I thought that I’d put this up as soon as I got home so that I wouldn’t lose anything in the telling. This morning at around 8am I headed back on old logging roads behind my home here in Garibaldi, Oregon. It has been raining for the past couple of days (I live in a rain forest, big surprise) and today looked beautiful without a cloud in the sky although after an hour of hiking the clouds started rolling in off the ocean but it didn’t rain and I wanted to look for any sign that might be in the wet ground. I’ve been back into this unbelievably beautiful forest alone so many times that I’ve lost count. I’m originally from Montana and have been an outdoorsman since my childhood, hiking, hunting and camping both in groups and alone for as long as I can remember and never, for some reason, found myself scared or timid while out in the bush. I love it! More to the point, I’ve always enjoyed being alone while getting as far back in as I can and still keeping my safety a priority. Maybe once or twice with the grizzly bears in Montana but I don’t count that as being scared, just extremely aware and always respectful both with my actions and my distance! Today was a whole new experience for me and I wanted to share it with the forum. I rambled on about my background because I wanted everyone to know that, while I’m certainly not any Jeremiah Johnson, neither am I a city boy without experience in the bush. That being said, I started my day trip early with the hope of finding a track or something worth retelling. A few hours into my day, I got the feeling that I wasn’t alone and when I say that, it’s not out of any primal fear of being alone, miles from anyone and also on foot. If you’ve never experienced it, there’s really no way of describing it adequately but suffice it to say that it is a dominating and all encompassing feeling to say the least. I was probably only 4 miles back, walking distance, not as the crow fly’s when this feeling first hit me. This wasn’t the first time this has happened to me and I took it in stride for the first 2 or 3 minutes but as soon as I stopped walking and started studying the dark, dense forest surrounding me more closely, looking for what I felt was looking at me something happened and for the life of me, I gotta say, it spooked me bad. We’ve all read the reports about people having this happen to them and believe me, this was playing on my mind but for whatever reason, this feeling didn’t subside, it grew and grew fast! I didn’t see anything, hear anything (until my walk out) or smell anything out of the ordinary, just absolute silence which I’m sure goes a long way in explaining some of my panic but then I started hearing, very quiet, knocking coming from directly to my right and up (maybe 50 or 60 yrds) into the hillside from the logging road I was walking on. My heart went to my mouth and stayed there, I can still taste it! Looking up into the darkness of the forest, silhouetted against the afternoon sun, I couldn’t see a thing but then off to the left, still coming from the same area I heard the same soft knocking. It wasn’t wood on wood (I’ve heard that before back here and this was different) it sounded like two rocks being clicked together softly, click click click then a couple of seconds later farther up the hill a response would come. As I stood there listening to this I started to freak out! I don’t know why but I couldn’t move! My feet were anchored and my heart was pounding uncontrollably! I tried to calm down but couldn’t all the while there was the rocks being softly knocked together above me. Finally (for whatever reason) I was able to move and, I gotta tell you, an hysterical chuckle slipped out of my mouth that scared me as much as the whole experience! I didn’t run, I couldn’t or wouldn’t allow myself to, hell, I had at least four miles before I was back in the embrace of civilization and my only way was old logging roads that have a lot of debris and trees to navigate so I calmly (as far as I know) walked out all the while the soft knocking followed me, not every step of the way but every ten minutes or so, I’d hear it coming from above me on the hill until I reached the easement that takes me back down to Garibaldi. I guess my question is, has anyone ever had this type of thing happen to them and how exactly did you handle it because I cannot stress enough, the fear that I was feeling was literally suffocating. Could it have been something known that spooked me? I guess so but I can’t for the life of me say what. I would like to add that this was not any woodpecker, this (at least sounded very much like) rock on rock. You need a thumb to do that don't you?

Cheers

Spooky incident SS, sure sounds like some similar sounding incidents, any stick breaks or movements heard? How close was the nearest stream or body of water? I know rainforest, everywhere.

no, i didnt hear any stick breaking or walking or anything other than the soft rock clicking or knocking and that is what i think went a long way in freaking me out so bad. there are literally hundreds of small streams tumbling down all around you back there. there is a larger stream separating the forest from a huge clear cut which is maybe, half of a mile from where this happened. the ocean is less than a mile from the spot as well.

