National Park After Dark - Trail Tales 91

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

Today’s stories include silent fury, collecting clouds, Titanic misses, cougar snacks, haunted Maine, and late night cheesy bread. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! WE WERE NOMINATED FOR A WEBBY! VOTE FOR US HERE BY APRIL 16TH! For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials: Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdark Support 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 this week’s partners! Bellesa: EVERYONE who signs up wins a FREE Rose suction toy with their order at National Park After Dark's Vibe Giveaway | BBoutique Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Monday AI agents took over my work. And I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind now. They live inside Monday.com. So they see the full picture, my work, my team, the whole company. And I don't have to worry about the data. It's safe, which means I'm free to focus on the big stuff,

knowing everything runs smoothly in the background. It's completely shifted the way we work. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday.com. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress.

Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Hello, everyone and welcome back to National Park After Dark Trail Tales Edition. My name is Danielle.

I'm Cassie. Welcome, welcome. We're excited, as always, to tell you some stories. If you have one that you're itching to write into us, go to our website, MPADpodcast.com. We have a submission link. And today we have a lot of good ones. Do you want to go first or do you want me to go first? You know, I think I should go first.

Okay. And I don't know why I said that. I just feel like, so my first. First one is the shortest of the mole. Oh. But I think we should just kick it off with some family lore. Oh, I like family lore. And just for full transparency, this email was exceedingly actually long.

And I just took the second half of it. So that's why I shortened. Oh, okay. Okay. All right. So this one, of course, titled Family lore. This story was first told to me by my grandma. And I'm going to tell it in much the same way that she told it to me.

me. My grandpa's great-grandparents. So, their great-great-great-grandparents? Yeah. Their parents, great-grandparents? So no, they're grandparents, great-grandparents. Oh. Whatever. Three-greats. I think it's three-grates away. Came to America from Holland and the Netherlands with their children in 1912. They had to take a train to the port from where they lived, and it was a pretty long trip. As you can imagine, several small children got pretty restless on the train. One of them, great-uncle Ari, who would have been around 10 years old, stuck his head out of the window of the train. As they were going, a cinder from the steam engine blew back and got into his eye. By the time they got to the coast, it was swollen and full of pus. Since they would be traveling in steerage, they had to pass a health inspection before they would be allowed to board. Ari was denied because they assumed his eye was

diseased and the family didn't speak enough English to explain that he was not sick, he was just merely injured. So they were faced with the choice to split up the family or give up their place on the ship. Well, there was no way that my ancestors were going to leave any family behind. So the decision was made and they did not board the Titanic. Oh, wow. Okay. So now nearly...

So now nearly every generation since has named an Ari in honor. honor of the rambunctious little boy who inadvertently saved the entire family. My grandma had a very, very old newspaper clipping also telling the story which she showed us after since the headline gave the story away. She has since passed away and I have no idea where it is now or even if someone has it. And then it just ends. That's all. I don't know who this is from or where they are now. But you were saved. You were, you know, sometimes bad things are blessing. and disguises. As soon as I read 1912 originally and ship, I knew where this was going. You're like, and no one would have the audacity to write me in a 1912 ship story that was not

the Titanic. That's right. Yeah. So thank you, whoever you are. And I think it's also really cool that the family collectively over generations have just all agreed that we need to keep Ari alive in some way. Yeah, that's a good luck charm. You have a good luck family member. That's a lot of pressure for whoever it gets that name to live up. It's like you will bring good things to this family. You will bring honor on this family. Yeah. For generations. You are the chosen one. I hope you like that name because you're bound to it. But anyway, okay. So I thought that one was cool. That's fun. Okay. My first story is titled, A Masterclass in Dry Sox and Humility. Hey, ladies, first of all, I have to say how much I'm loving your podcast. I came to it a little late,

to late 2025, fashionably behind, as usual, after a colleague recommended it, and now I'm hooked. The stories are so vivid and well told that I've even recommended the show to my high school students for a biweekly podcast assignment they have to do. Lively engaging just the right amount of edge. It's such a good listen. We're teaching the youth. I recently talk about pressure. Wait, what are the high schoolers? Yeah. Okay, so they, I don't feel bad about cursing then. just want to know if they think I'm cool. You know, I haven't talked to a high schooler in a while, and I just don't know. Am I aging well?

