A Catskills resident describes several unexplained encounters that he has experienced over the years, including a possible Bigfoot, shadow being, and a time loop incident.
I received the following account:
"I would like to tell you about a couple of unusual things that I have encountered. First off I will tell you I grew up on a small farm and am an avid outdoorsman. My family are hunters and I am familiar with all the local wildlife. I have lived in the area called 'The Ridge' all my life. I'm 43. I am working on becoming a '35er' in the Catskills and have done 17 peaks so far. I call the woods my home.
My first story happened when I was in my mid-twenties. I would take my family camping on vacation in the Catskills in Livingston Manor. On this particular day, I was taking my son fishing to a pond I had found way in the woods. It was about a two-mile walk up an old logging road that was made at the turn of the century. There was a pond at the top of a series of waterfalls that had an old dam built to control water flow for the old railroad that long had been removed. There was a summer cottage on the pond that I and my son walked to and around to ask for permission to fish. No one was there and it looked like no one had been in a very long time. So I decided to fish from the dam at the edge of the property. We were there all afternoon and fishing was good.
It was getting pretty dark when we started hearing noises in the woods across the pond in the direction of the cottage. They sounded like footsteps, heavy ones. They would go and stop sometimes fast and sometimes like they were creeping along. I thought that maybe the cottage owner was coming to chase us out of there so I shouted "Hello, who's there?" But got no response. Then there was more noise from the other side now. There was more than one. Now I'm thinking bear? Coyotes? I yelled again and as I did a rock hit the ground 20 feet from me. Now I know bears don't throw rocks. Was someone messing with us? Just as I thought that another rock, a big rock, hit the water. Now I know when I'm not wanted and quickly gathered my things and my son. I yelled out "All right we're leaving" and got the heck out of there. I could hear the footsteps continuing around in our direction around the pond as we headed out. Whatever it was it stopped when we got 100 yards down the trail. What or who was in the woods back then I still don't know. We were miles from the nearest road and no one ever answered. Whatever it was didn't want us there.
My next story took place when I was hiking with my sister up Whittenburg Mountain on our way to Cornell Mountain. We had made it to the summit of both Whittenburg and Cornell in about 2.5 hours and were on our way back. We made good time up and the trail was clearly marked. I had GPS just in case and recorded my hikes as I went so I could look at average pace, elevation gain, etc. We had seen others on the trail too. Now I can't explain it but it took us a long time to get down. A really long time. We kept hiking and following the trail for hours but it just kept going. Both me and my sister couldn't understand it but what took us 2.5 hours up took 6.5 to get back. It was like we were stuck in a time loop. We checked the GPS and maps and followed trail marks but it seemed like we weren't getting anywhere. We would comment to each other how long it was taking and what was going on. The GPS kept saying a little farther. By the time we made it out, it had been 10 hours! Time warp? Are fae folk messing with us? Can't say. The GPS showed our average pace on the way back was the same as the ascent and the mileage didn't add up to the time. Just weird. I really think something was going on.
My last story happened when I was on my way home from work. I have about a 40-minute drive to work on route 44/55 which takes me over the Ridge and to the local town of Newburgh on the Hudson River. On my way home I was approaching the ridge where 1200-foot cliffs rise above the Hudson Valley. It was a swamp on both sides of the road. It was dark out and a clear nice night. Up ahead about 60 feet I saw a figure come out and cross the road. I was traveling about 55 miles an hour. It was a shadow person. My headlights could not light it up even though it was right in front of me. The figure was tall walking on 2 legs, if I had to guess taller than 6 feet. My headlights would illuminate the road everything around it even the sign past it. But not he figures. It absorbed the light and was just dark. You couldn't see through it but it was definitely there and turned toward me a little as it crossed from right to left. I slowed when I reached the spot where I saw it but there was nothing there. It was a swamp on both sides that was sparsely wooded. If something was there it would have nowhere to hide. I firmly believe I saw a shadow person cross in front of me. Something that walks on 2 legs and is the size of a big human. I have never seen anything there again." L
NOTE: The Newburgh, New York area is well-known for unexplained activity. I have received several reports from there over the years. Lon
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