Longshot, but maybe a river otter?

again, i'm not sure but the fact that i most definitely heard more than one source (fact? well maybe not fact but i'm pretty sure) during the "rock clicking" first one then the other would answer it? i dont think an otter with a cohort in tow would be that high up in the hills clicking rocks together but who knows! and the reason for this post also doesn't make sense with the otter being the source of my fear. it was palpable and i've been in close quarters with pretty good size grizzly bears and never felt this kind of freak out. ???

Well, it was a longshot. Try going back tomorrow and carry a couple of rocks (along with maybe a lead flinging confidence booster ).

Can you come in from the clearcut side of the creek? There's a reason why loggers call themselves "view makers".

But that fear/panic thing? I only felt that in regards to some of the gals I dated back in the 70's.

Have fun, Norcal

I think maybe your insticts just kicked in. We humans would not have survived as long as we have if we didnt have some built in defense mechanisms, the same as any other animal has. Scientist always talk about the parts of our brains that are seemingly un-used. Sometimes I wonder if thats were all our primal insticts are stored and are only accessed when certain triggers present themselves, things from long long ago in our history, even if we dont know what those triggers are. Maybe we're better off not knowing what they are, that way we can't ignore them. Let me say this also. Fear of the "unknown" can be the most incapacitating thing a person can ever experience and let's face it BF certainly fall within that category. No matter how many tracks you've seen, or pictures you've viewed, films you've watched or even first hand glimpses that damn things still give you the willy's because they are such a mystery, even you know for a fact they exist. I've been there myself. Think about a majestic bull elk, or deer catching a whiff of something. Do you believe he actually knows what it is everytime he senses danger? I dont think so. I think they get the whilly's just like we do and something inside their brain just screams "Get the hell out of here now!" lol.

Another possibility, controversial is it may be would be infrasound. But that's a whole (pardon the pun) animal entirely depending on wether or not you believe it's possible for a primate to generate such a low level frequency.

I dunno,
I'm a primate, and the wife says I generate some pretty horrific low-frequency noises. Usually after Mexican food...

I think everyone's reactions to a natural animal situation, will be different. Some lose the ability to walk, their legs start shaking, they can't bring the gun up to shoot, or if they have the gun aimed, they can't pull the trigger. My BF situation, was the "feeling", some denial of that "feeling", a chuckle about it, but then having to find out what it was that I was "feeling". When I saw it, I had no control over my feet, but in another way. I ran faster than any indian ever went through the brambles and underbrush, for 100 yards back to my jeep. This with 30 pounds of back pack. After 16 years, I still have a bit of PTSD about it. 1000 pounds of pure muscle is hard not to be intimidated about. I'll never go out there alone again. Still, eventually, you'll have to face those fears head on. There are some who've sold their guns, and vow never to leave the city again. How you handle it from here, is the important thing.

I have read and heard numerous reports of people having the very same reaction, and it begs the question, what triggers this response happening right out of the blue? I myself had this happen once to me. On an Bigfoot investigation in Louisiana in 1978 I was walking across a cleared pasture divided by the elevated highway. On one side of the large pasture/grassland that was about 200 yards wide was a dense, thicketed area with mostly marshy bayou. On the other side was a forested camping area.

We had been investigating a series of sightings by multiple witnesses and had been there already for a day or so with no activity other than trying to cast a footprint and check out a possible bedding area. I was walking alone across the pasture area at about 1 in the afternoon toward the the marshy bayou area to retrieve a video camera we had left temporarily on a tripod in that undergrowth area. The sun was bright, and it was very sticky and humid (about 90 degrees). About fifty yards from the edge of the thick cover, I stopped as if I hit a wall because an immense feeling of dread hit me like a brick. I was rooted to that spot and felt like something was watching me from the wooded bayou cover in the area I was was walking toward. When I was able to look that direction, I scanned the tree line but did not see, smell or hear anything. Everything was very quiet. After about a minute the feeling passed and I felt normal again.

I have never had the feeling before or since in my many trips into the woods in different areas. I understand what happened to you and have often wondered whether it was my senses or something like pheromones or infrasound acting on me.

