mid doing something.

Like physically doing something in the real world outside of your dream. But like I woke up bawling my eyes. Like immediately just I woke up and I was already bawling my eyes out because I was crying at the end of that dream. And it like translated into like from being unconscious to conscious. And yeah, Cassie was like, is everything okay? What's happening? It's like, I was just with the end. You know, it was just like, you can't even begin to describe it unless you've had one.

So, Joshua, you had one. And I'm really happy for you. Yeah. It sounds really special. And thanks for sharing it with us. Yeah. Well, I have my next story is titled, Hey, Cassie, did I get haunted? I love that.

Hey, ladies. You already know I love that. love the pod or I wouldn't be writing in, feel free to use the story on the pod, but because it's already caused me enough familial embarrassment, I've left out names. So without further ado, back when you released your episode about Gettysburg National Military Park, I was immediately taken back to my childhood. My father was raised in Gettysburg, which means my family went back to visit a lot. I've grown up visiting the battleground, the farms you mentioned, and other various sites around town. When you were telling the story, I felt like I was actually there and could vividly

recall the barns and fields and whereas it was in relation to the battlefields and other historical sites. My aunt actually lived in one of the original buildings from the wartime era, and it was definitely haunted. We'd often hear stories of children playing pranks on her. She had no children at the time, but we can save that story for another day. One year we went back for one of my dad's high school reunions. My cousin and I decided to go on a ghost tour for something to do. I'd like to know I was 18, she was a bit younger, and I'd never been on a Gettysburg ghost tour before. How? Good question. I don't know. But I'm glad we did it. Now, it's important to note for later in my story, we drove there separately. She and her own car after work, and I borrowed my grandmother's

car. We were escorted around the town, around the college, across the bridges, and told a lot of stories that had occurred in these places in surrounding area. We were even told a few stories about paranormal encounters on the battlefield. All in all, we had a good time and even learned a bit. On the way home, remember, I'm alone in my grandma's car, I knew that the quickest way back to her house and the way I got there was through the battlefield. No biggie.

Except the gates are closed at sunset, and we went on a nighttime tour. I didn't know this, so I drove off into the battlefield encountering no closed gates. I was happily driving along until I realized it was pitch black and there were zero street.

lights. The GPS that I had used to go through the battlefield earlier that day suddenly stopped working. It's giving me anxiety. You're alone in the dark in Gettysburg battlefields. I had no fucking clue where the hell I was and I was freaked out. So I did what any freaked out 18 year old would do and called my dad. But my phone wasn't working either. No bars, no data, just the dreaded SOS in the top right corner. Fuck. So I laid on my horn. What? Someone would eventually hear, right?

Right? About five minutes of just blaring the horn, a ranger came by. He said, Hi, miss, this isn't your car. Are you by any chance her granddaughter from out of town? Uh, yes. Great. Well, miss, how did you end up in the middle of the battlefield at this hour?

I closed the gate myself a couple hours ago. Uh, you missed the one by town then. because it was open. Nope, I drove by it on my way here when I heard you. It closed. There was a long silence. All I know is I drove through an open gate and now my phone and GPS aren't working and I have no idea how to get to my grandma's house. He didn't question me anymore, but he did escort me to my grandma's because of course he knew where she lived and my entire family knew what happened before I could tell them. Small towns, man, small towns. This is my story and my question remains. Cassie, did I get haunted?

You got haunted. So is the haunting a ghost open to gate? I think that it's a combination. I feel like it's a combination of being brought there. The gate was open. And then also you hear all the time in paranormal activity where electronics don't work anymore. So not having, even if you weren't like fully haunted like nothing was interacting with you or you didn't see something, you were definitely in the presence of something or your GPS. and phone and everything just turned off.

I guess my follow-up question would be, do you normally get service there? Yeah, that's a good question. Like, is Gettysburg a notorious place to just, like, not have any cell service? Yeah. I guess the cell service is, like, hit or miss for me, like, because, I mean, there are places,

plenty of places even here. But GPS is usually satellite. Right. That's the only, and the gate thing and the confusion. I'm sure, like, that ranger was just kind of like, all right, you probably have no idea what you're talking about. and like dismissed it, but I don't know. It is a little creepy.

Yeah, and it's also hilarious that you were just sitting in the middle of a battlefield with laying on your horn, hoping someone would help you. That ranger was probably like, hello? Can I help you? Stop. Like, I hear you. Everyone can hear you. Everyone actually can hear you.

