National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 74

Episode Date: July 31, 2025

Today’s stories include getting schmacked, stinky ghosts, victorian asylums, salty situations and rescues from beyond the grave. 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!Soul:  For 30% off your order, head to GetSoul.com and use code NPAD.ZocDoc: Use our link to download the ZocDoc app for free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hello, everyone. And welcome back to National Park After Dark Trail Tales Edition. Hello, hello. This one is so fun. Sorry, I just like jumped right in. This one's so fun because there are so many stories that are kind of like callbacks to either episodes or things we've recently talked about. So it feels like super relevant. But anyway, so this is a good batch. This is a good one. So if this is your first episode you're ever tuning into, you won't understand any

of the context to that. But welcome anyway. Welcome anyway. And that just means you have homework to do and go back into our catalog and listen. Yeah. Cool. Do you want me to go first? I do. Cool. My first story is titled Stuck with Ghosts Inside a Victorian era asylum. What did I tell you? A Victorian-era asylum, I'm already scared. And it's haunted. No. Okay, let's get into it. Good day, Danielle and Cassie.

I've been listening to the podcast since the very beginning, and after listening to your most recent ghost tour episode, I wanted to write in. Trigger warning, I will be talking about eating disorders, abuse, spiritual encounters, human remains disposals, and historical treatment of people with mental health issues and disabilities. I'm going to try to condense this story as much as possible,

so thank you for bearing with it. me. I have used my real name and the real place name, so feel free to use them. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always seen and felt spiritual presences. I have so many stories I could share, like the spirits of the mother and child who live on my childhood property. Or in 2022, when I was scared out of my hostel in Seattle by an unsettling, nasty spirit of a man from the 1920s. I can share that story another time if you like. It was a full haunting. Danielle, you'd love it. Cassie, you'd hate it. True. But I'm going to share with you a different story. I believe this story happened when I was about 19 years old and studying

at my hometown university for musical theater. I was a very different person to the person who I am today, and I struggled deeply with eating disorders, undiagnosed ADHD, and autism, and was also being badly bullied by my peers and teachers at the university. Our year level was putting on an opera set in a lunatic asylum in the Victorian era. The area I grew up in is rich in culture of the mining boom of the Australian Victorian era and conveniently for the director of our opera, we had access to a genuine Victorian era lunatic asylum located only one hour away from our university. Eridale Lunatic Asylum. If you know anything about acting students, they love to be dramatically artsy.

So when it was suggested that we take a road trip to take promotional photos, most people in the cast jumped at the chance. My witchy ass, however, knew it wasn't going to be as fun as everyone thought it was going to be. Our group ended up going on a private tour so we could take photos and learn more about the history of the place. I immediately started hearing whispers of things that weren't there. Once I began hearing voices, I refused to partake in the photos that were supposed to be taken, as I didn't want to disrespect the unrested residence of the asylum. I tried my best to ignore the voices as we continued the tour until we got to a large building

that was said to be the nurse's quarters in the 1980s and the 1990s. A brief bit of history, Aradale Lunatic Asylum was used up until 1996 when Australia finally passed the Deinstitutionalization Act, allowing people with disabilities to be allowed to live freely from psychiatric institutions. There are people alive today who lived in Aradal Asylum and who still live in the nearby town. Something within me shifted and I immediately felt dizzy and nauseous. Next thing I knew, I was running into the bushes and vomiting my guts out. I was really annoyed at myself that I could potentially be giving more ammunition to the bullies in my course, so I had some water and kept on. The guide took us through the nurse's quarters and my dizziness and nausea only increased.

The guide, who was also a student at our university, stopped us dramatically in the center of the corridor to tell us what the quarters were built on. Prior to the 1980s, the grounds where the building stood was a burn pit. A fucking burn pit. We were standing on a site where hundreds, if not thousands, of people's remains or desecrated. No wonder the whole room sounded angry. The next section we went into was the operating suite and oh boy, someone did not want us in there. Up until this point, a lot of my fellow cast members thought I was being chicken, but this room was different. Multiple people immediately

mentioned how the back of the room was significantly colder than the rest of the room and the adjoining hallways. One girl, I'll call her Addy, asked me to come outside with her as she was feeling faint. Addy said she had felt as though someone was pushing on her shoulders and chest like a bear hug and wanted to go for a walk. When we rounded a corner of the building, I saw a figure. He was inhumanly skinny, like the photos from World War II concentration camps, and was wearing a loose white nightgown. I ignored the man. I can't remember if Addie said anything about the man, but I do remember her saying she felt like we were being watched. We then rejoined our group and I saw many more spirits, including a little boy playing in the children's ward,

