National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 83

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

Today’s stories include snubbing trail magic, spider inflicted injuries, railroad watchers and unexplained orbs. 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!Hollow 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 SockspodNutrafol: Get $10 off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you use promo code NPAD.Ka'Chava: Go to https://kachava.com and use code NPAD for 15% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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slash Visit Scotland Hey everyone, welcome back to National Park After Dark. I'm Cassie. And I'm Danielle. And we got stories for you. We do. Like always, on Thursdays. Yeah, we didn't make them up. You did. Well, hopefully you didn't make them up. Hopefully they're true. But who are we to say? These are all stories that may or not be true. I don't know. Sometimes I think we've gotten like two or three that were, I don't know what the correct term is, like fan fiction or something.

You know what fan fiction is? Yeah. I'm not sure if I know. It's like a made-up story about a story. Yeah. Yeah, right. So I think we've gotten a couple of those. And thank you for your creativity. But we're interested in the real life stuff. Please. Yeah. Yeah, we want to read real trail tales, not made-up ones. But really, how would we know? If it was written really well, how would we know? I know. We're putting a lot of trust into our audience. But honestly, I don't care that. much as long. Interesting.

Okay, I care. I think I care. I do care. Okay, great. Well, do you want to read the first true story today or should I? I would love to. Okay. Mine is titled Not Today, Nature's Dave.

Hey, Cassie and Danielle. My name is Lana. Rhymes with Lama. Thank you. Full disclosure, I'm a big fan of horror, hiking, and true crime. So after trying tons of podcasts, I can confidently say no one's voice, vibe or banter won me over like yours. Side note, I give a new podcast 10 seconds to impress me. That's quite the honor.

Yeah. Give us 10 seconds or less. We'll impress you, you know? Yeah. That's what we're known for. That's what we're known for. I've got a story from the Appalachian Trail that equal parts, true nature moment, and parents, city girl energy. Many years ago, I was hiking a section of the AT near Wintergreen, Virginia,

back when I wasn't really a hiker yet, just someone who bought hiking boots and thought, yeah, I can do this. So I'm wandering along the trail when suddenly I spot a couple bottles of water. They're labeled in Sharpie. A.T. hikers, this is winter green tap water, help yourselves, nature's Dave. Now listen, I didn't know what trail magic was. I didn't know who Nature's Dave was. All I saw was unattended mystery water in the woods, handwritten note, and Dave? Ah, yes, classic serial killer bait heard this episode before. I had myself fully convinced that if I grabbed the jug, a net would drop from the trees. Several forest ninjas would leap from the bushes to drag me into the woods, or I'd be chloroformed and dragged to a forest cabin lit by one of those creepy lights

I saw blinking in the distance. Did I mention it was dusk? Spoiler. alert, I didn't take the water. Instead, I sped to my car whispering to myself, not today, natureist Dave, not today. I love how her mind is going to booby traps and like rogue people in the woods that will abduct her. My first thought is poison. Yeah, me too. I would be like, I mean, it does seem like trail magic to me. Like winter green water, have some. I left it here for you on the trail. But I would definitely not drink it and fear that they would poison me and then someone would jump out of the woods and get me. Oh, so you're comboing it. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Because why poison me if you're not also kidnapping me? Well, there is that. I don't know. I don't know. I think of all the time, you know, those stories that come up every once in a while of people who throw poisoned or tainted treats or meatballs into dog parks just to poison pets. Yeah. Yeah, it's fucked up. So it's like that for people.

That's where my mind went with that. That is fucked up. I hope everyone who's ever done that is having a really bad day. I hope they're dead. That too. But they can't have a day. I hope they have no more days. Going back to the story.

Of course, now I know what trail magic is and nature's Dave was probably just a kind-hearted, possibly pants optional forest angel looking out for hikers. Anyways, thanks for making a space where we can admit our brain does weird things when we're alone in the woods, even if those things are wildly extra. P.S. I'm officially an avid hiker. My husband and I even honeymoon at Glacier National Park. Life-changing, 10 out of 10 recommend. I've also converted him into a full-on NPAD fan, and now I tell absolutely everyone about the podcast, especially the episodes reminding us why picking up hitchhikers isn't always the best idea, which is hilarious. us considering we listened to one of those episodes literally right after we gave a ride to a stranger danger couple at String Lake Trailhead at Jenny Lake. Whoops, enjoy the view, watching my back, and forever checking the nets above me, Lana. Yeah, nature's Dave

probably has a heart of gold and you were just like, it's got to be dangerous and I don't trust it. Self-preservation. Right, absolutely. I don't fault you for that because Even knowing if I was to come across that, even with that knowledge of this is likely trail magic in my mind, I still don't know if I would take it. It's just not worth the risk. Yeah. Unless you know nature is Dave and you're like, oh, I know that guy. He's super nice. But then you're never, you don't know if somebody else has tampered with it. Nature's Dave aside, you know.

Valid point. So you just trust no one, as my dad would say. It's really worked out for me. Um, okay. My first story is titled The Unexplained Orb. Hello from Indiana. I've been listening to the podcast for a few years now and have always enjoyed hearing your trail tales as well as others. After almost 10 years since this happened to me, I'm finally ready to share my own crazy experience. I will go by Kay and will use fake names for the people involved since this is something my husband does not like to discuss openly. Enjoy. Thank you for going against your husband's wishes.

Does he know you wrote this? Likely not. Back in 2016, me and my husband, who I was just dating at the time, I'll call Caleb, were hanging out with two friends, Jared and Steve. It was the middle of November and all four of us decided to drive out to a place in the hills by the Ohio River that was nicknamed Devil's Mountain. It would have been my first time going there, but the guys had visited before. It is known for spooky trails and a beautiful view when visiting during the day.