It worked, I guess. It did. All right. My next story is titled Search and Rescue Mission in Yosemite National Park. Hi, Danielle and Cassie. I went back to find this in my drafts over a year after I had originally written it. I finished this email today, 5.29, 23, on Memorial Day, after taking a really long weekend to reflect on my good friend and soldier that went missing

almost a year and a half ago. I've been connecting with your podcast and your stories even more as you've developed this past year and you're truly both amazing storytellers with incredible humor to add to your tales. Danielle, listening to you move through grief openly on your podcast has helped so many others relate and to not feel so alone. Thank you for your bravery and openness to share your heart with others. My hope today is to bear some of that bravery and continue to move forward through my own grief. I've hesitated to write my own trail-tale submission because like others, I felt like this story was not as worthy of a good narrative and that of just a heartbreaking experience for myself,

and especially that of family and friends of the still missing person in Yosemite National Park. Now, listening to several of your episodes, I realized how important it was for me to share my own experience in an unsuccessful search and rescue operation and one of the most well-known national parks. Considering most of your audience consists of outdoors and adventure lovers, I'm hopeful that my story might reach others that are going or have gone through a similar experience.

So, most of us know when someone goes missing, regardless of if it's in the wilderness or not, the first 24 to 48 hours are the most critical for recovering the missing person. However, after the initial shock and devastating news of hearing someone went missing, we often miss how huge the repercussions are if the missing person is never found. The story gets faded out of the media and people often stop feeling as invested after weeks, months, and even years go by. This is the story of my good friend and soldier, Joel Thomason, and how he never came home from Yosemite National Park. I'll begin by starting with my own perspective and then fill in the details that made the situation difficult and hard to negotiate.

It was Saturday, September 11th, 2021. I remember this so vividly because I had already been an elevated hot mess that day. I've been a soldier in the U.S. Army Reserves for 13 years, and this was my first 9-11 no longer an active reserve soldier. I had made the choice in July to take a break from my position as a team supervisor, essentially, and my position in the Army Reserves. For those familiar with military enlistments, I chose to end my career early and transfer into the individual Ready Reserve. I had begun homeschooling my son full-time to enjoy traveling, adventuring more,

and having the flexibility to have a non-traditional schedule. Fitting the Army into my life no longer worked for myself and my family's lifestyle. And while the decision was obvious, leaving 13 years of something I knew that was so familiar was gone way too quickly. Prior to my departure at my reserve unit, Joel was one of my soldiers that I supervised and had been leading him towards his own NCO course to promote to a supervisor role himself. Him and I had spent a few solid years together in the army. We had gone on really, really shitty missions together, where he truly became like my little

brother. We were close in age. So we were closer to peers than the supervisor, supervisee. I had just been able to make it through the ranks at the time before he did. So flashback to 9-11, 2021. I'm standing in the middle of a karate belt promotion that I'm working as, as an instructor, and I get a text from one of my army buddies asking for Joel's phone number. I shoot it over to him quickly thinking, huh, that's odd. They probably have drill weekend and they need to find him somewhere in the building. Side note that I. our reserve building and property was huge. So you legit called people so you didn't have to walk a half a mile to find them.

Another 30 minutes goes by. I got a text from my other good army buddy. He tells me that Joel never made it to drill weekend. This is an immediate red flag because he's the most reliable person I know. My buddy continues to tell me that Joel had taken off for a three-day solo backpacking trip before drill weekend. They had talked to his wife, who had planned for him to be back the previous Thursday, and the park rangers had found his car was still parked at the backpackers' campground parking lot at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. It already wasn't looking good. At that point, each of us goes into our own

individual army planning headspace, and between the three of us, we just want to move and take action right away. Yosemite National Park Service Search and Rescue was alerted and mobilized at that moment. At that point, going forward, I find myself driving to Yosemite, doing miles upon miles of my own searching, and hit the most enormous amount of bureaucratic red tape I could not even begin to describe when it comes to saving someone's life. We were notified that Joel was absolutely and completely missing on Saturday 9-11.

