National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 64

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

Today’s stories include check ins from the other side, underwater close calls, man ghosts, cases of mistaken identity, cursed Airbnb’s and bodies in the woods. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @nationalparkafterdarkTwitter/X: @npadpodcastTikTok: @nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page!Thank you to the week’s partners! iRestore: For a limited time only, our listeners get $625 off their iRestore Elite when you use code NPAD at iRestorelaser.comFactor: Use our link and code npad50off to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping.Graza: Take your food to the next level with Graza Olive Oil. Visit https://graza.co/NPAD and use promo code NPAD today for 10% off your first order.Astonishing Legends: Astonishing Legends is available wherever you like to listen to podcasts.For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hi, everyone. Welcome back to National Park After Dark. We're so excited for another Trail Tales episode. If you're watching, my house is a little cold and I literally have a vest on. I have a blanket on. I have hot tea in my hand. And I'm probably the coziest. ever been for any of our episodes at any point in time. You look like you're about to go to bed.

I could, honestly. Well, don't because we have to work. It's like, tell me a story as I fall asleep on camera. But you also have to tell me stories, so don't fall asleep. But we have two things to mention up top. The first is we just got back from our trip to Colorado and we joined. We joined I joined up with a local guiding service there called KMAC. They were absolutely wonderful. We had an amazing time. It was during the Arctic blast. Oh my God, we were so cold. It was slightly chilly. By slightly, I mean like negative 10 average every day. So our group were troopers. We were out skiing and snowshoeing every single day. But KMack was awesome if you're in the area and you're looking for a local guiding service. They do every season, hiking, climbing, camping.

snow shoeing they have a via ferrata they do a bunch of different stuff and their guys are really cool down to earth knowledgeable um and a good time so yeah so if you're in rocky mountain go there yeah if you're in rocky mountain national park and you need someone to show you around and show you where all the good spots are k mac is definitely your place to go and the other thing is we announced it a couple weeks ago but we do still have tickets available for our joshua tree live show. The camping is sold out, the camp weekend that as a whole is sold out, but we still have some tickets left for just the live show portion of the weekend, which is super exciting. It's at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center. Right outside of the park, it's going to be awesome. That's in early May,

May 3rd. Yes, May 3rd. It's going to come up really quick, but it's such a good time to be in Joshua Tree. Like, if you want to come see a live show and make a weekend out of it and go check out the park, I mean, May is right before it starts getting really hot. So it's the perfect time to be there and explore. And we're so excited to be there and to have this live show going on. So come hang out with us. Come see the show. Come check out a national park.

Check it off your list if you haven't been there yet. It's a good time to do it. It is. All right. Cool. So let's get into our stories. Do you want to be read to or read first? Tell me a story.

I'm ready. Okay. You're like not the. answer I wanted, but okay. And I'm like, God, okay, I wasn't ready. Also, side note, just because I feel like it's important, I went to Death Valley a couple months ago now, and when I was there, I got a pup fish mug, and I specifically picked this one for my tea today, so you guys could all see my Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge pupfish mug. And I adopted one, which they never sent me any stuff showing that I adopted one which it makes me upset, but I did they adopt one?

Did they promise to do that? Yeah, they said that they would send me a surprise, like, gift for adopting them. It was in December, and now it's February, so maybe it just hasn't come yet. I'm still holding out hope. Maybe it will take another two months. We'll see. I thought I would just get, like, a certificate that said, like, you adopt a pupfish with, like, a little picture of a pupfish. That's all I thought it would be.

But I did get a mug. There's still time. There's still mug. Yeah. There's still muds. I did buy the mug, yeah. I had to. Well, we all know. You did it. We don't need a certificate. We believe you. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay, so my first story is titled, Saved by a First Year. When I was 17, I was attending my last summer camp in Boy Scouts. Just some context, I am a woman, so I started scouts in 2019 when they allowed girls to join the program, and I fell in love. I loved scouting. So I was really trying to make this summer camp the best, as it would be the last year I would be able to. I was taking all of the aquatic merit badges I didn't yet have. Motor boating, small boat sailing, kayaking, and paddleboarding. I live in Florida, so the only way to make summer camp not totally miserable

is to stay by or in the water. Luckily, I am a total water bug and was particularly excited about small boat sailing. After day one of safety, they released us into the water, but they paired me with the first year scout because there were no other girls in the class. I wanted to live my dreams of lounging gracefully on a sailboat. He wanted to go, as fast as possible the whole time. The first day they had to drag our boat back in because we got too far out and couldn't figure out how to tack. The next day, the instructors showed us capsizing drills and we did those drills a few times. And then we were again released to do whatever. We were going along really fast and the boat flipped. No big deal. We've done this before.

But as I start to try to swim away, I realize that I can't. My hair is stuck. I automatically go into full panic. My hair is caught in the sail and as the sail is being pulled under the water, I am going with it. I started screaming bloody murder. I was actually in danger of dying. Finally, I see the advanced sailing class in the distance and start screaming. Help, help. My lungs are burning from how loud I was screaming and they just sailed in the other direction. No. I kept screaming, but I wasn't screaming for help anymore. It was pure primal terror. I started ripping at my trying to rip it out of my scalp to escape the pull of the boat, which was quickly canceling out the floating power of my life jacket. Finally, this little boy comes over. He might have been there

longer, but in my panic, I didn't realize, and I finally asked him to rip out my hair tie. The weight comes off my scalp, and I am free. Once we get back into the boat, I felt my scalp aching. I had been pulling on my hair so hard, I could feel the residual pain for the rest of the day. 30 minutes later, we're back on shore, and I go back up to my campsite to grab something. On my way back, I run into my friend who tells me she heard the craziest story about someone who almost drowned in the small boat sailing. Then she describes exactly what happened to me, but in this version of the story, the little boy is the hero.

He had been going around telling people casting himself as the hero, which he kind of was, but as an overly independent 17-year-old trying to prove herself in a male-dominated group, it was kind of embarrassing. And the counselor refused to sign off on the merit badge because I refused to get back into the boat after literally almost dying. What? I have not and will not get back into any sailboat ever again. And I'm still mad they didn't give me that merit badge. I know it's petty, but I don't care.

