National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 42

Episode Date: February 1, 2024

Today’s stories include naked rescues, unfortunate events, dumb Americans, magical moments, eerie encounters and signs of encouragement. 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  or Apple Subscriptions 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!StellarSleep: For a 7 day free trial then JUST $99 a year, head to StellarSleep.com/NPAD. 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 Springs 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. Hey everyone. Welcome back to National Park After Dark. We got another trail tales for you. And I feel like it's been a while. I hope everyone liked the interview with Tyler last two weeks ago. I thought it was really

interesting. I've never known someone who's gone through something like that before. So to talk to someone who was in one of those camps is really cool. Or I say one of those camps I've met people who have been to wilderness therapy and enjoyed it, but to be in such a negative experience. It was very interesting. Well, can I just show you, actually? This is so funny. So I was looking through pictures last night to schedule a social media post for it. So when this, by the time this comes out, the decision has been made, but I haven't made the decision yet. And I was looking through old pictures and they're, of course, all college pictures. And I'm like, Tyler, I can't post any of these. And he's like, okay, let me see. Like, okay, this is Halloween, but like. No, Halloween is always.

Like, who is that? Who's that? I can't even, it's not in the screen for me. You can't see it? Oh, no. Oh, maybe. You should text it to me because it's really blurry for me. Like, it comes off weird because I think it's on a screen.

Okay. I'm sending these to you right now because it's so funny. It's so funny. And he's like, Danielle, I can't condone any of these being posted. I'm like, okay, well, we don't take pictures together. So the most recent one we have is actually on a hike. So I'll probably do that. But that was also like four years ago.

So I don't know. I mean, that's better than college was like 10 years ago at this point. Oh, my God. Okay, first of all, I needed to lay off the tanning booth. We all needed to lay off the tanning booth. But yes. Those poses also hand on the hip. Your hair is still great though.

Thank you. Thanks. Very college photos. There's like an entourage poster in the background of one. It's like, oh my God. Like, please. Oh, amazing. Anyway.

The longer you look at the details, the better these photos are. The first one is Halloween. I think I'm a vampire. I would say a vampire. There's blood all over me. Yeah, not a clean vampire. Like, I just killed someone, obviously. Anyway, okay, trail tales.

Trail tales. We have stories today. Yeah, we do. Okay. So do you want to go first? Sure. I'll volunteer first. Mine is titled Naked Ocean Rescue.

Hi guys, I absolutely love your podcast and share it with everyone who will listen to me rave about it. In 2018, my brand new husband and I embarked on our honeymoon to Maui. There are tons of places to find an adventure on the island and as a Midwest native, I was wanting to broaden my horizons. We had toyed with the idea of going to a nude beach while planning our honeymoon. What better way to celebrate our love than sitting naked with others next to the ocean? We ultimately decided on our last day there to just do it. Little Beach is where we resolved to display all our goods.

It was a quick hike to make it there, across a public beach known as Big Beach, which was lifeguarded, and over what appeared to me as a mountain, but would realistically be classified as boulders. All while wearing sandals, all the rock on slash in Maui is volcanic, so very scratchy and rough. After about a 10-minute climb, we finally made it to Little Beach. We picked a beach spot out and settled in. Immediately, my husband took his swim trunks off and went for a swim. I took more convincing. After half an hour to 45 minutes of watching him from the beach, I decided to go all in.

I got naked and just basked in the rebellious choice to be naked in public. My husband completely enjoying the naked ocean. As I contemplated going in, I heard a faint, help. I looked around and couldn't find anyone who seemed in distress. No one around me seemed to need assistance. I heard it faintly again, and my eyes were insistently scanning for my person. As I started to get worried, suddenly I see my husband's surface and head to shore. Noticing he was okay, I was breathing a sigh of relief.

When about 20 yards out into the ocean, I see a man who is clearly concerned but not panicked, yelling at his partner he needed help. I, of course, run up and ask if she's okay. My husband sidled up next to me as she explained her significant other was caught in a rip current. She herself was not a strong swimmer and wanted someone to run to the beach over, Big Beach. That would include the climb and running in the sand all the way to the lifeguard station, which we just didn't have time to do. So hurriedly, my husband dove in to rescue the man in distress. Looking back now, we both realized this wasn't the best idea.

He is a stronger swimmer than I am, and I quickly made it to the man as they tried to figure out the best way to tow the stranded man in. My husband kind of hoisted the man onto his back and swam back to shore. It's quite the sight to see a naked man stand up, carrying another naked man out of the ocean. Everything ended up being fine. No one was hurt and we went on for another hour or so at the beach trying to not awkwardly make eye contact with the other couple. Long story I know, so thank you for reading. We have since decided we would love to go back.

Now with two young children, that would be an adult only trip. Again, love the podcast and watch your back. Love Holly. A naked rescue. I've never seen anything like it. Hey. I hope you guys are friends now, honestly. Or you run into each other on the beach like when you're back.

there for the naked nude beach. You're like, wait a minute. I recognize you. Didn't I? Have you ever been to a nude beach? I have. Yeah. Have you? Have you? Were you naked? Well, I was, okay. So, Netta and I were in Abiza and we went to, you know, obviously things are different in there anyways. Like, topless is like normal. Yeah. So we went topless, but I don't know if it was technique like there were people who were nude but like it was so busy there was like restaurants like overlooking the beach and like like it was not like a typical secluded nude beach so we went topless and um natay got stung by a jellyfish when we were in there and we were naked ow that sounds awful it was on her arm thankfully not her tits not her tits but i do have

pictures of like the before and after. Like us like, oh, this is so fun. So happy and carefree. Then, yeah. And then we had to, she's like, what do we do? What do we do? I'm like, I'm not peeing on it because. I've heard that's false too.

