National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 82

Episode Date: December 4, 2025

Trail Tales 82 - Today’s stories include cemetery tales, childhood tubing trauma almost felonies and ghostly protectors. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers!For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌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!Bellesa: EVERYONE who signs up wins a FREE WhisperVibe™ OR a FREE Rose toy with any Whisper™ order! https://www.bboutique.co/vibe/nationalparkafterdark-podcastJones Road Beauty: Use code [NPAD] at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a Free Cool Gloss with your first purchase! These sell out fast so get them while they last! #JonesRoadBeauty #adHollow Socks: For a limited time Hollow Socks is having a Buy 2, Get 2 Free Sale. Head to Hollowsocks.com today to check it out. #Hollow SockspodBBC History's Toughest Heroes: Listen to History’s Toughest Heroes at BBC.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Plan your Scottish escape today at Expedia.com slash Visit Scotland. Everyone, welcome back to National Park After Dark. We're here today with another Trail Tales. Yes, we are. And it's my almost birthday. I know, so close. It's your birthday month. It is my birthday month. And I got myself a little early birthday present. And I showed you. I texted you the link, but it's so much more beautiful in person. I can't wait to see it. I got my ring. I'm so excited. It's so beautiful. I got a circa 1830s Memento Morey morning. like original Victorian morning ring and it's black and gold and it says in memory of and there's a little forget me not flower engraved on it and there's someone's hair braided in the band as the Victorians did and it's just so beautiful it sounds creepy it's like black and gold and deathy it's like

slightly creepy but in a really cool way yeah and it's beautiful and I'm wearing it but obviously the camera's not going to pick it up maybe I'll post it but it's so nice yeah yeah yeah the picture you sent me. It was really cool. It's just really unique. Yeah, it is. It definitely, like the lettering is broken up. So it's like, I-N, and then M-E-M-O, you know, like around instead of just all in one string of words. So, yeah, I love it. And I figured I would treat myself for my 35th birthday. Big year. Big year. Is it a big year? I don't know. I feel like after 25, you kind of stopped getting the fun perks because 20, you're like, yeah, I can rent a car. Before that, 21 you can drink.

18, you're an adult sort of. Buy lot of tickets. Yeah. 16, you get your license. 13, you're officially a teenager. And then I feel like they need to make some fun things when you get older, too. Like 35, you get $10,000. That would be fun. Yeah. Well, I'm not organizing any sort of party or any sort of thing for myself, but I am organizing a party for Chaska and his birthday is in January. So it'll be a dual birthday party. What are you going to do for him? I told you a formal invite was coming. I know, but I guess I'll tell you. So I'm renting out. There's a website called Sniff Spot that you can look up, you know, different places for dogs. And there's a listed on that was a facility, a training facility up in conquered. And it's a big, like, playroom training area that has a bunch of toys and play

equipment. And because it's at the end of January, outdoor stuff is kind of nixed. So at first, I was like, pool party. He loves the pool. He loves the water. And I've done that for him before, but just like with him in blue together. And then I thought about it because I wanted to invite his friends. And I feel like a pool party with five dogs would be chaos. So I decided against that. So yeah, I'm going to rent out that little spot. I'm going to bake him a homemade cake for him to share with everyone. I want everyone to bring him. Like, yeah, a little gift, but I would like them to also bring a gift out of a list I'm going to send out about a wish list for a local shelter.

Cute. And what they want. I'm going to write everyone little thank you notes and stuff for being in his life and giving him love. That's so cute. Yeah. So Amber's going to be so excited to get her invitation. There's five, five dogs are allowed at this place at a time. So I'm going to invite Ember, of course.

So it'll be Ember, Chaska, Alyssa's dog, Atticus. But. Nataya's dog beans. Cute. And it's tough because Ian's sister, Courtney, has two dogs, Bear and Boone. And Boone's a freaking psycho. And that would put it at six. So it's like, do you want to bring bear or neither of them?

And if that's true, then we're going to default to another dog. But anyway, the guest list isn't complete. I have a spare dog if you need one. I know. I was like, oh, Tucker. But I know that like he's also might just be over being around five crazy dogs. Yeah, he's low key. If you need a stand in, he's available.

But he will also be totally fine, not coming. Okay. Okay. Yeah, the guest list is incomplete, but I'll keep you updated. Anyway, that's enough about that. Let's talk about some trail tales. Yeah. Do you want to go first or do you want me to go first? I'll go first. I'm already, I'm already

fucking jabbing. So, all right, let's see. What is my first story? Okay, here we are. My first story is titled Third Man Syndrome with a Civil War ghost. Hello, ladies, my name is Z, and in 2013, I found myself in a bit of a pickle. I fell asleep behind the wheel and hit a tree at 80 miles an hour. What happened next was a broken memory of what transpired, only to be filled in from friends and family. While coming home from a job interview and a friend's birthday party, I stopped by a friend's grave. I stopped to talk to him about how much he would have liked the job in which I was applying to. He's buried on the edge of his family property off of a dirt road in the mountains. I spilled the beans, shared a tear, and headed home. On a winding road, I've been down a hundred times