I almost died for it. You did almost die for it. You deserve that merit badge. That's crazy. You almost died for it. Well, this story reminds me of a traumatic memory. Well, it's not a traumatic memory. It's a story that has stuck with me forever.

When I was in elementary school, we went to the Lowell Mills in Massachusetts, which I think, at least part of them, is a National Historic Park now run by the National Park Service. I've never been. I don't know if it was that particular one we visited, but as people in New England know, there are tons of historic mill buildings that are now like office buildings or apartments or whatever. But anyway, so we went down there. I was a little kid and one of my first field trip memories. and we were taking a tour of the textile mill and how it used to operate and yada yada. And the tour guide was very graphic about how the young women who used to work there, many of them were children.

They had to either shave their heads or have their hair back in a certain way because there were so many instances of women's hair getting caught in the machinery and them getting scalped. Oh my God. That is horrible. Yeah. that that is dangerous workplace conditions for sure that's horrific i think there had a lot of other yeah but that was just one of them yeah that's awful and also new fear unlocked with this story i never really thought of my hair getting caught in a sailboat before i've never been on

a sailboat though so really i've been on um okay it's not god what what the heck was it called because ian was really into sailing for a hot second there and we were on one in Miami he rented it wasn't a whole ass sailboat it was time it was small it was just like for the two of us but there was some like machine or i don't know if it's called machinery but rigging that i mean if you got your hair because you're whipped it's whipping in the wind and yeah you got to tie it up i guess if you're anywhere near that because i always think of the little mills now and those poor women who literally had their scalps ripped off and i'm glad it didn't happen to this person yeah it's so scary that's awful but i will think of that if i ever decide to go sailing yeah we'll remember you always

thank you yes for sure thank you for your shared trauma 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 next story, my next one.

My first story is titled Tunnels and Tribulations. Hi, Danielle and Cassie. My name is Phoebe. I'm a relatively new listener, but have been flying through episodes as I bide my time through another winter in Indiana. The first episode I listened to was of Diana the Dunes because of my proximity, but as a native Appalachian, I gravitate most of your stories about the happenings on the AT and the area near where I used to live in beautiful western North Carolina.

You guys do an awesome job of dissecting mysteries and thinking through all of the possibilities while keeping the storyline flowing. I also love a good trail tale and thought I would submit one of my spookiest outdoor experiences to get my home region on the NPAD map. During the summer of 2022, I was home visiting my family and playing my classic role of well-intentioned agitator to get my mom and brother out of the house into some sort of adventure.

They decided it would be fun to take me biking on a segment of the North Bend Rail Trail about an hour from our house. The full trail runs 72 miles from Parkersburg to Clarksburg, West Virginia, and is built over pre-Civil War train tracks which fell out of use by the 1980. We hopped on the trail in Ellenborough, West Virginia, and rode eight miles, largely through North Bend State Park, to the tiny town of Cairo before riding back. The trail is mostly flat,

very shady, and absolutely beautiful. The part my family was most excited to show me, though, were the old railroad tunnels. On our 16-mile out-and-back trip, we had passed through three of them twice. Two of them were pretty short, such that you could see the light at the other end when you entered, but the other one was long and curved enough that you had to ride for a bit before you could see the other side. Inside, they were all pitch black with damp, exposed rock faces, and they were so creepy. They also played funny tricks with sound. So if someone was approaching the other end, you could hear their voices clear as a bell, despite them being over a quarter mile apart. My mission was to enter and exit the tunnels as quickly as possible, and we weren't even

going through tunnel number 19, which is famously haunted by the ghost of a jilted bride who apparently liked to stand in the middle of the old train tracks and ride on the cowcatchers of the trains. One story I read said that you could always tell which train conductors knew the area because they would screech to a halt at the tunnel to avoid hitting the apparition of the bride, while those familiar with the route would barrel on through, knowing they wouldn't be harming a living being. That is quite the risk also. Yeah, I don't, even if I knew the legend very well. I don't know if I would barrel through a woman in the middle of the train tracks. Right. Yeah. Right. One would hope. No one would do that. But as long as it's an

apparition, I guess it's okay. But that's a scary, uh, that's a scary risk to take. Yeah. Needless to say, by the time we coasted back into the parking lot in Ellenborough under a beautiful sunset, I had filled my adventure quota and was ready to head home. Life had other plans, though. As my mother reached for her car keys and realized she had forgotten her small backpack at a gazebo where we had stopped to rest five miles back up the trail it took me less than a minute to realize that there was no choice but to go back for my pack on my bike as fast as possible taking advantage of what was left at the sunset after glow to see my way there were no access points between ellenborough and cairo we could drive to and there was no sense in waiting until

morning to get help from the state park officials i took off peddling like my life depended on it trying to quiet the thoughts in my head about all the ways that this could go sideways. There aren't that many things in the woods of West Virginia that can hurt you, but there are definitely some things, and I was running through the mental rolodex of Appalachian cryptids. Oddly enough, the tunnels were less scary than the open trail, because I didn't feel quite as exposed. By the time I reached the gazebo and grabbed the pack,

it was completely dark outside with just a tiny bit of light from a sliver of the moon. I only had about 20% battery on my phone, so I turned on the flashlight sparingly to make sure I didn't run into one of the several bar gates shut across the trail to prevent vehicle access. I was so scared that I started talking aloud, giving myself a pep talk, and also asking the powers that be for protection, especially my dad. He passed away in 2019, and ever since then, I have always known that he's looking out for me as much as he can. On this night, I was just begging him to watch out for me as I flew down the time. trail back towards Ellenborough. After a harrowing 10 miles, I finally saw the lights of the parking lot and heard my mom cheering as she watched me close in on Find My Friends. She took a video of me cruising in and on it you can clearly see that as soon as I dismount, my phone flashlight

blinks out as the battery finally dies. Talk about perfect timing. After a celebratory stop at Dairy Queen, we finally got home around 11 p.m. But I was way too wired on adrenaline to even think about sleeping. I was just starting to get tired around 2.30 a.m. when I heard a pounding on our front door. We live in the middle of nowhere, so needless to say, this is pretty much my worst nightmare and got my adrenaline spiked right back up. I grabbed my phone, turned on all the lights in the house, and yelled for my mom. When we opened the door, it was the police. They said that they had gotten a 911 hang-up call earlier that night that traced to our address. We immediately panicked, thinking that something had happened to my brother, who had driven to Pennsylvania earlier that evening.

