Strange Raggedy Man Encountered in the Olympic National Forest Wilderness

"I was hiking in the Olympic National Forest a few years ago, by myself and my two dogs. We were 4 days in, around 20 miles at least as a crow flies from even a known mountain road. I was camping at around 7k feet that night, or right where the tree line started thinning out. So, when we got to the campsite in a big open meadow on top of a secondary mountain, it was about an hour from sunset. My big dog usually runs around within proximity of the camp as I put the tent up/make dinner etc. But, I notice this time was a little different. He kept staring up this steep tree filled mountain side, tail straight up, and barking. Not the bark when he sees marmots. Not the excited barks, But unsure, concerned barks.

Now, the day before I had found a note left under a rock at the last landmark, saying that there was a problem bear in the area that was harassing a party of campers a few days ago. And I myself had seen big cat tracks the day before. So I was rightfully concerned that this may be more than just ground squirrels.

I decided to go climb some of the boulders at the foot of the hill while I took my time looking up the hillside for movement. I went to go hang my bear bag up there. They were the only trees around to hang the bag. I didn’t see/hear anything, but my dog kept quietly whining like there was something up there.

So while still concerned, I start hiking up this steep hill, to hang the bag. It was so steep I had to use the trees to balance and lean against so I didn’t go tumbling down, before making another 5-6 step push to the next tree I could lean against.

Anyway, I’m slowing making it up this hill/ridge, hopping from tree to tree to keep my balance. Then I get about 100 feet up the hill, and I hear a whole lot of big movement about 50 feet in front of me. My dog immediately goes from a deep low growl, to a savage, slobber flying everywhere type barking now. My heart starts pounding out of my chest, and I start to panic. A million thoughts go racing through my head in the matter of seconds. Because if this is a bear, my dog is going to try to save me, in which he will most likely die. And I’m stuck here. If I have to get off that hillside fast, I almost 100 percent am going to trip and fall off the 12-15 foot cliff, onto the boulders below (like 100’s of 5-20 foot boulders). So I’m feeling pretty screwed about now. Then I hear my other little dog start barking and freaking out down at my campsite, which was just out of sight. I had zipped her in my tent, so she didn’t wander off while I was away. So yeah, I’m absolutely panicking at this point.

A few seconds after I kind of snap back to it, I take another few seconds to start to put my survival priorities in order, and call my dog back to me (Loki). He comes and sits against my feet, as my back is against a tree, so I’m kind of pinned/stuck there for the moment. But my dog was seemingly trying to separate me from something up there so I let him lean against me while I try to collect myself.

This is when I realized I had completely forgot that I was wearing my headlamp. I reach up so fast up to turn my lamp on, i basically punch myself in the face. I’m having some serious adrenaline dumps going right now, so much so that my knees are starting to shake.

I get my lamp on, and peer up the hillside. I figure I’ll at least get a reflection off the eyes of whatever is up there. Peering… peering… nothing. But I had JUST heard something, we both did. And whatever it was, it didn’t get away, or sound like it had made it too far. I knew something was there. So I’m kind of just steadfast at this point. I need to know what is up there, because I have to sleep here tonight… and you know, I’m out in the middle of nowhere alone. Better to face it, than wait like a sitting duck all night is my thought process.

So yeah, as I’m looking up this hill, and at one point my dog lunges forward, unpinning me. He does a fake/bluff charge up the hill about 15 feet, and I mean he’s snarling and foaming at the mouth at this point. As he does this I finally see movement. Something moving up and breaking the line of the horizon/sunset. My dogs bluff made whatever it was blow it’s cover. So I’m zeroed in. I call my dog back and silently watch, and what I make out made out made my heart completely drop. There was a man crouched about 75 feet directly in front of me. Wearing…not camo clothes…but some raggedy shit with a hood, that blended into the environment perfectly. Actually, almost like a makeshift guile suit, but with his face exposed. I couldn’t see his eyes, and his face was covered in dirt or something, but I knew we were staring right at each other at that moment. So, I stare… for what seems like minutes. No words. I felt like I was trying to subconsciously convey that I was going to stand my ground. I wanted him to know I saw him, but I guess I was just too shaken to speak.

As I’m staring, My little dog back at the campsite started to bark her head off again, like she was scared. And I also had to get off that hill before total dark, or I could be seriously hurt/risk dying trying to get back down. So carefully, I start heading down the hill with my dog, who doesn’t want to leave, but listens. Periodically I would stop with my back against a tree holding me up, and look in that direction again, just to make it even more clear I saw him. And eventually I make it down to the boulders at the bottom.

By the time I finally jumped down and hit the boulders, my little dog had stopped barking. I could only see the top of my tent from the bottom of the boulders. I thought she was barking just to bark (Dachshunds do that), or just barking back at my dog. But when I get there, my little dog had somehow got out of the tent, and was walking around the camp growling, with her tail sticking straight out. Still trying to hold it together, I thought ok… maybe she just got her nose between the zippers and worked her way out. But I was positive I had zipped it so the zipper tap/openings was at the very top of the tent door. Out of reach.

So, in a mixture of being terrified, pissed off, and the feeling of needing to do something, I reached into my day bag and pulled out my .40 magnum. I fire a single shot into the air as the sun was setting, climb into my tent without eating and lay with my gun next to me until first light. As soon as the sun came up I was packing up my shit and leaving, heading back down the mountain. It sucks. It was all downhill back, but I still couldn’t cover the ground to get back to my car in one day. It was dark by the time I made it to the last camp, about 4 miles from my vehicle. But thankfully there were other people there. We sat around a fire they made, and I felt pretty relieved and safe. They start to tell me they are planning to head that way where I was the night before in the morning. So I tell them my story in detail. Needless to say we were both walking back to our cars in the morning. Screw all that.

The thing that still creeps me out until this day though, is when I got home and started reading reviews of the same hike I was on. Other people had had similar experiences like mine as well. Even a man was found dead from a fall around the same boulder range 2 years ago (2008) and a woman found murdered last year(2010)." AA

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