before, I fell asleep and ultimately hit a tree. This tree is on a historic battlefield from the Civil War. It's part of the National Park Service. What follows is the broken part. I do not remember getting out of the car. I do remember following a civil war soldier to a house a half a mile up the road from the crash site. A civil war soldier that had no face but an authentic union uniform. A home that was a former civil war hospital. I found this out after going to thank them for helping me after I was partially recovered. Turns out, the floor is still stained with the blood of soldiers. The door I broke into the house hadn't been open since they had purchased the house in 1974. I met them at the top of the stairs with my hands up in full suit. They called their daughter, who was an ER triage nurse and 911. They ultimately saved my life. I remember being in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Two soldiers with beards looked down on me a foot away from my face.

No features, but I felt pure comfort. When I arrived at the hospital, I was immediately prepped for surgery. My parents came in and I told them that I was sorry. My mom told me two years after the accident that I asked who the Civil War soldiers were that were standing in my room. I gave her a description that she was able to draw. Our drawings matched, blank, face, and all. I woke up from surgery to a room of 19 people, friends, and family, and it was an extremely

humbling moment. I'm back to normal now, minus the scars and occasional pain. What happened to me that night can't be undone, but I think I had a lot. few people looking after me. You know about the Civil War soldiers. However, the grave I went to was my best friend who was killed in Afghanistan. His mom woke up that night and called my mom and dad. She thought something was wrong and wanted to know if they had heard from me. My mom woke up and decided to take a drive to make sure everything was okay. Turns out, a mother's intuition is spot on. My dad ended up calling her back to the house soon after she left after learning I had been in an

accident. I moved to states two years ago. Last week, I passed by that battlefield, my friend's grave, and that tree. I said my piece and made the turn headed for my mom's 70th birthday. Sometimes life gives you ghosts, a premonition, and a new lease on life in a short amount of time. I've learned to stress less and love more. Hope you both have a wonderful day with love from North Carolina, Z. Man, what a way to start this episode. It has it all. That is such a heart-wrenching story just with your friend and the car accident and then third man syndrome mother's intuition yeah just everything yeah it's heavy but it's really really interesting for sure and just the fact that you walked to a house that used to be an old hospital too yeah it's like you're being

escorted by the spirits of civil war soldiers to a place that they knew would get you medical help Or at least in their version of, well, I mean, it did. The people who lived there did get them to medical help. But yeah, crazy. Wow. I'm so glad you're okay. That's so scary. Going 80 miles an hour and falling asleep is very scary.

Yeah. We just got back from our trip to Hawaii with our group trip, and we've been a little jet lagged. And I had to drive from Boston all the way to Vermont, and it was over a three-hour drive. And I actually started falling asleep while I was driving. And I had to pull over into a rest stop the other day. And I wasn't fully falling asleep, but I felt myself like nod. And I was like, oh, no, I got a stop. So I went to, I stopped at a rest stop.

And I put the car in park. I tilted my seat back and I fell asleep within like seconds. Is this after the bookstore we went to? Yeah. Wow. I was so tired. And I just, I fell asleep for like 25 minutes. I woke up, got a snack and a drink. And I was like, okay, I'm much better now. I can't. And then I had no issues going back. But I was just so tired. Well, and driving, especially in like that road, it's just kind of monotonous. And you just, I felt like that a little bit when I would make the drive cross country in certain stretches where it's just like everything. And everything looks the same and there's not really a lot of stimulus going on. Yeah, I didn't even make it out of New Hampshire.

I was still in New Hampshire. Really? Okay. Yes. I mean, you were pretty sleepy that day. I was so sleepy. I looked in the mirror and I was like, oh, my God, these dark circles are crazy. So good, so good.

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Misophonia. Yeah. It means pure hatred of sound, which is I'm self-diagnosed, but I am very confident that I, that I have. It's been a lifelong journey for me. I've made huge, huge steps. I used to, a fun fact, I used to fail my tests in college sometimes if I was seated next to a person who was heavy breathing or making any sort of repetitive movements or sounds, I literally would just get up and leave because I couldn't physically. Like I would try and wait it out for them to finish, but my brain would like short circuit and I would just pass the test in and leave even if I wasn't half finished because I just couldn't. You're hyper focused on that.

I know. I mean, when this recording started, we haven't used our recording equipment in a few weeks. Cassidy, first thing she says to me, I can hear you breathing. I'm like, oh, I could. Now I'm really cognizant of my breath. Got to hold it. Okay. No, usually I don't notice anything, but today I was like, is something wrong with your mic?

I can hear every. Or what were you just doing before you got? Like, did you just run a marathon and then sit down? Like, do you need a minute? Anyway, sorry. I have lots of stories, most of which are spooky in some way, but today I want to share at the number one. Ever since I was young, I have been a little obsessed.

with the spiritual world. Every time I went to the school library to pick out a new book, it was either about ghosts or horses. Perfect. Me memorizing every single horse in second grade. I had run-ins with spirits before, but nothing would prepare me for the haunting that took place in our new-to-us home. My husband and I just got married. We found a newer double-wide trend while we were just starting out.