We asked what number it came from, thinking that maybe one of us had accidentally triggered an emergency call on our phones. When they read the number, we turned and stared at each other. It was my dad's old cell phone number that we had deactivated back in March of 2019. Chills, chills, chills everywhere. Oh, my God. Maybe it had been reassigned to someone else in the three years since, but wouldn't that have updated the address for the caller. And even if there was some glitch where it hadn't, what are the odds that this new person would have called 911 on the very same night I was putting myself in danger? Our only explanation is that my dad heard me talking to him loud and clear and was looking

out for me the best way that he could. I may not have encountered any tunnel ghosts at night, but I definitely got confirmation that they can hear us beyond the veil. Oh, I'm not even kidding. I have goosebumps. Yeah. What a story and what I mean, we say it all the time. There's no such thing as coincidences. And she had mentioned earlier in the story that she knows her dad is always looking out for her. And to have that happen that night when you were so scared. Definitely. I love it. Me too. Love it. Okay. My next story is titled Evil Spirit in Airbnb searching for new victims. Oh no. Okay. So we're. sharp left. Switching gears. Switching gears here. This is a lot scarier. Hey, Danielle and Cassie. It is weird for me to write to a podcast because I am out of my comfort zone because of anxiety, but here we are because I finally have a spooky tale that will forever freak my friends and I out. I found your podcast while working on my dissertation back in 2023 with my first episode being on Ada Blackjack, and I have been hooked ever since, especially since my Aquarius personality agrees because I have become a person who loves nature and has so much respect. for it. So thank you. Quick side note. I've since graduated with my doctorate in public health with a concentration in epidemiology and biostatistics, and I am in love with my career. Congratulations. That seems amazing. Complicated. Okay, back to the main point. Even though what happened did not occur in a national park, I figured let's give it a shot because what occurred is spooky.

To begin, all names have been changed, so don't worry about slipping up. For the sake of this story, I gave myself the name Harley Quinn because she is simply my girl, and now time for the spooky stuff. Around mid-August of 2021, my friends and I decided to take a weekend girls' road trip to Destin, Florida. As we were studying for our qualifying exams, we had already sensed that it was going to be brutal. We took this trip to relax our minds, even though we were still going to study while on the trip. By the time the day of the trip rolled around, it was well needed because we had been on a tight schedule of studying for six days a week, with only one day given off for a quote-unquote break because we had less than two months to prepare. Moving along, we arrived at the Airbnb Friday evening, and it was such a beautiful Airbnb

with modern contemporary style and beach vibes throughout that. It actually inspired me on what I would like in my future home. This day had three large bedrooms with three bathrooms, with two of the bedrooms situated next to each other on one side, and the third bedroom was on the other side of the Airbnb. Separated from the other rooms by a large living room that's large enough to fit at least three large farm tables and we split the rooms with two ladies per room and I shared a room with my roommate. This information about the Airbnb layout is important and you'll see why. That same Friday evening we had dinner, played some games and had story time. Everything was pretty normal. Saturday morning came and went and everything again was normal. We went out for a spa day, had lunch, studied, had dinner,

and chilled for the rest of the night. Saturday night. Saturday night, around 11 p.m., everyone went to sleep except for me because I'm a night owl whose brain does not care about my feelings about an appropriate bedtime and wants to be on the go constantly. I finally got sleepy around 1 or 1.30 in the morning and decided to get some rest, but not before checking all of the doors and turning off all the lights because of my paranoia about making sure everything was locked and turned off before getting to bed. Then between 3 and 4 a.m. in the first bedroom, Melissa, one of the six ladies on the trip, woke up to use the rest of the rest of the rest. restroom and Eva, who was sharing a bedroom with Melissa, was wrapped up in the blanket that they

were sharing, but was still asleep. And remember this. Melissa returned from the restroom, and Eva, who was sleeping when she had left, was now standing and mumbling something that Melissa couldn't make out. Melissa started to freak out and asked in his shaky voice, Hey, hey, Eva, are you okay? But Ava didn't respond and continued mumbling. Then, out of nowhere, Ava takes off directly into the corner, right side of the room, and slams right into the heavy curtain and starts fighting, said curtain, screaming loudly. Just as abruptly, she stops, returns to the bed as if nothing had happened, and goes back to sleep. I feel this pain because my old roommate used to do stuff like this. And I'm going to hold my thoughts.

I'm going to hold my thoughts until the end because I want to get through the story and see if they kind of reverect. They kind of reveal what my line of thinking is, but I'll circle back on my personal connection to this. Now, the second room I was sharing with my roommate. While we were sleeping, suddenly I became extremely hot, sweating and felt something jerked me right out of sleep. I sat right up and was fanning myself like crazy and started hyperventilating, which woke up my roommate. And she asked, Harley, are you okay? You sounded like you were crying. When she asked that, it took me out of whatever dilemma I was in and I returned to my name.

normal body temperature, like I was just not extremely hot three seconds prior and said, yeah, I guess I'm okay. I was just really hot there for a minute. I said I was okay because I didn't want to scare my friend because she gets easily anxious and frightened. The crazy thing is when I asked her whether she was hot, she said no, she was cold, not blazing hot like I was. After speaking with her, I was in the process of laying my head back down on the pillow, but for some reason, one of the ladies who was on the trip came to mind and her name is Barbara. Not even two seconds later, Barbara, who is in the third bedroom that is on the other side of this Airbnb that's separated by that large living room, screams a blood-curdling scream as if she is running away from Michael Myers, who decides to run and not

walk as he normally does when chasing his victims. When I heard it, I immediately asked my roommate, Hey, did you hear that? And she said, no, what are you talking about? To which I replied, Barbara just screamed at the top of her lungs, but my roommate still said no, she didn't hear anything. So I'm just laying there, confused, but 100% sure that I was not crazy and that I clearly heard a scream coming from Barbara. I was going to run over and check on her but decided not to because she was sharing a room with Penny, the six person on the trip, who I figured would come to her help if she needed it. Finally, to the third bedroom. Barbara and Penny's room, the epic showdown.