Great reply's everyone thanks. but i would like to reiterate that i didn't have a sighting and that, (however convoluted) was the point of my original post. if i had seen something i would have a reason for what i felt. whether or not BF can use ultra low frequencies i understand is now and will remain a mystery, was it a known or common cause to my panicked state, was it a BF? these questions will not be answered but deep down i think it was a BF encounter not just because of the rock knocking but as i said, i've been heading back into this area for awhile now and have found tracks, heard wood knocking and even had the "i'm being watched feeling on a few occasions. my experience today was unique to me, in that for whatever reason, i was in a state of all out panic for a 1/2 hour or so. i was still pretty shook up as i was putting this post up! when i think about it now it gives me the creeps but will i head back in the next time i have the opportunity? of course i will! i do agree with Dantallus, that my instincts just kicked in but what exactly does that tell me about what happened? i personally dont think that any of the local fauna would send me into the state that i was in and that is what i find so troubling i guess. when i'm out alone, which is 99% of the time and something happens the one thing that goes through my mind, as far as BF is concerned is that a level of intelligence that i know nothing about is at work. that and the size and strength of these creatures is enough to intimidate anyone!

cheers

GrizzlyBobY that is exactly how i felt! you hit it right on the head! it really was like a wall but my experience was maybe a little more subtle because at first, i had the feeling of being watched which, like i said, i've had before but after a couple of minuets it hit me hard and i was really shook up. loved the rush but it did scare the hell out of me!

cheers

G'day spookysully...for what it is worth, I have similar sensations when in the bush up north queensland...it was exactly how you described it....at the time I felt I had something following me.....I almost had a panic attack, the old heart in the mouth, sweats etc.....once I was safely out of there I studied myself...and what had just happened...I was in the bush with Hairy Man in the back of my mind....keep my eyes open for any signs like footprints etc.....I figured that something initially spooked me, what it was, was the thought of how easy it was to get lost in this dense rainforest, so up went my alertness level...as a result shadows and light in the forest became a big dark shape and I was buggered after that...the old imagination kicked in, mixed with fear that fed on itself and grew until I was high-tailing it out of there convinced something was following me...which at the time I believed I had a glimpse of as a big dark shadow.......the imagination is an unchartered world for we westernised humans...we have very little understanding how powerful it can be...when I am feeling abit cynical about all this Bigfoot/Yowie stuff, and how we can explain away with arrogant ease why we have no evidence of such a huge animal in the year 2009, I sometimes can see how it may all be a mixture of misidentification, fear, BS and imagination....and the continual feeding of the imagination with sites like the BFF and BFRO etc....cheers

Rod,
i couldn't agree more! my imagination was kicking my teeth in the whole way out! i have to admit that i wasn't in a rational way most of today because of it.

cheers

That seemingly irrational fear you speak off is not that irrational at all. It is something that somehow alerts you that something is wrong, that something is not as it should be. Whether in the woods or anywhere that sensation happens to occur. Did it felt like something building at the pit of your stomach? That kind of feeling? Did it feel like the air is being sucked out of you somehow and every hair on the nape of the neck stands up? In regards to feeling being watched that's how I felt ages ago when I was just a kid and we went to a father/son camp in the mountains in thr town of Barranquitas. While we were there we felt that something in the nearby woods was watching and whenever you came close to those woods you could hear twigs sanpping and branches moving as if whatever was there was following you. We never got a glimpse of what was hiding in the dense folliage but something was there that is for certain...

Hey Punkmaister...where is Ponce...and what does the PR stand for? and where is Baranquitas?...cheers

Hmmm.
I'll add something here that's related.
There's this one spot that I have hiked past at least 50 times in my life, and ever since I was young, there are occasions when I get the creeps walking through the area. Maybe 1 in 4 trips through there. There's nothing spooky looking about it or anything, it's a wide open slope up a rocky mountain with a large stand of trees in the middle. But there are times when it just seems like something is going to come charging down the slope and attack me. Now, since it's affected me before, I could also just be psyching myself up for the 5 minutes it takes to go through. Hard to say.
The odd thing is, until I started digging into BF last year, I never bothered to question why the area creeped me out...it just did. Now I wonder if it might not be worth a closer look.

The trail runs along the bottom of a canyon here, the walls are pretty steep. The south side has some forested areas running up the mountainside, this is the area. The treeline is at least 200-300 yards upslope from the trail, so it's not like I wouldn't see something coming.
I also know that much further up this side of the mountain are two very old mines, which might make it worth a climb up there for a look. But it's steep as hell...