Would high school me think I was cool? That's really hard to say. Please only write in if you think I'm cool because otherwise it'll hurt my feelings. I was going to say that's a risk that you're asking the youth. Maybe it's better not to know. Okay, I recently listened to your 2022 episode, Surviving the Worst Weather on the Planet, White Mountain National Forest, and it immediately unlocked a core memory, my own ill-advised attempt to conquer the beast herself, Mount Washington.

Ah, a homeland, a home state story. For context, my dad and his brother were raised feral in the wholesome Boy Scout wilderness survival kind of way, knots, compass bearings, merit badges, the whole aesthetic. Naturally, when they had kids, they raised us the same way. Our childhood photos are less Disney World and more Mudcake Children trium. confidently holding walking sticks. We practically memorized Cuyahoga Valley National Park before it even earned the National Park low up.

When I was 10, my aunt and uncle just moved outside of Boston, which my dad and uncle interpreted as a divine sign to expand their hiking territory. Every fall, we'd fly into Boston Logan International Airport. The moms would disappear for a well-earned girls' weekend, and the dads would load up four children like we were heading into battle and drive north to the White Mountains. Year one, magical. Crunchy leaves, crisp air, moose spotting like we were on the National Geographic. Okay, I don't believe you.

Where are they? The White Mountains of New Hampshire. Oh, right, yeah. Moose spotting. Never had the pleasure. Moose are not real, and I stand by that. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that the rest of your story is real. Yeah, for the sake of the story, we'll accept it.

Yeah. We belt it out, right said Freds. too sexy at the base of old man of the mountain back when his granite profile still ruled the cliffside. It was idyllic, rugged, slightly ridiculous. So, of course, we went back the next year. Late October arrived at Joe Dodge Lodge and Pink of Notch gateway to the mountain. Day one, absolute perfection. Mid-50s, golden light, we hiked to Crystal Cascade and thought,

if tomorrow's like this, we're in for a dream hike. Then we woke up the next morning. Snow. Not your magic. not blizzard level yet, just that persistent, quiet snow that looks peaceful from the inside of a warm lodge and feels very different once you're standing in it with a backpack on. But did that stop us? Of course not.

This was pre-smartphone. No one was Googling. Is this a terrible idea? We had confidence. We had snacks. We had baseball caps to keep our heads warm. Baseball caps in all caps. We set off via the Tuckerman Ravine Trail 4.1 miles up.

which means over eight miles round trip. We decided to pace ourself, which in hindsight just meant prolonged exposure to worsening doom. The snow kept falling and falling and falling. By mile two, I was a walking cautionary tale. Cold, wet, hungry, dead last in the lineup and fully at peace with that position.

Our gear was laughable. Standard pants, thin thermals, sweatshirts, basic winter jackets, basic socks on our feet, and those tragic knitted gloves that turn into 20-pound ice sponges the moment they see moisture. I always had those. I had an aunt who would knit them for us, and they were always so cute, and it was so nice. And they keep you warm as long as you don't get wet. We pressed on because pride is powerful.

Eventually, we reached a small hut to regroup. My cousin Rebecca and I had fallen approximately 20 bazillion times and could no longer feel our fingers. The trading post at the base had zero spare gloves, so we ditched the heavy-knit gloves and pulled spare socks over our hands instead. It wasn't glamorous, but it was warmer. Meanwhile, my cousin had been complaining about his toes. My uncle pulled off his boots expecting bunched-up socks. Nope, soaked toes turning blue.

There is nothing that will sober a hiking group faster than seeing a nine-year-old's toes auditioning for hypothermia. Thankfully, because be prepared, is a little bit more. apparently code for pack 47 spare socks. My dad had extras. Dry socks were deployed, feet were salvaged, circulation was restored. Boy Scouts won Mother Nature, currently winning, but it was pretty close. At this point, I was done, spiritually, physically, emotionally composing my will. Spiritually composing my will is perfect. One of the dads went ahead to scout the trail and thank every guardian angel in the white mountains ran into a descending hiker who warned him not to continue

especially with four kids. Half a mile up, the trail turned steep and required serious rock scrambling. In a snowstorm on a mountain famous for casually recording hurricane force winds, we packed it in. The boys protested, the 14 and 9 year old, not the grownups. Pride flared, but common sense finally won. We slid, skidded, and half fell our way back down. I mentally directed an entire sock puppet musical to distract myself. It was layered, it was nuanced, it deserved a Tony. We stumbled back into the lodge, thawed out in front of the fire, cradled mugs of cocos like survivors of a minor Arctic expedition,

and laughed nervously about what our mothers would say when they found out. Now, whenever I hear Mount Washington mentioned alongside words like extreme, unpredictable or highest wind speeds ever recorded, I don't feel brave, I feel lucky. Lucky no fingers were lost, lucky no toes were sacrificed, lucky that somewhere between pride and poor planning, a stranger on the trail decided to speak up. Mother Nature absolutely humbles, but also lets you leave sometimes with just a story and a newfound respect for dry socks. Alyssa.