It wasn't until Monday, two days later, that myself and a rag-tag team of Army reservists sat in the bunkhouse of the Hedge-Hetchy Reservoir, formulating a plan to try and assist the current National Park Search and Rescue op as it stood. A little backstory on Joel and his family. This trail that Joel took, the beehive of Hetch Hatchy to Miguel Meadows and then to Lake Eleanor, is one that Joel has done

so many times he could have done it with his eyes closed. His dad was the chief engineer for the city of San Francisco, which owns the whole of Hetch Hatchy and its reservoir system. They all lived at the base of the Sierras near Yosemite, and Joel and his brothers were raised by their parents, like true lovers of the land and adventure. This wasn't a hard trip for Joel, except that he only took off for this trip after hearing of a very close family friend's passing. Joel had finally made it to his NCO course with a week to go when he learned that a very close family friend had passed while he was in training. For those that understand military speak, essentially, Joel was still on orders until he showed up for drill weekend just a few days later. The course cut him a break,

sent him home without penalty, but did not adjust his orders. Joel had the week off still, so he decided he wanted to take this trip to talk to literally God and clear his head from what we were told from his family. Unfortunately, this is the part of the story where we come back and there's a rag tag group of reservists who only have half approval from their command who are two chicken shit, in my not so humble opinion, to take on any extra risk because apparently a bunch of soldiers that are trained in land navigation and rucking it for miles on end are ill-equipped to go for a backpacking trip. but I digress for now. That entire week, we sat fighting tooth and nail against the red tape that had no reason to exist. Bureaucrats worried about the risk assessment rather than taking risks. I found myself disappointed on all ends between my own previous reserve unit's response to our assisting with the search

and the National Park Service full lack of ability to integrate another useful source of actual train boots on the ground. For example, one of my army buddies I was referring to is the designated drone guy for his local ship. sheriff's department and has an immense amount of mandatory training to fly a drone for law enforcement. He brought the drone on Monday. We had to wait until Friday afternoon for permission to put his drone in the air in conjunction with a search and rescue unit. Then he had to leave to go back to work the next day. That's five days of flight time wasted on red tape. I realize in the moment there's only so much you can do to control an operation. Looking back on it, there was a lot of things going on that were shot down for, in my opinion, bullshit reasons. And I can think.

say that because I was damn good at my job in the army. It's been a little over a year since Joel went missing in Yosemite and each and every person that loved him is still frustrated from the lack of closure in his missing person's case. Not a single trace of him was ever found on the trail and in all the areas that were searched. Just this year, I found myself triggered by every missing person's case I heard of happen in this area. I even found myself angry at the families that had closure when their own missing person was found. How fucked up is that? This is when I really came to terms with the fact that I was not processing his presumed death as well as I imagined. We have no body to bury, no one to mourn over but a ghost of an existence. Joel is survived by his beautiful wife

and son who turned three this year, and my heart aches for them every day. My hopes with my own and experience with this story is that it resonates with someone who may have had a similar experience in a missing person's case that is still not closed. I don't remember crying to the universe or asking for a sign so hard in my life than that week I spent in Yosemite looking for Joel. I remember sitting in my car asking God or the universe or whoever is there for some sort of clear sign as to where he might be or how I could locate him. And the only vision that came clear to my mind in that moment were bright giant angel wings. From that moment, I knew he was gone from this earthly plane, but I have had all this time to still process how he could possibly go missing and why. After listening to your podcast from almost the very beginning and hearing

you ladies talk about signs, there's no doubt that Joel has a mischievous hand on all of our adventures. It took me a while to realize it, but every time I see a Bigfoot picture or depiction of Bigfoot, it is a clear sign that Joel is around and making sure we're connected to adventure. I've attached a few pictures of Joel, including his missing person's flyer, that you are free to share. Always enjoying the view, Kelly. Man, that's such a hard situation, especially just all of the, you're talking about red tape, but with his searching and being someone who is trained in landscape navigation and military members are so highly trained in that kind of stuff and then just not having any answers.

And I know we can picture exactly where you're talking about. We were just at the Hedge Hetchy Reservoir in June. So we were there very, very recently. so we can definitely picture everything that you're saying when you write that. That's an awful story and we hope that there's closure and that he has found. Yeah. And they wrote that, you know, like when they typed this email, which was back, you know, in Memorial Day.

But I decided to include it now just because a lot of people may remember Andrea Linkford. We spoke to her last year, over a year ago with one of her books. And she wrote a new book and were probably. going to have her on very soon. And it's the whole book is about her working with the family and friends of three different missing hikers that went missing on the PCT and there's still no answers. And just all of the red tape that she, the family, other people hoping to support the search

effort over years had to go through. And just like the emotional toll that it's, it takes not just all. on immediate family members, but friends and people who are dedicating thousands of hours into finding these missing people, we talk a lot about stories that, like, have an end. You know, we set up the story, we tell the story, and there's a conclusion for our episodes. But the fact of the matter is most, there's an overwhelming amount of unanswered, unsolved, missing persons stories out there and to have someone write in about they're such a personal connection to one of them.