It was wet and cold from rain earlier in the day, but we thought, why not visit this spooky-ass place for fun? With nothing better to do, Jared and Steve got in their car and me and Caleb followed behind in our own. This was about a 20 to 25-minute drive from our place, so along the way we listened to Caleb's playlist of 90s and early 2000s Rock. I can still vividly remember Alice in Chains playing in the background as I checked my makeup in the flip-down mirror. Devil's Mountain is located right outside of the city limits and down a city. single-lane country highway with nothing but woods surrounding it. Not even a few minutes after entering the country highway, there was a sudden light appearing behind us. I angled my mirror to see what was coming when all of a sudden I see a huge, round orb-like light heading straight towards us.

The speed and size of this thing was nothing like I had ever seen before. It took up most of the road behind us. Then almost as quickly as it approached, it made a sudden turn into the woods and kept going, soon disappearing into the dense night. Me and Caleb turned to look at each other and I finally managed to say, please tell me you just saw that. He responded by saying, yeah. I immediately started freaking out and rambling like crazy. I was in disbelief but felt better knowing that he saw it too in his rear room mirror.

He let me ramble for a few more seconds before telling me to stop and to not talk about it anymore. He's like, shh, stop it. I need a few, I need more than a few seconds to unpack something. We just almost got abducted by aliens. We need to have a sit down about this. Yeah. It's like, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, sh, like, are you in on this?

What's happening? I got the sense he was scared of what we had just witnessed. Not long after, we arrived at Devil's Mountain. Before we got out, we decided not to say anything to his friends. But when we all joined up, I noticed Jared and Steve acting strange. Before we left, they were so excited to come. But once we arrived, their attitudes had completely. changed. They were immediately trying to come up with excuses not to go up there. Not even a few

steps up the hill, Steve and Jared decided it was best to just turn around and leave. They didn't even come back to our place. Me and Caleb have discussed what we saw that night a few times, but still cannot explain exactly what happened. Of course, me being very curious and with a love of the unexplained and spooky, my first thought was aliens. He somewhat agrees, but I think he doesn't like thinking about what would have happened if that huge orb reached us. The best way I can describe it is to imagine a flashlight. Now think about that light times 10 traveling directly at you in one smooth motion. I've had other experiences in the past with the supernatural, but this was something otherworldly. Maybe I'll share a few of those down the road if you would like to hear more.

So enjoy the view, but check your rearview mirror for the unknown. K. Plot twist, your two friends were in on the alien abduction and that's why they were acting weird after. Like as a prank or with? No, with the aliens. Oh, like co-conspirators. Yes, because why would they not say anything and just like, oh, we got to go? Like, because they plant twist and they were in on it. Well, that's why communication is key.

People need to communicate with each other. Talk about what you just witness and unpack it together because if you're all just really afraid of whatever just happened, but you're not discussing it, nothing's ever going to get accomplished. So I am an advocate for open discussions on the possibility of potentially just seeing an alien or a spacecraft. It reminds me a lot of Betty and Barney Hill, like this scenario. Yeah. With the car and the dark road and the light and all that. Maybe you did get abducted and you just don't remember. Well, they didn't say anything about lost time or anything else like that.

But yeah, best to just leave it. alone, give it space, not go after it. Because Travis Walton, not to, not to abductee shame, but he wanted to go investigate it. Remember, they saw light in the woods, him and his logger friends, and he got out of the truck and approached it. And then he got objected, but then plot twist, the entire world didn't believe him. But he's always maintained that that actually happened to him. And if you want to learn more, you can go back three years in our catalog and find that episode that we talked about it at length. I think I titled it. I always remember the titles, but not the episode number.

Where was Walton is what I titled it. Great. Well, I also believe it was probably aliens because I'm not too sure what else I think that is. Aside from the government, but that's a boring answer. Why would the government be following them? Why would the government be following you? Why does the government do a lot of things? I'm not sure, but it's a different podcast.

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I recently became an outsider and I'm kicking myself for not joining sooner. I would love your input on this bizarre story I'm about to tell you. Welcome to the outsider community. We're very happy to have you. Thank you for the love. Full disclosure. This story isn't mine. It belongs to my husband and for most of his life he never told anyone. When we started dating over 10 years ago, he shared it with me for the first time and it's one

of life's mysteries that just eats away in the back of your mind. Looking back, it shakes him. He didn't feel afraid when it happened, but now as an adult, he realizes how strange it really was and how lucky he might have been. My husband Tom grew up in a rural part of Northeast Ohio. It was the early mid-1990s. The area was quiet, wooded, and spaced out with long stretches of railroad tracks cutting behind neighborhoods. He was an only child then. His dad worked long hours and his mother wasn't very involved, so he spent a lot of time outside. He had a best friend down the street, Kevin, and the two of them were almost always together. Their favorite place to play was near the tracks, as one does in the 90s. So true. So many train tracks I played on in the 90s. I don't know about

playing but senior pictures. Best backdrop there is. The nostalgia. I actually, not that I almost got hit by a train, but kind of sort of. I remember I was playing on a train track and I was a kid and I heard the train coming, but for some reason I was just playing, you know how there's all those, the rocks that are underneath? Yeah. The track. I was just sitting in the middle of the track, just like playing with the rocks and like stacking them on the side and kind of throwing. them and stuff. And I hear a train, but I'm not paying attention. And I just hear my dad's yelling at me. Like, get up. Get over here. Get off the track. And I like look up and I see him

yelling at me. And then I look and I see the train coming right at me. I was like, oh. Oh, right. My life's in danger. Oh, right. I should get up. And it wasn't close to me. It wasn't like close to me or anything. It wasn't a close call. But I think we were getting ice cream. And, well, I would hope. it wasn't a close call because your dad was just yelling at you and not physically removing you from the tracks. Yeah. He's like, come here. All right. Do you think. But yeah, train tracks 90s was the thing. They knew it was off limits, but that made it all the more exciting. One day, while they were out in the woods, something joined them. Tom described it as a man, but not really, more like

the shape of a man. Believe me, whenever I try to talk him through the description, he makes it known it was not human. It looked like it was covered head to toe in a white morph suit. Its body didn't move like a person and its face had only the faint suggestion of features, which is smooth, pale skin, where eyes and a mouth should have been. You know, this reminds me of Voldemort. Oh, good comparison. Okay.