Mount Washington, don't sleep on it. Yeah. I say that all the time. I can really picture this whole story too because that trail that they did is where I took my Abbey course. Oh, really? Yeah. I hike the same thing and I know exactly where it gets to the rock scrambles. That's where you're like in Tuckerman's ravine before you get to the summit.

And you're kind of you're kind of in a bowl which shields you from the really high winds in awful weather. So I can see how their dad at that point was like, you know, it's not too bad. Like let's keep going. And a hiker coming down and be like, oh, no. Yeah, turn back now. Turn back now. You've got to get out of here, especially with kids. Yeah.

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That's why you. you wreck. Okay, my next story is titled, I think it's just a dear question mark. Hi, Danielle and Cassie. I've been a listener since the very beginning and have had some trail tale adjacent stories before, but none that ever hit so close to my biggest fear as an outdoorsy person. Last year, I met and started dating my boyfriend, Dan. We live in Texas and frequently drive about three hours to Hoachetown, Oklahoma on the edge of Washaton National Forest for weekend getaways. The Hoche Town area backs up to the National Forest and in Oklahoma State Park, so there's very dense forest. The town is almost entirely made up of Airbnb's and rental properties with around 250 permanent residents,

but the population skyrockets over the weekends as Dallas residents like us flock here to get away from the city. This holiday season, we decided to spend with Dan's family and rent what is basically a mansion in the woods for all 16 of us, plus a new puppy Gizmo to stay in before Christmas. The long weekend was full of sweets, games, family time, and the two of us taking plenty of hikes to get away from the aforementioned family time. One thing to know about my relationship is that I am the outdoorsy one. I'm an avid hiker with a life goal of submitting the highest peaks in each U.S. state. When friends ask if he likes hiking, my response is, well, Dan likes me and I like hiking, so he hikes. Needless to say, we did a lot of hiking.

As you should. On our last night after dinner, I was pretty tired from a day in the state park and also feeling peopled out from being around everyone for four days straight. Dan suggested we go out in the backyard and partake in some herbal remedies to relax a bit. His family is very against said herbal remedies, so we wandered closer to the edge of the woods to get away from the house in case a sister or a nephew came outside. While smoking and looking out into the darkness of the forest, we heard the sound of an animal in the leaves about 10 to 15 feet away.

Our first thought was this must be a deer because there was a deer feeder on the property that we had been watching with little kids for the past few days. We listened closer and I realized those footsteps seemed a bit too heavy to be a deer. And here is where I reveal my biggest fear.

Mountain lions. My eyes start adjusting to the darkness and I realize, oh shit, that is a mountain lion. And then we hear a hiss. At this point, I don't say to my city slicker boyfriend that, A, I know what this creature is or be that it could definitely kill us and we are way, way, way too close. So as calmly as I can while face to face with my biggest fear, I said, let's just back

away and get back up onto the porch because the last thing I wanted to do was cause alarm and make him want to run. I've listened to enough outdoor podcast to know that in this situation, you do not run. It was like fighting every instinct to back away slowly and not just make a mad dash up the stairs. While we were backing up and trying to move away, we can still hear the cat hissing and taking slow steps towards us. Finally, we make it up onto the stairs on the porch where we can see the mountain lion but aren't in immediate reach like we were before. When watching a predator from a distance, it's really beautiful. The way it moves and stalks is amazing, but terrifying to realize that that is exactly what it was doing to us. We finally go inside once it had determined the