two women and a Chinese man. I also believe I may have brought back a spirit with me. I also believe I may have brought back a spirit with me as I had a series of strange occurrences happened for two months after the trip, but I feel like the story has gone on for long enough. While Aradale is not a national park, it is a national heritage site. I don't know if it's too much of a stretch, Danielle, but I'm sure you'd be very interested in the history of the Victorian Gold Rush in the 1850s. I ended up working in a Victorian Interactive Museum after this. I will attach a photo of my costume, so Danielle gets her Victorian dress fix. To end this on a more positive note, MPAD has literally changed my life. You two help me get into hiking, which in turn helped me to leave

an abusive relationship during COVID lockdowns in 2020. You ladies also help me leave a job I hated to become a qualified outdoor educational guide, and I am also back at university studying to become an environmental biology and science teacher. I'm currently saving to one day come on one of your trips, but if you ever find yourself in Australia, who would be more than happy to be your local guide for hiking, rock climbing or ecology. Thank you for being you, Aaron. Aaron, you got everything going on. You got the Victorian thing. You got the wilderness and outdoor thing. Well-rounded. And you can see ghosts. You see the ghosts. You hear the ghosts. Man. And just the way you told the story, it feels like you're very accustomed to seeing these things. You're like, yeah, I saw someone, but I didn't mention it.

Yeah. And also not just someone once you saw, you're like every room. There was a different apparition or feeling or whatever. Like, I'm lucky if I even get one. Yeah, I've never seen anything. Me neither. I've had, like, experiences, but I've never seen. That's false. That is false. You have seen. Yeah, I have. But not in this, like, context. I haven't gone to a notably haunted location and seen something. Apparitions, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it reminded me a lot. And I think obviously it's because she's writing from Australia, but the Sydney Harbor episode I did. about the quarantine station. It reminded me a lot of that episode. Yeah, cool. Thank you. Well, thank you. Yeah, thank you, Aaron, for writing in and stoked to hear that we inspired a lot of

your new, your new adventures. And the costume is fabulous. And I can't wait to post a photo of it, because I had a real missed opportunity not being in theater and being able to do that. And tell your classmates if they're still bullying you to cut it out or else. Yeah. People are. So bullying in 2025? Yeah. We'll bully. I'll bully a bully.

Yeah. Happily. Give me their names. Actually, yeah, just a first name and somehow Cassie will be able to find them. It's true. And their IP addresses somehow. Yep. Try me.

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Schmacked. That's right. Oh, no. Cassie and Danielle. I'm Katie. I'm 24 and I live in Ohio. In the times where I really wish I wasn't in Ohio, I listened to your podcast to escape, which is a lot. Thank you for taking me away from here. A few years ago, I scored a summer internship in Denver, Colorado, and I tell you, I had a blast. I visited national parks almost every weekend and unlocked my love for adventure. At the end of the summer, I had my hometown friends visit me for a weekend. I was very excited to let them in on the experience, so I planned to take them to Radium Hot Springs. After a two-hour drive,

one of my lactose intolerant friends whom had ice cream the day before started us off strong with a bathroom emergency. I love lactose intolerant people because they're all like, it's fine. It's like, it's worth it. Every single person's like, what, it's either cheese or ice cream that they're willing to just put their lives on the line for. Yeah. And we all know someone who's lactose intolerant. You either are the person or you know the person. And every time there's an opportunity. There's always a moment where they're like, hmm, what am I doing later? I'm free. I'm in close proximity to a restroom. It's like, am I busy later? Can I eat this? And they never have the pills because aren't there pills you can take like preemptively?

I think so. I'm not lactose intolerance. I'm not super familiar. Yeah, we know the lactose intolerant people. We are not them. But I'm pretty sure there are pills and tablets you can take like if you plan to go out for ice cream or have a pizza later or something that helps lessen the severity. I don't know much about it, but this person did not have those. This is not a super populated spot, so there were no toilets available at the trailhead. One friend was searching for anything that resembled toilet paper in the car. Two of us were standing guard to hide her from children in the parking lot, and the other was holding her up while she shot into a plastic bag in a birthing style position. God. Well, those are true friends.

I've never had a friend do that for me. That's another layer of friends. That's another layer of friendship that truly is. Oh, okay. They go on to say, this is not the main point of the story. This just felt like an omen for how our afternoon would go. You're setting the scene. We're leaving that behind. We're moving on.