I think Voldemort is with you in the woods. I was pretty sure. For the last 20 seconds, trying to think of what a morph suit is. And I know it's not the same as hazmat suit, but that's where my mind is right now. That's what you're picturing. I'm picturing Voldemore in a hazmat suit. Okay. I like the direction of Voldemore.

It feels more appropriate to what they're trying to describe. Yes. It never spoke. It never chased them. It would just stand nearby watching. Whenever a train came, it would run into the woods. And once the train passed, it would return. They never saw it walk in or out, though.

It would simply just be there. For a while, the boys didn't question it. It never scared them. My husband said they started to think of it as a strange kind of friend. What? Who thinks of a faceless man in the woods as a friend? Voldemort, my friend. Voldemort, my pal.

Yeah, I don't know. Seems like a very on point little boy line of thinking, though. For sure. They're like, this is just my monster in the woods that we play at sometimes. And he's fun. He doesn't ever say anything. He's great. Yeah.

No one else ever saw it and they didn't talk about it with other kids. It felt like their own secret. Eek. And that was all until Kevin told his father. Tom still isn't sure what happened next other than Kevin's dad not taking it lightly. And then suddenly, Kevin and his family were gone. They moved without warning no goodbyes. And after that, the figure never came back.

It was as if it had only ever been there for the two of them. Tom doesn't pretend to know what it was. He's certain it wasn't human. He sometimes wonders if Kevin's dad knew more than he lit on or had ties to something bigger. It scares him now, remembering how close they let it be, how alone they were and how no one else ever saw it. I did some research on my own. Wow, the cryptid rabbit hole is intense. And I had no clue there were so many creatures with these same similarities, not counting slenderman.

The Dover Demon, New England, the grafted monster, West Virginia, and No Face Charlie, Pennsylvania, just to name a few. Maybe all of these creatures are the same and follow railroad tracks. Would love to know your opinion. I wish there was some clear explanation so I don't constantly have these intrusive thoughts of what the heck this thing was. Thank you for all you do. Enjoy the view, but watch your back. Not everything that watches you has a face. Ashley.

Okay. Ashley, thank you for. that riveting tail. Visual. Yes. I don't. What do you think? Exactly.

No. First of all, I can't even picture it. I'm still on the hazmat thing. I can't let it go. So it feels like I'm imagining just a person and a suit being creepy and just watching. But if they're adamant that it wasn't a human, is there something also about picking up and moving

with no explanation or warning feels like this is a serious thing. Or was it just, I hate to say it, was it just a coincidence that they moved around the same time that Kevin told his death? You don't believe in those, Daniel. I know, I almost didn't even say it, but I have to ask. Because moving is hard.

You don't just do it. You don't just willingly move. Yeah, but out of nowhere and no one knew you were going to move, you just one day are gone. I mean, but, okay, and I'm playing devil's advocate here, which I usually don't. But let's just say for the sake of this story, the kids are 10 years old. I have no idea.

But it feels like a 10-year-old, 10-to-12-year-old time frame. Do you really think that if I had a 10-year-old child? Well, okay, I'm going to take all that back. I was like, would they even tell their kid the inner workings of their decision-making for their family and moving and all the things that were happening as adults? Like, I don't know if I would have been given a heads up if we were moving. I would hope that your parents would tell you you were moving. Yeah.

Well, that's why I'm said I took it back. Instead of like one day, they throw a suitcase at you. Yeah. For me, I don't know, it feels like, I don't know, for me, I'm moving away from the cryptid side because maybe, but just because the family did move and the dad seemed to, at first I thought that this was going to go in the direction that the dad took it really seriously because he thought it was a man watching them. Right. But then it kind of shifted to that they just up and moved into that feels like culty or like someone was someone was watching his kid and wanted him to know that he knew where they were. Oh, good point. Maybe they're in witness protection or something now.

Because I'd be so curious if you know where Kevin and his family moved to. Right. But don't say it. No, just in public just in case. Privately tell us somehow. Just in case they are in witness protection. It's like right in and we'll tell everyone about it. Yeah.

No, I think that's a good point because if it was, this father was concerned about a potential creepy guy watching children on the train tracks. Wouldn't you think he would tell other parents? And the authorities. Oh, and that. Yeah. Yeah. But he just took it seriously and then moved his whole family away. And then it was never seen again.

I do have to circle back to the no face thing, though. Yeah. Voldemore is only after Harry Potter. So maybe he was just after Kevin. Oh, because he never saw it again, right? Yeah. So maybe it was attached to Kevin in some weird way. Kevin right into us on our side. Kevin. We're begging you. Where are you? Kevin or whatever your new name is. Right. Right. If this story sounds familiar, we're speaking directly to you. Yeah. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. My second story is titled Mount Auburn Family Connection.

Hey there, I've been a listener of the podcast for a while and decided to write in after your recent episode on Garden Cemetery and especially Mount Auburn Cemetery. It surprised me to hear it come up because a family member of mine was a large part of the establishment of said Mount Auburn. His name was Henry A.S. Dearborn, and as a president of the Massachusetts Horticulture Society, he worked closely with Alexander Wadworth on the design. He also established an experimental garden with. within the cemetery, cultivating seeds from around the world.