midnight snack, us, two grown adults, weren't feasible prey and wandered back into the woods. I found the parents of Gizmo the puppy to let them know to keep a very watchful eye when taking him out potty since we'd been letting him run around the yard the entire time we had been there. Not to end the story on a downer, but the next morning, when packing up the cars, I was outside with Dan's sister-in-law when an older gentleman approached us. He asked, I was wondering if you two might have seen a Chihuahua running around here. He got out last night and we can't. can't find him. Oh my God. I didn't have the heart to tell him that his chihuahua was most likely a cougar snack. On the drive back to Dallas, I loaded up an episode of tooth and claw, and Dan got to

hear Wes explain just how much damage the creature we were 10 feet away from just 12 hours ago could have done. His conclusion was, I'm glad we didn't hear that podcast on the way up here. Thanks for all of the years of stories, and I'm looking forward to many, many more. Enjoy the view, but watch your back, especially when wandering into the woods to get away from family, Anna. I'm just going to assume that someone took in the chihuahua for the night and it was fine. Okay. Let's live there in that space. That's where I do live all the time. You just did a really nice dog episode, so I had to bounce out.

Okay, I've been crashing out about dogs recently. Chaska's getting much old. Chaska's showing his age a lot in recent weeks and I'm having a very difficult time. So sad dog things are just kind of like my, I hate technology so much because my entire algorithm is sad dog things. You got to, you have to click that you're not interested. When you look at a post, it's, I think it's in the bottom right or the top right, there's three dots. Okay.

And you click that and you do not interested. Wow. Okay. I'm going to do that. It'll change your. whole algorithm. Thank God, because it's every maybe three or four videos or posts, even from people I don't follow. Of course, it suggests things to you. Yeah. It's all about pet grief and putting your dog down and like, or sad situations or whatever. And I'm just like, I know. It's like, get away from me.

I can't handle this right now. Okay. You're making it worse. Yeah. So, yeah, good tip. Uh, Facebook, I think I was kind of recent or I recently noticed it is they actually have a tab on the bottom now that is you click Friends and it only shows a Friends feed. But no one posts on Facebook so it doesn't really matter. It's like just watching. I'm like, okay, Facebook. I know you say you're there for your, you have a lot of family on there still. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm not on it enough to do that. But it's, yeah, it is strange. It's like, why would I, I'm not following these people for a reason. I don't need. Is your algorithm all bangs still? Honestly, I've been taking, so the past, I guess only two days, it's only been two days. I've been taking a social media hiatus. Okay, good.

So I don't know what it is. Break free from the bangs. You're not going through. You don't need that right now. I don't need that in my life. You were close. I was close. It couldn't get me.

All right. My next story is titled Silent Fury. and karma that made my day. Hey y'all, it's Kelly and one girl who didn't know how to make a bingo card for the year. I'm just a girl, okay? I know. Kelly is on our outsiders and she, I see her on our live streams in our book club and she was in our live stream and we did a bingo card and I think she only got one.

Yeah, I'm like, okay, now you have to come up with 25 more or whatever the amount was. Okay. First, I'll start off by saying thank you for creating such an amazing space for myself and others to feel connected to kindred spirits. You two and what you have created were something I didn't know I needed until I found you. Thank you. That's very nice. You've helped me to understand my place in this world in more ways than one, and I'm forever grateful for you two for that. Okay, got that out of the way.

Now for my trail tale that as a woman made me furious. I'll change everyone's name except mine for privacy, although I know they don't listen. because, well, they're just stupid and don't know what they're missing. I'm here for that energy. My home park is Cuyahoga Valley National Park, about two hours from where I live. Yes, it's quaint. It's not your average bucket list and it's relatively new. But damn, it's beautiful. Imagine a cascading forest, vast valley overlooks, waterfalls with swimming holes, with crystal clear water, marshes, and so much wildlife. I go here every single year because it holds a very special place in my heart. Now for the tale. Last June, 2025, I invited my brother-in-law, who is outdoor savvy and

overly confident to go on a hiking journey through Cuyahoga with my husband and I. We will call my brother-in-law John and my husband, Smith. I did all the planning for this trip, booked our campsites at a Christmas tree farm, smelled so good, mapped out what trails we use, how far we will walk, etc. I shared all this information with John and Smith well before the trip. We got there for Friday night, set up camp as the sunset on the Christmas tree farm, and cooked dinner over the campfire. Great night and ready for the long hike ahead of us tomorrow. The next morning, we woke up early to get started. We met at the Boston Mill Visitor Center to talk to the rangers since this was during the recent government shutdown. I let them know we were going to be hiking