The hot spring was positioned right on the Colorado River, so it was possible to have one foot in the hot spring and the other in the cold river. Looming above it, there was a huge cliff that a few kids were jumping off of. We watched them smack into the water over and over, and every time I had the thought, hell no, I am not going to do that. And these Colorado kids are crazy. That is, until one of my friends spoke up and said, guys, I think I'm going to do it. Which we knew meant that if one of us was going to do it, we all had to do it. If your friend jumped off of a cliff, would you? The answer is immediately yes. Friend number one climbs up to the top of the cliff

and sends it. She crawled out of the water in decent condition, but she later confessed that the Water shot up her crotch leading to the quick decision to pull her tampon out underwater and after stored it in her empty sandwich bag. Friend number two asks a 12-year-old boy if she can borrow his life jacket so she straps on a ridiculously small life jacket and also sends it. She crawls out of the water screaming, my vagina after suffering the same fate. Friend number three sends it. She bruised her tailbone from the smack and had to sit on a cushion for weeks. Friend number four couldn't get in the water due to fresh ink, so she was saved by the tattoo gods. Finally, it's my turn.

I had a bad gut feeling and was hesitant at the top, so the kids at the bottom started to chant, Do it, do it, do it. The worst. Oh, my God. The pressure. After all we had just put them through, I didn't want to let them down, so I sent it. And this wasn't just a smack. It was a schmack.

As an Ohio girl, I did not know that you were supposed to hit the wall. water pencil style to break the impact. I just flung my limp body into the air and landed in a seated position. And it felt like smacking into concrete. The air was knocked out of my lungs and I crawled out gasping with my bathing suit twisted and my boobs out. I feel so bad for those kids. Well, depending on how old they are, you probably gave them a show. My lower back had gone into full spasm from the impact. My friend held me in the hot spring in the second birthing. Sorry. The second birthing position of the day, while the others ran around asking if anyone was a doctor. They actually found someone, and she kept telling me to move my toes so that we would know if there was any

paralysis. Any small movement sent my back into spasm, so we knew I would be unable to make the hike back. The game plan was to have three of my friends hike back to the car while one stayed with me so that we could wave down a rafter to potentially help us out. It worked, and we got into the raft with two dads, their children, and their dogs. These kind strangers handed me a beer, while my friend cradled me in the third birthing position of the day. They also happened to be from Cincinnati, which is where I was going to school at the time. There was no cell service where we were at. So the others were told to just drive downstream and look out for a dirt lot where they could wait for us.

We waited worrying that they went too far or that we were going to be stranded there, but they eventually found us and we all got into the car exhausted. Later, we Googled the cliff and learned that it is referred to as the big cahuna due to it, due to it being approximately 50 feet above water level, the equivalent to a five-story building. What are you? I could not be peer pressured into that. No. You have some.

You are brave. You are brave. To be like, all doing it, but you got balls. You got balls. Yeah. Oh, my God. No. I remember.

So in Keene, where I went to school, Keene State in New Hampshire, there was a nearby Corey that had cliff jumping. And I was really close to a couple of guys that lived on our floor. They were actually my neighbors. And they were like always there in the summer or in the, when the weather was appropriate or they were sending it off of snow and stuff for skiing and things in the winter. So I went one time and one time only. And there was three like levels. And I don't know how big the highest one was. But it certainly looked way too high. that I would ever. And I have a thing with her heights anyways, so I was like absolutely not. I did the lowest one. And from up top, looking down, it looked like I was, I was in space. But then when I was

in the water, I felt like I could just reach up and touch the top of it, you know? Like, oh, that wasn't a far jump. Never, never. Have you cliff jumped? Yeah. Do you like it? No. Okay. I did. So there's a little river. I haven't even thought of this memory in a long time, but there's a river in the town that I grew up and it's kind of like a local secret-ish, except all the locals know about it. But if you're coming from out of town, you would have no idea where it was. And we would go after school because it was within walking distance of our school. So especially during the summertime, as schools like letting out before, right before we would walk there after school. And I went there with a group of friends and everyone was jumping off the cliff that was there.

It was not 50 feet. I mean, I would guess that this was maybe 15, 20 feet. Like, it was definitely a jump. And it was into a river that was had a current, like pretty close after. So you had to jump in this specific spot or you would get dragged down the river. And I was pretty nervous because I just, I am a person that I am excited to try things and do things. But I like to watch someone else do it first. Like, I'm not the person who's like, yeah, let's go.

And I jump. I need to watch other people do it first and see what the, see what the. outcomes are. And so I was watching all my friends do it. And then one of my friends was like, let's do it together. And we like held hands and jumped in. She landed in the pool part. I landed in the current part. And I got dragged down the river. I was fine. I didn't, it, I didn't go very far. But then I was across the river on the other side. And one of my friends had to help me swim back across. It's frightening. And I know that, you know, Katie's okay. And it sounds like her friends are too. But I mean, when I was in high school, there was an incident that scarred me forever. And I wasn't

