National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 71

Episode Date: June 5, 2025

Today’s stories include women in STEM, chirping mountain lions, cabin guardians, simultaneous hauntings, family lore and dead dad signs. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!Listen to Watch Her Cook on Apple and Spotify! Follow us on InstagramFor 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!Zocdoc: Use our link to download the Zocdoc app for free.Rocket Money: Use our link to get started saving.Crime House: True Crime Stories: Search and follow Crime House: True Crime Stories, wherever you get your podcasts 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. Everyone, welcome back to National Park After Dark, Trail Tales Edition.

My name is Danielle. And I'm Cassie. Happy June, everyone. Happy Gemini season. Oh, we're in it. We're in it. How are you feeling, Gemini season? I mean, it's my era.

It is. It is my time to shine. And I'm at Cancer Cusp, so maybe July is my season two. Maybe I get Gemini. Maybe I get Gemini and Cancer Season. That's my way so Gemini of you to say. Thank you. Cool. Well, as, if you're new to these episodes, welcome. These episodes are a little bit different. We will share your stories that you send in to us, either at what is our email again? Stories at NPADpodcast.com.

Yeah, that's it for sure. Or you can go onto our website, NPADPodcast.com, and there is a submission form there. We take stories of all kinds. They hopefully have to, to do with the outdoors in some way, but we're getting lenient as the years go on. You're wearing us down. So send it in and we'll take a peek. Honestly, it just really needs to be an interesting story and we'll tell it. Yeah. Also, though, pro tip coming from the person who vets them is, I know it's really hard to condense stories, but we get so many that are really interesting. They're just way too long to share. That's a good advice. So pro tip, you got to keep them like, I don't know, I would say between like a five and eight

minute read. Yeah, that's a good. That's a good length because we do eight of them on the show total. So four subscription. Yeah, two are subscription. But three. So there's six of them on the main feed. And then there's us talking nonsense for a really long time too.

So if they're each less than 10 minutes, then. And that puts us that over an hour of an episode. Yeah. So you see where the math is coming in for us. So math is mathing for me. Right. So anyway, short, sweet about anything, give it a whirl. Would you like to go first or would you like me to read first?

I would like to go first. Okay. My first story is titled Visitation Dream from the In Between and Ladybug Signs. Hi, ladies. My name is Rachel, longtime listener, first time writer. They congratulations on your new pod. For me, loving a podcast very much hinges on the personality of the hosts. I'm an outdoor enthusiast, but I'd gladly listen to y'all talk about literally anything.

And if you're new here and you don't know, we started a podcast. It's called Watcher Cook, a second podcast, where we talk about women and all of the incredible things that they've done. So go check it out. Anyway, let's get into the story of my sister's visitation dream, who has given me permission to share. My grandparents live in the middle of nowhere, West Virginia, on 400 acres of family land. So you can imagine how magical my childhood visits to see my grandparents were. We used to S-O-B. What does that mean?

Sob. Oh, sob. We're keeping that in. Give me an egg. I hate it here. This is what happens when we're off schedule a little bit because we had some family visiting today. So we're like, let's just push our recording.

Let's push our recording later. So we're recording at night, which is when we get silly. End of the day. Yeah, you're welcome, everyone. We used to sob in the car is what it says that I'm struggling so hard to read right now. Oh, my God. You're going to back to the story. We used to sob in the car when we'd leave as kids because we were leaving.

I don't know why I read that. We used to have son of this. I'm like, it's just a word. So the way you said it, just send me. Okay. Okay. We're super serious. Reallying it back.

In 2022, my grandpa was in hospice at the age of 90. He had a long life with Parkinson's and we all knew the end was near. One evening, while my grandpa was in hospice, my sister had a dream that my grandpa was there with her. In this dream, she was lucid. of the current reality and asked him, have you passed yet? To which he replied, no, not yet. He then apologized to my sister for some decisions he had made in life. My sister told him it's okay and we understand how things aren't always easy. He then said to my sister in this dream,

I'm not sure what your mom was on about when she was talking to me about the ladybugs and the hummingbirds. Flashback to one or two days prior, my mom was visiting grandpa in the hospice. He had not yet passed, but was not responsive. My mom asked him, What will be our sign that you're with me? Maybe a hummingbird, since you always have hummingbirds visiting your feeder on your porch at the house. Or maybe a ladybug, since they're all over the place in your home and we have to let them back out. This conversation took place with only my mom and grandpa present. My mom hadn't even told anyone about the conversation yet, so there's no way my sister would have known.

Flash forward to the dream again, my sister didn't know about that conversation at the time, and therefore didn't know what my grandpa was talking about either. My sister reassured him that it was okay to move on and that we would all be okay. She woke up and told us about her dream. My mom nearly shit a brick. She proceeded to tell us for the first time about the sign conversation she had had with grandpa. My sister, without a doubt, was visited by my grandpa who hadn't yet passed, but that let us know he was somewhere in between and the moment would come soon. When he did pass a day or two later, it was the middle of the night.