My family has always been very focused on horticulture and the outdoors, and on the property of the family home where I grew up, we had many trees that were so old. I wonder now if some of them have had their origins within the establishment of the cemetery. Who knows where the seeds and saplings they started from in the 1800s actually came from, after all. My father went into landscaping as a career, and before I knew much about any of this family history, I actually considered pursuing landscape design as a vocation at one point as well. It's nice to hear about a place that's always been special to my family getting some notice.

I met author Caitlin Dowdy when she did a book signing at the Boston Public Library once and was equally as shocked to hear her talk about Mount Auburn. Oh, Caitlin Dowdy. We've talked about her before here and there, but she is like she's my celeb crush for sure. She's so cool. Like I She's someone I really admire I think

Yeah Or I know And I think The next time I'm feeling creative I want it You know one of those like Those prayer candles That you can get with pictures of like

Oh Like Jesus No Yes But no I was thinking Yes

That's like the OG design Jesus is the OG design Jesus is the OG design Jesus is the OG prayer candle man, but... But you want to replace Jesus with Caitlin Dowdy. Yes. Okay, thanks for connecting the dots. It's a bit like hearing your favorite author or podcast,

Bring Up Your Grandmother's Chicken Soup Recipe. The second reason I decided to write in is because the career field I did fall into is museum work. I work for an aviation museum, and over the weekend, we got a cool donation with a national park connection. We received a pair of aviation goggles that were originally a gift to another pilot from Captain William Winkapaw, who was known as the first Flying Santa. Are there many flying Santa's? The first Flying Santa.

Other than the OG Santa, who does fly? By nature. So curious. Winkapaw started a tradition that is now nearly 100 years old of flying between the lighthouses of New England to drop off Christmas packages for the lightkeepers. and their families, including what is now the Boston Harbor Islands recreational area. There's even a nonprofit called Friends of Flying Santa, which keeps the tradition going today. It was his way of thanking the lightkeepers for helping him to navigate in the air all year round. At that time, aviation was a risky proposition, especially in poor weather conditions.

I've attached a photo of the goggles. Anyway, thanks for the podcast, Elle. What? That's so cool. I didn't even know that happened in New England. This is our home. No one has one time told me about a flying Santa. Read the word. No. A flying Santa that goes to the lighthouses of New England.

You're kidding me. That's so cool. I just remember seeing as a kid watching the weather and on like around Christmas or Christmas Eve and they'll like track Santa or whatever. Oh, yeah. Or was it the weather chance? I don't know. It's the news.

You know? And they're like, oh, he's in Chicago making his way. Yeah, I remember they would do it based on like the time zones too. They'd be like heading this way next. Wow, we should look into this. That's really cool. Yeah, it's kind of inspiring. So I'm working, spoiler alert, I'm working on a Christmas episode and maybe that will have to make an appearance in it.

Oh, cool. I'm excited. Well, going back to the first half of your submission, thank you for writing in and calling out a family connection. It's always really cool to hear when people comment or email. in about personal connections that they have to either story locations or the people within the stories. You know, we've heard it all from like, I used to work with Timothy Treadwell's cousin or, you know, I grew up in that house that you talked about or, you know, I knew this person.

They were my cousin. You know, whatever. It's just, it's really cool to hear people's connections. You never know who's listening out there. So if you do have any sort of personal connections like that. We would love to hear him. Yeah, and we were at the Auburn Cemetery very recently. Yes.

Yep. I got to show Cassie. We were going to a two girls, one ghost show. Yeah. In Boston to go support Sprina and Corinne. And before we had a couple of hours to kill. So we decided to stroll around Mount Auburn. And it's just so beautiful there, like, truly.

And I know it's very well funded. So the upkeep is immaculate. But it's cool. It's very clearly well-taking- Yeah. Once you know the history and how it all began and stuff, it gives it another dimension. So.

For sure. All right. Well, my next story is titled Spider-Woman. I'll start off by joining the praise of this amazing podcast that I have listened to since episode one. Wow. God bless. Thank you. You need a prayer candle.

Thank you. Of our faces. Of our faces. Oh, my gosh. Is that a new merch item? Yeah, it is. I don't know how we're going to mass produce that, but it would be so... That would be really cool.

Yeah. Not, I mean, that feels like we're full of ourselves. We're not. We just think it would be fun to have people worship us. Exactly. So, if somebody knows... Speaking of connections and stuff, like if you can mass produce a candle with our faces on our faces. Reach out. You know where to find us. Info at NPDPADP Podcast.

Millions are going to be sold. Or if you just want to send one to like create it and send one to us as a joke, that would also be fine. I would accept that. I would accept that gift. Yes. Thank you. Every single episode topic you have chosen has been interesting and well written. You have kept me company on many road trips and work days out in the forest. This will be my first time writing a trail tale, but I love to listen to all the funny, scary, and adventurous things that other listeners share. My name is Meredith, and I'm writing about the time I got bit by a black widow spider. I grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, where I frequently went hiking and camping. This instilled a love of the outdoors that many of us at NPA share.

I decided to pursue this love for my career, which has led to so many story where they're. the experiences. As an environmental science major at California State University, Sacramento, I had to choose a related internship to get class credits. I decided to work at my local wildlife rescue, where I would primarily be rehabilitating baby deer, also known as fons. I would help to capture injure fons, provide treatment, and care for them until they were ready to be released back into the wild. What a fun internship. Yeah. I want to save baby dears. Fonds. Fonds. The wildlife rescue was located in rural Sierra Nevada foothills town called Georgetown, California. It's located about 3,000 feet in elevation and is part of the historical motherload region where the gold rush occurred.