all the way up to the Jate Historic District and looping back and finishing there. This ranger looked at me, eyebrows raised, and said in a very doubtful tone, you're hiking, that? I smiled with my teeth gritted and said, yep, but what I wanted to say was, bitch, do not underestimate me. They let us know there are no bathrooms to use on that trail and no water refill stations. No problem. I'm ready. We started hiking and everything was amazing as usual. Visited my favorite waterfall, trucked on through the marshes with low visibility at our feet, where my foot came within six inches of the mouth of a basking snapping turtle. Scary, but they literally don't give a shit about you. I admired it and moved on. I let the boys know I was running

low on water as we were coming up to the halfway point, which was at the Jate Historic District. Well, I found out that the boys had been out of water for at least an hour at this point. Are you kidding me? It was 90 degrees out that day and you didn't bring enough water to make it to fill whatever. Your problem, not mine. Stay away from my precious water. We are so close to the halfway point and the boys look at the map on John's phone using Google Maps while I'm trying to tell the guys. Guys, I'm using all trails and I can show you where we can likely get water. The ranger station is probably close. Completely ignored.

Guys, I think we should just walk the extra mile to the historic district for water. Completely ignored. What happened? We walked to the fucking ranger station that was half a mile out of the way and guess what? It was closed. No water to be found. Okay, no problem. I'll just sit here simmering in my feminine fury thinking I should have left their asses in the dust because now I'm out of water and it's 90 degrees.

After they sit and have their nice little pout session, we get back on the trail and walk the half mile back and head for the Jate Historic District. We walk to one of the buildings and find a spigot on the side of one of the old houses and it works. Oh my gosh. Wow. A girl found water. She must be a witch. We fill our water bottles and sit at one of the picnic tables to eat some lunch. On our hike back down towards Boston Mill where we started, I made a comment to Smith, my husband,

that John is walking way too fast and running up really steep hills to get it over with quicker and he needs to slow down. Not because I can't keep up, but because he's going to feel like absolute shit tomorrow morning. Slow and steady wins the race buddy. It's a marathon and not a sprint, but I digress. We get back to camp mid-afternoon after 10 and a half miles of hiking. I'm exhausted. I drink a Gatorade and sleep for a couple of hours. Smith and I cook dinner over the campfire and we head into our tents for the night. The next morning, I woke up feeling great, hungry and ready for more hiking.

But I don't know. Guess who feels like shit? John. Poor John had a tummy ache, could hardly eat breakfast, and walk like a slug to Beaver Creek the late morning. Thankfully, my good karma and his bad karma blessed my day because he left early to drive home that morning. I was able to enjoy the rest of the day there with my husband, Smith, and also ring his ass for ignoring me all day before. Smith and I also went to pay our respects to the Balto at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History during this trip. Anyway, I hope this tale helps other women or soft-spoken men feel more empowered to speak up when their voices being overcrowded by men who just assume they know better than you. I know the next time I go hiking with John, I won't be so forgiving for that behavior.

If you guys find yourself wanting to check out Cuyahoga, please feel free to get a hold of me, and I'll show you all the best spots at the small and charming national park. P.S. I know this story makes me sound like a total bitch, but I promise I'm about as calm as they come. Love you. K. Bye. It's like speak up for yourself, ladies. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry. I'm not a bitch, but I'm just advocating for you. It's true, though. I totally get the sentiment behind it. I think, and we've actually in some episodes that I've researched, I've read just some different studies they've done about group dynamics and how it is really common that when there are men and women in a group that men become a dominating voice over women and women can feel like they can't speak up in a lot of situations. So I feel like that is definitely a conversation that needs to be had a little bit more. I think it's also extremely frustrating.

Just as they mentioned in the very beginning, they did all of this background research, you know, all this prepping with itinerary and hikes and just did their due diligence of looking into things. It's not like she's just saying things to say them. And meanwhile, I'm sure this guy just showed up and decided to rule the roost. And that would in and of itself, whether it's you're a man or. a woman doing that. It's like you, okay, I am the one who just spent all this time putting. I'm prepared. Yeah. Like, I'm prepared. And I shared this with you beforehand. You know, like, I don't know. People who just show up and try and run things when they clearly don't have a leg to stand on pisses me off. And it pisses me off because I'm usually the one doing all the other research. But I'm also pretty direct. And I don't know if I would have a problem.