I mean, they wrote in here like, not sure if it's worthy, it is worthy because that's what this is all about. I mean, this is happening to real people and they're real friends and family members, and we want to acknowledge that. Yeah, and talk about it because, you know, you just never know who's listening and you never know who is hearing it and you never know who is in the park at that time. I'm it's just there's never harm in talking about it and spreading it because you just never know who is out there. Who has connections to who and who might have saw something.

Who might have information that they didn't know was relevant. You know, there's just, there's always that hope that someone will hear the story and know something that isn't out there yet. And I think it's important. And it is what, like you said, it's what it's all about this whole podcast is we're all, we're all outdoor friends. We're all here for each other when things like this happen. And of course we want to tell the story. Of course. Well, my next story is titled, Don't Stop on a Northern Michigan Country Road at night.

Hi there, Cassie and Danielle. My name is Janelle, and your podcast is one of my new obsessions. I started listening when a fellow co-worker at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore recommended it to me last winter. I've always had a fascination with the macabre, and I love the outdoors, so your podcast is perfect for me. I also love the added bonus of learning safety tips and lesser known histories in the park, so thank you for all the work you do to tell these stories. I grew up and have spent most of my life in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the UP, which you may recognize as the launch pad for Isle Royal National Park and Mackinac Island State Park,

and home to Coena. Sorry. Oh, you wrote it for me. Kiwina. I said that. Kiwina National Historic Park and Pictured Rock's National Lakeshore. I've been to Mission Hill Cemetery featured in another story also up here, and I feel compelled to confirm that hebi-jeebies is a common used expression around here.

The UP is very remote hosting less than 2% of Michigan's entire population, despite having 28% of total land mass. Two large national forests make up over 2 million acres of land up here, the Ottawa and the Hiawatha National Forest. If you talk to any Uper, the name we inhabitants call ourselves, almost everyone has has had something weird happened to them. The lack of any major cities causing light pollution gives us clear skies in which many of our neighbors

have spotted mysterious lights. All of the wilderness here belies a rich history of mining and lumber industry leaving behind abandoned mines and ghost towns hidden in the woods. I decided to go for creepy tales that center around strange nighttime roadside occurrences that have happened to my family. I'll start with a short one that happened to my sister.

The northern lights occasionally are visible up here, And this particular night, my sister and my friend were looking around to find a good viewing spot. They were driving down a country road between fields when my sister had an overwhelming feeling of another presence in the car. Sitting in the back seat, barely visible, was a shadow figure. Her friend also noticed, and very spooked, they booked it back home. Once they left that road, the feeling of the presence disappeared. The next story is from my mom. She commutes about an hour into work every day, sticking to highways, flanked.

by thick forests. One night while returning home from an evening shift, a deer jumped out and hit the side of her car. Having stopped after the accident, my mom got out to survey the damage. It was very dark outside, the only illumination, a faint bit of light from the road junction a few miles away. She was making a call to 911 when she happened to turn around and see two figures sneaking up on her out of the darkness. There was no car around they could have come from and it was too dark to make out any of their features. My mom yelped in surprise and one of them said, we won't hurt you. But in a totally menacing way, we won't hurt you. I don't know how to say that menacing.

I'm not menacing. We won't hurt you. I'll try. I'll try. I feel like I'll do it. We won't hurt you. That was good. I'm scared.

I think it might be my sick voice that's helping. It helps for sure. My mom thought, yeah, like the hell you won't, and immediately ran back to her car. That's when she noticed another figure approaching her from the other direction, also trying to sneak up on her. Thankfully, she made it to her car before they could reach her. It wasn't too damaged to drive, and she sped out of there. Okay, that's really scary. All of these are, even though what the...

She's like, okay, I'll start with a quick, just figure in the backseat. Just a quick, like, shorts terrified. I'm never visiting. now. You're not really selling us on the UP like people in Duluth did. Like I feel like I need to go to Duluth now, but the UP is questionable. I've heard good things about it, but now I'm questioning that. This last story happened to me when I was in high school. I had just gotten my first car, a small tan-colored beater Pontiac. One cold October day, I was driving home around 10 p.m. with my younger brother in the passenger seat, also in high school, after a musical rehearsal went late. That night.

we had decided to take a shortcut home down a forested back road, and a few miles in I got a call from home. I pulled over to take the call as I was worried about distracted driving with so many deer about. I also thought I might get sent back into town to pick something up. I ended up parking in front of a small clearing with a house set back two or three acres from the road. The house had a front porch and a small light over the door, but no illumination came through any windows to indicate anyone was awake or home. Contrary to this, about two minutes into my call, someone stepped out of the house and stood on the front porch. I couldn't make out any of their features, just their dark silhouette against the porch light. Feeling a little embarrassed and not wanting to make someone think I was having an emergency, I tried to quickly sign off of my call.