Yes I have, my only "encounter" or "experience" is this type you're asking about. It's why I ended up here because I couldn't explain how and why I felt like I did that day.Here's how I handled it. My friend and I have rode dirt bikes around Black Lake Mountain ORV (MI) area for about 15 years now and know the area quit well. We were just south of the mountain ORV area on the south part of the motorcycle loop in the middle of the forest and stopped to take a break. Got of our bikes and propped them against a tree to take a break. By the time we both got our helmets off and took a drink of water we said a few words about how deep in the woods we are and joked that we were in "Frodo's forest". We didn't realize that there was no sounds until after this but at the same time we both looked at each other and said do you feel that? That was the hair standing up on our necks, feeling of being watched, etc. We put our helmets on our heads and without strapping them started the bikes and hauled ass out of there...! We of coarse talked about it when we got back to our camp but had no idea why that would've happened and why were were so scared. About two or three years after that, this time north of the mountain same thing...! This time we stopped for a break and the woods seemed "normal". Within a few minutes it went dead quite and after a minute or so of that we both had the same feeling...hair standing up and feeling like someone is watching us. This time we stayed and tried to listen for or see anything. No luck after about five minutes and the woods went back to a normal racket. So did the dread and fear...it went back to normal. This time staying instead of fleeing I felt I had better control of my fear, but I have never felt like that at all any time in my life. I think it is in how you handle the situation and that changes with everyone. You can have years of military training, law enforcement or outdoor experience and still crap your pants. Everyone gets scared by something.

I think that, how we react, reflects how we feel about the situation, our lack of control over it, or vulnerability to whatever is out there. Someone with years of facing down griz, for instance, carrying the right weapons, experience in danger, confidence in your own abilities, would still feel the hair raising instinct, but would react with a clear mind and steady physical reactions. It's all in the head. The vast majority of people out there, don't have that kind of complete power over themselves. I sure don't, hehe. Reminds me of a fantastic book I read as a teenager, called "Use Enough Gun". About a big game hunter in Africa, facing down his fears against the African Water Buffalo. The nastiest, most dangerous animal out there, with no fear of man, who keeps running at you until it's dead. I still use that book name as a statement of strength against something, use enough gun.

Another was Alaskan Safari, a movie that went about in the 70's. The scene that sticks in everyone's mind, is of a polar bear about 100 yards out, the camera man standing over the shooters right shoulder, filming. The polar bears pops its head up, after being hit the first time, and immediately starts running toward the shooter/camera. I'm watching this, as a teen, full screen in a theatre. This bear is lumbering at you, and the shooter just keeps pumping rounds, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and the bear is screaming wildly, running headlong at you. The camera man starts backing up from the shooter, 7, 8, 9,,,,,,,,,then at 10 feet from you, a final shot,,,,,,,,and the bear swings it's paw at you and falls in a bloody heap at your feet. Everyone in that theatre was almost out of their seats, trying to back up, as this bear kept coming. That shooter just stood there, bang,,,,,bang,,,,,,,bang. Didn't flintch a muscle. What kind of control over your fears would you have to have, to just stand there in the face of death.

Here we are, in a forum, talking about looking for something with the potential of ripping your arms off like a barbie doll, and not going out there loaded for facing certain death, alone in the wilderness, and that feeling hits you. Are you going out there like some dred headed air head hippie, thinking that every BF is just a peaceful, loving wilderness imp? Or are you going out there with the understanding that the feeling is real, and instinctual for a reason. People hike through the woods, and are being watched, but don't get that feeling, maybe because the BF is just curious, not angry, just watching, munching on woodsy popcorn. Not sending out the energy of assault, and you never knew it was there. Then comes the times of that hair raising on the back of your neck, your legs want to run, and that BF is pissed off because you're there in it's territory, and it's sending out angry, aggressive vibes. It's feeling threatened for some reason, and it's letting you know it by means that we just don't relate to, because as humans, we've lost contact with that on a daily basis in "regular" human life in the cities. Dogs get it, and cower under the car, without even a whiff of it. Something happens in the vibe department, that you need to figure out for yourself.

Rake a look at the book The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker.

Had almost the exact same experience. Only I wasn't looking for BF (in fact BF wasn't even on my mind or entered it at the time) and it was at night. My outdoors background is similar to yours (except that I'm from Colorado). The feeling that hit me that night was palpable. Like a wet blanket. Your description of "suffocating" is a good one.

In my case, it was a moonless, but clear starry night, around 10:00 - 11:00 p.m. and I saw or heard nothing, Was tripping along humming to myself and deeply enjoying myself when it was like I walked into an invisible wall and was like a switch had been flipped. I went from one extreme to the other in a millisecond. And as you said, I was rooted to the spot. Couldn't take another step forward.