Seriously, this was the last place I would have ever expected a ghost to reside. I have tried to figure out how the spirit ended up taking up residence there, but honestly, I have no idea. My son, who was eight at the time, had a noisemaker. It was one of those little sphere-shaped things that had a globe on the top that emitted lights in the shape of stars. It also made an array of different noises to help you fall asleep. The noises ranged from crickets to the sound of ocean waves to lullabies.

One day, I'm not sure how long we had lived there, but I'm thinking it was a couple of months, this noisemaker just started playing on its own. I couldn't quite figure out what I was hearing. It sounded like waves crashing. I finally discovered it was coming from the back of my house in my son's room, and lo and behold, it was his noisemaker just playing on its own in the middle of the day. Hmm, that's weird, I thought. I turned it off and went about my day. It started happening more and more. So much, in fact, that we had to remove the batteries until bed time because it would just play all the time. Perhaps it was defective or had a short in it. We made those kinds of excuses and had no idea of the things that would follow. The next incident

was in the kitchen some weeks later. The living room and kitchen had an open concept and were essentially in the same space. We were in the living room on the couch watching a movie when we heard a thud in the kitchen. I walked over trying to figure out what happened. There was a coffee travel mug lid that was sitting on the counter, now on the floor, about three feet away. Like someone had just slapped it and flung it on the floor. That's when I made the connection. Oh my gosh, we are being haunted. Over the next couple of weeks, this ghost started setting off the timer on our toaster oven. Ding! This happened randomly throughout the day. Once again, I had to unplug it to make it stop. It didn't take long for things to escalate. My husband and I started hearing things in the middle of the

night. Our bathroom was connected to the bedroom by a large doorway, but no door. We would hear what sounded like someone being dragged around the tile floor in the bathroom, something heavy like a body. We would totally freak ourselves out and turn on the light, and luckily, we never saw the things that would go through our minds. From there, it just got worse. It started touching us at night. Oh, there it is. There it is. No. Please. Please know the feeling of having a dog on your bed walking on top of the covers on your legs? Yeah, that happened except our dogs sleep in their crates at night and there was nothing there when we would turn on the light. One night, it grabbed my husband's shoulder to wake him up. Things were getting out of hand with this ghost.

We were afraid to see what it would do next. Yeah, no, no thank you. Out of desperation, I decided to do some research. Maybe this ghost wanted something from us. It didn't seem malicious and I didn't get a bad feeling from it. I wanted to help it, maybe find some peace or something. After doing some Googling, I read that most spirits were lonely and would often do things to get attention from the living. They wanted to be acknowledged. So I started talking to it. I named it Bob. It just felt like a male presence to me. I would come home to an empty house and say, hey Bob, I'm home. I would talk to him. I would tell him about my day and just make conversation. I also made it very clear that we acknowledged him and were happy to have him around, but I set some boundaries and told him we did not

feel comfortable with him touching us. Pretty soon, he became quiet. The touching at night stopped. The noises stopped. I talked to him daily, and that seemed to be what he was looking for. All was going well. We lived there about 10 months before buying a house of our own. I wondered what would happen to Bob. Hopefully he wouldn't follow us. Could he follow us? We had packed our things and a moving day was tomorrow. I had a feeling Bob would not be happy we were leaving him. We had a large pile of boxes in the living room. It was arranged much like a pyramid with large boxes on the bottom and the smaller, lighter boxes on top, but arranged in a fashion that the boxes on top would not tumble over or fall off.

My husband and I were in bed. The bedside lamp was on and we hadn't gone to sleep yet. We were sitting there when we heard a loud crash. We jumped out of bed and rushed into the living room. We flipped on the light to see that one of the boxes on top. had been knocked off and tumbled all the way down the pyramid and lay upside down on the floor. Whatever was inside was broken. Bob had made his point.

He was not happy we were leaving. We moved the next day. We were a little nervous in the new house at first, but after some time, we relaxed knowing that Bob did not follow us. And that is the story of Bob. I still think about him often. I wonder if he ever found peace or if the people who live there now acknowledge him the way we did.

It really is a crazy haunting tale, and I think most people would probably think I'm making it up, but it was very real. There were times when other people were over to witness some of the mischief. Enjoy the view, but watch your back. There just might be a ghost getting ready to grab your shoulder, Ashley. It kind of makes me a little sad. I know. Poor Bob. Left behind.

I know. Why didn't you take him with you? He did seem like a little bit of an inconvenience, but just like doing small, annoying things. Yeah, but it sounds like once he gave him some attention, he kind of stopped. Yeah. I mean, to be honest. Yeah. Yeah.

