What’s the craziest/creepiest thing you’ve ever seen or experienced in the BW? I haven’t had anything too crazy happen to me, except I became a little uncomfortable talking with a guy on a Portage last year when he started talking about pulling out a gun if he encountered someone staying on his favorite campsite.

My wife and I were portaging our 3rd of four portages heading to our 2nd day destination when we ran into a solo guy and his dog hauling a ton of gear and a 16’ aluminum canoe. We made small talk as we helped him carry some stuff on our way back for the rest of our gear. This guy was leaving the site that we were hoping for on the next lake so we were excited to hear it was empty.

The guy started referring to the lake as “his lake” and this particular spot as “his site” because he had been going there his entire life. I found that a little obsessive, but some people really like particular spots so I didn’t think much of it.

Then things got weird. He started talking about pulling a gun on people if he ever caught “his campsite” occupied by anyone other than himself. I was a few steps ahead of him on the portage and I started laughing when I heard him say that, but when I didn’t hear any laughter behind me I turned to look and the guy had a stone cold stare that scared the living crap out of me.

My wife and I got the heck out of their so fast after that. It was like “Silence of the Lambs” meets “Deliverance”. My wife didn’t hear most of the super creepy stuff which was good because it probably would have ended our trip early.

While staying at Camp Wolf Spider in WCPP I was awakened by the sound of some animal obviously in horrific anguish and / or fear right in my site. It soon jumped in the water all while emanating the anguished clamor. I had never heard anything even remotely close and it prompted me to quickly exit my tent and investigate. The cries continued unabated as it swam across a river but I was never to see the critter despite my high powered light.

I surmised that it was likely my presence which had elicited such a fearful and anguished response but the next morning one of the big wolf spiders which had been clinging to its tent caterpillar type nest was no longer there. Given the big spiders aggressive nature toward me when I got to close, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe the animal in the night got popped on the nose. It was definitely one of the creepiest sounds I have ever heard.

anthonyp007: "He started talking about pulling a gun on people if he ever caught “his campsite” occupied by anyone other than himself. I was a few steps ahead of him on the portage and I started laughing when I heard him say that, but when I didn’t hear any laughter behind me I turned to look and the guy had a stone cold stare that scared the living crap out of me. "

Super creepy. I'd be tempted to get his canoe's registration number and report him for death threats.

Never had anything creepy happen in the Bdub, but I was the lone camper in a Forest Service campground in the UP of Michigan, when a hellacious dog fight broke out right behind my tent.

By the time I could gather my wits, it was over and whatever the critters were (dogs, coyotes, wolves) they were gone like the wind. Scared the crap out of me.

anthonyp007: "The guy started referring to the Lake as “his Lake” and this particular spot as “his site” because he had been going there his entire life. I found that a little obsessive, but some people really like particular spots so I didn’t think much of it. "

Just curious, what portage was this and what lake is "His" lake? That would freak ME out!

OP- we were heading for the Island campsite on Iron Lake, just north of Peterson Bay. We were coming through Fox, Ruah and Dark via Stuart. We ran into this guy on the Rush-Dark portage.

anthonyp007: "OP- we were heading for the Island campsite on Iron Lake, just north of Peterson Bay. We were coming through Fox, Ruah and Dark via Stuart. We ran into this guy on the Rush-Dark portage. "

Gives a new meaning for "Dark" portage, 'eh? But now that you've got our attention, what other "Creepy" things was he talking about that your wife didn't hear? Sorry, listened to Paul Harvey too many years, I need to know "The REST...of the story" (LOL)

In August 1985 four of us were camped on the US side above upper Basswood Falls, just west of Basswood Lake. As dusk was gathering, we noticed a solitary canoe approaching us from the Canadian side. Two men in their 30s or 40s, no PFDs, approached shore and claimed that they needed to share our campsite as they could find nothing else available; no other specifics. This site has some high granite rocks, and requires 'parallel parking' to unload canoes, and as these guys nudged in, we could see their cargo: a wooden old milk crate containing some chains, and an axe. Nothing else. No camping gear, no fishing gear.

Without hesitation, I immediately warned them off. There would be no camping with us. We had seen several open campsites while fishing that evening. They tried to forge ahead, but I said no, and pushed their canoe away from the rocks. I was the oldest in our group, two being my youngest brothers, another a young cousin. I was taking no chances. They cursed us, but headed back exactly from where they came form, passing a couple of open sites.

Not sure what this was all about, and never saw these two again, but it made for fitful sleeping that night.

Wow, that was quick thinking and you are brave.

I ran into a solo guy, old, scruffy dude, in an aluminum canoe, north of Sawbill a few years ago. He was packing a huge handgun on his side and he started talking about the crappy world, negative comments, just plain scary and untrustworthy.