From a whole state away, I sat straight up for my deep sleep, wide awake all of the sudden. I checked the time and immediately knew in my gut he must have passed at that moment. I went back to a deep sleep and in the morning I woke to a text for my mom that said call me. I phacimed her and when she picked up, we wordlessly stared at each other and then nodded our heads confirming what we didn't need to say. I told her days later about shooting straight up in the middle of the night and she confirmed that that was around the time that he had passed and shared she had a similar experience that evening. My grandpa was buried in the small cemetery near their home. When I say they lived in the middle of nowhere, the funeral procession from the

closest funeral home was over an hour long. We have actually since gotten a few signs from him in the form of ladybugs. Once, I was driving in the car with only my mom and I to get coffee and a ladybug appeared, which was strange because it was still cold out. My mom grabbed the ladybug and tried to release it out the window, but the ladybug would not go. She tried over and over to get it out of the window, but he kept hanging on. Eventually, she did send the ladybug on its way. I remember fully seeing the little dude fly out the window. And yet, two minutes later, here's the same damn ladybug magically back in the car.

We were both cracking up and freaking out. You saw it go out the window. I know it did. Grandpa must really be trying to make sure that we know he says hello. My mom and sister are both very woo-woo spiritual people. I'm a bit more of a skeptic and also afraid of death and dying, which I know is silly because death is the only certain thing in life. I'm very type A, logical, girly in stem, but when things like my sister's dream happen, when

there's literally no earthly explanation, it does bring me comfort that there must be something else that we just won't comprehend until it's our time. Thanks for reading. If you choose to share it, I hope someone else who has similar fears and anxieties is brought some level of comfort by my family's firsthand experience. I know you've touched the hearts of many, Danielle, with your own personal story. Words will always come short of the gratitude so many people feel for your openness. My heart goes out to you and yours. Enjoy the view because it's only borrowed. Rachel. I really enjoy that one a lot. Yeah, me too. I mean, you set us up on a silly note, but unintentionally. And I think that, apologies. I think that it's so interesting. Visitation

dreams are always something that I gravitate towards and always want to know more about. But especially when they're when they happen from people who are in this in between state, like right about to pass. And I think that's so interesting because I've seen people receive readings where that's true. Like so I'm watching somebody get a spiritual reading or medium reading. And they'll the medium will be like I'm connecting with, you know, your mother, father, whoever. And it feels like they're in spirit but still connected to here. Can you confirm that? And then they almost always say they're in hospice or they have some sort of dementia or Alzheimer's. And I just find that so fascinating. Yeah, that that's even happening when I feel like because a lot of times we, when we talk about something spiritual or a visitation, you're thinking of someone who's already passed on. But someone who is still physically here with you. And to have an experience like that is almost more confusing. But it's also really interesting.

And it is, I think it just shows the really. deep connection that people truly do have. I mean, even when you are still, when you're in this in-between state, there's still this type of connection that's happening. Yeah. I think it shows, I mean, I agree with you, but I think it shows just how much we aren't our physical bodies. Right. You know. Mm-hmm. 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. Okay, my first story is titled Simultaneous Haunting, question mark. Hi, ladies, I've been a long-time listener, probably for the past four years or so. Your podcast has helped me feel less lonely through moves, life changes, and general hard times. I've laughed and cried with you along the way, so thank you for the podcast. My story takes place next to a very popular state park in Oregon that is known for rock climbing. At the time, I was renting a house five minutes from the park with my fiance, his best friend that I will call Liam, and Liam's girlfriend that I will call Becca.

We knew the house was previously owned by an elderly person that passed away. In one of the rooms, there was even a hospital bed that the person had used before passing. Right away, my fiance and I had some strange experiences. One time we were in our bedroom together, and a half-drink protein shake flew sideways off the desk. There were no drafts or earthquakes, so we both stared at each other like WTF. The house has three bedrooms, and my fiance and I were the first couple to move in. So we sampled the bedrooms, quote unquote.

Are you getting spicy? Trail Tales. How dare you? There are kids here. First of all. If there are. kids here, why? Just kidding. I think it's a personal preference.

It is a personal preference. Sometimes we're family friendly. I get it. Yeah, but we're not, there is no pattern. Like, you, you really need to, like, vet the episode. It's a surprise. I feel like it were, it's like your kids are going to learn it one way or another. Why not here with National Park After Dark? Why not through us? Why don't let us corrupt your children? Yeah, we'll break the ice with certain topics and we're. words and things that the world is just full of that they're in a bubble with right now. Like you don't want to say, you don't want to drop F bombs, but we'll say fuck.