You're not supposed to pee on it. Right. And I couldn't muster up the courage to do that like in front of like a bunch of other people. Got a little pee shy. I was a little pee shy. But so she went up to the restaurant and they gave her some like, I want to say it was like oil and vinegar.

I don't know what the hell they gave her. But it worked. Oh, cool. Yeah. Much better than P. Where was your nude beach? I've had a couple experiences on nude beaches. So my first one, I guess I've been to quite a few nude beaches, but my first experience.

I'm like, should I settle in? My first one that I ever went to was actually on Martha's Vineyard. And I didn't, I was warned that it was a nude beach and I was like 17, I think, maybe 18. And we went out there with a group of friends and we were standing and I was like, all right. My first nude beach, like, just prepare. You're going to see naked people wandering around. There was no one on the beach. No one.

We were the only ones there. And we had clothes on because we're 17, you know, like you're a little modest. And we were with like other boys that were in our high school. Like we're not going to take our clothes off. No. And so we get, we're there for like a few hours, nothing. We were walking along the beach at one point. And we walk behind.

We're coming up. There's, it's a big cliffside and there's some big boulders on the beach and stuff. And we walk past the boulders and right on the other side is just this very large man standing there, taking advantage of it being a nude beach. And I was just like 17, like, oh my God, was not expecting that. I had decided we were alone. I was not going to see anyone. So that was my first experience there. But then another experience that was more recently was I was up with Al and we were in Lake Willoughby up in Vermont.

Okay. And we didn't know that there's a nude beach there. There's actually a hiking trail that goes up the cliffs of Lake Willoughby and also that goes around the lake itself. So we were like, let's just go check out the hiking trail. Had no intentions of swimming. I don't even think we had swimsuits with us. And we're walking and pretty close off the road.

I mean, you're on a public beach where everyone takes their kayaks and boats and stuff out. We were in the woods for maybe like four minutes. And when we come to this opening, that's this big beach on the side and beautiful views, And I'm looking at the views and I'm like, wow, this is so beautiful. The water was so clear. And I'm looking around and I was like, is everyone naked? No, wait a minute. I was like, I had to double take it. I look around and sure enough, there's like a bunch of people standing in the water. None of them have clothes on. Everyone's just carefree, you know, jumping in the water. They were playing. There was a game of someone had a, God, my college self would hate me for forgetting the name of this. Beer pong. Can jam?

No, they had like flotation beer pong out on the water and they were naked beer pong playing. And I was like, where did I just walk into? It was like a Tuesday afternoon. That's so fun and free. I love that. Me too. I was like, that's amazing. And I mean, I guess it wasn't a nude beach, but my first Europe trip that I did where I kind of went around all of Europe.

I visit 11 or 12 countries in a short span of time. But I discovered the topless beaches there. And that was like the first time where I went topless on a beach. I was like, I remember I felt so weird about it and insecure. And then I was like, you know, this is shitty that in the United States were kind of felt to feel body shame to not have our tops like to put your boobs away. Meanwhile, men, they always have their, they never have a top on. And it just so I remember sitting there and being like, wow, I feel embarrassed to be like this. but no one, no one even second looked.

You know, everyone had. No, no cares. No one gave a shit. And I say that that's my first experience, but also when I was like, this is like a very, I was like, wow. There's so many nude places I've been. I was in Italy when I was a kid and I did it. I actually did it as so, because I had kidney transplants and problems growing up and stuff,

I was eligible to do the Make a Wish Foundation and I wished to go to Italy. And we went to a beach and everyone there was topless. And I was like 14 at the time. And I was just, I was not topless. But there were kids my age that were topless running around. No one cared. And I remember looking around like, oh my God, what is what is this place? It's like, what is this magical place?

Yeah, it's just a different, it's a cultural thing. And I think it's so cool to be able to experience that. And if that's something you want to do. Because it is a freeing feeling. And at first you are so like just, you. You think all eyes are on you. Like there's like the spotlight on you. And literally no one could give a shit less.

Yeah. Like everyone's staring at my boobs. It's like your boobs look just like everyone else's boobs. Calm down. Calm down. I stumbled across a nudist camp once on the way. I think I've told this like maybe a couple years ago on the podcast. But when the first time I lived in Colorado, so 2014, 2015, I went to do a guided hike up

to the Mexican free-tailed bat colony in the San Luis Valley. Oh, I think I remember this story. Yeah, and the guided hike just went through a nudist camp. So there was people hiking that literally just had socks, hiking shoes, and their poles, and a backpack. And then they were just completely naked. And I'm just, hi. You know, when you walk by someone on a trail either way, you're just like,

hi, how's it going? Like, just really quick. Have a nice day. Hey, hey. Have a nice hike. I was like, hi. Yeah, so that was the only time I've stumbled across, like a true nudist community. Yeah.

Like full time. Okay. Anyway. I'm going to share my story because we like nudist stories, apparently. Okay, apparently. Yeah. 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. My first one is titled, Not a Trail, but I do work outside, so maybe that counts, L-O-L.