Barbara, who literally just screamed right after her name came to my mind, said she felt as if she had left her body and was looking at herself as she was sleeping. So she's now having like, this Barbara person's having an actual projection situation. That's freaky. From there, she said, as she was real life laying down, she looked to the edge of the bed on her side and saw either her or something sitting at the edge of the bed as she was laying down. and she felt like she had no control over herself and couldn't move. As this is currently happening to Barbara, Penny, who is sleeping in the same bed as Barbara, does not hear a thing, not even the blood-curdling scream that I did,

and doesn't move at all because she's in a deep sleep. Suddenly, Barbara turned herself over towards Penny and started shouting, Jesus, over and over and over. I know, like, what the hell is happening? This is such a scary sleepover. All at the same time. also what's going on with everyone penny finally wakes up and places her hand on barbara which caused barbara to immediately return to normal and whatever was happening to her just stopped the next morning

okay we're just going to the next morning there's no follow up on anything that just happened um what is going on it's like anyway that was fine and in the morning we had breakfast the next morning sunday i was working out in the living room and barbara appeared sat down on the couch and said, I have to tell you something. And I immediately had an idea of what she was referring to. So I asked, did you scream last night? And she said, yes. As we were sharing what happened to us, here comes Ava with a weird expression on her face. Y'all, I got to tell you the shit that happened to me last night. Once Ava shared her experience, that was when we figured out that each of us had something happened to each of us that previous night, to which the other ladies who were not

touched confirmed each of our stories respective of the room that they slept in. As we were discussing what had happened, Melissa said that when Ava screamed, she screamed loudly in the direction of the second room. But my roommate and I did not hear the scream and then the second room events happened. Once everyone ended up sharing their story, I prayed because honestly, it was scary hearing what happened to all of us and it seemed as if once the spirit left one room, it immediately went to the next room to continue its madness. The next day on Monday, Eva, okay, so they still stayed. They're like, that's bray-pray. They're like, well, we already booked it. We're already paid for it. We're here. Might as well

just see what happens tonight. The next day on Monday, Ava said she talked to her friend, a minister about what had happened to us. The minister said it was probably an evil spirit looking for someone to harm, but could not do anything. So maybe that's why it went from room to room to room searching. As I'm writing this, I am a superstitious spirit. person, but to an extent because of my culture, Haitian. I've heard stories about good and evil spirits from the time I stepped foot on this earth, including my mom remembering a bottle being hung by the front door of her parents' house, and none of the children were allowed to touch said bottle,

to which my mom has alluded to her parents keeping evil spirits out. Also, my mom said that her mom, who had passed away, visited her in a dream, letting her know that she was about to be sick, which turned out to be true. My mom has bravely managed even through complications, and has gotten better. FYI, we made a vow to never return to that Airbnb again. Okay, I'm in a whirlwind. That story was crazy. Does everybody follow because that was a lot going on?

But essentially, it seems like everybody got haunted to some extent. And I have, okay, so back to what I initially thought. Yeah. Because it has changed a little bit based on the details of this story. So that first incident of Ava and Melissa, when one of them goes to the bathroom, when comes back and the other one's having this situation unfold. So when I was in college, I had a roommate who had incidents of sleepwalking. She didn't do it all the time, but she would do something similar. Like she would get up and be mumbling and sometimes doing something. One time she

ripped the sheets off of me when I was asleep and trying to talk to her, but she was clearly out of it. And the only time she did that is when she was super stressed out, like during final exams, or she had some sort of really big life thing going on. It kind of like triggered these incidents. And Harley clearly states that they're on this trip as like kind of a break from a really highly stressful time in their studies. So I was like, well, maybe it's a stress induced situation going on. But to have it happen simultaneously all at once to three different people in different ways is what changed my mind on that. Yeah.

it's a weird there's something going on with that house for sure i just i don't know number one if i would have stayed past that initial if it was just a me thing like okay i went through something and i was hearing stuff and acting weird okay whatever but then to have two more people come forward and be like i also went through something unexplainable i don't know if i would be down with maybe they wanted to just go to the holiday in you know what i mean go to the marriott the story i actually kind of reminded me that a memory that I almost forgot about that I had an experience with you actually. Do you remember? And you'll remember when I say it. But when we were visiting Yosemite and we were staying at this place and they were these yurts and we had two beds next

to each other. Danielle was in one. I was in the other. And I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like someone was like, feeling like something was wrong. Like I was like, in my head, I was like, is Danielle okay? And something in my mind was like, was she kidnapped? Like, I don't know. It was just like these thoughts that went on in my head. And I turn and I look at your bed and you're sitting up in your bed with your hair just dangled over and you're not looking at me. It was just your hair dangled over. And I kept squinting and like opening my eyes. And I was like, is she really sitting? I don't want to say hi, Danielle, if she's not awake and wake her up, like, are these shadows, like, playing tricks on me? And I'm looking and I'm, like, straining my eyes because it was really dark in there.

And then after a minute, I keep seeing you. And I'm like, okay. So I closed my eyes for a second and I reopened them. And then you're tucked away in bed completely asleep. Okay. I don't. I remember you telling me this. Yeah.

I do remember you telling me this. But I don't, I don't recall that, like, me actually fist. doing that you didn't get up so I feel like it was just it was a you didn't that was the thing is you didn't get up out of bed when I like blinked and like looked again you were totally asleep in bed so but there was someone sitting at the end of your bed that look like you it is so nuts yeah that is so nuts that is the creepy that place like I wouldn't say it gave me the creepiest vibes because it was very lovely it was a lovely spot yeah beautiful it's just like that I don't think I mean, the amount of time that we have spent time together.

Like, if you, every, if we put our days together that we've spent in a row, like consecutively, we've spent months together. And sleeping in the same room, same bed or beds next to each other. And you've never done creepy shit like that before. But that night, you were. And it wasn't me. It looked like you, though. And it was just like, it was kind of like from the grudge where there's like, hold on. Just like a hair.