Usually I'm the one to say it, so that kind of startled me. It felt appropriate. It did feel right. Yeah, so I think sampled means sex, and you can ask your mom what that means. Anyway. What is happening to this child? We vetoed one that had the protein shake. incident and tried the one with the hospital bed, bad idea in retrospect. That night we slept in

the hospital bedroom and kept waking to the bed being shaken, just enough to wake you up initially with it growing progressively more aggressive as you woke up. My fiancee crawled under the house to see if there was anything house related underneath that room that could have caused the shaking, but nope. That bedroom was rolled out too. We were left with the last bedroom that had a ton of shelves in it. I mean stacked from ceiling to floor all the way around the room. Becca and Leah moved in and chose the protein shake incident room and life went on as normal with the occasional feelings of being watched and unexplained thuds. One night in particular, my fiance and I were asleep and I had the sensation that fingers were being forced into my mouth and prying my jaw open. I hate that. Oh,

I hate that in this context. Oh, another section. What's happening? Okay, reel it in. Okay. That is awful. Like, that's really terrifying. Unless you're consenting, I guess. You're right. I screamed and shot awake and genuinely felt like I was going to die from fear. My fiance rubbed my back and calmed me down and I did my best to go back to sleep. In the morning, I walked into the kitchen where Liam was drinking his morning coffee. We had regular chit-chat before he erupted with, dude, Becca had the gnarliest night terror last night.

She scared the shit out of me because she woke up screaming. The blood left my face and I felt like I was going to pass out. Of course, I immediately freaked out and told him that I also had a quote-unquote night terror. All of us agreed it was creepy as fuck, but Becca didn't believe in ghosts, so she chalked it up to coincidence. But we all know what we say about that, right? We do. Flash forward another week or so, and I was shopping at the grocery store that was directly

across the street from the house. A worker there approached me and asked, hey, you live at that house across the street, right? Normally, I do not tell men that I do not know where I live, but I could tell that this was going somewhere interesting, so I told him yes. He replied, I don't want to freak you out, but us employees like to think that the ghost from your house haunts this grocery store. I've been closing by myself and loaves of bread will fly off the shelves and land aisles over. He recounted another time that a full liter of water fell off his desk while he was completely alone in the store. I told him about all the crazy stuff that was happening to my housemates and I at our house,

and he seemed like he wasn't surprised at all. He also told me that he had toured the home when it first went up for sale and that there was one room in particular that was stacked ceiling to floor with porcelain dolls. Can you guess whose room this was? Yep, mine. The previous owner had been an avid collector slash doll repairer, and the numerous shelves were once filled to the brim with dolls. Oh, that's also a nightmare of mine is waking up and having, when I was a kid, I had porcelain dolls and they were on a shelf in my bedroom. And at night, I used to turn them around because they didn't like them looking at me. But you liked them enough to have them. I think they were gifts or something and I felt bad getting rid of them. Yeah. I do have like this buried memory of, and it's going to sound even creepier. But they were porcelain dolls because they're not all porcelain. right. It's just like their face and their hands and stuff and then they have clothing on. Yeah. And then they're stuffed. Right. So it was that, but they were clowns. And my

Nana had my, so my dad's grand, my dad's mom for some reason had a collection of them. And for some reason, I acquired them. Acquired like a good amount of them. And when like she passed away and then he passed away. So they were definitely, you know, on my hands. And then I felt bad. throwing them away. But I also didn't want them. So I left them at my mom's house who had been divorced from my dad since I was like two years old. She's like, the last thing I need is your dad's mom's creepy porcelain clown dolls in my home. So I think we ended up ousting them to goodwill or something. I was going to say if you have them, I'm petitioning that for the next scary episode, you just put them on a wall behind you. No, I could. Yeah, no, they're long gone. They were way

too creepy. I don't know what the draw is with clowns. It's funny. Or dolls. Well, dolls and dolls were such a Victorian era thing. Yeah, but like the poor, I don't know. Person dolls. I feel like as time goes on, I find more and more things of the Victorian era that I'm like, do I love it? The answer is yes, but that's another one that. You can love something and also not like other things that are involved in it. Yeah, I don't know. Wait, so you don't have those dolls anymore? I don't know what happened to them. Probably. I mean, I was a kid. I would say under 10 when I had them. So. I don't know. Maybe your mom still has them somewhere. She might. I can ask her. She's at my house. Oh, she's still there. Yeah. Okay. So yes, the previous owner had been an avid collector slash doll repair and the numerous shelves were once filled with said dolls. The bulk of the experiences happened after the first few months that we moved in and eventually subsided, but I always felt a presence there. And I know sleep paralysis is a thing, but I had never had it prior. and never experienced it again.