Before I could, the figure held out what I thought was a flashlight and began to switch it on and off. I squinted at them, confused about what they might be trying to convey. when suddenly five to eight lights blazed on from the shadowy yard in front of the house. Each light was held by a tall figure completely covered in dark garb with undistinguishable facial features, and the second they became visible, they sprinted to my car. What? Are you making all this up? I am not coming here if this is what people put in their front yard.

I was frozen for a moment watching them run towards us. Almost holding on a second to get a better look at them, but my brother is screaming, go, just go. Snapped me out of it. I quickly put the car and drive and slam the gas just as they reached the ditch. One or two of the faster ones ran alongside us for a split second before my car got up to speed, and I watched in the rear view as the rest poured onto the road behind us. My brother and I watched nervously in the back mirrors for any signs of pursuit as I sped away, yelling at each other in disbelief, what was that?

What was that? I don't know. They faded into the darkness behind us, and thankfully, nothing appeared following us home. To this day, my brother and I have tried to rationalize what happened, but are unable to come up with an explanation that makes sense. The closest I've thought of was that maybe we stumbled upon some kids playing flashlight tag, but this doesn't totally track for several reasons. Even in the dark, we would have noticed people running around in the yard, but they appeared from nowhere, just like in my mom's story.

Also, all the figures were too tall to be kids, and what was the deal with a person that came out of the house, and how could they have coordinated to turn on their lights and run at us in the two minutes that I had taken for my call? It's also really strange that so many people in my family have had this specific kind of thing with shadowy figures on the road happened to them. I don't know what to make of it, but I would be curious if anyone else has had similar stories. The UP is a very beautiful place, and I often encourage people to come visit to enjoy the lush forest, waterfalls, and hiking opportunities. Just don't stop on any of the country roads when driving up here at night. I hope you like these tales. Thanks for sticking with me on this long one and enjoy the view, but watch your back. If there are shadowy figures that are going to be chasing me down the road, then I believe you it's beautiful, but I draw the line.

I have to draw the line somewhere. I'll look it up on Google Images and pretend that I'm there. Actually, I don't know. I'm kind of down to go. Yeah, I still want to go. Yeah. But now I'm scared. We have our reservations, but we'll come.

But we also won't hang out with you if you're attracting this shit. Like, nothing will ever happen to us, I feel like. Nothing against you or anything. But like if you and all your family are being followed by these shadowy ghosts, like, maybe there's something going on. Maybe you guys need like a. a seance or something. Yeah.

Just figure that out and we'll come visit separately. Get some sage and light that and put around to the road or your car or something. I don't know. Like as like the rearview mirror, like instead of like the small Christmas trees, it's just like a cleansing. Yeah. A spirit cleanser. Yeah. Put some garlic around your car.

Invest in something is all we're trying to say. Yeah. All right. I have one last one. And it's short. Yeah, I have one last thing, too. Flash trivia. What category would you like?

We have plant, animals, and water, tourism, geology, and astronomy, and cultural history. Cultural history. Good choice. Oh, I feel like this one you should know, but we're really testing you know. Okay. Yellowstone is the world's first national park. In what year was it dedicated? A, 1776, B, 1872, C, 1905, D, 1947. B, you're right.

B, 1872, although other pieces in the land in the U.S., Hot Springs and Yosemite, had been set aside for protections before Yellowstone, none had received the formalized status and purpose of the world's first national park. I know Yellowstone, okay? Yeah. I love Yellowstone. I would have been really disappointed in myself if at first I thought there was not going to be a multiple choice and I was like oh shit I know it's 18 something but as soon as you started reading the options it's like okay whew like I know this one yeah all right my last story I guess I have one for outsiders but my last story for now is titled sleeping bear national lakeshore hello cassie and

daniel my name is morgan and I'm from michigan I'm a huge fan of the podcast my husband and and I are avid hikers and love the outdoors, especially exploring national parks together. Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, your podcast is a little piece of adventure for me to hold onto and to make notes on as we plan our trips with our daughter as she grows, while also reminding me of places I traveled before becoming mama. My other stay-at-home mom friend, Mallory, listens as well, and we are always discussing episodes on play dates. My trail tale takes place in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which is located in the northwest of Michigan's lower Peninsula. Yeah, see, lower peninsula with no shadow people. It's a spot my husband and I have gone to

every year since being together, including getting engaged here. The sweeping vistas, freshwater beaches, dunes, forested wilderness islands, and miles of hiking trails bring us back every year, and we still discover something new, including this past April. For our daughter's third birthday, we took a trip up to Traverse City. Is it Traverse City or Traverse? city. Do you happen to know? I would say Traverse. That's what it looks like. But that doesn't really mean anything. I could be wrong.