there. But one of my classmates died cliff jumping. Oh, wow. In my town. There's a place called Wildcat Falls, which was very popular for cliff jumping and swimming and things like that. But it has a pretty gnarly current at certain times of the year, depending on the precipitation and things like that. And he was with a group of friends and just like, you know, hundreds of other people. have done before him and continue to do. And he just, he jumped in and another person jumped immediately after him. And it disoriented him in the water and he drowned. And I just from there on out, I mean, I just said I had gone at the quarry in college later, but that was never far from my mind. And I just, to me, it's just not worth it. I don't even really enjoy it. But I can totally understand the peer

pressure of this scenario. And like, everyone's doing it. And it kind of feels like almost like a right of passage type of thing. So I get it. And it's like a little adrenaline rush that you get with your friends. I mean, people do it all the time for fun. But then but then you get smacked and things happen. And you get smacked. Okay. So back to the story. The following week, I had a black and purple bruise covering my entire thigh. A heating pad jingly strapped in my back and pain patches on everything. Back in Ohio, I did four months of PT twice a week and the pain slowly faded. Oh no. You need to. P.T. with it too. Okay, so this is no small thing. Yeah, this is a pretty significant injury. Yes.

Months later, one of my friends was in a university class and told someone next to her about our day at Radium Springs. When she mentioned the location, the girl gasped and told her that she had a friend who jumped off the same cliff and unfortunately became paralyzed from the waist down. Wow. That's awful. Let's rethink jumping from here. We are so lucky that no one had that level of injury. I'd like to take this moment to emphasize the important. of proper form. Land feet first. Keep your body streamlined and tight with your core engaged. Cross your arms or cover your mouth and nose with your hands and avoid holding your nose as the water pressure can cause injury. I pulled this from Google. Feel free to fact check this. I didn't. So take that for what you will. As soon as I was healed, I returned to Colorado at the same internship. It was ski season and I learned to ski from scratch, eventually and carefully progressed to black diamond and then eventually broke my leg on a flat green. If you're an Ohio girl with big dreams.

You may also return home more than once on crutches and pain meds. So be careful out there. Enjoy the view, but watch your smack, Katie. If I have to think about form and proper things in like such a quick, I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. I'm not interested. If I'm like, if I don't do this right, I could become paralyzed. I don't want to do it.

Yeah. I can't relate because I feel like I do a lot of things that I could potentially become paralyzed. I mean, I ride a motorcycle. You do. I snowboard. I'm out on. Like, yeah, I don't cliff jump, though, anymore. Well, it's your turn.

We're just staring at each other. I'm not about to say anything else. All right. Well, my next story is titled, sneaky quicksalt and surreptitious stares from strangers. Hi, gorgeous gals. Megan here. She, her. Big fan on the pod and you both, but I'll keep the gushing to a minimum to keep this story shortish, a giant challenge for me.

So my story takes place in Death Valley National Park. I visited a few times in the late spring and summer, but last spring, March, 2024, I had the amazing opportunity to visit while Lake Manly was making a very rare appearance. Lake Manly is a remnant of a prehistoric lake that existed in Death Valley thousands of years ago. Nowadays, the location where the lake used to be is Badwater Basin, a giant salt flat in the lowest point in Northern America. I've been there recently, actually.

I've visited to see the flat before, and it's an absolutely gorgeous sight, bright white salt as far as the eye can see. But like I said, last March, Death Valley experienced so much rain in the spring that Lake Manley made an appearance for the first time in 20 years. I knew I had to go see this amazing phenomenon, so I left my teenage daughter with some friends, she's not much of a desert gal, and set off for a solo trip to Death Valley. The morning I went to Badwater, I arrived well before sunrise because I wanted to watch the sunrise over the basics. There were a handful of people there enjoying the view and what a view it was. I've attached pictures of the lake as well as the photos I grabbed from the internet with no water as comparison. One of the many interesting things about Lake Manly is that it's very shallow, just a few inches to a foot deep. I've attached a photo of another visitor who looks like they're standing in the middle of the lake, almost walking on water,

but it's just shallow enough that you can walk out super far. So as I'm walking around, waiting for the sun to rise and finding the best place for photos, course, I'm noticing the ground beneath me is a little strange. It's not really sand, mostly salt, but when submerged underwater, it acted like sand for the most part. That was until I walked out onto what I thought was a stable patch of salt to get a better view. All of the sudden, I sank down to my knees. Felt this coming as you were describing that. One moment I was up and the next I was stuck. I tried not to panic, figuring I could just step out of the hole I had created, but the more I tried to get out, the deeper I sunk. Submerging my

myself to my thighs. My breaths came faster as I've realized that there wasn't really anyone in my vicinity to help, although the thought of the embarrassment of asking someone to haul my ass out of a salt pit was almost worse than the thought of drowning in quicksand. Quicksalt? Question mark? As this was before your episode where you discussed how to get out of quicksand, I didn't know for sure, but I instinctively felt that I needed to better distribute my weight to get out of this mess. So I fell forward onto my hands and was able to crawl my way out. Now that I was, I was able to crawl my way out. I was safe, my embarrassment overcame my fear. And I glanced around, noting with relief that no one seemed to have witnessed my literal fall from grace. I was a little wet, sure, but this is Death Valley.