Howdy y'all? My name is M, and I go by they-them pronouns. I started a new job at the beginning of the year, and it's been stressful. And for some cruddy, unbalanced, carmic reason, my family has been dealing with a shitstorm after shit storm this year. I moved away from home, Florida to Virginia, a couple years ago, which has made me feel incredibly helpless as they are dealing with historic flooding, the death of my grandma, being displaced because of said flooding, financial struggles, mental health issues, etc.

I landed a cool position at a university here at the beginning of the year as the plant health specialist for the landscaping department, taking care of all these pests and diseases that may afflict the landscape plants. Finally, big kid career shit. My commute sucks, which adds to the stress of work, but I've managed to listen my way through all of your episodes in a couple of months. While my job is awesome, it's incredibly stressful because I work with an entire department of Yee-E County men who have no idea what my job really is and expect me to do all the same things that my predecessor did, aka destroying the planet and its biodiversity with dangerous poisonous chemicals. Not my style and not on my watch, motherfuckers.

I like your style. I got to the signs slash no such thing as coincidence's trail tale episode a little bit ago, and I decided, Frick it. Let me ask all my dead relatives and this magnificent universe of ours for a sign. So I did. One morning, driving to work and crying, and most likely hearing some horrible breaking news headline on NPR, I said, okay, universe, I really need a sign that everything will be okay. And I waited all day long.

And the universe, well, she said nothing. Thanks a lot, I thought. I was feeling desperate and really needed an immediate response. I thought, okay, let me try again. Maybe she was just sleepy because it was like 4.30 a.m. So the next day, while driving home, I said through tears again. Okay, universe, I really need a sign that everything will be okay. The whole, while I'm thinking I don't know what it is, the sign should or could be, but I'll know it when I see it.

So I put on my best patient's pants and let go. The next day, I was scouting for a certain kind of pest that attacks a certain kind of plant because they've all been declining and I can't figure out why. Most likely just the changing climate and they're not happy in Virginia anymore. But it's fine. Climate change isn't real. I have my ass off. Sarcasm.

I notice a different species, same genus, different species of plant that was doing just fine, but figured I'd scout the crown of the plant for the pest just in case. I made my way down the row of overcrowded plants and didn't see anything. I almost didn't check the last one, but I decided, whatever. I can fit under there, let me just check. I crouched down and looked under, saw a post-it note under the bush, and was like, oh my God, yes, I love reading lost notes, like grocery lists and school notes. Like I mentioned, I work at a university, so lots of fun stuff to find. I flipped it over and read it and just sat under the bush for a hot second, taking it all in.

It was a handwritten note that said, you got this with two exclamation points. While that sounds like enough of a sign, I have the same exact note written to myself at the base of my computer screen at my desk. As my reminder to myself that even when my job sucks, I went to school for this, I know my shit, I got this. I said, okay, universe, thank you, and shoved it in my pocket. I had a meeting later that day with a student for the working group we co-chair together and they confided in me that they had a huge presentation coming up and were really worried about it. They then said, I don't got this. And I thought, huh, but you do. I whipped the note out of my pocket and handed it to them. I told them, I asked the universe

for this earlier and she delivered. Here's your sign now that you got this. While it wasn't a sign that everything will be okay, I do fully believe that I got it. I'll be able to handle anything thrown at me. And while that's scary, it's still reassuring. I decided to leave a note in one of the gardens for anyone else wondering if everything will be okay and I really hope someone stumbles upon it. Anyways, that's my story, attaches the picture of the note where I found it and my own note to self that sits on my desk. Thanks for reading. Thanks for the awesome podcast and for keeping me company on my ridiculous commute.

Remember to enjoy the view and make sure to check under all the lilacs for signs from the universe. She may have hidden it under the last one. I love that story. I just love that they shared their message with someone else later on too. It's all about passing it along. I felt. Yeah.

And like that is such a good movie also and I was just thinking about that movie. Were you? I haven't seen that. It's a movie I've seen. Whoa. I thought I was going to have to explain it. But I haven't seen it in so long. It's in what 90s?

Or early 2000. I feel like it's early 2000s. Yeah, maybe. It's like right on that line. I had to guess I would say 2005. Hmm. Good guess. Okay, Google it right now.

It has the kid from the sixth sense, right? Yeah. What's your guess? I think it's 02. You're closer. It's 2000. Oh. Okay, so right on the line.

Yeah. Yeah, that's a good movie to watch. Everyone should go watch it. Yeah, it's really nice and wholesome and won't make you cry at all. No, you won't cry even one tier. Even one tier. Okay. My story.

My story is titled Broken Bones, Jumping Cacti, and Shitty Shale. Hi, ladies. My name is Nell. and I found your podcast a few weeks ago and have been hooked ever since. I listen every morning while getting ready for work and on the drive to school and during my planning period when I'm student-free. I'm a science teacher with a penchant for hurting myself when braving the outdoors. My trail tale is more of a series of unfortunate events out in Big Bend State Park, out in West Texas. For some context, I was doing my geology undergrad degree at the University of Houston.