I really thought I was going insane. I could not fathom what was happening or why it was happening. I cussed myself and tried to continue on, but couldn't. In the end, I bedded down right there on the trail (or, rather tried to.. What I did was sit there for the rest of the night, with my bag wrapped around me, quaking like a little girl. Nasty night. If I had at seen or heard something it would have made the whole thing a lot easier, even if I'd had to hot foot it back down the trail.. But since I didn't I was convinced that I was just going nuts.. Didn't even think about BF until some "uncertain" events the following night.

Ended up scaring me out of the woods for a couple of years. Sometimes still have issues (after nearly 10 years) in the woods alone at night, which I never had before that night.

Heard all the "it was a panic attack" theories too.. But it wasn't.

It's what started me looking for the damn thing in the first place. And incidentally, I've also heard the "gentle" knocking (so subtle I almost missed it each time, and with no rational or natural explanation for the types of knocking I was hearing) on several of my trips out. And each time, I've had the feeling that I was close and what I was hearing was a type of warning.. Almost (as an example) the same way/reason prarie dogs bark the way they do.. But with a much more subtle and natural sounding knocking (rythmic and low) than the shrill bark..

I know when I started looking for this thing, and talking to other folks, hearing very similar stories (and there are a lot of 'em) made me feel a lot better. Trust me, you're not alone.

Yes...one time I knocked an arrow as there was still just enough daylight to shoot (specific to coordinated knocking). Another time (noises seemingly indicating that something was following), while carrying a bow, it was too dark to shoot I pulled my knife and kept it ready. When carrying a rifle in the dark (hearing spooky noises) I have "unslung" my rifle and kept it in a ready position with the safety on. Other times (hearing spooky noises) I have placed my hand on my 9mm. I don't know that I ever remember experiencing "suffocating fear" though. I do however remember many moments of "heightened awareness" though, kind of felt a tingling feeling course through my body (adrenaline?).

Any suggestions?

Depends...

RayG

Here's the scoop on Ponce!

And this is the Scoop on Barranquitas!

Hope that helps!

This is exactly what I was referring to in the Sounds in the night thread. I think a lot of our inner instinct takes over in situations like this. I think most people have this instinct that tells them they may be in danger. Thanks for writing this down for us all Spooky.

Agreed. Some of the best soldiers under my command had that "someone's watching us" instinct, even during training where they knew their lives weren't really on the line. Speaking of lines it is a fine one between that and paranoia. I won't go further.

my stomach was in my throat the first time i saw it, just a feeling of pure shock as i tried to convince myself it was a grizzly until it turned around and saw me, and i saw its face and we made eye contact and then i ran like lightning for about 5 feet before tripping, spraining my ankle and cutting my leg.

to add, i never really felt terror, or that i was in danger like i hear alot of people describe. For me it was just a feeling of shock, what on earth is that? followed by adrenaline kicked in when we made eye contact and it was an uncontrollable reaction to run, after i fell i remember is being in shock and awe watching him disappear in to trees.

keeping in mind that, i never saw anything, smelled anything and only heard the "knocking" after i was struck with this paralizing fear. i think that actually running into one of these creatures face to face, as far back as i was in would have been a whole new kind of fear and much different than what i experienced. the unexplainable part of this situation was what i found so surreal and like i said before, if i had actually seen something it would have gone a long way in explaining what i felt. the "knocking" sounds were the only thing (besides how i felt) that were different from a normal walk in the forest.

cheers.

I think this falls into the long forgotten sense that you are not the dominate species. Probably goes way back into mans history and is part of why they were so successfull at survival, while at the same time comparitivly weak to any of his preditors. It has been said animals can sense/smell scents of creatures that are hunting them and the reason man hides his scent to hunt close up(bowhunting), we excrete the hunting scent. Now not to say you were being hunted, possibly being tracked would/could trigger that sense in you.

Be greatful you still have this sense, I think alot of people have lost this sense do to being constently in a unfearful civilized society. You may also ask a woman about her survival sense, they have a double troube sense that is uncanny.