Was it like this? Yes, that's exactly what it looked like. It was you. You look like cousin it right now. Sorry, I can't hear you. Was it like that? Yeah, it was like that and you look like cousin it for a second. But, well, yeah, so I kind of have a similar experience, but you were the creepy one. Oh, God. I got possessed. Something happened. Yeah, I saw like your. projection or whatever but I hope that's not my projection I would hope my projection is like nice it wasn't like you were scary it was you weren't doing anything scary it just like look like you're sitting there with your hair dangling and and it was so weird because I had woken up out of like a

deep sleep and my first thought was like is Danielle okay I feel like something's happened to her like I feel like someone is like after her right now and it was just like is she being kidnapped is someone in here for Danielle. And then I, like, turned around and then there was someone sitting on your bed. And I'm out of my body. Or if there's something else happening. Yeah. And I was just, like, squinting and squinting.

And then I was like, okay, like, I'm just going to close my eyes for a second and reopen them and see, like, because it was so dark. It was hard to tell. And then suddenly you were just like in your bed and nothing was there anymore. I was like, okay, that was fucking weird. Creepy. I will say it was during a time that I, like, didn't want to be of this earth anymore. So maybe I was trying to get out.

Well, you did because I saw it. I did. I almost escaped. I was like, get back in there. We have things to do. We have a business. You can't dip out quite yet. Yeah, we have a.

Okay. Anyway, partnership for a year. All right. My next story is titled, Davy Jones tried to put me in his locker. Speaking of creepy things. This whole episode is just creepy. be stuff, I guess. Like everyone else and well-earned and deserve for both of you and your support team, I am a huge fan of the show. A childhood friend turned me on the pod and I'm catching up on long

drives and walks at night. My friend and I even joke when we go camping that every time we slip or get lost, that we are going to be featured on a future show. Let's start the real-life events of a dive accident that almost happened. Florida is where I was born and I consider my home. For all the hashtag Florida man memes, this truly is a beautiful. place to kayak spring-fed rivers, explore the ocean, and wander at the marine life. Florida is also home to the third largest barrier reef in the world. It stretches the southeast coast from Martin County through Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade counties where it ends in Monroe County west of Dry Tortuga's National Park. My story takes place near Biscayne National Park

on the USS Spiegel Grove Wreck in Key Largo. The wreck was sunk in 2002 and is situated in 130 feet of water at the sand. The USS Spiegel Grove was a U.S. Navy landing ship launched in 1959 and decommissioned in 1989. The dive to the wreck should only be done by advanced divers and my dive was beyond that at a technical level due to the compression stops on the way back up to prevent the bends, aka decompression sickness. My dive buddy, let's call him JR, and I had done this wreck before with light penetration into the upper decks. This time, we plan to to go deeper into the wreck, swim forward towards the bow where there is a bar, turn around, and then surface. The total bottom time was supposed to be 35 minutes and 35 minutes coming up with stops to

switch to higher oxygen-rich tank, which we brought to help prevent decompression sickness. We had never been this deep into the wreck and had heard of a path, which I am leaving out in case someone tries to duplicate our stupidity. Diving on the wreck in November 2017, we initially couldn't find the path and started exploring the outside. Eventually, 10 minutes into the dive, we found the path. As J.R. started swimming to the path, I grabbed his fin and pointed at my watch signaling we were five minutes past our planned time to penetrate the wreck. He waved me off and kept going down the hallway. In the depths of the wreck, there are many dangers beyond decompression sickness. You have jagged metal edges, metal doors that can close shut, numerous ways to get lost,

Silt kicked up, which can bring visibility to zero, and almost complete darkness except for the lights that you bring. All of these were top of mind as we continued going down the hallway at 125 feet deep. Ten minutes later, and what felt like forever, we take a right from our straightaway when the hallway ends and we have finally found the bar. It was a little room at the bow of the ship with placed liquor bottles and a half bar table. We looked around for two minutes, and I was ready to turn around and head back the way that we came. We are now 22 minutes into the dive and turning around would keep us on plan. My dive buddy wanted to take another right turn down the parallel hallway we came through and go out at that end of the hallway. Before I had a chance to stop him, he continued.

Ships have a tendency to move from storms caused by cold fronts. Yes, we do get those in Florida, tropical storms and underwater currents. When the USS Spiegel Grove was first sunk, it landed on its side and was considered a failed sinking. Three years after it sank, it was turned upright by Hurricane Dan in 2005. This is when my anxiety was building because I knew all of these factors, and Hurricane Irma had come through the keys four months earlier. We didn't know the condition of the ship, if doors had closed or other damage had occurred, all which would have blocked our path out.

As we went on the hallway, it was becoming apparent we had swam further towards the aft of the boat than our entry towards the bow. We found an area where there was a porthole upwards of about 24 by 24. inches. Neither of us would be able to fit through with our gear on, and I was contemplating how to get through this hole by taking our gear off and handing it to each other. When I went to look for JR, he was gone. At that moment, I had the biggest build of panic ever in my life as I knew Davy Jones was coming hard for me. I was alone in a wreck 125 feet deep, and my mind knew that this could be the end. I would be a story in a dive magazine full of the multiple stupid mistakes I made to get to this point.

My air was running low and I was lost in a Sheprereck. In Danielle's words, fucking dumbass. Why are those my words? I don't know. They wrote it. You must have said it at some point. Is it because I swear a lot? Probably.

I mean, you're right. Fucking dumbass. I can hear me saying it. Yeah, that sounds like you. My training then kicked in. I knew panic was my worst enemy, and even though physically I couldn't shut it down, mentally I had to push it aside. I took a few deep breaths. I focused on what I could control, and I evaluated my situation. Most dive accidents and wrecks are caused by panic when the way out is usually within feet.

Divers panic and die from panic freeze. I wasn't going to allow myself to freeze or flight back the way I came, so instead I chose to fight. I followed JR's silt path along the hallway and two minutes kicking hard later. I saw the most beautiful thing in the world. Sunlight from the 125 feet up to the top of the ocean. This opening was much bigger and what I needed. When I reached the deck of the ship, my breathing rate increased threefold because I finally allowed myself to mentally panic, knowing I was likely going to be safe. The next challenge arose.