There's lots of wildlife, including deer, raccoons, hawks, owls, bobcats, mountain lions, and bears. One of my primary responsibilities was feeding the fawns. When they were first captured, we would feed them a formula mixture to help replace what their mothers would have provided. When they got older, we would transition them to a dry diet of leaves, fruits, and alfalfa. To gather leaves, I would spend hours at a time wandering through the forest with a five-gallon bucket and a good podcast. Sometimes I would get a little worried about encountering a bear or mountain lion, but most of the time I had my bosses two cattle dogs running around nearby. Side note, there was a fatal mountain lion encounter in 2024 in the exact same area I would gather leaves at. This story is thankfully not about that animal, however.

is about an arachnid. One day, I was wandering around the woods and my long pants and ankle-high boots. The area I was in had a particularly high amount of dead wood and brush on the ground. I gathered a few buckets of leaves and fed them to the fawns before leaving. When I got back home, I started to feel a slight stinging sensation on my lower right leg. I didn't mention it to anyone because I figured it was just the start of a new poison oak rash. I am very prone to getting poison oak, so I almost always had a rash while I worked there. The next morning, the stinging was not something I could ignore. I pulled up my pant leg and my suspicions were confirmed when I saw a classic poison oak rash, more so I thought. This rash had a very interesting mark in the center that

looked like two tiny red pinpricks. I told my boyfriend about how all the pain seemed to be coming from that little mark. With how many times I've had poison oak, I knew it was not supposed to hurt this bad. As the day progressed, the rash turned into hundreds of small blisters, and the area on my lower leg started to become a discolored red-slash-purple. Every time I stood up, I could feel the blood rushing to my leg, and the pain would start to flow through my body like venom through my veins. Still trying to convince myself that it was going to heal itself, I went to school the next day. My whole leg was cramping and achy. If I took a step on that leg, I would feel a jolt of pain go up my entire spine. I decided the only way to get around campus was to use crutches.

When I went to walk out of one of my classes, my professor stopped me to ask what was wrong. I said I didn't know and showed in my leg, which had been distracting me during the whole class. At this point, I had already been suspicious of a bug bite because of the strange red marks at the center of my rash. My professor immediately told me to go look up black widow bites. The pictures and descriptions of the symptoms were exactly what I was experiencing.

so I scheduled the doctor's appointment for the next day. On day three, the symptoms were just as bad, if not worse, than the previous day. My whole back and lower body started to cramp, and I tried to avoid standing up because of the pain. I was also feeling systemic symptoms like fever, headache, and nausea. Luckily, I was able to get to the doctor in the morning. Although the doctor had never seen a black widow bite, they believed my theory after looking at the articles I showed them. They prescribed me antibiotics and pain relief medications that helped to clear up the infection in a few days. The last part of the story happened when I got home from the doctor's office. When I parked my car and reached back inside to grab my purse, I saw a spider scurried beneath my driver's seat.

I freaked out and ran inside to have my boyfriend catch the spider. Turns out, it was a large female black widow spider who almost certainly was the one who bit me. I felt almost proud that my self-diagnosis was correct. but also very disturbed that my spider had been in my car. My theory was that it crawled into my pant leg while I was out gathering leaves and then bit me when I sat down in my car because it was afraid of getting crushed. I ended up researching and learning a lot about Black Widows because of this experience and I have surprisingly gained more respect for them.

I used to be terrified of all spiders, but now I know that most of them do not buy people unless they are provoked. Sometimes I find myself thinking about what would have happened in the olden days before modern medicine. Would I have had to chop off my leg? Would it have spread through my whole body and killed me? It makes me grateful for being an alive, fully intact human being. And who knows, maybe I have a little Spider-Man powers in me now. Enjoy the view, but check your pant legs, Meredith. Wow. Meredith, what a trooper, first of all, to go to school and continue your life after you were bit by a venomous spider. Like no biggie. Yeah. And I know you weren't really sure, but you had your

suspicions and it feels like your gut was right on point immediately. The thing about black widow spiders is it is in that category of things that I thought were going to be a massive problem when I was young, like as an adult. I feel like they were they were taught a lot. We learned a lot about them that we had to watch out for them. Yeah, Black Widows. Because they're in New England and there's not much else here. Are they? That's a venomous? I believe so. Not many, but I believe that they are here. Okay. Kind of like rattlesnakes we have, I think, one species of rattlesnake. Yeah, it's in the category of, along with, so black widows, quicksand, the sun. Catching on fire. The catching on fire. The sun exploding. I was not afraid of that. Vermuda triangle. Yeah. Bermuda triangle. Yeah. It was up there for sure. Those were the things that I felt were going to be an imminent problem. Yeah, I really expected to catch on fire more often in my life. Hasn't even happen one time.

Have you gone on fire actually? Yeah. Before I say that. No. Yeah, me neither. Like I've had little sparks from fires like fall on my jacket or something, but I've never actually been physically on fire. Okay.

Well, you never know. I know. Stop dropping roll is. It's still important, though. I do think you should know that. No, like I understand why that was taught for sure just because you need that information to help yourself in a situation that does happen quite often to be. people. But everything else, like, I don't know, just the black widow spider, I just always thought

I'm going to encounter one. And when I do, it's going to bite me and I will die. Yeah. Yeah. I remember thinking whenever you see a spider, you're like, oh, is it a black widow? Yeah, immediately check. There's, what, 5,000 species of spiders? You're just like, is it a black widow? Yeah, I could name it. If it's a black spider, we're like, it's a black widow. Yeah, check for what is it? The red, it's like a little. Why can I never think of this descriptor? Hourglass. Oh, yeah, yeah.