Even in March, it's plenty warm enough that my clothes dried quickly. After another hour or so of just viving and snapping picks, I decided it was time to walk back to the car. The lake was kind of a trek out into the flats from the parking lot, maybe a half a mile from where I had parked. As I made my way back to the car, I noticed a few visitors on their way out to the lake casting me weird glances. I'm an extremely socially awkward penguin who always feels weird around strangers, so I tried to convince myself I was just imagining it. But it happened more than once. Finally, when I started to think that maybe I was in the middle of a nightmare where I showed up to school naked,

a little girl who was walking by with her parents said, Oh no, mommy, did that lady fall in the lake? Since my pants were completely dry, I couldn't figure out how she could have known that. but I glanced down to be sure that my pants weren't wet, my black pants, which had been soaked not in regular water, but literally swallowed by quick salt. Unbeknownst to me, although it would have been obvious if I had thought about it, my pants had dried, but the parts that were wet were now bright white and covered in a savory salty crust. No wonder folks had been looking at me strangely. The mystery solved, I laughed and told the family what had happened and advised them to keep an eye

out on their little one in the area where I had sunk. Unfortunately for me, this was the first stop in a long planned day in the park. I was about an hour and a half away from the little RV I had rented. I had no change of clothes and the salt wasn't going anywhere, no matter how hard I tried. So I had to spend the rest of the day in the park with weird two-tone pants, although on the plus side, my lower legs were super exfoliated and soft when I finally made it back to my camper. There is skincare. Half, what is it? Glass half full. Yeah.

Yeah. So that's my story of almost drowning in an inch deep lake that's only a lake every few decades or so. In addition to the picks of Lake Vanley and Badwater Basin, I have also attached photos of my salty lower legs. Feel free to share the picks of the valley, but maybe my crusty legs can stay just between us, girls. Thanks for listening and thanks for all you do, particularly your advocacy for wild spaces given the threats they're facing under this current administration. Have a wonderful day and enjoy the view. but watch your back and your feet lest you find yourself in a salty situation. All the best, Megan.

I mean, imagine trying to, it's like if you really did get caught in that and died. It's like, she died in Death Valley's Lake. People would be like, what? What lake? What do you mean? What lake? Yeah. I did when I was in Death Valley.

They had flash flood warnings, though. Yeah. Posted signs everywhere, which is really. interesting and not a place that you would suspect that. Was it two or three years ago that there was just flash flooding everywhere, I felt like. Maybe it was this time when she's talking about being here. Oh yeah, maybe. Yeah, probably. Because I had the historic ring. Okay. My next story is titled, um, a rescue from beyond the grave. Hey, ladies, I stumbled upon the pod when I was searching for something to listen to while rocking my then nine month old daughter to sleep. I just finished episode 277 and PAD turns four. Danielle,

When I reached the episode about Ian, I bawled my eyes out. My condolences for your loss. The way you and Cassie have honored him on the pod is beautiful. Your talk of signs and all things from beyond the grave made me remember. I do have a story to share about my dad who ingrained the great outdoors into my life. Trigger warning, substance abuse, and suicide attempt. My dad was an immigrant refugee from Southeast Asia with my mom and then five-year-old brother to America. They quite literally came here with nothing and had to start their life with the help from a sponsor family from the Mormon church in Washington State. Before my parents left, my mom told me a story that my dad had gone to a fortune teller in their

refugee camp. Mind you, my mom didn't tell me the story until I was in my mid-20s. The fortune teller told my dad that my parents will have the baby girl they have always wanted, but he will pay for that with his life. The fortune teller predicted that my dad would pass away around the time I turned 16. My family is the we camp and fish outdoors, rather than the hiking, backpacking outdoors. My summer for the first 14 years of my life were filled with dispersed camping and fishing along the Snake River in eastern Washington and Idaho. When we weren't camping, we could be found fishing on Lake Washington almost every other day and weekend during the summer. We had our favorite spot in a city called Bellevue. I love Bellevue. It's so pretty over there.

The spot is beautiful, surrounded by huge lake homes and a gorgeous view of Mercer Island. This was our favorite spot because we always came out with a huge hall. and not a lot of people would be there. In the early 2000s, my dad was laid off and then his health started to decline. Our summer weekend camping trips slowly turned into one to three times during the summer and our fishing spot in Bellevue was barely accessible for my dad since he had to use a cane to walk. In 2005, my dad and I managed to do one last fishing trip together. Unfortunately, in April of 2007, he was rushed to the ED, the emergency department, and after a month of being in a coma in the ICU, we were told that we had to take him off of life support.