Every spring break from freshman year to junior year, our class would go out to Big Ben for the week. and map the area and put our knowledge to the test. For more context, I am from the small island of Trinidad in the Tobago and the Caribbean, and while I spent most of my younger years moving from country to country because of my dad's job, I fondly call myself an oil brat. I never experienced camping or hiking or dirt, so much dirt. I was thrilled to experience my first camping slash hiking adventure with my classmates. We pitched tents at the campground at Stillwater Ranch and were fed two meals a day,

and had access to the shittiest Wi-Fi in the evenings. 70 people trying to use their phones at the same time that no one ever got to actually use the Wi-Fi, unless you were one of the brave few that hiked up to one of the smaller hills nearby in the dark while jumping cacti everywhere. I was not one of those people. Furthermore, there were only three showers, and to my horror, they asked us to wipe our asses and toss the toilet paper into the bins in the bathroom.

You would not do well. Egypt or a lot of other countries. That was a shock. I will say that was a shock the first time that I encountered that in person. You always remember your first time. You sure do. At this point, I was rethinking my entire degree choice. On to the first of three unfortunate events.

On the second day of mapping an area of the park, my group had found ourselves precariously navigating some rather sketchy looking shale. For the record, shale is not. very sturdy, and we learned this the hard way. The outcrop was at roughly a 45-degree incline, and we were trying to get to the bottom of it. On top of that, there was cacti everywhere, especially the ones that somehow always bury itself into the back of our knees. The jumping cacti, fuck those jumping cacti. About halfway down, I lost my footing on a part of the outcrop that was more crumbly than I realized. I went careening down the outcrop,

sliding awkwardly about 20 feet. During this, I managed to get my right wrist under me and at some point felt a sharp pain shoot up my arm. My friends quickly made it down to me and I was just a heap of tears. I had also landed on a cactus patch. It's here that I'm going to say I'm rather uncoordinated and prone to hurting myself all walking. It's a talent of mine. I also developed a good dose of fear of the outdoors having not ever been exposed to being in said outdoors. I was incredibly cautious of every step I took and would panic when I lost my footing. I also have a paralyzing fear of heights. Obviously, I didn't think about the whole geology thing, though.

So we made our way back to the road where the vans were parked, and I had to be taken to the alpine where I found out that I had fractured my wrist pretty badly in four different spots. Oof. Oh no. Needless to say, two days into a week-long mapping trip, and I had been decommissioned. For the rest of the trip, I was stuck in the van. bored out of my mind and cursing myself for being the one to hurt myself. During my solitary days, I would venture out and follow easy trails and dried out riverbeds,

quite literally kicking rocks. The only entertaining thing that happened during the time was stumbling upon a group of wild pigs, boars. Let's just say that those little shits are quicker than they look because they charged after me angrily. Oh, no. I heard they're a big problem. Yeah, I've heard that they're a huge problem too. I took off and made it back to the van, locking myself inside, and returning to boredom.

The rest of the week sucked. The next year, we went back to Big Bend, and one of my professors jokingly said, Don't break anything this time. Well, I did. Oh, no. This time around, I made it four days without ensuring myself. On the second to last day, we were mapping out one of the ancient lava flows. Before we had left the vans, one of the guys passed around those Jolly Rancher hard candies.

At some point while mapping, I popped one into my mouth and enjoyed the sweetness. My group decided to stop and take strikes and dips out of one of the outcrops, and it was here that calamity erupted. I lost my footing and I ended up biting down on that hard candy. Shooting pain blistered through the left side of my jaw. I pulled out the jolly rancher from my mouth, and with it came half of my wisdom tooth. I was blinded by the pain. Second time around a big bend and another broken bone. I bore that pain all day until we got back to Stillwater.

One of the cowboys out there, a lovely old gentleman called Doc, noticed that I was in pain. At this point, I could barely talk. My friend recounted my tail, and as it turns out, Doc was actually a doctor. He took a flashlight and looked into my mouth, prodding the remaining half of my wisdom tooth with a gloved finger. I was in blinding pain. He disappeared, and moments later, he returned with some of those good drugs. I was loopy all the way back, and that same professor who told me not to break anything,

anything before we had left, told me, you're just a magnet for breaking shit. Thankfully, the drugs worked and I was able to get to the dentist as soon as we got back. Fast forward to our third and final trip to Big Bend. Oh, God. Maybe don't go back. Don't go to Big Bend. Don't go. Don't do it.

I was extra careful each day, playing it safe when climbing up mountain faces and being hyper aware of everything around me. On the last day of mapping, we were faced with the toughest terrain of the trip and even the best hikers were a little nervous. I was trailing in the back of the group, picking the safest places for my feet and keeping my eyes down on the ground. Well, looking at the ground means I didn't see what was in front of me. I found myself on the edge of a trail on, you guessed it, shitty shale. It gave way beneath my feet and I tumbled down about 20 feet. For good measure, the universe threw in a patch of cacti for me to land in.

A few of the guys came after me only to find me with a dislocated knee. Shut? No. It's like it's funny, but it's not funny. It's not. I'm so sorry this happened, but oh my God, you are. This story reminds me so much of one of my friends in college who we always made fun of because wherever we went, she tripped and fell and hurt herself like somewhere.

There is always one. Not to this extent. Not to this extent. And, oh, in parentheses after this, it says, a few of the guys came after me only to find me with a dislocated knee. And then they go on try, I had dislocated this knee a few months before as a sex injury. No. No. How do you dislocate your knee during sex? Yeah. What position were you trying to maneuver? Yeah. We need details. Yeah. It can be outside the podcast. Yeah, no, yeah. We won't share. I dislocated my knee.