I fully believe the prior owner of the house wasn't aware or hadn't expected that they were dead yet and were rightfully pissed off about the new intruders. I think they eventually came to terms with it and maybe even found it entertaining to observe us. I now live in a different non-haunted house states away, but I still think about my time spent in Oregon. Again, thank you for all the work that you do and remember to enjoy the view, but watch your back, even when you're sleeping because a ghost might try and shove their fingers into your

mouth. Oh, God. That ended on a weird note. Scary note. That was a scary note. Yeah. It's, again, really interesting about, because there's the simultaneous experience within the house from two different people on the same night, but also that the building across the street is having activity as well. Yeah. And that they're connecting it to that house. A lot of energy. Yeah. Yeah. I guess I guess what I'm in. ending this story on is that I have now learned another haunting that I do not want. And that is a ghost sticking its hands in my mouth. Yeah, that.

Which I never thought. New fear are unlocked. I've never heard of such a thing. And never do I want to hear it again. All right. Well, let's move on then. I'm just kidding. Thank you for sure.

Thanks for that story. My next story is titled Hunter's Cabin. Hey, NPA. My name is Chris, and I've been a listener for two years now. I love what you guys do, admire the community you've built and respect the circle of information everyone contributes to. This story happened very recently, April 14th, 2025. It was a beautifully blue, cloudless day, 60 degrees Fahrenheit here in Carroll County, New Hampshire. Side note, I love hearing you guys mention towns and places I've been to slash drive-thru

going to work every day, like Meredith, New Hampshire and the Kangamangas Highway, of which I have a story of that highway I'll share as well at some point. I love a local New Hampshire story, and I love Carroll County, too. It's beautiful over there. Anyway, I was hiking Red Hill Trail in Moulton Borough, New Hampshire by myself to take some photos with my old camera before I upgraded to a new one. Usually I take the trail that goes straight to the fire watch tower at the top, but this time I decided to take a different route. This one leads to an abandoned hunter's cabin, as well as some rock foundations of an old storage building and such. I'd seen the signs for before, and now I needed to know if it was just a husk or what. I took my time on the trail, collecting photos of mushrooms,

foliage and the sun peeking through the gnarled branches above. It's important to note that there was a slight breeze and very little forest sounds. Things like squirrels and chirping birds were deathly silent today. Also, the forest itself was pretty bare, given the nor'easters we got hit with the past few weeks, preventing a lot of vegetation from growing. So any noise from me or anything slash anyone else would be easily heard and located, considering I could see through all the forest with the lack of vegetation. I can second this, even though I'm not in New Hampshire. I'm in Vermont and we had no foliage and it has been freezing up until pretty much today. I crested a small hill that still had some snow compacted on the walking path and saw the cabin, standing tall and seemingly in

great shape. I took out my DSLR and started recording a video. I approached carefully, listening and observing everything around me, taking in the serenity and the atmosphere before entering. I was surprised to see that the door was opened and that the inside was fully accessible. I was just doing my thing. I was just doing my thing. making a little V-log clip and talking quietly to myself when suddenly I heard what sound... Hold on a minute. Did you say V-Log? Yeah. That's really sweet of you.

Why? Because it's vlog. I can't wait for me. We're also keeping that in. For context, when I couldn't read Sob, it was in all capital letters. And why is V-L-L-G spelled capital V-C capital L-O-G? vlog it's just like part of our current day vocabulary or vocabes they would say is that what they say because I don't know what anyone says anymore I can't keep out okay so they're vlogging they're vlogging

they're vlogging they're vlogging they're vlogging they're vlogging and then when I suddenly heard what sounded like someone speedwalking down the trail right past the cabin. I froze and my hand immediately clasped the gun on my waist. I'm a daily carry kind of guy because while New Hampshire has a lot of animals and weirdos, the footsteps were heavy, deliberate, and impatient. They seemed to scrape by only feet from the outside of the door. And by the sound, I could imagine them making a right curve around the corner of the building as if to flank around, but the sounds of their steps stopped at the corner of the cabin. I held my breath waiting for the door to open or for someone to speak, but nothing happened. Finally, I said, hello? But no one answered and everything was quiet except for a

bird chirping outside, which was odd because like I said, it had been very quiet the whole hike. An hour at this point, and now this one bird was right outside the cabin going nuts. I opened the door and looked around. There was no one there. I immediately looked to the right because that's the direction the footsteps were going. And because the forest hadn't grown in and with the excellent light from above, I could see everything in that direction. The trail curve left and right winding up the side of the mountain and I could see absolutely no one. I should be able to see them plain as day. I called out again, but nothing. So I looked around the building, but I was alone. And the bird would not stop screeching. It was on the ground on the walking path, shouting at me and hopping.