My older brother had begged my dad's doctor to wait until after Memorial Day weekend, but no such luck. My dad passed away May 20th, surrounded by my brother, myself, and our close family friends. We celebrated my 16th birthday, eight days later, but it was one of the worst birthdays of my life. The weeks after were blurred, we had a very traditional lousian funeral for my dad. I vividly recall after we walked his casket to where he would be cremated, a white butterfly flew over me. Fast forward to the late 2008's, early 2010s, I had struggled with substance abuse and alcohol after I had started dating a terrible guy. I hadn't properly processed my dad's passing and had zero emotional support for my family, so I had turned to substances. I also wanted to mention that depression and self-harm was something I struggled with for a very long time.

I struggled with my identity as a second-generation Asian American and having a very strict conservative immigrant parents. feelings and showing emotion was not a welcome thing in our home. I accidentally overdosed one night in 2012. I had drifted off and I don't know how long I was out. I vividly recall having a dream that I was drowning, but in a familiar lake. In my dream, I made the connection that I was drowning in Lake Washington and realized that it was the park that my dad and I had last gone fishing at together. As I was drowning, I saw my brother's boat floating towards me. At this point in my dream, I'm underwater, but can still see above me. The boat is now near me, and I see a man yelling over the side of the boat. I made the connection that this man was my dad. He threw over a life buoy towards me, and I remember grabbing it. As my head went above the water, I woke up from my dream and vomited. It's been 13 years since that moment. My dad truly saved my life from beyond the grave.

I truly believe that he was trying to let me know that it was not my time yet, and that I had a lot more to live for, and he was right. While I did drop out of college, I still found a fulfilling career, in oncology health care. I eloped with my best friend and we have an almost one-year-old daughter. I have an amazing village of friends and my true love of hiking started in 2017. Your podcast has inspired me to get outside again and I am wanting to share this with my daughter. I'm planning on taking her and my nephew to Mount Rainier National Park this summer. My dad will send me signs that he's around. Every time I see a white butterfly or a grasshopper, I acknowledge that he's

checking in on me. The other morning before taking my daughter to daycare, I asked him for a sign and told him it had to be something with nature. As I was driving out of my neighborhood, I noticed a deer on the side of the road, and my gut instinct told me to slow down and to not drive past it. And the deer slowly walked out in front of me. When I got home, I noticed a squirrel chilling in a tree glaring at me when I pulled into my carport, and I know that's him. Thank you for all that you do, the hard work you guys put into the pod. I appreciate you guys keeping me company while I put my daughter to bed every night. All the best, Jen. Jen, your dad literally threw you a lifeline. Literally. Yeah. And with the fortune teller, like predicting everything to a tea. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that moment where you're, you described your dad throwing you literally rope and to pull you out and then coming out and as soon as your head left the water, you woke up and vomited. I mean, that to me is definitely a sign that he was saving your life beyond the grave.

Mm-hmm. And then he's still with you and, you know, just wanting the best for you. So in a bad situation, it's like your dad isn't physically here anymore. But this just goes to show to me that like our loved ones really do never leave us. And sometimes they, most times they show up in small ways like a white butterfly. And it's like this subtlety that you really need to be open to and really pay attention to. But other times, it couldn't be more clear and more in your face. And you illustrated both in this story. And you illustrated both in this story. So thank you so much for sharing that. Yes. All right. My next story is titled, The Time I Went to Joshua Tree, found God, got lost, and almost died in that order. Hi there. I've only recently started listening to your show, but I immediately became obsessed. After I listened to one of your episodes, I usually info dump the entire plot line to my partner because you always pick such engaging stories.

My trail tale takes place in October 2019. I was feeling burnt out and dissatisfied for my account. counting job and was also still processing a difficult breakup from earlier in the year. Initially, I took time off on a random slow week of October for a staycation, but a co-worker of mine, hearing that I didn't have any plans for my long weekend, offered to let me use a property of hers just outside of Joshua Tree. I had never heard of Joshua Tree before and wasn't particularly interested, but several friends of mine made it clear that I would be stupid not to go. I figured going on a trip might help clear my head. Because it was last minute, I drove to Joshua Tree by

myself. This was the first time I'd ever gone on vacation completely alone. At first, it was liberating. I had plenty of time to reflect and go at my own pace. On my drive down, I impulsively decided to stop at Yosemite since I'd never been there before either. The detour added about three hours to my drive and I didn't get to the house until 2 a.m., but it was worth it. Not only was Yosemite gorgeous, but I also passed through a tiny town in the middle of the woods that had an accounting firm. It felt like a sign that I could do my job anywhere and I didn't have to feel stuck with my current one. I saw all the major sites all over Joshua Tree. Later in the day, I was hiking around the oasis of Mara and sat down on a boulder to enjoy the peaceful silence. I looked around the flowing landscape,

