A young couple is on the Appalachian Trail in southern Virginia when they become aware of someone or something following them. The next few days were a harrowing experience.
I received the following account recently:
'Back in 2018 my girlfriend and I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. We had hiked other parts of the AT north of Virginia but had never gone this far south. The section we took ran through George Washington and Jefferson National Forests from Roanoke County to Giles County. It is one of the more remote parts of the trail, which is exactly what we were looking for.
We gathered our gear and made our way to the Virginia Creeper Trail to begin our journey. It was early October and the air was crisp and cool. Perfect hiking weather with beautiful scenery. The majority of the trip was pretty uneventful. Just your typical hike. But, our last couple of nights is where things got strange
On this portion of the trail, you are supposed to camp on the trail or at a designated shelter. We didn't really want to run into other people and didn't want anyone coming up on us in the middle of the night. We decided to ignore those suggestions and find our own little spot off the trail. After a little searching around and we found a spot a little ways off the trail in the middle of a small clearing. We set up camp, cooked some food, talked for a while then snuggled up and went to sleep for the night.
Somewhere around 2 am, I was awakened by my girlfriend shaking me awake and telling me "Get your gun! Someone is outside walking around our tent!" She told me that she woke up to what sounded like someone right outside the tent running a knife or something along the side while circling us. When hiking I carry a .45 automatic. You never know exactly who or what you might run into when at a remote location. I got the gun out of my pack and then we sat silently listening for any sounds.
After a while, we heard snapping and crunching sounds of someone or something walking in the woods behind our tent. I got the flashlight and silently made my way out of the tent. Our fire had gone out so it was nearly pitch black. I told my girlfriend to stay put while I checked it out. I didn't flick the flashlight on right away. I waited to hear more noises. After a few minutes, the sounds were bipedal. I turned on the flashlight and flooded the area with light. I thought I saw someone move behind a tree. I yelled out and told them to go away and that I was armed. I kept the light on the area with my gun drawn and slowly approached the area where I thought I saw the figure. Then, from my right, I hear what sounds like someone running away through the woods. I spin and face my light that way, and then from the original spot hear who or whatever was there take off into the woods. There's no way I am giving chase, so I return to the campsite. I end up sitting guard outside the tent, in the darkness until daybreak.
In the morning, I looked around a bit for signs of who or whatever it was and I discovered a boot print in some soft moist dirt not far from our tent. It wasn't mine and it wasn't my girl's. This freaked me out as it confirmed that someone, perhaps more than one, was stalking around our tent. I kept it to myself because I didn't want to freak my girl out any more than she already was. At this point, we were pretty deep in and still had 2 days left.
When it came time to set up camp, I found a spot near a cliff where we could place the tent in a small overhang and prevent anyone from coming up behind us. The whole day up to this point I had a feeling we were being followed. I had no confirmation of this as I hadn't seen or heard anyone else, but it was just a gut feeling. We set up camp and made some food, then retreated to the tent. I kept the gun right next to me and I assured her that if I slept at all it would be with one eye open. After a while, she drifted off to sleep and I stayed awake listening to the sounds of the woods at night.
I was awake for a few hours, just waiting to see if anything was going to happen. At some point, I drifted off. I awoke sometime later to what sounded like someone going through our stuff outside the tent. I grabbed my gun and woke my girlfriend. From the faint glow of the fire, I could see someone's silhouette against the tent. There was really someone out there. I yelled out to them that I was armed! They stopped what they were doing and bolted. I came out of the tent, gun drawn and ready to shoot someone. Our stuff was strewn all about. I walked to the edge of the woods in the direction of whoever was out there who had fled. There was a creek nearby and I walked to the edge, where there was a small trail running alongside it. Down the creek, I could see a light. it looked like a lantern the way it flickered. Then I saw 3 more emerge from the other side of the woods.
I told my girlfriend to start packing up whatever she could and that we were leaving. Now! We packed up everything of value, left the tent and a few other items, and headed back onto the trail, in the middle of the night. I kept hearing people talking off in the woods and hearing branches snap for quite some ways. I kept looking behind us every few seconds to make sure nobody was coming up to us. It was completely nerve-wracking. If something happened, we were still a long way from anywhere and quite literally on our own, since we hadn't seen another hiker the entire time we had been out there. I really felt we were in serious danger.
We had been walking for quite some time when I heard something in the woods behind us. As we rounded a corner I turned around and saw someone step out onto the trail and just stand there watching us. It was just as the sun was coming up and barely any light. I couldn't make out any features, just the silhouette. I stopped and looked at them for a second and asked them who they were and what they wanted. They just stood there silently, watching us, and then turned and walked back into the woods.
We picked up the pace and kept going, looking back every so often. We didn't see them again. But my gut told me they were still there for quite a ways.
We eventually reached the end of the trail and got to where we had parked my girlfriend's car, extremely exhausted. We made it out of the Virginia woods without becoming a victim of whoever was following us." AA
NOTE: This section of the Appalachian Trail is well-known for Bigfoot encounters and other unexplained incidents, including 'Not Deer.' It's difficult to determine who or what was actually following them. Lon
HAVE A COMMENT? GO TO OUR SUBREDDIT AND POST YOUR THOUGHTS
.jpg)
-----
-----
Have you had a sighting of a winged humanoid or huge bat-like creature in the Chicago, Illinois metro area / Lake Michigan region? The entity has also been referred to as the 'Chicago Mothman', 'Chicago Owlman' & 'O'Hare Mothman' or 'O'Hare Batman.' - Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map - Please feel free to contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com - your anonymity is guaranteed. Our investigative group is conducting a serious examination of his phenomenon. We are merely seeking the truth and wish to determine what eyewitnesses have been encountering. Your cooperation is truly appreciated.
-----
-----
.jpg)
Please Consider a Donation to 'Phantoms & Monsters'
Your financial support of Phantoms & Monsters and our other pursuits is much appreciated. This all depends on you, the readers & followers.
Please use the PayPal donation buttons on the blog site. You can also go directly to Phantoms & Monsters donation. Thanks again for your loyalty and continued support. Lon
%20(1).gif)