For the life of me, I will never understand the reason to carry a gun. I don't want to start anything here, macho thing, I suppose. If you are that scared, stay home.

He wasn't super creepy, but in 2015 my then 10 year old son and I were paddling the Granite River, just north of Clove Lake, and ran into an old, scruffy, dirty bearded guy who looked like he had been out in the wilderness for months. And, he was fishing in a fairly large rowboat! We spoke with him a minute or two, very non-threatening, but very strange none the less.

Pretty sure it was the summer of 2000, possibly 2001. My first trip into the BWCA and first night camping in the wilderness. I was with three other buddies, we were all in our very early 20s.

We entered at Fall Lake and I think made our way to Pipestone Bay that first night. Wherever we were was still motorized, not sure if Pipestone qualifies. Maybe we were all the way up onto Basswood?

Anyway, we had a Barney Lakner-esque experience. A group of guys in a motorboat kept riding by our campsite shouting stuff at us. I don't recall exactly what, but it wasn't, "Hello, have a great trip!" It was aggressive, swearing, threatening etc. We didn't return fire in any way, and didn't really know what to make of it. It didn't seem like they were specifically targeting us because they'd fly by in one direction, be gone for a while presumably harassing people in that direction, then come back down our way and fly by again in the other direction, yelling at us along the way. They never came to our camp or anything.

And when I think back, it seems quite possible that that was Lakner himself with buddies. Who knows for sure, but that is the area he was known to haunt and this may have been him dipping his toes in the water before he really went crazy in 2007.

This is precisely why some people bring guns with them when they camp, for the two legged critters like him, not the four, albeit how rare they are.

bwcasolo: "i ran into a solo guy, old, scruffy dud, in an aluminum canoe, north of sawbill a few years ago. he was packing a huge handgun on his side. he started talking about the crappy world, negative comments, just plain scary and untrustworthy.
for the life of me, i will never understand the reason to carry a gun, i don't want to start anything here, macho thing, i suppose, if you are that scared, stay home."

Well, I don't carry up there either, but "scary and untrustworthy" looking dudes, Barney Lakner types, and some of the other two-legged types I'm seeing in this thread is making me re-think my position?

Nothing says "don't f*** with me, go away" like a pistol in your face. I don't like the idea of packing just because "the world is ugly and people are assholes", but.... when I'm in a place of the world that there's no one to hear me scream for help if I need it, I'm not crossing my fingers and hoping those in the woods around me are good human beings and intend no ill-will. (Just a .22. I don't need to win a gun fight. I just need you to understand I'm armed and not playing any games that I don't want to play).

I picture one of these psycho Lakner-type dudes needing a campsite to squat on two hours after dark on a rainy day, and in the middle of the night, some guy's creeping around your tent with headlights on. Just saying, no one here wouldn't want a gun then.

On a ladies trip in the national forest, I was sitting with my friend around the campfire at midnight when we heard human noises in the woods. After a few minutes a drunk young man came out.

My friend deals with people like this all the time at her job and told him he needed to leave now or there would be problems. He turned around and must have hiked out. I asked her how she knew he would leave (I was going to bear mace him). She said it was the look in his eyes. She said happy drunks usually listen to reason and the dangerous ones have a crazy look to them. We weren't bothered after that.

To all posters here: I apologize that was me....BTW if your looking for a paddling partner for an upcoming trip give me a ringy dingy.

On a more serious note, no roving packs of yotes, no wolves, no bears, no ferocious field mice with fangs of fury, the weirdest thing in in the bdub seems to be us....

Last August we took the Granite river route with our first night on Clove. There are three sites on Clove. The one by the portage was occupied and the sandy beach one was open. We chose a sight we had stayed at in the past, #439 the one farthest east with Larch Lake over a slight ridge to the east. This camp is on a point with a large rock formation making the spine of the point.

Looking the campsite over after we had been there a while, I started noticing large rocks that were placed in holes in the ground about camp. These rocks were large, up to a foot and a half long, so they were pretty heavy. I thought it was kind of weird due to the quantity. I figured some bored kids did it but they would have to be pretty OCD to fill in so many holes.

As we traveled around camp throughout the day and explored the surrounding woods looking for firewood, I noticed large rocks everywhere. These rocks were in places that made no sense for someone to be…very dense foliage and hard to move much less carry a rock to. The rocks had been freshly moved as some were still on tops of pine boughs or fresh grass.
The rest of the day went off without any weirdness and we went to sleep at 9:00 or so.

At around midnight, I was awoken by a loud cry coming from what sounded like up the ridge, possibly the direction of Larch. It started out real low, ended high and made my hair stand up. I was awake for sure.