imagining the millions of years of history shaping these rocks and felt connected to the universe. I felt like God was in everything from pleasant and unpleasant things, including my grief and frustration. The meaning of life, for me at least, must be to try to understand God by understanding myself, other people, and the world around me. I figured if God is everywhere and there's no way to know for sure what happens in the afterlife, then heaven is a privilege of being alive. Just to clarify, I was not high, nor am I a super religious person, but after that trip, I started to believe there is a particular beauty to the national parks that can bring on spiritual musings even while completely sober. Eventually, I realized it was 4 p.m. and I should start to head back before the sunset, but the trails were not clearly marked and I got confused.

I found a sign that I thought was pointing to the parking lot, but I must have misread it because it led me to a drop off that was about 10 feet high. After deliberating, I decided to jump down. I landed in a pile of sand so I wasn't hurt, but when I realized how long my fall was, I knew that I had made a mistake. There was no way back up that rock. I tried to deny being lost despite the red flags. No one crossed. my path, nothing looked familiar, the gravel on the trail was completely undisturbed, and flocks of quail would fly out of the bushes as I passed as if they had never seen a person all day. It wasn't until I had been walking for about an hour when I hit a dead end. Even though my phone had no service, the blue dot on my maps app still showed my location. According to my phone, I was right next to the parking lot, but I had to climb I steep 100-foot

tall pile of rocks in order to get there. I have no experience with rock climbing or bouldering. had to decide quickly. Once the sunset, predators would come out and I wouldn't be able to see my path. There was no way I could retrace my steps and get to my car before it got dark, so the shortest route was up. I tried to grab and step on the most stable rocks, but I climbed in fear that one wrong move might lead to a rock slide that would surely injure me. I couldn't call for help and no one knew where I was. All the while, I wasn't sure if my phone's directions were accurate and I would get to the top of the hill only to find more wilderness. Luckily, I made it to the top and I could see the parking lot and my car in the distance.

I screamed and celebrated taking photos of the long route up. Now I had to go downhill and this side was covered in cacti. Somehow, pattern recognition kicked in overdrive and I was able to find a cacti-free path. It would be windy, indirect, and slow, but at least it was safe. When I finally reached the bottom on flat ground right by the parking lot, I saw a sign saying that the area I was just walking in was closed because the soil was contaminated with heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and cobalt. Don't worry, I didn't get poisoned.

But damn, at that point, as the sun was setting, I just wanted to rush home and take a shower. On top of my reflections about the nature of the universe, this trip was when I decided to quit my job so I could travel. The overwhelming beauty and proximity to danger made me realize there were so much more to life than being stuck behind a desk with an incompetent, demanding, and micromanaging boss. We feel that. Well, hell yeah. I'm glad I quit when I did too because I was able to visit four different major cities

I'd always wanted to see right before the shutdown at the start of the pandemic. As healing as it was to go on this trip alone, ultimately, I prefer traveling with loved ones. It's both more enjoyable and safer. Now I don't hike alone without a walkie-talkie so I can contact someone in an emergency and I always let someone know where I'm going beforehand. I locked out this time, but there are so many ways my one mistake could have gone wrong and I could have ended up as a story on your podcast. I'm happy I got the chance to keep living after rediscovering my love for life. Thanks for letting me share. I attached a few photos from the top

of the hill I climbed in case you're interested. Enjoy the view, but follow the trails. Caz. I mean, it's hard. Joshua Tree especially is so hard, especially because we were just there. Those trails are difficult to follow. Yeah, they are. And it's just, a lot of it is just rock. It's just rock in open space and sand that's just like winding around. And you can't can kind of see, like, where people's footprints and stuff are. But again, like, do you really want to trust just going on that? Like, I can understand how getting turned around so easily, especially in somewhere in Joshua Tree is to do. But I also appreciated the, like, finding, like, not even finding spirituality, but just like considering it and pondering it. Because, again, especially in

somewhere like Joshua Tree, where I think that's such a theme, so many people go there for that exact reason were find and discover an experience like that while they're there. There's something about Joshua Tree that makes that just something that so many people stumble upon or intentionally seek out. Yeah. There's a different energy in Joshua Tree that brings that out that can be found in other places as well, but just feels stronger there for some reason. Yeah, I know. Okay. Well, my last story is titled The Stinky Ghost. So I feel like we're Stinky Ghost going somewhere. I'm trying. Hi ladies, long time listener, first time writing in. Before diving into my story, I wanted to share my thanks to you both for creating my hands down favorite podcast. I frequently

make the two-hour commute between L.A. and San Diego. And so I listen to a lot of podcasts. I stumbled upon your show very early on. I think it was the second episode and have been hooked ever since. Second episode is you're a real one. I love tuning in every single week and I'm always rooting for you both through life's hardships and good times. I think I can speak for all of your long-time listeners when I say, thank you for all the incredible stories and hours of entertainment. Never stop. I had to write in today after listening to your episode on America's oldest ghost tour, but my story is not about Harper's Ferry. Rather, your recent ghost tour in Old Town, San Diego, because I have taken that exact same tour. No. No.