Like, the box thing reminds me of a cat. Like when they just sit and like kind of slowly push something off of a counter. Or they're just sitting there and like you just see their eyes. They're like going to do something bad. And then they're just like, p. Yeah. Look you dead in the face while they swipe a face off the counter. something. I don't know. We've had, um, a lot of our trips, we have cats, like kind of following us

around or different animals. And in, in, I almost said in Maine. In Hawaii, we had, what was his name? Kiko or Kio? Kio. Oh, I just called him kitty. Oh, yeah. He had a name. And I think it was Kio. And he was so sweet. He was like, that is the type of cat I would want, just so personalable. Kind of reminded me of a dog in his mannerisms in the way that he behaved. Yeah. Yeah, he was a good kitty. He was a good kitty. 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 open that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Okay, my second story is titled Point of Graves. Danielle. Okay, you're not involved.

It's just to be. It's okay. It's about graves. It feels like it should be pointed at you. It's so funny. I didn't even notice that. Speaking directly to me, thanks for responding on Instagram. Oh, did I? You're welcome. This story is a personal antidote. So there aren't any historical facts except for the fact that I was able to verify some things through ancestry.com. In 2015, I went on a Portsmouth ghost tour via Lady Pickwicks with my then-girlfriend.

The tour guide is also a medium who is able to connect to spirits through a particular spirit named Mary March. I'm neither a believer nor a non-believer, but I never rule anything out, so I went into this experience with an open mind. When we went to the final spot on the tour, which was the point of graves, the tour guide slash medium had us in a circle around several prominent graves towards the eastern, far left from the entrance side of the graveyard. She then proceeded to inform us that Mary March was with us and that she would be able to use her to communicate with other spirits. She asked the crowd if any of us had any questions, and I reluctantly raised my hand to ask one. Since I grew up in Exeter and my family traces back to the area in the early

1600s, I asked if I had any relatives buried in the graveyard. As soon as I asked, her copper spirit rods pointed directly at a gravestone that I was unable to read due to the darkness. She moved closer to the grave and had me move with her. To my absolute disbelief, the gravestone was marked with the name Sarah Sargent, the same last name as mine. Next to the gravestone, her sister laid, Mary March, the same spirit the medium was able to connect through. After the tour was over, we spent two hours together, free of charge, where I was able to connect with multiple deceased family members asking questions that I was able to verify through known family history, including my father's mother who passed away when I was 18 years old. Even the medium was shocked about how vivid the

experience absolutely was for us, and it made me a believer in some sort of spiritual or paranormal phenomenon. I often visit the grave to say hello, so I really appreciate your interest in graveyards, cemeteries, and the afterlife, as they tend to be forgotten members who without them we wouldn't be here. Thank you, Troy. Troy, so cool. First of all, Cassie, you may. I feel like you can speak about this, even though. It's like a conversation of me and Troy. This isn't about, this story wasn't for me. Well, there's a couple things going on here.

I know it's a couple months after the fact, but I did during that, I almost said holiday season. It is kind of holiday season. Spooky season. I was talking about how I was going to different cemeteries and I went to a Portsmouth Cemetery tour in the point of Graves Cemetery. And I guess, sorry Troy that I don't remember, but I guess I responded to Troy about maybe his experience there and probably requested him write it in. That's what I'm surmising.

But that's a really cool experience to have, to have no knowledge that you have distant relatives buried somewhere. And you're just like, well, I guess I'm going to ask this medium who is allegedly communicating with somebody. And then, to be real. They do take place like at night and it is super dark and those graves are super worn. Like there's no way that you would have been able to read that from afar to be like,

oh yeah. And that lady probably has no idea what your last name is. You're just a guy on a tour. Totally. You know? Like she has no way of knowing any of that information. And then you get home and you go on Ancestry.com and you're like, oh my God, this is all real. Ancestry.com is a wild place. People are learning so much. I am. My family's been having some

stuff happening recently. So drama. Drama. Drama. Ancestry drama. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I love that. I don't think I have any, I would have to see where I wonder where my distant relatives are. I mean, Vermont for sure. And I don't know where else they would be. I don't really have a huge connection to my dad's side of the family. So maybe New York, Connecticut area. Have you done Ancestry.com? I have to some extent. My mom did before Ancestry.com was a thing. She has, she was a scrapbooker. Like, she has a scrapbook for every person in my family and also different chapters of each of our lives, like in interests and events and things like that. We have a whole shelf of dozens of scrapbooks.

But for several years when I was a preteen teenager, she dove deep into her side of the family's heritage. I mean, she like went to Ellis Island and like was communicating back and forth through another family member who knows both Italian and English to our Italian relatives that do not know any English to like get family history through them. And we have like four volumes of that side of the family's heritage from in Italy. Yeah, because I'm from the Sicily area and then like Palermo area. Okay. So between my mom and my dad's side. But yeah, she put together. I know everything pretty much about my mom's side of the family, but my dad's side of the family is a little bit of a murkier water. Yeah. Yeah. It's funny a lot. Both

sides of my family are a little murky, but my mom's side, my grandmother was adopted. So that makes it a little bit more more complex. Yeah. Yeah. Ready to soundtrack your summer? With Red Bull Summer All Day Play, you choose a playlist that fits your summer vibe the best. Are you a festival fanatic, a deep end DJ, a road dog, or a trail mixer. Just add a song to your chosen playlist and put your summer on track. Red Bull Summer All Day Play. Red Bull gives you wings. Visit Red Bull.com slash bright summer ahead to learn more. See you this summer. Cool. Well, I have my next story. Mine is titled Childhood Two-Wing Trauma. Hey ladies, my name is Paige. I have to start by saying that NPAD is the first podcast I really got hooked on and is my favorite by far. Thank you. Thanks. I recently got my first