Everyone in Michigan is screaming. So they went there. They went to but she'll not be named. They went to that place. And the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. We love stargazing at night. So we decided to take a trip to the lighthouse

in the ghost town of Sleeping Bear called Glen Haven, which has a very interesting history. The park service purchased the ghost town in the 1970s and several of the buildings are being used for visitors to learn about the history of the Glenhaven area. We spent quite some time admiring Lake Michigan in the solitude of what visiting in the early spring can bring. I was taking a photo of my daughter and my husband when I saw a man on the trail behind them. He was elderly wearing a long white beard and was completely naked from head to toe. At this time, there was still snow on the ground,

so this was an extra strange sight. Despite being close enough to us, he never turned his head or acknowledged us, just walked towards where he had parked. My husband and I both follow a lot of true crime and decided to follow him to make sure he wasn't going to try and hide by our vehicle, which was the only one in the area. My husband led first with me holding my daughter following a short distance behind. We watched the man disappear quite literally out of thin air, basically freaking out but trying not to let our three-year-old daughter become scared by talking about it, we walked with purpose to our vehicle, lock the doors, and took off. On the way back to where we were staying, my daughter said from the back seat,

it's cold out, mama, he needs clothes. They were all on the boat. Ironically, next to the lighthouse is the Michigan Maritime Museum, which we did not even point out to our daughter. Our daughter still tells strangers about the naked man we saw on her birthday, which leads to some very strange looks. We are going to Mammoth Caves in September. Hopefully, if we see any other apparitions, they will be fully clothed. Morgan. What a memory for your daughter. Like, did they get haunted?

It seems like it. Yeah. For sure. You saw something. You definitely saw something and a whole lot of nothing at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. I know what you mean.

I just think the comment by the daughter is so funny. Like imagine you're just talking to them And then like the kid you know how the kids just like wildly interject some random sentence And then like run away And you're just like what did you just say? Like what are you talking about? And then you're like, oh wait I saw a naked man on my birthday and then just like leaves

What? Oh good one All right is that it? I know we've been like talking a lot Yeah, that's everything that we have for this episode unless you're on Patreon or you're on Apple subscriptions. We have two more outsider stories. If you want to join either of those, you can find us on Apple Podcasts.

You can join our Apple Podcasts subscription. There's a three-day free trial. If you want to just try it out, see if you like it. If you don't, you can just delete. I guess. I guess. Or if you want to binge every episode within three days and then cancel, but then we just add more later, so that probably wouldn't.

It would work temporarily. And then you'd have to like, I think you only get one free trial. So you have to come back. I mean, not that we're encouraging that. It could be done, I guess. Just say, you can try it out for free if you want on Apple's subscriptions. But we also have Patreon where we actually do posts. And Patreon's kind of fun because for our trips, we always launch.

If we have any open spots, we always post that on there. And sometimes we do polls. And we have other posts that happen on Patreon. Plus, we have all the bonus episodes. And it's ad free and everything like that. And Apple subscriptions is ad-free as well. But check it out. Patreon, you can find it in our links. You can find it in the show notes for this episode if you're interested.

But for now, we'll say bye to you guys and we'll say hi to all of our outsiders with our new stories. Yeah, so we'll see you next week. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. See you. Bye. Thank you so much for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale or story suggestion, send us an email at Stories at N-Fourdes.

p-A-D-Podcast.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at National Park After Dark and on Twitter at N-P-A-D podcast. Join our Outsiders-only community on Patreon or Apple subscriptions to listen ad-free, unlock monthly bonus episodes, and exclusive content. And remember, when you support our sponsors, you are supporting our show. For our exclusive discount codes and source information from today's episode, check out the show notes. For more information on our show, our book recommendations, merch updates and more, visit our website at npaddpodcast.com. And please rate, review, and subscribe from wherever you listen to podcasts. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind.

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