J.R. was nowhere in sight, and when I looked around at the deck for a minute, I still saw nothing. 35 plus minutes into my dive, and it's time to save my life as depleting air is still my enemy. I start to swim parallel to the deck where I stored my oxygen-rich tank for the way up, and I find JR. My hands are shaking so violently from the panic I allowed in. I have to ask him to clip my spare tank back onto my gear. Thankfully, we always assume rules of one-to-threes,

and I had enough air in my primary tank in oxygen-rich tank to surface 48 minutes later. For 48 minutes, I was mixed with emotions of elation, fear, and anger at myself. At the surface, I have never been so happy to breathe air above water. We came upon the deck of the boat and I took my dive gear off, headed to the bow, and just sat there reliving every moment of a near fatal dive. For years since then, I still relive those memories. Partly due to learning from your mistakes is never to make them again, and partly from PTSD. There were several mistakes made that day, and I am beyond grateful to be able to tell the the story instead of be the story. Davy Jones was hot on my trail and I put death off for a little time

longer. I know I carry a black mark, but I am too much in love with the ocean to fear my friend, so I face my fears and the lessons I learned that day. First, plan your dive and dive your plan. I failed this when we penetrated the wreck at 10 minutes and should have forced JR to not go down the hallway. Second, in any high-risk diving environment, hire a guide who knows the environment and has recently dived within it. Third, never assume. J.R. assumed the second hallway back would be fine, and we were lucky it was, but assumptions get you killed most of the time.

For about a year, I lived with nightmares often about dying under the water trapped in the ship. I am happy to say years later, I am a dive master and work on a dive boat off Palm City County. I teach new students, along with experienced divers, how simple mistakes can add up to cause death, how panic is easily your worst enemy under the water, and to stop and analyze the problems to make rational choices. Lastly, I am now a certified rebreather diver. Running out of air is less of an obstacle. But with rebreather units, there are now new opportunities to make mistakes. Arrogance is the biggest enemy of experienced divers, and JR, along with myself, were very guilty of it that day. I tell everyone I dive with in the open water to check your arrogance on the boat. When you tell your

tagline of enjoy the view but watch your back. I equate it in diving to enjoy the view, but check your arrogance. If something feels wrong, call the dive and surface to dive another day. Thank you for allowing me to share my story, Jeff. Well, Jeff, I wanted to get scuba certified this year, but you may have just changed my mind. Did you? Yeah, I have a goal list this year of, we've talked about doing like a wilderness first aid survival type course, like over a weekend or something. And along with that, I don't know, I've just wanted to, I wanted to do that. I want to do a pack horse trip, like out west. I want to do a meditation retreat, a writing retreat, and get scuba certified. The scuba certified, the rest track for you, but the scuba certified, you don't like water.

So that is just very interesting to me. I don't like, here's the thing. I like the ocean. I don't like pools. Like if someone's like, do you want to go swimming? I don't want to go swimming in a pool. Like, I don't like, I like being by pools. I don't like being in them. Hot tubs are like I maybe if I'm freezing, like I'll get in a hot tub, but like I don't want to be in there for more than five minutes. I just like the ocean is at least like another world to explore. I just don't want to be in water to be in water. I want to be doing something in water, if that makes sense. I have a friend who got scuba certified last year, maybe it was two years ago now. And she's done dives in really cool places.

She went to Belize and she's just like jumped and she has a lot of fun doing it. So I can. Like I feel like us. It was Erin and she did it by where you live now. I was going to say. If you need a connection who can tell you how to do it, she did it near you. Cool. I just think I don't think it's something I would utilize often.

But I think it would be cool to have some sort of foundational skill in that world. Because I feel like in our trajectory of what we do, I feel like we would find ourselves in a situation where that would be beneficial. So I hope not. I can't even snorkel. I know. You're not a fan. I'm not a water person. I've seen you try to snorkel. It's really bad. It's really bad. I'm like a drowning cat.

Me and Water. Just don't get along. I think it's probably more of a mental thing for me than anything else that I would have to overcome, but I can't figure out how to breathe through a snorkel. I also get claustrophobic kind of easily, so having stuff on my fate, it's just not good. But a lot of respect for people who do it because I think it is a really cool way to explore the world in ways that most people don't, especially since humans themselves are not meant to be underwater. So people who are able to go into shipwrecks, more power to you.

I think it's really cool. Yeah. And all the stories that we've covered that touch upon underwater archaeology just makes me so intrigued. So I don't know. It's low on that list of things that I would like to do, but it's on there. Well, I would love for that. I would love that for you. And I hope that you check that off your bucket list of things.

Okay. We'll see. I will not be joining you, but the other ones if you want someone to come with you, like sign me up. But that one, you're on your, you'll have to find someone. else to do with you if you want a friend. All right. I'll work on it. Okay, my last story is titled, The Renter That Was Surrounded by Wolves. Hi, Cassie and Danielle. I want to first thank you so much for the podcast. I found it this past spring, and there are only a few episodes I have yet to hear. And PAD is the only podcast I listened to religiously, and I quickly became an outsider because I ran out

of all the episodes on Spotify in just two months. Wow, thank you. Yeah, thanks. Anyways, just to prove what a small world it is, my dad was born and raised in Sennepin, New Hampshire and went to Plymouth State, and so did my cousin. Oh, no way. I went to Plymouth State. My name is Samantha Hershey. Please feel free to use it on the podcast. I was raised in Pennsylvania, but spent every single school break in Denmark, Maine, where

the following story will take place. I now live in Eagle, Colorado in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. So thank you for everything you do. I appreciate all the hard work, energy, and research you put into each episode. matter what is going on in your lives, you take the time to have a gracious attitude when recording and have a positive effect on the rest of us who listen. So thank you. Also, I'll absolutely freak if I hear this on the podcast. I know everyone says that, but it's true. If not, I hope you guys get a good chuckle out of this. My family sure has. Well, thank you for all the love, Samantha.