N-PAD merch, a greenish-blue baseball cap that I love so much. Thank you all for the interesting stories and for inspiring me to find the motivation to get back out in nature. As a mom of two toddlers, it's been quite a busy season, but nature is definitely how I recharge. A bucketless item for me is to go on one of your trips someday, and I cannot wait. I also have to say that you are both wonderful humans and in my head we are very dear friends. Thank you. I have been wanting to send a trail trail in ever since I started listening to your podcast a few years ago, but could never think of anything worthy to share until one trail tale mentioned Lake Powell, and it reminded me at the experience I'm about to share. For context, I grew up in Southern Oregon and have fond memories

of boating and being on the water every summer growing up as a kid. As a kid, there is nothing more thrilling than clinging on for dear life as you're whipped around on the lake on a tube. And that is true. Yes. The summer of my story, I was about 14, and my mom's side of the family rented a houseboat for the week on Lake Powell. Located on the Utah and Arizona border, Lake Powell is one of the most magical and unique places you can ever visit. Made up of red and orange clay canyons contrasting against the deep blue lake, the views

are spectacular, and the sky at night is the only time I've seen the Milky Way to date. I have so many wonderful memories of this place and can't wait to take my girls there someday. But on this day, we went out on the ski boat for some tubing. As the oldest cousin, I let everyone else get their turn on the tube. By the time it was my turn on the tube, the sky was getting dark, and there was a strong breeze. I don't think anyone thought it was a big deal at the time, but it sure changed quickly once I started getting pulled around on the water. After a couple minutes on the tube, the waves were the biggest I have ever seen. It seemed like crazy high wakes, but I'd guess around four to five feet.

The large wakes, an increasing wind combined with being pulled on a tube hitting the wakes hard, was unlike any other tubing ride. My body clung on the tube for literal dear life. I was fearful that if I fell off the tube or let go, the waves combined with the wind would cause me to drown even with a life jacket on.

The wind continued to pick up and I motioned my hand straight across my neck, the boating sign that I was done and ready to go on the boat. I did this motion over and over, but no one in the boat was paying any attention to me. That's the worst. It's like you have one job.

I know. Like, stop. Like, I know you're driving and having fun over there, but I'm still back here. Side note, I'm pretty sure it's a boating law, but also just freaking common sense that when a person is being pulled or is outside of the boat, at least one person in the boat must be watching the person outside of the boat in case they fall off or are ready to call it quits. I'm probably right. So a few more minutes had passed and I'm crying. Each time I collide with a wave, it's painful and getting harder to hold on. Still, no one in the boat seemed to notice that I'm clearly not having fun anymore,

and at this point, it did not feel safe for me to be out on the water. After what seemed like forever in my mind, I was pulled into the boat and we headed back to our houseboat. Fast forward an hour or two later, I'm in dry clothes and safe inside. In the neighboring cove, my family noticed helicopter circling above and a sheriff's boat surrounding another houseboat. These summer storms are nothing new as my family went to Lake Powell every other summer for the past decade, but this year was bad. We later found out that a young girl, only a few years older than me, had disappeared in

the lake during the storm. With my own personal experience on the lake, I couldn't help think that it could have been me they were searching for and me losing my life in that storm. This was very sad and sobering that I distinctly remembered. We love coming here and spending time as a family. family, but it was a powerful reminder that life is so fragile and can be taken in an instant. To this day, we don't know what happened to the girl that drowned that night. Was she drinking and or did she have a life jacket on? Did the carbon monoxide from the engine cause her to pass out?

There's so many things that could have gone wrong. I left that trip with a new respect for mother nature and bodies of water. It's a night I'll never forget and a terrible tragedy that happened in such a beautiful place. Please remember that boating rules are meant to keep you safe and alive. Enjoy the view, but watch your back, the person getting pulled behind the boat, and please wear a damn life jacket. Yep, that is really sad. The moments of like I was in a very similar situation and it could have been me, those are, those will shake you for sure. For sure. But yeah, memories of tubing as a child, I've never been to Lake Powell, so I've never had experience there. But my cousin, who I pretty much grew up with when my parents were going.

through a divorce when I was a child. Her parent, my, so my aunt and uncle had a boat and they lived on the shores, um, Duxbury, Massachusetts. And I just vividly remember going out and getting absolutely. And reallated. Wrecked. The adults love to do it to get so. It's like they're in that thing around. It's like we're taking out every anger we've ever had on you right now in this boat. Get on the tube, you're going to love it. I just vividly remember them, just cackling as we're holding on for dear life and just trying to get us off, whipping us off. And to me, it felt like they were taking their time circling around and getting us. But the two things I really remember about those moments are, number one, being terrified. I was really afraid of sharks because we were

tubing in the ocean near the Cape. So I was afraid of sharks. And, and, I was afraid of sharks. And, And the other thing was once they finally got around, we, like, our arms were little noodles because you're so tired from holding on for so long. I could barely get myself up onto the tube from the water. And me and my cousin actually, we had a pact. We would always go together. We never did the tube by ourselves. We would always do it together.