It's like people were counting like old like war injuries. It's like, ah, just an old sex injury. An old sex injury. Don't hang from the ceiling off that swing by your legs anymore. There's got to be some sort of like, yeah, suspension. How do you dislocate? Don't you dislocate something by it being like popped out? Like pulling the...

Yeah. Who the fuck pulled your leg that hard? The first thing I think of is like ropes. Like, you know, in bondage and stuff? Oh, yeah. Maybe. But I feel like that's not, well, yeah, maybe, actually. Oh, yeah, you're right.

Let us know. I don't know. Let us know. We won't go down that trail, but we're thinking about it, just so you know. Anyway, back to your dislocated knee. On the trail. On the trail. Not during your sex start.

One of the guys had me bite down on a belt and he popped my knee back into place. I literally thought I would die from the pain in that moment. They carried me the rest of the way back to the van. and I was greeted by that smug professor who shook his head saying, Who wants to go to Alpine? Nell's done it again. Thankfully, we left Big Ben the next day and I was able to take care of my knee properly. I went back to Big Ben one more time after these mapping trips, and thankfully, my string of broken bones had come to an end.

I was fortunate enough to be part of the volcanic research team that analyzed a series of ancient lava flows in the park. Maybe I had bad luck with the mapping classes, because thankfully, this last time, I made it the whole trip without being. breaking slash fracturing slash dislocating something. Thank you both for the laughter, the stories, and the chance to share my tale now. Well, now, congrats on you for just keep, you just didn't give up. Really, you didn't. You persisted. Fourth times the charm. You broke. I, Ian used to always say bad things coming through these. Like, it's always three things. So you went

through it. You got to your three and now you're free. You got to your three and now you're free. Yeah. There you go. Okay, my second story is titled, Moose Are Real. It might just take a nine-hour drive, a seaplane, and 40-plus miles of hiking to find them. We'll see about that. We'll see. Sounds not worth it, but I'll give you a shot. Hello, you have been my go-to binge listening podcast for the past several months. I've talked it over with my husband, and after hearing a handful of trail tales and the two of you mentioned moose aren't real, it was time for us to share our tale. My husband Kevin had been obsessed with the idea of going to Isle Royal for years. 2019 I, Lisa, decided to plan a backpacking trip for his birthday. We are Michiganers, but live in Grand Rapids, which means Isle Royal is 500 plus miles away,

so it's a pretty big trip to plan. Now, at the time, I had been on all of one backpacking trip, and he had been on none. We bought our packs early and went hiking often with our bags weighed down and our planned hiking shoes on, before the big trip. This trip was much harder than either of us expected. It rained almost the entire time. The bugs were terrible. I have asthma and type 1 diabetes. Luckily, I wear an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor. I ultimately had to stop my insulin delivery altogether and constantly take hits from the honey bear I packed for sugar lows. Kevin grew up with his family being very into moose. What? Okay. They are active,

members of a moose lodge and have extensive decor throughout his childhood home. His greatest wish was to see a moose in real life and he was dedicated to the cause. What is a moose lodge? Do you know? Is it like a hunting cabin? I guess. It would be my first thought. Like moose hunting? Well, the first thing I type in is moose lodge and loyal order of moose comes up and it's a fraternal and service organization founded in the 1800s, headquartered in Moose Heart, Illinois. There's a lot of moose, like, charters and organizations. People really believe in Moose. Yeah, I feel like, okay, I'm going to go down a rabbit hole, but, um, okay, I'm unsure of what the Moose Lodge is, but we get that Kevin is, like, really into Moose. We had planned to through hike Isle Royal from Rock Harbor to Windigo on the

Greenstone Trail. With our hopes high for Moose sightings, early on, we were spotting scat and antlers along the trail. The next day, Kevin spotted a moose across one of the inland lakes that was blurry to the eye and definitely had Bigfoot vibes on beliepability. I love that. On the next day, I stopped hiking and told Kevin to stop too, saying something along the lines of, it sounds like a toddler is falling down a hill. And suddenly, right in front of us, a moose runs down a hill, full steam ahead, and keeps on going. We were in awe and unable to get a good picture. Excited for the first true moose spotting, journey continued. The next night, after a lot of rain, we slept as soundly as we could. Isle Royal has designated camp areas, and there were a handful of other hikers nearby.

The next morning, some of the hikers greeted us enthusiastically asking if we heard the moose that was right outside of our tent the previous night. Kevin was floored. How could we have missed that? The hikers took our contact info and sent us the video when they got phone service. I can't for the life of me find that video. Hmm? Well, suspicious. Suspicious, I'm just saying. Day five finally came and Kevin was feeling defeated about missing the close moose encounter. We had finished the hike, but I could tell he was feeling a little down. And that's when we heard a splash in the nearby river of our campsite. Kevin ran to see what it could have been, and sure enough, a young moose was playing in the water and splashing around.

It could not have been a more majestic view. Happy, exhausted, and definitely smelly, the trip was finally coming to an end. Thank you for all of the work you do, compiling your research, and telling stories best Lisa and Kevin Peterson. His wish came true, his moose dream came true. Saw moose, allegedly. Allegedly. The video disappearing is like a little suspicious, but we are happy for you regardless.