When I first arrived at the parking lot that morning, there was only me and one other white truck. I never saw the hiker, and they could have taken one of five different trails, breaking off at any point. This was absolutely the less popular trail as far as I knew. So it's possible that the other hiker here with me at 11 a.m. on a Monday morning in April, could have spedwalk down the snowy slope past the cabin and disappeared from view in all of five seconds or so. Or there's a spirit of some sort doing laps to mess with anyone who explores. the inside. I'd like to believe the latter because if it were a person, why didn't they stop to check out the cabin, right? It's too cool not to. I'll attach a link to the video I recorded

of the event and you can judge for yourself. I have so many other creepy stories I'm going to write in when I find the time, but for now, be aware and stay safe during all of your travels, Chris. I would also like to believe it is a cabin spirit. Yeah, it's weird to hear something so vividly walking around and then to look and see absolutely nothing. And also with the bird signaling and indicating that there's some sort of disturbance, that's also a big indicator, I think, that something's something happened. Yeah. And I also appreciate the way that he painted the scene because, especially anyone from New England,

like you legit can see so far and sound travel so clearly when it's like that before the vegetation. fills in and stuff. Do you really not have anything up there? We do now. This was in April. No, I'm talking about you because you're like this was the first warm day and things are starting to. No, I was saying this is the first warm day. But when this was back in April, because he said this was April 14 or something, back then we didn't have anything at that time either. Yeah. Now everything finally we had like our green up where everything became bigger. I mean, things are still popping out now, but it's probably only been like this for like a week and a half? I think everything exploded here when we got like when we were in San Diego for that week or when I was there for like that.

It did not explode here during that time. It definitely did down here. But cool. Well, we will attach a little clip of the video when we post this on social. So maybe we can all judge for ourselves. Cool. Okay. My next story is titled, You Asked for Family Lore.

You got it. Yes. Hello, I was listening to your most recent Trail Tales episode, episode 69, sexy, by the way, when I heard you ask specifically for family lore stories. This is a story I had been considering writing in for some time and then you straight up asked for it. So here we go. I come from a long line of Catholic, Italian immigrants.

Along with these ancestors came a ton of superstition. To this day, I throw salt over my left shoulder anytime I'm cooking and pinch it out. of the bowl. It's something my grandmother used to do, and I'm sure as hell not going to stop that now. My mother has four siblings, so five children total, and she is the youngest by a lot, like 10 years between her and my uncle, who was the fourth born child. When my mom was very young, between four and seven years old, she was the flower girl in her older siblings' weddings. The middle child of my mother's siblings, let's call her my aunt Kathleen, was engaged to a man who was fighting in Vietnam. My aunt's engagement announcement was printed in the papers on Friday the 13th,

and my grandma just about had a cow. My mom recalls my grandma yelling at my aunt saying, this is bad luck. How could you let this happen? During the argument, the mirror in the dining room fell off of the wall and shattered. My grandma was devastated, but my aunt brushed it off. The wedding planning was filled with disagreements between my aunt and my grandma. They fought often, so much that my aunt wrote my grandma a letter after her wedding shower that my mom read to me during my wedding planning, and I'll touch on that later. The week before her wedding, my aunt Kathleen had a dream. It was her wedding day and she was standing naked in the back of the chapel. Everyone shuffled in without acknowledging her, and then she woke up. When her fiancee flew into the airport from

Vietnam, my aunt went to pick him up. On her way to the airport, she got into a fatal car accident and died. The funeral arrangements were made quickly. Her fiancé was there, and since the chapel was booked, they used it for her service. When the service started, her casket was in the back of the chapel. Someone ran out of time and didn't move it, just like what she had dreamt the week prior. My Aunt Kathleen was only 23 years old, and losing her was devastating. After the service, my mom rode with my Aunt Kathleen's fiancé from the chapel to my grandparents' house for refreshments. While they were driving, the song, Ain't No Sunshine when she's gone, started playing. My mom vividly remembers him silently crying while driving.

He stopped at the house long enough for my mom and whoever else was driving with them to exit the car, and then he drove away. My mom never saw him again. To this day, we, as a family, don't listen to this song. Fast forward to my wedding. I spent my whole life noticing the number 23. My birthday falls on the 23rd of February, and it felt like the number followed me my entire life. I had always heard the story of my aunt, and I had always felt a connection to her.

I turned 23 during my own engagement and was petrified that I might die. The planning was difficult, and my mom and I didn't always see eye to eye. So after my wedding shower, my mom gave me the letter that my aunt Kathleen had written to my grandmother, the one I alluded to before. I was shocked by what I was reading. It was as if I had written it myself to my own mother. And when I finished reading it, I looked up to my mom with tears in my eyes. But I had no words.

My mom then told me that she was sure a part of my aunt lives on in me. That since I was born, I've always reminded her of my aunt. I'm also the middle child, and there are so many other traits that I have that none of my other sisters have that are so like my aunt. And that's the family lore. I will carry my aunt's legacy of kindness and gentleness, something she will always be remembered for. It's an odd thing to feel so connected to a family member who I've never met, especially after spending a majority of my life wondering what the connection was only for my mother to confirm it. So here's your sign to enjoy the view, but always look into your family's superstitious past because there might be a piece of a dead family member living through you. All of the best, Julia.