And we would always bail out the second the other one fell off. so we never had to be in the water alone. Wow, that's really nice. That was not my experience. I mean, once you were in the tube, that was my goal and I was really good at it. I have like a death grip on things is that I am staying on that tube. I will push, not push you off, but I'm not going to help you stay on and I will be holding on for dear life. And also tubing on the ocean is a whole other. I've never went tubing in the ocean. We would do Lake Winapasaki, which was choppy waters. But I remember holding on for dear life. And I would be like, I'd be holding on with my toes, my hands, and other people, they fell off. They were on their own. Yeah, you weren't going to, yeah,

that's not your problem. No. I was competitive when it came to that. I was like, you will not get me off of this thing. And I was pretty good at it. I mean, sometimes I totally got thrown off and face planted in the water and it hurt. But I tried. Yeah. My heart is ocean tubing. That's why I'm so tough. I mean, that is some trauma that will stick with you for life.

Yeah. Built character. That's for sure. 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 last tale is titled Cemetery Tales. Hi, ladies, I just finished listening to Danielle's Cemetery episode, and it really moved me. For a long time, I only went to cemeteries on the occasional historic tour like New Orleans. However, just over 10 years, I found myself conducting a research project in college that brought me to Burr Oak, a historic cemetery just south of Chicago in the town of Alsip. Alcip? This isn't technically a trail tale, nor is it my personal story, just information I learned from sources and from interviewing people for my project, so I understand if it isn't really podcast material. However, I think that the history of this cemetery is

extremely important, so I wanted to share it. Trigger warning, this includes racism and crave desecration. Burr Oak Cemetery was established in 1927 as an African American cemetery. As you already know, segregation was in full swing at this time. Members of the African American community were excluded from white cemeteries and were forced to find burial locations that could accommodate them. When Burr Oak was due to receive its first burial in order to be legally dedicated as a cemetery, neighbors and police from predominantly white Alsip actually chased the burial party away.

Only with the assistance from a deputy sheriff from a different department could they safely return and complete the burial. One of the things Burr Oak Cemetery is known for is being the resting place of Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till Mobley. Just as a quick refresher, Emmett Till was born in Chicago and was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 at the age of 14. He was lynched by at least two white men who took offense to Emmett Till allegedly whistling in the direction of a white woman. Emmett Till's mother bravely insisted on having an open casket at his funeral so that the world would be forced to witness his mutilated body and face the reality of ongoing racism in the United States. It should be noted that his body was not examined post-mortem prior to his funeral. This becomes important later. His accused murderers, both white men, were acquitted.

by an all-white, all-male jury. Women and African-Americans had not been allowed to be jurors. One of the arguments presented by the defense was that the body was so badly mutilated that it could not be positively identified as Emmett Till. And since there was no autopsy completed, the identification of the body rested on the testimony of Emmett Till's mother and whether or not jury members cared to believe her. Needless to say, this aspect and many others meant the trial was horrifically skewed in favor of the defendants. After being acquitted, the men even admitted to the crime, but could not be retried

due to double jeopardy. Now, back to Burr Oak Cemetery, and the rest of the story that many people don't know about. In 2004, the FBI reopened Emmett Till's case in order to determine if there were any other men who participated in his murder who could potentially be charged. In 2005, Emmett Till's body was exhumed for an official autopsy. After the autopsy, Emmett Till's body was reburied in a temporary coffin, as it was expected for it to once again be reburied in the cemeteries yet to be built Emmett Till Historical Museum. However, this reburial and the establishment of the museum never took place. In 2009, it was revealed that there had been rampant mismanagement of Burr Oak Cemetery. While Emmett Till's burial site is not believed to have been disturbed,

apart from his previous exhumation, investigators discovered that more than 200 grave sites had been dug up, with their remains being dumped into unmarked mass graves in the back of the property. These emptied plots were then resold to other families. The reburied bodies had been covered up hastily, and in some areas, human bones were found protruding from piles of dirt. It's awful. Yeah, this whole thing is so upsetting. Upsetingly, a fair number of these desecrated graves belong to children from a portion of the cemetery

known as Babyland. Additionally, the historic casket that Emmett Till had been weight. and buried in, was found in a storage shed with a family of possums living inside of it. Years later, it was restored and is now on display at the National Museum of African American history in Washington, D.C. One of the sources I spoke to for my research project, Edward Boone, has numerous family members buried in the cemetery. He told me that he had been trying to raise the alarm on poor conditions at the cemetery for years, but was routinely ignored by both cemetery management and local politicians. Additionally, one of the reasons he believes cemetery management was