To set the scene, our cabin in Denmark, Maine is a quiet escape from our regular lives. There's no TV or internet and we keep on the Nola weather radio on so we can hear anything important going on around us. Our cabin is on Hancock Pond, which by most people's standards isn't a pond at all. Even with a total surface area of 761 acres, it's not considered a lake by the state of Maine until there's a maximum depth of at least 60 feet located somewhere in the lake. The closest general store is Jim Bob's, which is an 11-minute drive away. And when the story took place, there was no cell phone service, only the landline. Okay, enough of an intro and into the story. This story is directly from one of our renters of our cabin. I have permission from the renter to share her story, but not her

name, so let's just call her Jess. Our cabin is shared among our extended family throughout the seasons, but when the cabin is left empty, we rent it out. Most of our renters are friends or people we have known the majority of our lives. One time, we decided to rent it to a woman in Connecticut who wanted to get away for a week in the summer for some much-needed solitude. We gave her the rundown of the cabin and everything we thought she may need to know. The caretaker of the property, Herb, was there to greet her and hand off the keys to the home. In his extremely thick Maynor accent, he happily informed her that he left his phone number by the landlide in case she needed anything.

Excited to finally have arrived that morning, she gathered all of her luggage out of her car, quickly unpacked, and started to explore the property. She noted that we had neighbors, but they didn't appear to be home. She walked down to the dock, decided to go for a swim, and lay out in the sun. She heard a bit of activity on the lake, but it looked like all of the laughter she was hearing was coming from all the way across the cove, about a mile and a half walk away. She went back inside and perused through the owner's book, where renters write down their experiences after their week. Renters wrote of seeing moose, taking the canoe out into the middle of the lake in the middle of the night to look at the stars, roasting marshmallows in the the fire pit, feeding chipmunks, not a good idea, I know, seeing fisher cats by the water's edge, listening to woodpeckers, and the plethora of wildlife around the cabin. After reading through the book, Jess decided that roasting marshmallows while watching the stars sounded like the perfect way to unwind and start her vacation. She built the fire before it got dark and decided to make her dinner, hot dogs cooked over the fire and some yummy potato chips. As the sunset and the stars started to peek

out, she switched over to the smores that she had craved all day long. Nothing but the sound of fire crackling to interrupt the silence until she heard a call far off in the distance, but clear as day. Maybe not like a call, but more like a howl. And then all of a sudden, she heard the response. Another howl, a bit closer this time. Whoa, she said out loud, wolves. Irb never said anything about wolves, and neither did the book. They sounded far off. She was only about 10 yards from the cabin and she was by a fire. She thought to herself, they won't bother me over here, right? Either way, she decided to start packing up and headed inside. As she was gathering her food, she heard it again, another howl, but this time it was close. She guessed it was just on the other side of the hill from

her campfire. Immediately she heard another howl, but this one sounded more like a laugh, kind of like a hyena. Then her stomach dropped. The bushes about 20 yards behind her started to rustle. She screamed and took off sprinting towards the house, leaving all of the food behind. She made it through the sliding glass door and locked it behind her. Not wanting glass to be the only thing between her and this pack of wolves, she sprinted up the stairs and watched for the wolves out of her guest bedroom window. With no light outside other than the fire and the stars above, it was hard for her to make out, but soon enough, a large black wolf with glowing eyes appeared on the scene, immediately headed for the bag of hot dogs. As the wolf ate, Jess kept hearing all of the other wolves call.

It sounded like they were surrounding the cabin and surrounding her. What could she do? When the wolf finished off the hot dogs and the rest of her potato chips, it headed up the deck to the house and paced outside of the sliding glass door. Just sunk down and hid from this wolf, hoping they would decide she's not worth it and head off. She didn't fall asleep for hours, but she couldn't go downstairs to grab the landline because she would have to pass that sliding glass door with the wolf, and there was no way that she was going to do that.

Eventually, she fell asleep in the guest bedroom and woke up the next morning, immediately packed her things and left to go back to Connecticut. When she got home, she called my dad to tell him that she had left. She demanded a refund as she was not expecting to be stalked by wolves during her week of solitude. My dad, extremely concerned, as we have never seen wolves in our part of Maine, asked exactly what had happened. She said she saw a big black wolf pacing on the deck and heard multiple wolves calling to each other all night long, plotting her demise. She stated that some of the calls even sounded like they were laughing at her. My dad asked her to describe the howls, and after a bit of time, he pulled up a YouTube video and played back the sounds to Jess.

Yes, yes, that's it, she exclaimed. That's exactly what I heard. My dad responded and said, Uh, hey, Jess, what you heard were loons. Sorry. She was stunned and in disbelief. She had seen the pretty black and wife speckled birds on the lake, but there was no way they could make that sound. And also, she had seen a wolf. It was on the deck, and she was sure. she hadn't imagined it. My dad then asked, was a wolf about thigh high with short, scruffy hair and came from the west? Jess confirmed and my dad tried his best not to burst out laughing. That wolf, Jess had seen, was actually Hank.

Hank was the neighborhood Black Lab that lived a few houses down and never missed a good campfire story, especially when it came with free snacks. He was always sure to come by and say hi to whoever was renting that week in hopes for a treat or two. Jess remembered the owner's book mentioning how Hank stopped by for some food, but she thought Hank was a grown man, not a six-year-old black lab. To this day, it's one of our favorite stories to tell about our cabin. Jess has since been back with her growing family, her husband and kid number one with kid number two on the way.

She and Hank officially got to meet before he passed away at 14, and she absolutely loves listening to the call of loons now that she knows that her life isn't in danger. All of this to say, enjoy the view, but watch your back for Snacky Lab. and eerie loon calls in the distance. That's so funny. Also, just to like as a like PSA, if you're in a house, if you did have wolves outside, they're not going to get in. You're going to be good. You're fine.

That's actually so crazy. We talk about this right now because I just finished American Prime Evil. Did you watch it? No. No, it's really good. Is it on Netflix? It is. It's kind of surrounding the Meadows Massacre.