Yeah. Wow, that was really, it was really interesting how that all tied together and just your connection with your aunt. I know. And it's so straight. I mean, I have never witnessed it, but I've heard stories of people who, you know, people in older generations kind of looking at either their children or their grandchildren and seeing similarities of people who have passed on in the family that they either never, you know, those children. children never met or couldn't have imprinted upon, you know, like certain mannerisms or the way they speak or just different connections to different family members that are no longer alive, that you can't, I mean, it may not be like, you know, this is a reincarnation of this other person. But it's interesting to see the connections that family members hold throughout the generations. And especially when there's deeper connections that draw you together, you can't help but think if there's something more to that. I recently had an experience with kind of family

lore, I guess. I guess with my family as a history, my mom's side of the family are immigrants from Italy and my dad's side of the family are immigrants from Sweden on my Nana's side and Armenia, Jordan, area on my dad's side. But I signed up for ancestry years ago. I mean, years ago I did my DNA test just to see what comes up. And on the ancestry profile, it shows like all of my second, third, fourth cousins. On my mom's side, there's her dad, like, had children and another family. It's just like it's always been kind of confusing. And so I have a ton of matches, but I don't really understand them. So I've kind of like let it sit there for a while. And I got a message on Facebook last week, I guess.

Yeah, it was last week. And it was a woman who I think is about my age and she was reaching out on behalf of her mom because her mom is my dad's cousin. And she found out that the person who she thought was her father, her whole life was not her father through a DNA test. And her father was actually my Nana's brother, which was. would be my dad's moms. This is where it gets confusing. I feel like when you explain this to me before, I felt I understood. So it's my dad's mom. It's her brother. Okay, so you're, hmm. I don't really know what that makes him for me. I mean, we're related. I just don't know the word for it. But so my Nana, my Nana's brother. Right. It's my Nana's brother is this woman's father who she had

thought her entire life was this other man and her mom had died when she was a child so she didn't know anything about her father outside of whoever this person is. I don't know the whole background story. But she reached out because they had been doing a deep dive on ancestry and doing and looking up all of the family history up here in New England if they're not in this region. And they were searching for him and they could not find pictures anywhere of this person. And they reached, she reached out to me being like, do you have any photos of him? My mom just wants to know what her father looked like. She's like, I know you probably have not met him, but I'm wondering if your dad might have a photo of him. Because it was your dad's uncle. Uncle. Yeah. It was my dad's uncle.

So it was funny because when I got the message, I was actually, I got the message in your driveway when I was leaving your house. I was wondering why you were just sitting in your driveway for a while. Like I didn't know. I was like, all right, see ya, you know, whatever. And then just went about my day. And then I feel like I looked out the window again, like maybe 10 minutes later and you were still there. And I was like, she would say if she needs me or something. Like, I don't know. I thought maybe you were on the phone or something before you pulled out. I was kind of. Yeah. As soon as I got in my car, I saw a message from this woman. And I was like, you know, I'm actually driving to my dad's house right now. I'll go over in Alaska. And I got there and I talked to him and he's like, you know, I never met him. He was in the military. He was older than

my mom. Like I never met him, but I've heard of him. I know he exists or existed. And we were like, well, we'll get food and we'll come back. And I was like, all right. And we went through a couple family albums and I didn't see anything. And then we came back and I went into his office and he has a bunch of pictures just all over his desk of family members, a lot of whom have passed on. And on his desk, he has a small, tiny little black and white photo. And I was like, who is this? I don't recognize it at him at all. And I turn over the photograph and it says the name of this woman's father that she's been looking for a photo for, and for context, she had been looking for a photo of him for over five years. Wow. And it was just sitting on your dad's desk. It just happened to be sitting there.

And the funny thing is I don't know how long it had been sitting there before because I have been in that office many times that I've never seen that photo. That's so interesting. Yeah. So I don't know. Something happened with the universe that day. And I found the photo. I texted them a photo of it, but I also mailed it because my dad was like, I've never met him. I don't have any relation.

But it was also cool because I hadn't seen my nana's handwriting in a really long time. And it said like my brother Arthur on the back of it and his age. Wow. And I hadn't seen her handwriting in a really long time. So it was cool to read that too. That is so cool. Just like putting the pieces together for someone or giving them that last piece that they've needed for a really long time. Yeah.