able to get away with their crimes for so long is that a lot of the graves in the cemetery lack markers. Over history, many of the families who buried loved ones there lacked the funds to erect proper headstones. Even then, some graves that had headstones were still disturbed, their headstones thrown away, which made it difficult for loved ones to locate burial sites later on. Ultimately, the manager of the cemetery at the time, Carolyn Towns, pleaded guilty to dismembering bodies and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Other employees who participated in the crimes were convicted and received lesser amounts of jail time. I know that this is all really heavy and depressing information. However, speaking to Edward Boone was such an honor and restored my

sense of hope. He is currently the chair of a group called Friends of Burr Oak Cemetery and continues to work to restore dignity to those buried there. He organizes clean-up projects and works with affected families to provide updated burial location information for their loved ones. In May of 2025, his organization commemorated a memorial inside of the cemetery where remains that were recovered but unidentified were reburied. The memorial location is called The Circle of Rest. Another amazing person I came across while researching my project was Dr. Jeremy Crock. Jeremy is an avid baseball fan. However, he told me that as a white man, he had never been taught about the Negro leagues while growing up. No, I understand this term is not used anymore, but it is the historical

term that was used at the time. In his own time, Jeremy started doing extensive research into Negro League Baseball, which featured African American players unable to join Major League Baseball in the early 20th century due to segregation. This research brought Jeremy to Burr Oak Cemetery, where many Negro League Baseball players are buried. However, Jeremy noticed that many of them either lacked grave markers or their headstones were in deplorable conditions. He took it upon himself to regularly volunteer to clean and beautify the grave sites. He told me what motivated him was how these amazingly talented baseball players were disrespected in life, subjected to horrendous racism. His belief is that these men should be given the credit and respect they always deserved in life.

He created the Negro League's Baseball Grave Marker Project, which has paid for headstones for more than 50 players at Burr Oak and other cemeteries. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read this rather long story. My hope is that with the work being done by dedicated people like Edward and Jeremy, Burr Oak Cemetery can be restored to a place of peace where the history of and care of its occupants isn't overshadowed by the crimes and controversies that had taken place there. I'm attaching a picture I took of Emmett Till's gravesite back when I visited the cemetery for my research project. Best regards, Naomi. So I love that story because, I mean, as I briefly mentioned

in my cemetery episode that we did back in October, I think, you know, segregation in when we have discussions about cemeteries and how spooky and cool and creepy they are and like we often don't talk about how glaringly horrific that is. And this story was, is a really. good example of the ongoing issues that are still persisting when it comes to that subject. And the book I recommended over my dead body goes into great detail about that. But I did want to mention just really briefly because Naomi spoke a lot about Emmett Till. Two things. A personal antidote.

That movie absolutely wrecked me. Have you seen it? What is it called? It's called, I believe it's called Till. Hold on. Let me make sure. Let me... I know I saw a documentary. It was a documentary. It's called Till. The movie is called Till. Okay. Is it a documentary or is it a movie?

It's a movie. Okay. I don't know if I've seen that, but I've seen the documentary about his story. Okay. And vice versa for me. I haven't seen the documentary, but I watched the movie. It was on one of our flights. I wasn't with you, but it was two or from one of our trips that we've got to. And I had known a little bit. about the story for sure, but not the details. And that was one of the, I know people joke around that like airplane movies hit harder. Like for some reason, you're just more emotional and maybe because there's no distractions

and you're just really. Yeah, you can't be like on your phone or anything. You're just actually watching. I was almost like hyperventilating crying during that movie. It was so moving and so upsetting and so deeply troubling. Well, he was a child. think about that and just the treatment. Oh my God, it was just awful. So that was number one. But number two, I did want to mention that there is a national historic monument called the Emmett Till and Mamie Till Mobley

National Monument. So it is a National Park tie-in, believe it or not. Where is it? So I wrote a little blurb here. In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till traveled to Money, Mississippi to visit relatives. He was kidnapped, tortured and murdered after reportedly whistling at a white woman. His mother, Mamie Telmobly, insisted on an open casket funeral near their hometown of Chicago. Her brave decision to let the world see the racist violence inflicted upon her son and set the civil rights movement into motion. The monument was established in July of 2023 and is comprised of multiple sites in Sumner and Glendora, Mississippi, and Chicago, Illinois. So maybe one day when I'm feeling brave enough to hopefully do that story justice, we can cover it in detail.

Yeah, that one's a really tough one. But thank you, Naomi, for writing that in and sharing a bit about your project because that was really an important one. And I'm glad you shared a little bit of it with us in the audience. Yeah. Well, moving on to my last story before we get into our bonus ones on Patreon and Apple subscriptions. Mine is titled Fort George Island Cultural State Park Fail. Hello, my name is Robbie. I am a woman. My name can be a bit deceiving. Ha ha ha. First off, I'd like to say that I absolutely love your show and have become inspired to visit

every national park in the USA because of you guys. Secondly, my boyfriend Kenny and I had an interesting experience at Fort George Island Cultural State Park in Jacksonville, Florida that I thought you guys might find interesting as well and can share the story so others can learn from our mistakes. I love when people describe something as interesting because that could be so many things. Like when I'm trying to describe something that I just don't quite have words for that I don't really want to drag, but I just say it was interesting. It's never good. It's never good. Interesting is never good. Just the level of bad differs. Kenny and I love to kayak and the park has tidal waves, title waves, tidal waters that you can explore.