PS it has been document that rock claping is a trait of BF along with tree knocking.

wow, yea i would have to agree with everything you said TooRisky! i've never thought of the female perspective but it most definitely makes sense.

cheers

I've said this before. BF swims in their senses. Feeling everything in ways that we used to when we were the hunter. The air around them is full of life, that moves like an ocean. Vibes hidden in our dna, that we only feel when confronted out of our element. Not like the ditz tree hugger, prancing through the field picking wild flowers, oblivious of the real life that is out there, eat or be eaten. One of the reasons I laugh at the camo'd rambos out there, trying to sneak up on a BF. They know you're there, and you are at the disadvantage. Your situation with BF will depend completely on your intent, and whatever the BF decides to do about it. Dogs are the best example close enough to us, to understand. Dogs live by their senses, and can feel BF without smelling it or seeing it. That's why they cower and try to hide, before we even know what's going on around us. There's a psychic realm we're not privey to, until we walk into a wall of it, like putting your finger into a wall socket. Some will lock up, curl into a ball of fear, some will feel the adrenaline surge waking them into a clearity of readiness, others will just turn and run. Everyone will have a different reaction to it. If you're going out there on a hunt, you better be ready for your own reaction to an actual confrontation.

Excellent post Grazhopprr. I agree 100%.

Hi

That is a very post there ~ Grazhopprr

The more your in tune the better it plays .

Peace
Tim

Agreed, good post Grazhopprr.

What is the hardest part of the interaction of a meeting like this is trying to overcome this deep primal warning....It has taken me years but I have finaly gotten over the fear , well kind of, and traded it for a need to see it one more time. If you find youself in this position again, take a deep breath, look around and get out of the tunnel vision you are experiencing, and just sit down and observe. This is a non agressive move yet it gives you a good point for observation and now puts the move on the BF, it has to make a counter move by either investigating or retreating. This is the point to still breath deeply there is a tendancey to stop breathing for some reason, maybe to listen, but slowly retreive your camera not breaking eye contact with the area you hear noise come from. Why not break eye contact, well it seems that this is when they make a break, they watch your eyes, look away and poof the make their move.

At this point by being not agressive and observing you have a chance if the want to investigate futher, to get a sighting and a picture, but every move is slow and non agressive by you.

PS you will know if its some clummsy bear, they go a crashing about the brush like big bumbles without a care but their next meal, just be carefull for the spring mothers...

Just imagine...

You've rented a secluded mountain cabin for the weekend, miles back in the wilderness...

...early the first morning, right at daybreak...you're awoken by a sound coming from the large window at the foot of your bed...

...you sit up and see this:

Click to view attachment


I'd say the primal fear instinct might just kick in.

Volsquatch,

at that point i would hopefully be offering up the young lady accompanying me to the secluded mountain cabin as a peace offering!

cheers

i really wish i had the opportunity to go back and do things differently. although, when you're alone and so far from anything...comfortable with nothing in your backpack but a water bottle, lunch and a camera, i can't say that i would have done anything different. i wish i could... but to be honest, i just can't say for sure.

cheers

Hey now, I believe I'd be giving up the food and beer first, dude.

i should have said that i would offer up ONE of the ladies accompanying me to the secluded cabin eh!

Sully,
You have to realize, that most humans, now, are not capable of dealing with something as totally intimidating as 1000 pounds of pure muscle, with the capacity to decide your future. Big game hunters had this experience, but faced their fears head on, with their percieved advantage of using a gun they hoped was big enough for the job. That's the only advantage humans have over any BF out there, is how much fire power and pure confidence you bring to the confrontation. Or, like Risky said, try to communicate a passive situation at all times. Unfortunately, we can't predict the motivations of a BF. Is it just curious, or are you trespassing. In another posting about "habituation", a pair of BF were reacting to the person trying to hand bread, in different ways. BF have personalities, just like us, and some BF are probably just grouchy jerks, while others might be quite easy to get to know. If you're planning on continued hunting, you have to plan for all the options, starting with the passive, but having a way out. In the BF's eyes, it's the master of it's domain, and it decides your fate. Compliance and flexibility will get you back to your car in one piece.

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!



No wonder the squatch would be looking in the window!

Grazhopprr,
you're right and although it was tough going back in there alone again, i did it and when i reached the spot that this incident took place at, i freaked myself out pretty good but i felt nothing in the way of panic or fear. this wasn't surprising really, as i consider myself lucky to have experienced what i did, even though there is nothing really in the way of proof that anything bigfoot was responsible for what happened. i continued on and actually had a great hike! you, i believe, hit the nail on the head when you said that we can't predict the motivations of a BF. and that, i think is what gets to me when i'm out alone, the not knowing.

cheers

Click to view attachment

LOL