It's so cool. Yeah. And it was fun to dive into my own history of something that I didn't really know much about. And they brought, they had been doing so much research into the side of my family that they brought up information that I didn't know. Like I'm a twin and I have some twins in my family that I didn't know that had been separated at birth and were reunited way later in life and they were their identical twins and they were like in the media because it was like this big thing and I had seen their photos before but I didn't really know who they were but I think that they were and I need to look into this more but I think that they were

I think I learned about them in one of my psychology classes. So what? Yeah so I have to look into them more because I've seen their photos before. I'm like where have I seen it and the more I think about it is I'm pretty sure in one of my psychology classes when we were a learning. about just the psychology of twins and how they grew up to they grew up to like have the same job did a lot of the same things in life but they were always they never knew each other they had the same haircut you know like it was just like all these really strange like synchronicities and anyway so I found that out too and it and it was yeah please follow up with that because that's really interesting yeah a lot of interesting I guess that's my family lore yeah I don't know

what mine is, but I'll get back to you. Perfect. Okay. Is it your turn or my turn? I got lost. It's my turn. Even though I just told the story, it's my turn to read. Okay. Okay. My, I guess this is my last one before. The bonus ones. My story is titled Stocked by a Mountain Lion in Utah. Hi, ladies. My name is Alex and I love your podcast. Currently trying to visit all of the U.S. National Parks and I love listening to your podcast as I travel to each one. Back in 2022, my mom and I traveled out to St. George, Utah for me to run in the St. Georgia Marathon, ran the race on a Saturday and unfortunately ended up with a mild injury that left me limping afterwards. The injury was a

bummer because my mom and I had plans to visit each national park in Utah the following week, which we still did. While I was hurt and sore the day after the race, we decided to go on a small hike at a state park near our Airbnb just to get out and explore. The trail I chose was only about two miles and it was an out and back trail. It was right after dinner time when we set out for the trail, so the sun was starting to set, but we knew we had plenty of time to hike before it was dark. We were taking our time on the trail, I'm still limping, and admiring the beautiful red sand and stone around us when we both noticed there seemed to be a bird following us. It should be noted that this trail has tall mountains on either side of us, so we thought that the bird was just

hanging out on a mountainside and following us while we hiked. The hike continues, as does the bird chirping. and we finally make our way towards the turn around point of the trail. At this point, the mountains on either side of us meet, and we are down in the valley surrounded by a few trees and desert shrubbery, the only way out being the way we came from. As we are resting, drinking water, and I'm trying to ignore the pain in my leg, we notice the chirping noise is getting closer,

but now the sound is changing into more of a growl than a chirp. Before we know it, we hear something running down the mountain and quickly moving through the shrubbery towards us, And at this point, I realize it's a mountain lion that has likely been stalking us this entire time. Instincts kick in and my mom and I begin to run. I'm still limping so I can't move as fast as I normally do and my mom is flying ahead of me. Out of quick thinking, I grab my metal water bottle out of the side pocket of my daypack and bang it against the side of the mountain in hopes that the loud and obnoxious sound would scare away the large cat chasing us.

Surprisingly, this did work. After limping my way through the sand, I finally caught up to my mom and we caught our breath and finally realized what had just happened. After criticizing my mom for leaving her injured daughter and laughing about me banging my water bottle against the mountain, we make our way back to the car, of course checking behind us every three seconds. Luckily, we make it back and feel a huge sigh of relief that we survived. On the way back, I did my research and we both discovered that mountain lions do in fact make a chirping noise quite similar to a bird, and we were most likely being followed the entire time. We also find out that the number one thing not to do when being chased by a mountain lion,

or really any predator, is runaway. But sometimes you never know what your body is going to do when fight or flight kicks in. The moral of the story is to avoid secluded hikes in the desert at sunset, don't run away from mountain lions, and don't underestimate the power of a reusable metal water bottle. I have a question and a comment. My question is, I know exactly the vocalization that she's describing because it does sound exactly like a bird chirping. But I guess my question is when I feel like I'm not sure why it would vocalize like that if it was actively stalking and trying to be quiet.

Yeah, like usually they come. Usually they're silent and you don't see or hear them until it's too late. Right. So like the vocalization to me, and I don't know, I guess the question lies in when do they typically emit that vocalization? Like I felt like it was more of like they're calling out to their cubs or something like that or communicating in some way versus why would you want to announce your presence. But maybe then they got too close. Yeah, or something. I'm not sure.

So that's kind of like my question. And my comment is I can totally see how that water bottle sound would startle the shit. out of anything because any time that happens around me, it always scares me so badly. Like if somebody drops that metal water. It's so jarring. So that's a good move. Good instinct. Also, your mom left you in the dust. She was going to be fine. With an injury. She's like, yep. She's gone. She's gone. She's too bald. Oh, God. Well, if someone's got to go down, it's got to be the person who's injured, right? Yeah. Survival. The survival of the fittest, and if you get injured in a marathon, that's not your mom's fault.

You're right. She's just out there to survive. She did her duty. She birthed you. She's saw on her own now. Okay. My last story is titled Dead Dad Signs in Starved Rock State Park. I will get to it right away because this is kind of long.

But I love you guys and travel to parks all the time, so I always pick and choose what to listen to so I can time my travels with your stories, which is sometimes amazing. because I learned new things, but also terrifying, like listening to The Devils in the Details, episode while walking the trail where the murders happened. Oops, didn't mean to be that immersive. That is quite an immersive experience. Yeah. My dad passed away in a tragic work accident five years ago,

and some days it feels like it was just yesterday with the weight of grief dragging me into the darkness. Danielle speaking about her dad sending her signs, as in a dead opossum, sparked a memory in me, that I just felt the need to finally share. My dad raised me mostly on his own, which couldn't have been easy for a single man in the 80s and 90s who had to deal with so much pink and Barbies and horses.