I know. And I will say that she did attach some pictures of the moose in the lake. So I'll post them. Oh, cool. You can, you guys can be the judge. I did see. So up at my house right, right near us is. this class four road and I was walking Tucker our dog on it and I found these huge moose prints

and they're very close to my house. So maybe I'm one step closer to seeing a moose in New England. You're so close. You're so close. And it reminded me in that story when she was saying that like the other campers got footage of the moose near their tent or whatever. I mean, do you remember when we were in Alaska and we were camping? And so there was the mother moose. And I think she had two babies with her. But she laid down. She was right in our campground and she laid down. And you couldn't see her unless you had followed her like when she was standing before she

laid down. You had to really look. You had to really look. And there was a, I think it was like a grandmother and a grandson. Oh my gosh. Oh my God. That were running literally directly towards them. And there was like a group of maybe like seven or eight of us that were watching from a

distance. And we're trying to be like, hey, stop. you're going to just run directly into this mother movie. Like, I was so, I was like, I have to look away. Like, there's nothing I can do anymore. We were, like, talking as loudly as we could, waving our arms, trying to get their attention. Because they were just coming back from the bathrooms, like, going back to their campsite or something like that. And we were like, uh, um, there's a moose right there, like, trying.

Yeah, with her babies, this is scary. And we're trying to get her attention, trying to get her attention. And we finally did. and we're like, there's a moose right there. And she turns around. She, like, grabs the kid and, like, they start, like, running towards us. Like, oh, good. You're now you're running.

But they were fine. Nothing happened. But the moose seemed pretty unfazed that anyone was there anyway. But we just, they were walking so close to them that. And it was this little kid that was, like, zigzagging and, like, running back and forth and, like, just so excited that we were just so nervous right next to a baby moose. Yeah. That was a moment.

I thought it was going to turn bad. Yeah. He was barreling right, like, almost on top of her. Yeah, he was probably, like, five feet from her. But she was in grass, and he was, like, right outside the grass. Yeah. Yeah. That was scary.

We have, like, a personal antidote for, like, every one of these stories. I know. All these are, like, written for us. And this next one is also, we can also relate to because it is titled Trail Tales from South Africa. Why I thought Americans were so dumb and why you ladies have completely changed my mind. Oh, well. Hello, beautiful ladies. I have just listened to Trail Tales 25 and was finally prompted to put fingers on the keyboard to send in my story.

I hope it wet's your appetites for your upcoming trip to South Africa. I'm Cindy and live on the beautiful south coast of Australia in the town called Naur. Nowrah. Sorry if I mispronounce that. Nowra. Is it like NAR? Like NAR. N-R-R-R-A-N-R-A-N-R-A.

No, it's N-W-R-A. Nowra. However, I was born and grew up in South Africa. So super envious of your upcoming trip there, wish I could be there to join you. So this is an older trail-tale because our trip's over, but it was a lot of fun and we love being there. When I was 19, I was studying hospitality management and for the second six months of the second year, we were placed on a practical posting out in a location for the on, the job experience. I was posted to Tao Game Lodge. Tau means Lion, which is a luxury safari

lodge located in Madcoi Game Reserve. Madi-Madikki. Game Reserve. Sorry if I'm mispronouncing all these. I'm trying really hard. This was my first time ever away from home on my own, and when I say I was in the absolute middle of nowhere, I'm not kidding. It was over a four-hour drive from where I lived in Johannesburg. At the three-hour mark, you hit the last semblance of civilization in a town called Zirist. Turn north and then head up a straight road doing 120 kilometers per hour, which is about 75 miles per hour, for another hour. There is nothing but African bush all around you.

Then suddenly, you see the South Africa-Boswana border, posts coming up in front of you, and just before you drive into the lane to show your passport, there is a dirt road to the right. Taking this, you drive another 30 minutes or so before finally coming across the stunning Talmane camp. The Matakley Game Reserve in which Tao is located is a 75,000 hectare protected wilderness conservation area in South Africa's northwest province, bordering Botswana. The reserves grasslands, forest and rocky, Tishween, I think, hills are home to a variety of wildlife such as elephants, lions, leopards, and rhinos, plus endangered wild dogs. While I was working there if I was not on shift, there was a lot of downtime and really not much to do at all, being so isolated. I took every opportunity to jump on a game drive with guests if there was a spare spot available.

Such a perk of the job. And aside, sometimes if we wanted to treat ourselves, we'd get takeout run in Botswana. Yes, we'd have to go across the border, get our passport stamped, get the takeout, then come back and get them stamped again before heading back. The takeout was always cold, but it was always worth it. During those six months, I saw things that most people never have the privilege of experiencing, and I will forever hold on to these as some of the most charity. memories. I saw leopards, lions, rhino, and got charged by an elephant. I watched as a curious juvenile hyena came up to our spotter on the front of the Land Rover and sniffed his hiking boots, experienced thunderstorms in the pitch black African sky with lightning that reached from the sky

to the ground, and sat on the veranda of my very basic staff accommodation, listening to the raw of the massive male lion just out of sight on the other side of the electric fence as the sunset. Unbelievable. Matically is one of the very few places that the highly endangered wild dog can roam free and safe, and on one very special trip out, we found their den. Mum and dad were calmly lying at the entrance while the litter of about 10 pups tousled and played around them. When we stopped the Land Rover to watch this spectacular scene,

the curious and playful pups came over, one even lifting its leg and peeing on the tire of the vehicle. And then with one yip from the mom, they all went running back to safety of the den. Magical. My then-boyfriend, now husband, was able to come up and spend a few days with me at the lodge in the gorgeous guest accommodation. Another amazing perk.