It's on their back, I think. Or I thought it was on their abdomen. Oh, maybe. I don't know. Either way, it was in the third grade, it was a hot topic, for sure. Terrified. Well, I'm glad you're okay and you didn't have to amputate or anything like that. 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. My next story also has to do with this spider. Is it a black widow?

I am unsure. But it is titled The Beach Spider. Oh. Hello, you lovely people. And PAD is about the only podcast I make sure I listen to every week. I appreciate your dedication to the stories and to the planet, and I hope the podcast continues for however long it is a positive element in your life. Anyway, here's my tale.

Thank you. That's really nice. It's very sweet. Wanderlust strikes me hardest in May. In 2018, I planned a long and winding road trip from Missouri to California and back with a variety of scenic stops and roadside attractions. I persuaded my sister to come, saying we would only camp out, in my Mercury Mountaineer a couple of times and that I had customized it with removable window coverings. She is one of the few people that such a trip would be tolerable. Being the laid back

person she is, I had planned out everything I wanted to do and she was happy to go with the flow. We saw breathtaking nature scenes and kitschy tourist traps and they both were equally enjoyed. I could write a short novel of all we got to see and do, but I'll cut to the chase and set the scene of the unfortunate mishap that occurred. I love the little things. things that you stop at on your road trips and stuff. I think everyone has a different taste in that, but I actually really enjoy being along for the ride for yours. The largest in the world stops. It's fun. It's like it's silly and no stress fun. Yeah. The largest, we did see the largest purple spoon in the world this year. That was really exciting. Outside of glacier. And it was so exciting because

it was unexpected. It was. We drove. by and we're like, wait a second. And it said right there, the largest. Purple. Purple. Vermont has the tallest filing cabinet and the world's largest zipper. Have you seen either? Yeah. The cabinet, but not the zipper. But I'll get there. Okay. I'll get it. 2026. It's a stone, it's a stone zipper. Yeah, I'll probably have to wait till the spring when it's not covered in snow anymore. It like bled into, I remember kind of like, I don't know, it was like a half hour from where Ian and I used to live, but was the world's largest egg.

I remember when you guys sent me the picture of me there and it was the best. I was like, Ian, stop everything. We have to go there. It's an emergency. Okay. We had finished a visit with our aunt residing in San Francisco and we set out early heading north. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and winding up the coast we quickly came to one of my roadside stops, Black Sands Beach. The walk down to the beach was a bit of a trek, steep stairs and sand.

We weren't dressed for our hike, but we didn't plan on staying on the beach long, just long enough to gather a bit of sand in a bottle, as I had been doing at each beach we visited. I squatted down to scoop some of the sand when I saw my sister jolt from the corner of my eye. Look out, she shouts, as I see a black shape of a large spider. coming in my direction. Now, common sense says spiders don't really hang out on the beach, let alone one of tarantula size and girth. But common sense is a fleeting thing when you're vulnerable and surprised. I quickly try to backpedal and stand at the same time, difficult in the soft sand.

And something is wrong. My back flares in pain. I cry out and slowly lower myself onto the beach. Now, one thing about me. If I could exist without being perceived, I would. I hate attention and do everything in my power to avoid being looked at. So when I say, I laid in that cold black sand and screamed from pain, I had never experienced.

Half of the pain was knowing there were other people not far away that might, God forbid, notice me. Oh, no. My sister laughed nervously and brought my attention to the fact, carefully stepping on the plastic spider, she had thrown and burying it. out of sight. One thing about my sister, she will take any opportunity to scare me senseless. Once she realized I wasn't playing it up to get back at her, she planted herself beside me while I had a panic attack. When the hyperventilating slowed down and I attempted standing a few times before resigning myself to the reality that I could not stand on my own, let alone be able to

hike back up the steep steps, I called my mom, who was a classic worry war and explain the situation to her, asking for advice, because what little girl? doesn't want some reassurance from her mom. Surprisingly, she was very calm and said, well, I suppose you should call 911 and ask them. So we did. And they said they'd come pick me up. So we waited.

And while we waited, my sister scrolled through Reddit, relating funny posts, and then wondered if they would send a boat or a helicopter or come to us on foot. They came the same way we did, and my heart sank, knowing that they were about to carry me up that cliff. Let me tell you,

not much is as humbling as being the reason several grown men are huffing and puffing from the exertion of hauling your dead weight up a giant hill. Again, made worse by my uncontrollable screaming at intervals from my seated position like I was on some bizarre royalty litter. Bless those emergency response men, they reassured me that they had dealt with far worse and understood that I was in terrible pain. They transported me to the nearest hospital, my sister following. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of confiding.

to the ER doctor that I had a panic attack following the injury. From that point on, he dismissed me, pressed around my back, said it felt fine, and told me to stand up and leave as soon as I was able. I was shocked, telling him that if I was able to do that, I would have done so at the beach. He said I already had a muscle relaxer. The most he could do was give me a valium. He left to fetch that, and I looked at my sister with fire in my eyes. I'm going to stand up before that guy comes back. this is not a panic attack. A few screams and a lot of tender wiggling later, I was upright, still in pain, but resolute on not staying any longer.

He returned with the volume and was only mildly surprised to see me standing. I took it and we left. My sister went to bring the car to me and I went into the subway next door to get us food. I was able to very slowly and tenderly shuffle along, but it was about this time that the volume kicked in and I must have been quite a sight because the workers kept asking me if I was okay. I gestured vaguely out their window saying my sister was coming. This seemed to worry them more since she had just parked out of sight. But eventually, we were on the long road home.