He was my hero, my rock, and my sounding board. He always encouraged me with my love of travel and being outside. So much so that in my 20s, I packed up my life in my Jeep and went to work at the old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone, which turned into 10 years of seasonal work exploring some of the most amazing places our country has to offer. We hiked all the time when I was growing up, a notable place to be starved rock state park in

Illinois. The park that had an intense backstory and is probably haunted by the ghosts of indigenous people, as well as a horrific and needless murder of three women on one of my favorite hiking trails that you guys covered. Before every adventure day, we would stop and get McDonald's coffee for him and a hot cocoa for me. He also always squirled away those. blue-wrapped rice-chrispy treats as a summit treat, which I had carried into adulthood before

advancing to summit beers. Those little rice-chrispy treats are so good. I remember them being everywhere. I felt like I had a large amount of those growing up, and I can't tell you the last time I had one. They were a staple of our childhood. Or even saw one, really, at the store. Yeah. You know, when's the last time you saw those little individual square? They were the perfect size, just a little sweet treat. I don't know. That's a good question. Bring him back. Bring him back. The year after he passed away, I took a seven-month road trip across the country to see the sites we loved, sites he wanted to see, and to spread his ashes at our favorite waterfall and mountain range. Starved Rock was the first stop. I felt depressed and despondent, thinking I had made a huge mistake

quitting my job and leaving everything behind. While sitting on a bench mid-trail, petting my new puppy, an older man came and sat down next to me. At first, I was super annoyed. Could he not tell I am going through something? Why did he have to sit at this bench? There is another one just across the way. He huffed an apology and said in the sweetest Midwest tone, Thanks for sharing your bench with me.

I couldn't be mad and turned to speak with him and noticed his McDonald's coffee cup. I laughed and said, Man, I wish I was prepared as you. I could go for a hot coffee with this chill. He responded, oh, no coffee for me. It's hot cocoa, which I thought nothing of at the moment. We chatted for about 10 minutes while he caught his breath.

Nothing notable. Before he mentioned, he wasn't even supposed to come this way. I got turned around and my wife is probably about to send a search party. We checked the map and got him going in the right direction. As we parted ways, he reached into his pocket almost as an afterthought and said, Hey, wait, I think you should take this for your hike. He handed me a blue-wrapped rice-chrispy treat and said, good luck on your journey, and I know it will make your people proud.

It was like a punch to the gut. I had not shared why I was there with him or even mentioned my dad. I took the Rice Krispy treat with shaky hands, barely squeaked out a thank you before turning and crying the rest of the hike to the top of the trail. My dad was there, reminding me of my love for life, adventure, and turning strangers into friends. I truly believe he sent that sweet, lost, hot cocoa drinking man to remind me I was making the right decisions. I miss him every day and whenever I see a red-tailed hawk on a trail, I know it is him checking it on me and saying hello. Me and my dog have now been to 43 states and made a point to go to all the national parks and state parks that we can.

She has been to 12 national parks, pause on the pavement, of course, and too many state parks to count, but over 40 for sure. I was able to come to a live show at the Stanley a year or so ago, which was amazing. I sat next to the lady with the little dog in the front row. Do you remember she had a little white dog? My dog is not nearly as well behaved as to sit through a show. I'm going to make it on one of your trip someday and we'll annoy you with thousands of photos of her if provoked. Thank you ladies for your stories, using your voice to protect our parks, and for being open and sharing your grief, Danielle. you for letting me share mine, Natasha. I love that story. And I know, I feel like we repeat this all

the time, but there's no such thing as coincidences. And to have this experience through another person is really special. This story has it all. And there's no, to me, there is no, like, I understand there are explanations for almost everything. But how can you, when has anyone ever offered you a rice crispy treat that you just bumped into them. And they're like, oh, yeah, you should have this. And they're drinking like the. And your family's proud of you. And your family's proud. Like, what are the, it's just. I mean, it's really kind. And I would accept that under any circumstance. But just when you tie it together with why you're there, the tie that you have with that personally, it just, that doesn't happen for no reason. No. God, that was a good one. Natasha, that is a sign if I've ever heard one.

I'm really happy that happened for you. Almost got me there a little bit. I reeled it in. Okay, is that it? Yeah, I think that's a great story to end on. But if you do want to hear two more stories, you can join us on Patreon or Apple subscriptions. I have one.

Mine is titled, The One Time the Puget Sound Almost Swallowed Mehole. And mine is titled Almost a Mountain Lion snack. Oh, another mountain lion story. Guess so. All right. Well, we'll see you all there. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you back. Bye, everyone. Bye.

Thank you for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale 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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