At first, everything was going great. We launched at around 10 a.m. and the wildlife was beautiful. Shrimp would literally jump right into our kayaks, which was terrifying at first, but then became pretty comical because why in the world were shrimp jumping into our boats? As we got deeper into the waters, we passed a man fishing in another kayak. Through casual conversation, he informed us that the time. tides get pretty low and to keep an eye out. We didn't really think much of it, which would turn out to be such a huge mistake on our part. Always listen to the Florida natives. Well, we stopped at a small

island and got out to explore a little. We climbed a tree to see the beautiful views and while we were on it, we noticed that it was covered in little crabs. It was spooky at first, but they honestly had no interest in us and it was fun to watch them. When we were done exploring the island, we got back into our kayaks and realized right away that in just the short 30 minutes we were out of the water, the tide had gone in quite a lot. We took that as our cue to head back, but the problem was we had gone out pretty far. As we kayak back, it was pretty hard not to notice that the waters were going down at an alarming rate, and it wasn't too long until our kayaks were stuck in the mud. And by mud, I mean thigh-deep mud filled with dangerously sharp oyster beds.

At first, we tried to push our way through with our feet while our body stayed in the kayaks, but that failed. At that point, the water was gone. So we had to trudge through the mud, or should I say, the near equivalent to quicksand. Luckily, the oyster beds weren't that bad yet, and we were able to use them to our advantage and step on them. We wore shoes, thank God, exhausted from dragging up. our kayaks and constantly pulling our legs out of the mud, we stopped at a small island where on the

other side of it was some water and then shore. In order to get to the other side, we had to trudge through more deep mud, and the worst part was that the oyster beds were much worse here. When I went to stand, I somehow lost my balance and fell back onto my butt right onto an incredibly sharp bed of oysters. It might be a good time to mention that I only had on a bathing suit. The back of my upper thigh and my hand was sliced open and my sweet boyfriend ripped a piece of a shirt to tie off my hand because it wouldn't stop bleeding. At that point, I was full-blown panicking. I will admit it, Kenny had to pull the kayaks to shore and then come back for me. And while I tried to step where he was, I somehow managed to step in a deep hole that was filled with more oyster beds. So not only was I stuck,

I was also being sliced open as well. At this point, I'm sobbing and Kenny had to pull me out, all while the oysters are wreaking havoc on my poor legs. Once at shore, we had to take two trips to carry the kayak back. We had no idea where we were and where we parked. We climbed a hill and came to what appeared to be a ruin of a very old house. We left the first kayak there and then went back for the second one. When we got back to the ruin, a park ranger stopped us in her truck. We must have looked an odd sight, bleeding and covered in mud.

She informed us that we were trespassing on the mucinilla. Munchia Magundo House, which was a structure built in the 1800s. Apparently, it was a felony to walk on it. Luckily, once we explained our situation and that we had no idea, she was nice enough to let us go. I'm sure our appearance was a great alibi. So after that, I swear to God. I don't know where I am. I'm bleeding.

I'm covered in mud. Arrest me just take me out of here. I'll take the L. Yeah. So after that, we were good, right? Wrong. After the Ranger left, a police officer came. This lady wasn't so nice.

She told us we were committing a felony, and when I tried to tell her that the Ranger already let us go, she informed me that she was the law, not the Ranger. She also told us to follow her to her car. I thought that was it for us. We were going to prison. But luckily, after explaining, she let us go with a warning. We spit out of there before she could change her mind.

Moral of the story is to always check the tides when you go out kayaking. We should have listened to that fisherman when we had the chance. However, I'm glad we went and experienced the beauty of the park. It's 100% a story Kenny and I will be telling our kids one day. What park was this again? It was one in Florida. It Fort George Island Cultural State Park. They don't mess around down there.

Felony immediately. Yeah. Is it a felony to trespass on, I guess it's government property. Maybe because it was government property and it was sounds like it was kind of historic or it was in ruins, an old house. They probably had some like crazy underground bunker there that they were like so close to discovering. It's like where they keep the aliens. They're like, get out of here. It's a felony.

Yeah, this is restricted. I'm just trying to, I'm injured, which is probably cold. I'm clearly bleeding. Please help me. I love how the first ranger also was like, yeah, you can go. and then just left them there still bleeding and covered in line, didn't offer them a ride, nothing. It was just like, all right, whatever. Figure it out.

Bye. See you. The audacity of the second one, though, like, I'm the law. Park Rangers aren't. Yeah, rude. Okay. First of all, fresh. Okay, well, that's that.

That's that on that. Unless you're on Patreon or you're on our Apple subscriptions, we have some books. And mine is titled River Rapids and Parental Justice and Green River Gorge. And mine is titled, She's Here and Always Has Been. All right. Well, thank you everyone for joining us. Enjoy the view. But watch you're back.

Bye, everyone. See you. 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.

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