Having grown up on Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew, my siblings and I love. Ghost Hours. Every new city we visit together, we try and hop on one. They're not expensive. Sometimes they're even free. And to be perfectly honest, I learn more about the local history from ghost tours than many professional tours. The guides are always so passionate and knowledgeable and keep you engaged with tales from regions beyond. From killers on the cobblestone streets of Rome to the haunted Red Lake District of Skagway, Alaska, we've gone worldwide in our quest for spooky stories. Anyway, I'm from San Diego and have been on several Old Town Ghost Hours. As soon, as you described your recent guide, wearing regular clothes, deadpan delivery, lots of personal ghost sightings with no historical context, telling you to reach out to pet a ghost boy.

I realize I've been on that same exact ghost tour. It was a few years back in the depths of COVID and my sister, brother, and I were looking for something fun and local to do that was mostly outdoors. We stumbled upon this ghost tour and liked that the guide had more of a realistic take, not the scripted, dare I say, cheesy costume tour guides that are typical of ghost tours. Though those guides are also a fun time, not going to lie. Maybe it was the margaritas we had before the tour began, but we were getting a kick out of his deadpan delivery and were on the verge of a hysterical laughter throughout the entire tour.

We didn't have margaritas and I feel like we had a similar experience. The absolute kicker came when we went inside the historic. hotel, gathered around the bar, silently listening as he recounted stories of phantom orbs and ghostly lights. Out of nowhere, my brother leaned over to us and whispered, I'm about to fart. In a room that quiet and crowded, with air so deathly still, there was not much we could do in the few seconds we had besides desperately scooting as far away from him as possible to avoid anyone thinking we were the gas-perpassers. As you can imagine, in a stale, wood paneled room, the sound reverberated like a shot, and the tour guide was suddenly more excited

that I'd seen him all night. Did anyone hear that? I think the spirits are responding to us. You could tell this was going to be a tale for a future tour, to which the sarcastic dad in the group next to us said, must be a stinky ghost. I don't think we ever fully recovered from the hilarity of that moment, and my sister swear she really did pet a ghost cat that night. Anyways, thank you for bringing so much joy and knowledge to your listeners. I look forward every Monday to your stories. Cheers, Shelby. That's so funny. We have sat at that bar in that hotel. We know exactly what you were describing. That room, his delivery, how quiet it is. And yeah, my God, I could just see ourselves in it. He didn't tell us that story, though. So he didn't. He didn't make it to

our tour, but maybe, maybe others he tells it in. It has been years. It has been years. Yeah, but oh my God, I just, I'm so happy that somebody knows the, I don't even know the word for it, strife, the anguish, the hilarity, the weirdness of that experience. Yeah. And I feel like I'm shaming. I'm not shaming him. It's just was so unique. It was unique, that is for sure. It was memorable.

We'll never forget that for. Right. I'll never forget it. I wish I knew more, like, I wish I retained more knowledge about Old Town San Diego and not just that person, but. Like I couldn't even, I could barely even tell you, other than the Cosmopolitan Hotel, that was a stop on that tour, the only reason I know the name of that building is because we stayed in it separately. Yeah. Like I wouldn't have known any, I don't know any of the other buildings that we stopped at. Do you? What they were, what they used to be used for, what they're used for now.

Yeah. Why they're haunted. He's like, oh, the Whaley House, I guess. Yeah. Well, that was it for my regular. Are you done? Yeah, I'm done too. Oh.

But I do have one. I do have a bonus one. if you're on Patreon or Apple subscriptions. We both have some bonus stories for you. So the episode doesn't have to end now. If you want to head over there and hang out with us, mine is titled Emergency Landing in Antarctica. And mine is titled Kentucky Cobra's.

Oh, all right. Well, we'll see you all over there. But if not, that's okay. And in the meantime, enjoy the video. That was so sad. It's all right, I guess. It's okay if you don't want to be there. It's fine.

Really? We're not hurt at all. Not even a little bit. Doesn't upset us. I won't even think about it again. Enjoy the view. But watch your back. This is a weird episode.

A most dramatic ending. 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.

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