I was so disappointed that the trip had taken this turn. Yellowstone was one of our future stops we had never seen before. We did return in 2019 with a lot more of our family to see Yellowstone. But I was so injured, it often took me 10 minutes just to wiggle out of my seat at our stops. That said, we still saw more beautiful scenery and we're so grateful we got to experience so much of the diverse country. A lengthy health journey later, I find I had a bulging disc and I feel vindicated whenever I think of that jaded ER doctor. My sister still sends me pictures of spiders and even gifted me a taxidermy tarantula one birthday. We laugh about the absurdity of it all and still take road trips together. Enjoy the view, but watch out for beach spiders. Bethany.

Bethany. So funny. That is such a sister. I would never let that go for sure. I'm glad you can laugh about it now, but I feel your pain with like disc and back slash neck injury type of things. They're so debilitating and so frustrating. And I've also been there with doctors who do not believe you, which is difficult to deal with and adds another layer of frustration when.

you're experiencing a medical issue. So it's a memorable time though. You'll never forget that. Yeah. To be told, you're overreacting by a doctor, though. Oh, you're overreacting. It's like, okay. Can we like? I'm telling you I'm in pain. You've never met me before in my life. Right. I'm telling you I'm in pain. I'm here looking for help. I just paid however much to get transported here. I'm taking this time out of it. I don't even want to be noticed, let alone be in care right now. So please just help me. Yeah, that's awful. But this story kind of has inspired me to ask for pranks gone wrong stories. Oh, that would be a fun one. Yeah. That would be a fun one. 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. I remember when I was a kid, I thought this isn't really a prank gone wrong because nothing ever came of it, but I had seen on TV that people would saran wrap their toilets. So you would saran wrap your toilet. So that way, like, if a guy went to pee, it would bounce back up at them.

But you do tight saran wrap. So you can't see that because it just looks like. Okay. So I tried to do that at my house, like, many times. And it was very obvious that were saran wrap there. And I never. It never worked. It never worked.

Were you trying to prank your brother or your dad or? Everyone. Oh, no one was safe. Okay. No one was safe. Yeah. That's such a. No one ever.

do that to me, please. First of all, I would probably notice. And second of all, that's such a gross, like, then you just have piss everywhere. Yeah, you just get to feel over the floor. Yeah. It's not a good, it's not a good prank. But I did try it many times. I don't, okay, I don't know if I really love, I just heard a debate actually on another podcast this week about prank families. And most specifically, like, if you are to be kind of taken into a podcast. prank family, like if you're significant other's family is super into pranks and how you feel about that

and how you would deal with that. I don't like it. I don't either. The whole, the conversation was actually, would you rather be, I keep wanting to say adopted into, but taken in or absorbed into a turkey trot family or

a prank family. Turkey trot for sure. Yes. Once a year. Oh, yeah. Let's do it. A 5K? Like, who cares? 5K whatever great yeah don't prank me i don't make me live on edge that you're going to do something i always think of this video that you know online now there's a lot of prank couples that my nightmare do pranks on each other well i remember watching this one and this was before everyone started

staging everything this was kind of in the early the early days of prank couples and i remember watching this one that horrifies me to this day. And it was, actually, I remember two. Okay. I'll tell the one that horrifies me. And then I'll tell the one that's really fucking funny. Okay. So what to do and what not to do? Yeah. No, the other one is not what to do. It was wicked mean, but it was so funny. Okay, okay. So the first one was this guy, they did pranks on each other all the time. And his wife had just gotten him really good on another one. So he said he was going to get her really good next. And so what he does is he leaves his iPad at home.

And he has a friend texting. He changed the friend's name into like a girl's name in his phone and had her start texting with like photos and messages talking about like all stuff showing that he was cheating. All stuff showing that he was actively cheating on her. And she read it, fully believed it. And in this video, she gets so upset. She picks up something and she throws it at the TV. And she just falls on the ground and starts crying.

Oh. And you can just see it. And she is just so heartbroken. And she believes it 100%. And then he comes running in laughing and like, ha, ha, ha, you believed it. It's a joke. Look. And then, like, shows her the proof on his phone that it was a joke.

But it was too late. You could see the damage was done. And she was just like, you just watch this girl's heartbreak in real time as a joke. And it wasn't funny at all. And they smashed like, she smashed like an 60 inch, 80 inch screen TV. Beautiful TV. All of it was not funny. And I just remember watching it be like, oh my God. Yeah, that's not. And when you bring emotion into it like that, like your real relationship or dynamic or trust. or anything like that's way too far. Yeah. And I just felt for her really bad in that moment too because it was shortly after I had found out a relationship. This was many years ago that I was in had cheated on me. So I knew exactly how she felt. Oh, no.

And I was like, oh my God, no. Like I just saw and felt and my heart like broke with her. I was like, oh, my God. So it was awful. And those kind of pranks are horrible. You should never prank your partner into thinking that you're cheating on them or. I've never even heard of something like that, to be honest. It's kind of common. It's kind of common. They come up in my feed often.

Okay. Or there's like a pretty common one that people have been doing recently where they text their partner as soon as they leave the house. They left. It's safe to come over now. I say don't do that. With like a winky face or something. And then they film them like stop their car, turn around and like run and pissed. That's like a really common one. I just, I hate those. I think that they're awful. But the one that's really, really funny.

Okay. And horrible. So horrible. They were so funny. Is this another couple that plays pranks on each other all the time? This girl, she, okay, you're building this up. The evil, the diabolicalness of this, the funny is.