We were able to go out on a sunset game drive and jump on with an American couple. The Land River has three rows of seating that ascend like the theater seating behind the driver so you can take up to about 12 people, but on this drive it was just our guide, the American couple, and us. They sat in the row directly behind the driver and we sat at the best. All the Land Rover's go out at the same time but take different routes. However, they are all in radio contact so that if something comes across something noteworthy, they can tell the other drivers and let them know. There was a lot of chatter on the radio that evening as one of the group of

lions had been spotted in the area, so everyone was on the lookout. A call came over the radio to say the Chaba sisters, two lionesses, sisters, and their cubs, had been spotted and so we were making our way in that direction. Then we heard, they're on the hunt. and my adrenaline really started to kick in. My heart was pounding because I knew we were getting close to where they were. As we rounded a bend, we heard loud crashing in the bush in front of us just out of reach of where we could see through the dense undergrowth and then seemingly out of nowhere, an antelope came crashing out of the grass and trees with one of the massive lionesses firmly attached.

Jaws clenched tight around its throat. It was clearly fighting a losing battle, but it was fighting nonetheless. It was whining and high-pitched squeals. and the lioness was making loud grunting and huffing noises in efforts to subdue its prey. This had all happened in front of us in a matter of seconds, and as we were trying to take it all in, I realized that the American couple were shouting at our guide, oh no, oh no, do something, do something. And pushing at his shoulders from behind, encouraging and imploring him to get out of the vehicle to go and rescue the antelope. Make it stop, they cried.

Well, I was incredulous. Here we were witnessing Africa at its most raw and primal. Its most authentic self. The Circle of Life, Survival of the fittest in front of our eyes, and they want it to stop for a Disney ending. I thought, oh my goodness, dumb Americans. Our guide was very considerate, just moved our vehicle on, as obviously that well-being of our guests is the most important.

But my boyfriend and I were disappointed to have such an amazing experience cut short. I have to say I've held on to that, oh, dumb Americans, prejudice. for a long time with no interest whatsoever to ever travel over there until I discovered you incredible ladies. I have learned so much listening to NPAD, expanding my thinking in ways I didn't even know I needed to, have come to love history and social activism, and now have the burning desire to come and experience all of your incredible outdoors has to offer. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope one day I'll get to show you ladies around my neck of the woods. Love you both, Cindy. Well, Cindy, that's an honor. That is an honor. Because I

I get it. Yeah. I mean, I think that Americans have a bad reputation for a lot of reasons, but I also think that there are a lot of really good people here, too. And I think there's a lot of really interesting things happening here, and there's a lot of history. And of course, one of the really wonderful things about the United States is that it's a country where you can see every type of terrain here. You know, you can see, you can go see tropical paradise places. You can go up into old growth forest you can go high into alpine areas i mean there's desert landscapes there's just so much that is here so i definitely think it's worth a visit and i'm glad that our podcast has helped you see that we're not just the people who are screaming no don't kill the antelope and lions don't

eat you know yeah there's yeah there's more that certainly certainly happens and then of course if you follow torons for yellowstone then you really see um some stuff on the there too, but I think for the most part, people are really trying to learn and do their best. And there's a lot of adventurous people in the United States. There's good and bad in every culture, I think. Yeah, for sure. We're not, yeah, an exception to that. But, I mean, just to make it give you a different perspective, when Cassie and I were on our, it was a sunrise game drive, right?

Yeah. It wasn't the sunset one. It was the sunrise. Sunrise. Yeah, we saw a cheetah in a six-s. festival hunt and it was a springbok and our entire land rover was comprised of Americans because it was our it was one of our group trips and we were all cheering for the cheetah the cheetah um we were just like so astounded to be able to see nature and action and just like you were saying like at its most

primal and visceral and raw and you know that's why we came to see wildlife and nature and action so there are people out there that, I mean, it sucks. Like, it's, it is sad to see something struggling for its life and dying in front of you does, I mean, if that doesn't affect you in some sort of way, I think that's maybe a little telling. But obviously, we know, you know, circle of life. Everyone has to eat. Yeah. Yeah. If the lion didn't get to eat, then, you know, like, if that antelope lived, then the lion wouldn't get to eat. Right. Yeah. There's a, I mean, why are we explaining the circle of life to everyone that understands it? Um, we're like, just so you know, this is how the world works.

Like we're just trying to prove that we're not dumb and we understand that that was a cool experience. Like, we're not dumb Americans. Yeah. But there is, I mean, it's, we see it all the time also. Like with being in places that are heavily tourist, tourist centered, like big tourist destinations, not just with Americans and, you know, foreigners coming to our parks, but also vice versa. like we're often guests in other countries.

And I think people make weird decisions and judgment calls no matter where you are. That you're just kind of like, what is happening? What is going on here? But speaking of big tourist destinations, my last story has to do with my favorite park, which is Yellowstone. Oh, okay. Okay. It's titled, A Yellowstone Employee Trail, Wolves, Adventure, Danger. Oh, oh, my. Hi, friends.