Mountain Meadows Massacre in Utah. And there's a lot going on. I'm not going to get into it. It's good if you're into that period of history. But there's a scene in which there's two people in a cabin and like a woodlog cabin. And there are angry wolves outside that are literally ripping the boards off of the cabin to get in to attack and eat these people. And I'm like, people are afraid. Like that doesn't happen. It's so funny because like there's all these articles and things going on about how. the Mormon community is really pissed about this show because of the way that Mormons are depicted in the series. I'm pissed about how the wolves were depicted in the 30 seconds of that show. It's like, because it's so true. Like, it's just fear, like, mongering. Yeah. Fear mongering for sure. I'm like, I'm like, at least the Mormons can defend themselves in some way with words and wolves are just like, they're just, we just now get obliterated again. Yeah. But it's just so funny also. though like loons sound. At first I was like, oh, I was immediately assuming she got wolf howls

mixed with coyote laughs, especially because that's what I was thinking too. That was where my thoughts went. Did I just say coyote laughs? Coyote calls, I meant to say. I don't know what I just said. You did say laughs. Whatever. But they sound like laughing. Yeah, but anyway, hope she's okay. Sounds like she is. She got over the fear of it. At first I was like, wow, Wolf's in Maine. That's really cool and it's just got really funny. But I'm glad everyone survived that and Hank got a nice snack that night. Okay, for my next story and last story before we get to our outsiders bonus stories, mine is titled, Forget Bears. Did you pick a man or a ghost? Hello ladies. My name is Krista and I've been listening to you guys for a few years now. I have very few podcasts that I listen to religiously

and I added you to the list as soon as I heard you cover the case of Julianne Williams, Lolly Winnens, and Leslie Spellman. You covered their story in a way that preserved and showcased their humanity rather than making a gruesome spectacle, as so many true crime creators, unfortunately, do. I, as well as so many others, am so thankful for how thoughtful you both are. Thank you. That means a lot. It does, and we do. We appreciate you noticing that because we do try to remain respectful. On to my story. Though I do adore camping and hiking. this doesn't take place outdoors, but I think you'll enjoy it regardless. My husband and I recently moved on military orders to Northern Virginia. We chose a new apartment building solely for its proximity to the metro,

because I'm a little bit scared of driving on the East Coast after living in rural North Dakota for five years. I didn't notice it myself, but when showing my parents' pictures of my apartment, my mom pointed out a subtle motif in my balcony railings, in which the center of two raw iron bars were bent in the shape of a milk bottle. I thought it was just a fun design choice, or perhaps accidental, and forgot about it for a couple of months. A few days ago, after noticing more of the milk bottle motif and realizing it was definitely a purposeful choice on the part of the architects, I pointed it out to my husband. We had just driven into our underground garage after a day of running errands.

He said, well, yeah, this used to be a milk bottle factory over 100 years ago. I was so intrigued by this knowledge and said how cool it is to live in the grounds of an old factory. I bet there are totally ghosts here, I said with amusement. I was mostly joking, as I have been more agnostic in my beliefs in ghosts or spirits in my adulthood. Flashback to the early 2000s. As a child, I was viscerally terrified out of my mind of the idea of ghosts, but was also constantly keeping an eye out for them. Few inexplicable things ever happened to me, to the point where by my mid-20s, I was starting to doubt their existence entirely. Or maybe I was just one of the unlucky ones born in.

without the ability to see or feel beyond our realm. Me and my husband had talked about hearing random ghost noises before, but seeing as I thought it was a new build and we lived near a lobby and elevator of an apartment building, I'd always chalked it up to hearing my neighbors coming in and out. Anyway, back to a few nights ago. We're still in the garage, now unpacking the car. I'd grab an arm full of bags and asked if he needed my help grabbing any particularly awkwardly shaped box. He said, go ahead, you can just start putting groceries away, I'll be in in a couple of minutes. I agreed, turned around, and walked past a couple rows of cars towards the elevators. The elevators are located inside of a lobby,

the doors to which are clear glass. Just a few steps from the door, I saw my husband walking behind me in the reflection. I didn't even react. I just badged in and held the door open behind me. As I held the door open, I looked over my shoulder and saw no one. Assuming he was close behind me, I stuck my head out of the door and was surprised to see him still fiddling with the box in the trunk of our car rose away. I closed the door and froze. I thought a man might be hiding around the corner or maybe someone had just temporarily stepped out of view. I don't know why, but I waited a full 30 seconds or more before I hit the button to request an elevator. In that time, no one made themselves apparent to me.

Again, I'm not sure why, but it wasn't until hours later that I realized how strange the timing had been. I had just learned for the first time about the history of our apartment building and the fact that a milk bottle factory once operated here and even made an exclamation hoping there were ghosts. And 30 seconds later, a man just as real as my husband walked behind me in the reflection of the doors in front of me. Even though I was a little scared that a living man might be following me for a few minutes, I'm quite amused by the experience now. I love thinking that a friendly factory worker decided to level with my humanly senses to let me know that yes, there are spirit. it's here. He also helped me realize that if I have to choose, I'm definitely picking the ghost. I hope that you too find this story amusing. I hope to have more experiences with the quote, Milkman, but I won't be too much of a try hard about it. I find it interesting that only once I'd stop caring about seeing or

feeling ghosts for years, it was then that someone decided to catch me completely off guard. Much like the living, I think a lot of ghosts avoid being vulnerable with people who are desperate. Thank you so much for reading this remember to enjoy the view but above all else be nonchalant while you watch your back love Krista oh that's such a good point like I don't care I don't care I don't care about being haunted I'm not begging you to come see me it's like I don't care but I'm saying I don't care so they would probably know that yeah so you really got to be caught off guard yeah that's cool I think man man bear or ghost ghost ghost yeah ghost yeah Ghost.

Yeah. I would even pick a ghost. Ghost of a bear. That would probably be the one of the scariest. A ghost of a bear? Yeah. Can you imagine that? I feel like a ghost bear would let me pet them.

I don't know. Okay, let's get to our bonus stories. Please, you look so soft and cute. All right. Well, thank you everyone for tuning in for this week's episode. If you would like to write us a story, please do. We love reading them on the podcast. You can submit your own trail tales on our website and PADD Podcast.com. There's a submission link there. But in the meantime, if you want to come hang out with us for our bonus stories, you can check us out on Apple subscriptions or Patreon. And we will head over there. But until then, enjoy the view. But watch your back. Bye, everyone. See ya. Thank you for joining us again this week. If you have a trail of your own you'd like to share,

you can write to us at NPAD Stories at gmail.com or visit our website at npaddpodcast.com. Bonus trail tales and content are available to Patreon members and Apple subscribers. Follow the show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X at National Park After Dark. And if you prefer to watch our episodes, you can find us on YouTube at National Park After Dark. And as always, if you enjoy the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. You're listening to this podcast, so I know you've got a curious mind. Here's a helpful fact you may not know yet.

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