So anyway, her husband has a routine where every day that he comes home from work, he goes to the bathroom and he takes a shit. Why is that every person, every man I've ever met? Every man. Yeah. So she is counting on this routine and what she does is she pepper sprays the toilet paper roll and she waits and he goes in, says hi, kisses her, hope you had a great day, going to go do my thing, goes into the bathroom, a couple seconds go by and you just start hearing

him say, babe, babe, I don't know what's going to. going on. I don't know what's going on. He's like, it's burning. It's burning. And she's like, oh my God, oh my God. She's like, you need ice. You need ice. And she's like playing along. Like she has no idea what's going on. She goes. She grabs ice to give it to him. He starts putting this ice all over his stuff. She had pepper sprayed the ice. No. That's way too far. Oh, no. She's like, he's like trying to do it. And he's like, oh my God. He realized it. that this is because she just starts breaks down laughing and he's like, get away from me. He's like jumps in the shower.

And she's like trying to help him. He's like, get away from me. I don't trust you. And he's like jumps in the shower in the middle of it. And it's just. That is evil. It's so funny. It was so evil.

And it was so funny. Yeah. I don't mess with harming me physically. Like, no, I would never want it done to me. but when she brought out the ice cubes and she had tampered with those, I was like, oh, my God. Genius. An evil genius is born. The evil genius is among us.

Yes. Yeah, no, the one that every time I see it and I don't follow them, but they always come up on my feed. And this is the type of praying family. I'm like, I don't, this is not funny, especially after the like the hundredth time. And it's the couple. I'm sure you've seen them because I feel like they're everywhere. If you're a listener, sorry, but it's annoying. And I don't know how you guys function like this.

They're a couple, probably about our age, maybe a little older. They have kids. But their whole thing to each other is they fill balloons with like shaving cream. And they hang them above like doorways or in closets or wherever this other person's going to walk. And they'll hide the person who fills it up and what places is. it will hide. And with the other person comes in, you know, through the doorway or whatever, they'll shoot it with like a Nerf gun or some type of gun. And then it'll fall and splat all over them,

all over the floor, all over everything. And then they'll launch a confetti cannon at them. So confetti sticks to everything. What the hell is that? I would be so so so. It's not. funny. The rage I would feel at that, you know, like the first or second time, whatever. It's like dumping water on them and then shooting flour at them. It's just, now my hair's wet. I have to do my hair. See, I have to clean. That's so funny. Cassie. You think I would never want it done to me. I would never think it was funny if it was being done to me ever. Okay. This is what. So funny to watch. This is what I think. think is the type of, it's so, I hesitate to even say it out loud because I think you have to see it and be in the right mood to think it's funny. But I love harmless, stupid. Like, what the fuck is this?

Pranks that aren't, like, they're just so ridiculous and stupid that it's funny. Like what? Have you seen the video of the, um, the, I don't know if it's a girl doing it to somebody, I don't know, whatever. But essentially, this girl goes to wash her face and her partner or whoever friend is, I think it was a guy actually who did it. He's filming her and she's like, what are you doing? Like, why are you filming me? Whatever. And she's going to wash her face and the guy is just losing his mind laughing. She's like, what is the problem? And he had taken her bar of soap that she had used to wash her face every night and took a potato and she. And she. And she. And she. it into the exact shape.

And he's just losing his mind. He's like, it's a potato. And just like, what? Like, why would you do this? It's like, what is the point of that? That's funny. See, that's a prank that I could handle myself. Like, that would be funny.

It's funny because it's so stupid. Like, that's what I like. Or being scared, like little jump scares are fine. Have you seen the one? I were on a tangent now, but have you seen the one where this girl is hiding under her boyfriend's bed? Or I think they live together. So she's hiding under their bed and he's going into the closet for something. And she has this recording of this really creepy, like, doll type thing being like, hello.

Hello. Turn around. Yeah. Yeah, that one. And he freaks out and runs screaming out of the rim. I think that's funny too. I think it's hard, though, because now in this day and age, I never know what's staged.

That's true. I have been doing. Have you seen those trends that's online that's rage baiting where you rage bait your boyfriend? In what way? It'll be like, for example, one of them is like, hey honey, what sport would you play if you were athletic? Oh, yes. Yes. I've been doing that to Al.

Oh, no. Not filming it or anything, but I've been doing it to Al. falls for it every time. Every time. Well, you got to sprinkle it and you can't do it too often because then they'll catch on. It's not often. It's like, actually I did it like three times in a week one time, but now I've been sneakily doing it. But I remember one time I was sitting there and I was like, do you ever wish you were taller? He's six feet tall, by the way, or 511. He's tall. I'm 5'2. I was like, do you ever wish you were taller? Oh. And he was like, what? And I was like, I don't know, Like, you're not that tall.

Like, my dad is six, four. Do you ever wish you were tall? And he was like, what? And I was like, I mean, I love having a short king, but. Oh, no. Do you ever think about it? Spirled. I'm not short.

I'm six feet tall. What are you talking? Just like full spiral. It was so funny. It was so funny. Poor Al. Yeah. Because you know he could never do that.

Like, if he even tried to raise him. bait you. I cry immediately. Yeah. Tears. Backfired right in his face. Yeah, it wouldn't go well. You'd have to apologize for weeks. Yeah, you'd be in the doghouse. Where are we? Are we done? Yeah. Well, we have two more. Oh, right. Okay. We have two more stories. If you are an outsider, come hang out with us. Mine is titled The Things We Carried, Teachable Moments in Glacial. Sure. And mine is titled, A Psycho Almost Stabbed Us After Our Hike. Oof.

Okay. Well. So if you want to know more about that, hang out with us on Patreon or Apple subscriptions will both have these two bonus stories. And for everyone else, we will see you next week. Please don't prank other people. But if you do and it goes wrong, tell us about it. Oh, that's how we got here.

Because I asked for, um. Okay. circle. Okay, yeah. So have a great week. We will see you next time. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye. Bye. Thank you for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale of your own you'd like to share, you can write to us at NPAD Stories at gmail.com or visit our website at NPADpodcast.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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