I want to thank you so much for your amazing show, which pulled me up out of a hard place in my life and made me remember who I am. I was really fortunate to spend a six-month season working for the Yellowstone Employee Recreation Co-op. The co-op is funded by all the concessionaires and the National Park Service within Yellowstone, and our whole job was to take employees out to enjoy the park on their days off. It was a tremendous gift. I have so many stories from that summer that I want to share with you all, but this one feels extra special. I worked and lived in the Canyon Village in Yellowstone right by the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. My co-workers loved to fly fish, and while that wasn't my cup of tea, I always was down for a hike and a trail beer.

So one day, after work, we all set off on a short hike, maybe a two-miler, to a little pond near our office. The trail twisted through thick pine trees, giving me occasional peaks at the surrounding mountains and the promise of the lake at the end. The whole place smelled like a mixture of pine and adventure. So there I am, soaking it all in, when we're going. we all see this critter moseying down the trail ahead. At first, we figured it was your regular coyote. Nothing too out of the ordinary for Yellowstone. The coloring and size seemed right, and usually coyotes would scamper off as humans approached. I was enjoying the moment, you know, just happy to share the path with some wildlife. But as this four-legged friend got closer, something felt off. It was bigger,

beefier, and had this swagger that said, I'm not your average coyote. That's when it hit me. It was a wolf, A wild Yellowstone wolf, and I was just standing there, taking it all in. We were standing on an established trail in the middle of a valley. There was no place to go, no place to hide. Our best bet was to be still and uninteresting. As the wolf got closer, instead of bolting into the wood like I expected, it started circling us. I couldn't believe it. A real-life wolf doing laps around me on a hiking trail.

It was like a scene out of a nature documentary. We locked eyes for a beat, and as she continued around me, I just held my breath. She was so beautiful and strong and so curious and unbothered. After finishing its mysterious circle dance, the wolf casually strolled past, like our encounter was just another day in the office for her. There I was, left standing, grinning like a fool, realizing once again why Yellowstone is this untamed wonderland. It was a wild reminder that in these woods,

you never know what kind of awesome surprises Mother Nature's got up her sleeve. Someday I'll write in again to tell the story of a bison running into my van, or me, drunkenly running into a sleeping bison with my body on the trail. But for today, this is enough. Working in these kinds of jobs isn't lucrative. But I really encourage your listeners who are young, single, and free to consider working in the parks. Whether you're in a job like mine or working as a waiter or a housekeeper, getting to

live in a national park is something you'll cherish for the rest of your life. Enjoy the view, but it's not just a coyote candy. I love that story. That's a really cool story. And what an experience. I also love the last message of just if you're able to and you can just go try and live in a national park. They're magical for a reason.

Yeah, just do it. I have so many. I wouldn't say I have so many regrets about that. But my two of my regrets was number one when I was in college not doing a study abroad semester. That was such a stupid mistake. I wish I did. I was just caught up and other things. I thought it would be missing out on like life on campus and my friends and looking

back, it would have been a great opportunity. I had a couple friends who did it and they look back on that time, like, so fondly. And number two is when I first came out here and I was working at the Wolf Center, I also worked part-time at a local brewery in Woodland Park. And one of my coworkers had come back. Like, she was like in her 30s and she had always just kind of come back and just worked when she was back in Colorado. Yeah. But she bounced around and she would do seasonal jobs. the parks. So in the winters, she would go south. And then in the summers, she'd go up into the, like, you know, out west areas and just do, like she had just done, like, like, Candy said, like a housekeeper. She was just like a housekeeper. And then she did a waitressing job in another one. And just like whatever she could find. She was just there for a few months. And she was young. She was single. She had no attachments to anything at the time. And now she's, you know, from what I can tell on Facebook, she has like a young family. And she's, like a young family. And she's, She's more rooted, but I just know that that was like the coolest experience for her.

She did it for, I think, three or four years. Very cool. I know a lot of people have done stuff like that. I worked with people in the outdoor space who kind of just traveled to wherever their outdoor recreation activities took place in that time of year. So it was kind of like head west, head back to the south or go up north, whatever it was, whatever season allowed them to do what they like to do in the outdoors was where they would live. And I've known quite a few people who have lived that way. And I think it's a, it's a cool

lifestyle. And if you can, if you can afford to do it that way and you have figured it out, then, and I say afford, but most people who do it are broke, but have created a lifestyle where they can afford to live that way. Right. Yeah. And even if it's just for a season, you get to have magical experiences like that. And I guess to tie it, because we've been tying each of these stories, this is a very loose tie. But I, let's see. wolf things. On my vision board, I put a picture of a wolf for this year because I really want to see one out in the wild in Colorado now that they're here. I like that. So I'm hoping to encounter one on the trail or at least here one. And I got my wolf plates, license plates for Colorado. Yeah. I went to the DMV. Like I didn't even need to register my car. I was good for like another year, but I'm like, I'm getting those. I need those plates now. I remind me I need to register my car. There you go.

Good reminder. Yeah. All right. Well, that's everything that we have for today for our regular news feed. But if you are on Apple subscription, what did I say? Our news feed. A regular news feed. Oh.

We're kind of like the news, right? Our regular podcast feed, I don't know. Our regular feed. If you are on Apple subscriptions or Patreon. we have two more stories. Yeah. All right, let's go share them. Everyone else, we love you. Enjoy the view. But watch you back. Bye. 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 NPAD Podcast.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at National

Park After Dark and on Twitter at NPAD 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 cure. 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. In fact, 99% of their auto customers earn at least one discount. Visit Progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little cash back. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $946 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2024 and May 2025. Potential savings will vary.