I don't know, actually. I take that back. I'm not, I am direct. I just, I don't really love confrontation. Yeah. So I don't know. It's tough because in a situation like that, it depends on how mad I am already to start the day. I guess.

Depends on what day you get me. That's right. Okay. My last story is titled Southern Maine is a haunted place. Hi, Cassie and Danielle. I'm a huge fan of the podcast and have been listening. for years. Thank you for inspiring me to travel and hike. You truly don't know how much this podcast means to me, but my story is so long, so I got a cut to the chase. I am from the Southern Maine

slash New Hampshire area, and my trail tale takes place in New York, Maine. I want to add a content warning here since I'll be talking about Maine's history of slavery. You ladies have created a platform that I think will appreciate the importance of the story, so I hope you read it and share it with everybody. I work second shift at a hotel in York and usually work around 11 p.m. At the time of the story, I was living in an apartment without a washer or dryer and had to take my clothes to the laundromat up the road. Since I work late, I'm usually up late, and when I do my laundry, it's in the middle of the night. One night last year, I left work, picked up my boyfriend, and we went to the laundromat. His company was always greatly appreciated

because laundromats at 12 a.m. can be a little creepy, so we'd usually get some snacks and drive around while we waited for my clothes to dry. Side note slash mini trailtail. He is now my fiance. He is now my fiance. and he proposed on a hike. This particular night, though, I thought it would be romantic to drive over to the harbor. For those unfamiliar with York, it is a touristy beach town in the summer and a ghost town in the winter. It is loaded with historical buildings and beautiful rocky shores, delicious food, and the kindest locals. On the scenic route to Long Sands Beach, there is a road called Lilac Lane. About 30 seconds on this road, just before you drive over the river to pass all the cute little boats,

you'll see a green bridge on your right called Wiggly Bridge. There are stairs that connect to a dock down below and a dog-friendly trail that leads to a tiny island on the river. In the fall, the green bridge contrasting against the red and orange foliage is picturesque New England, and it's one of those sites that just makes me feel grateful to live in this area. So this is where my partner and I found ourselves on that night. Except it was February at about 12 a.m. Everyone asks why we were there at midnight, and to that I say, God forbid a girl try to be a little romantic.

At first, everything was fine. We walked down the stairs to the dock, stargazed, and had a cheeky little kiss under the moonlight. But then the energy shifted. All of a sudden, a thought came barreling into my brain like a truck. We are not supposed to be here. We looked at each other and booked it up the stairs. There weren't any streetlights, but the moon was bright enough that if someone had been there, we would have seen them, but we saw nothing.

This was not just a hairs on the back of my neck standing up type of feeling. My entire spine felt like it was going to fly out of my body. We rushed to the car, locked the doors, and sped out of the harbor towards a gas station. I needed to be somewhere where there was light and people and snacks. But that feeling in my spine followed me the entire way there. Flash forward to about a year later, in real time, this was last week. I am currently a student at a community college slowly chipping away at my history degree. This semester, I am taking a course on Maine history, and there have been so many times that I recognize a name or a place in the material.

This particular week are assigned readings, were about Colonial Maine, and we had to read an article about the Sayward Wheeler House. This is a colonial house that had been preserved by Historic New England and hardly changed since it was built in 1719. As a historic site, you can take tours in the summer and learn about the families that own the house. It is located, you guessed it, across from Wiggly Bridge. This article tells the history of the say words and wheelers, and it talks about the various enslaved people they had over the years. I think Maine often gets left out of conversations about slavery because people assume all northerners were abolitionists,

but this is simply not true. On top of that, not only was Maine involved in the transatlantic slave trade, but the colonists also enslaved indigenous peoples as well. One man in particular was named Bonito. We know from historical records that Bonito was bought by Joseph Sayward in 1730, but we don't know what his fate was. It's hard to find firsthand accounts from enslaved people, so most of what we know comes from receipts of people being bought and sold.

In the article by Historic New England, the last paragraph haunts me where they suggest perhaps Bonito escaped. Quote, that the indigenous communities had the advantages of familiarity of the land and family and friends who could help them escape was one reason the European colonists began importing enslaved people of African and Caribbean descent, end quote. So I'm sure that's what they found as part of their research. So not only did they enslave the people of the land they stole, but they kidnapped people from a whole other continent to enslave on the basis that it would be harder for them to escape their conditions. This was the only paranormal experience I have had in my life so far, and learning about the story felt like finding a missing puzzle piece. People like Bonito escaped the horrors of slavery from right here,

from this harbor, this area that I know and love and work in. Plus, there are countless others who did not have the same knowledge of the terrain. Did Bonito haunt me? Did someone else? I don't know. But in a way, I'm almost glad I had that experience. My boyfriend and I felt something and energy. Another one of my friends crossed the Wiggly Bridge once, and when she got to the island, she couldn't find the trailhead.

She said she circled the island for over an hour and felt the same exact energy shift before finally finding an exit. Now I know why we had these experiences, and I want to tell everyone about what I learned. I still love Maine, and I'm grateful to have grown up here, but I wish I had learned about this earlier. I can't change our public school curriculum, but I can learn about these things on my own now. Danielle, I know you mentioned on the pod that you want to fall back in love with New England, so maybe this tour is something you would appreciate in the daytime, of course. I'll also throw some book recommendations and articles below for those interested. York County is a very haunted place.

Anyway, that's my story. Enjoy the view, but learn about the land you live on and tell these stories of the people who live there before you. Also, maybe don't go to laundromats at midnight. I really like that story because I think it kind of encompassed. is why we do the podcast. And it's just being able to connect history and stories to the locations that you're visiting and whatever that looks like.

And in this case, it's a pretty dark history of Maine. And a lot of ours are as well. And I think that once you go to a location and you learn about stuff like this, you never look at it the same. And that's not a bad thing. Yeah. I guess I'll have to go check out Wiggly Bridge area since it's not too far away from where I am. I'm in Southern Maine as well. So I might have driven past it or even through it or on it or whatever many times before and just have no idea. But now you're inspired. Now I know. Yeah, I know. 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. 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. All right, my last story is titled High Altitude Lightning Not Recommended. Hi, ladies, discovered you while out on an epic RV trip out west via a podcast search,

National Park Deaths, L.O.L. Love that two of my favorite things, exploring state and national parks and murder in the macab is the inspiration and theme for the podcast. I felt feel so lucky and listen every single week. Now on to my amazing state park internship that also nearly killed me. Back in 1985, I was a 20-year-old forestry major and doing a summer internship with North Carolina State University and the Environmental Protection Agency to gather data and the decline of Spruce First stands in the Appalachian Mountains. The three other researchers were grad school guys. It was an awesome assignment.

Winky face. Oh, oh, okay. We were based at the top of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. Our primary mission was cloud collection. You read that right. Anytime there were cloud events, very common at 6,684 feet of elevation, we took turns climbing an 86-foot high aluminum tower every 30 minutes and collecting the liquid that had been captured in the cloud catcher and funneled into a container. I am so tempted to go into full-on science nerd detail here, but I fear I will lose you or other non-nerds, so I will carry on.

I'm glad you kind of explained it because where my brain went was so dumb of what that looked like. I had this vision of somebody climbing in a jar. Yes. Yeah. Like climbing up the ladder and having just like a vial and just like swooping it through a cloud. corking it. It's like, got it. It's in here. It's so much more complicated, I'm sure. Yeah, but we're down to try it. There were several ways I could have easily died that summer, L.O.L. Peeing alone in the pitch black forest we shared with Black Bear and slipping and falling

from an 80-foot tower in the rain being the frontrunners. But there was also lightning. It was summer, so there were plenty of thunderstorms. One site on the mountain was consistent. considered safer than the other for riding out these potentially dangerous storms. Pre-cell phone, of course, so we communicated via walkie-talkies, what a hoot that they were actually called that, and each site, while lacking electricity and plumbing, did have landline phones. One day, a particularly fierce storm was brewing, and the weather radio insisted we hunker down. I was alone at the time and had no idea where the guys were, but I high-tailed it to site one. as I got out of the Jeep to unlock the metal security gate, an earth-shattering clap of thunder

and nearly simultaneous lightning scared the shit out of me. It was clearly right overhead and left me seeing stars. I practically army crawled soaking wet to the little work building and sat on the floor praying that this would pass quickly. I was really concerned about the guys since I hadn't heard a word from them, so when the phone rang, I stupidly grabbed it to hopefully hear everyone was okay. Instead of reassuring news, a bolt of lightning went through the phone line. To this day, I don't know how, but it literally threw me into the wall as I threw the offending phone away from me and into the other wall. It was so loud, intense, and scary that I kind of blacked out for a minute and then gave myself a once over. My ears were ringing and my heart was racing, but I was indeed

alive and unharmed. Yes, friends, lightning can travel through landlines. One more reason to let them go for good. Thanks again for your company and stories every week and also kudos for leaving a job that didn't serve you. Vettecs work so hard and are so underpaid to pursue and build a career that you love. Happy trails and stay off the mountain and thunderstorms, Jill. Oh, so many people have been struck by lightning. I know.

I was just thinking how many episodes on Lightning do you think we've done? Probably like five or six. You think that many? It feels like a lot. It feels like we talk about it lightning a lot, but I'm talking about like pure, fully dedicated episodes. Well, my Jenny Lake Rangers one was a lightning one. You did the Spark Ranger. I did the Yosemite Lightning Strike one.

So we got three. We got three for sure. And then Trail Tales, we've had a few lightning stories thrown in. I think maybe just because they're so memorable and impactful that it feels like so much more. Yeah, I've been wanting to, and at some point I will. I did the Jenny Lake Rangers lightning strike one, which was horrific and awful. But there's actually a worse one in the same location. Or I shouldn't say worse, but larger rescue mission that occurred in the same location because of lightning strikes as well.

That happened more recently than that story I told. So there's another one. So stay tuned, I guess. Stay tuned. And it's not an announcement that it's coming soon because I haven't even began researching it. But it's been on my mind ever since I researched that one five years ago. Five years ago. Yeah, I've known about this for a long time.

I've been sitting on it. Oh, this one. Okay. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

Great. This is not related to Lightning at all. But they mentioned very briefly walkie talkies. and I feel like walkie-talkies were everywhere growing up, at least in my world. I had them so, like I used them frequently. My brother and I had them each in our room and we'd talk at night. Yeah, and you talk and things. Yeah.

The most recent memory of walkie-talkies I had was when Ian and I were driving to Washington, he had his Toyota and I was in my Jeep and we were like caravanning. Is it a caravan if there's only two of you? I don't know. Technically or not. But either way, we were following each other. And instead of, we knew that there was going to be long stretches where we wouldn't have cell phone service. And we'd want to talk to each other.

So we got walkie-talkies. That's so cute. And they worked? Not all the time, but they worked enough to make it fun. Yeah. And then, yeah, the batteries ended up dying. And that was it. and we never picked him back up again.

But that was my last memory of a walkie-talkie. They're fun. That's a recent memory. I mean, mine's from when I was like nine. Yeah, I brought him back. Yeah, you did. I don't know whose idea was. I don't know if I should take credit for it or not.

I feel like it was Ian's idea. Yeah, I'll give it to him. He's like, but I want to talk to you. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Well, thanks everyone for sending in your stories. We, as always, have bonus.

stories for outsiders on Patreon and Apple subscriptions. Mine is titled Dingoes in the Dark. Oh shit. Mine is late night cheesy bread, which I personally You're welcome. For giving you that.

I don't know what it is yet, but I know that I relate. Okay, great. We were just also recently kind of talking about the lava cakes from Domino's. Yeah, I haven't tried them still. I haven't gotten them still, but that day I was like, that's it. I'm getting them today.

Now I want their cheesy bread, too. Domino's did have good cheesy bread. I know. I'm not going to, but it's a nice wish. It's so good. You just feel awful after. I know, and that's the thing. I don't, but it's kind of like drinking. Sometimes it's worth it, but it's like I used to be able to drink so much and just rally so quickly after. I would drink and have cheesy bread. At the same time. Like, yeah.

ideally yeah in the perfect night that would happen that's how it would end your night with the that's weird this probably comes in it's late night cheesy bread I too I've had late night cheesy bread yeah God good times they were the best of times they were the worst of times definitely the worst of times all right well let's go find out what this cheesy bread and dingoes are all about and you can find out with us over on those other places, subscription places. If not, we will see you next week. In the meantime, enjoy the view. But watch you're back.

Bye. Bye. Thanks for joining us for another episode. We hope you learn something new and have another location to put on your list. If you want more MPAD content, make sure to follow along with our adventures on all socials at National Park After Dark. For more stories just like this one with the added bonus of exclusive content, you can join us on Patreon or Apple subscriptions. If you prefer to watch our episodes, head over to our

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