The next thing I heard was a loud gravelly shout that sounded like “GIT”. It sounded so close. I know sound can travel, but it seemed the sounds were not coming from very far away, possibly coming from just over the ridge of the site...closer than any campsites.

Then the rocks started banging. Something banged rocks together for almost an hour. It was pretty unsettling.

The logical part of me assumed someone on Larch had a bear visit their camp and all they had was rocks to bang together to scare it away. The imaginative part of me made up all kinds of scenarios; from a crazy OCD rock wielding madman, to a large upright hairy creature that shall remain nameless at this time.

A bunch of us were watching as a dragonfly caught a mayfly. Then a couple of other mayflies flew up and starting buzzing the dragonfly. When the dragonfly dropped the caught mayfly, the other mayflies then flew away. We all looked at each other like, did you just see that?

Another time, a huge white pine just fell about 50 yards from our campsite on camper Island on Big Sag. No wind, no snow or ice, just fell over.
Oh, and it did make a sound!

Wow, Aunuki!

missmolly: "Wow, Aunuki! "

That IS freaky!

I once had someone actually eat MY cooking!

Aunuki's experience reminded me of a paddling article I read last year. Not the BWCAW, but it's pretty captivating:
Close Encounter

Camping on Lake 4 with seven other guys. I was in a hammock out in the woods a short distance from camp. About midnight during a thunderstorm, I had something about 24” tall rub against my side. I did not get much sleep that night. In the morning it was all muddy around my hammock, no tracks were found.

Savage Voyageur: "Camping on lake 4 with 7 other guys. I was in a hammock out in the woods a short distance for camp. About midnight during a thunderstorm I had something about 24” tall rub against my side. I did not get much sleep that night. In the morning it was all muddy around my hammock, no tracks were found. "

IF I used a hammock, that would have been my LAST night in one (LOL)!

nctry: "I once had someone actually eat MY cooking!"

Luckily, They weren't armed....

That was a good read Ozark.

rtallent: "

nctry: "I once had someone actually eat MY cooking!"

Luckily, They weren't armed...."

They probabally didn't live long enough to be able to use a weapon :-)

Read "The Bell Lake Mystery" in the Spring 2000 edition of the Boundary Waters Journal. It's really creepy.

Mike

Probably 10 years ago or so, my wife and I were portaging in the Fire Lake and Lake Four area. It was earlier in the morning, a bit foggy, but not too bad. I can't remember what portage it was, but the halfway point of the portage peaked on a large, open bald rock on the midst of big trees and beautiful woods. In fact, this portage stood out to me as particularly pretty. The rock allowed me to see in all directions.

So my wife and I bring our first load of gear over. I go back for the second load (we one and a half portage.) As I peaked the hill and arrived on the large bald rock, I noticed wolf scat. Fresh (still steaming, sorry about the grossness) and very evident that this just happened. At that point, the hair on my neck stood up because I knew there was a wolf watching me, but I couldn't see him. I wasn't scared of the wolf, wherever he was. What was creepy was knowing that an animal like that was hiding in the woods and watching me. Very cool too. Not too creepy, but kinda.

Mike

MikeinMpls: "Read "The Bell Lake Mystery" in the Spring 2000 edition of the Boundary Waters Journal. It's really creepy.
Mike"

I remember that story and thought of it when I read Aunuki's account. As for the wolf story; yes, that would freak you out a bit. Just knowing it was there watching you....somewhere close

Yeah, Mike, it's cool and creepy both.

ozarkpaddler: "

MikeinMpls: "Read "The Bell Lake Mystery" in the Spring 2000 edition of the Boundary Waters Journal. It's really creepy.
Mike"

I remember that story and thought of it when I read Aunuki's account. As for the wolf story; yes, that would freak you out a bit. Just knowing it was there watching you....somewhere close"

Oz, I can't find "The Bell Lake Mystery" online. Can you please summarize it?

missmolly: "

ozarkpaddler: "

MikeinMpls: "Read "The Bell Lake Mystery" in the Spring 2000 edition of the Boundary Waters Journal. It's really creepy.
Mike"

I remember that story and thought of it when I read Aunuki's account. As for the wolf story; yes, that would freak you out a bit. Just knowing it was there watching you....somewhere close"

Oz, I can't find "The Bell Lake Mystery" online. Can you please summarize it?"

I know you directed to Oz, but I'll try. Oz probably has a clearer recollection of the story as I haven't read it in a while. It's hard to summarize. The story is spooky, but the manner in which it's written makes it better.

I'll try: man and his son on Bell Lake in the Q. Hear human whispering outside. Ignore it. Hear it again. Go out to investigate. Nothing. Then footsteps next to their tent. Deliberate and heavy. Again investigate, nothing. This goes on and on. No shoe prints, no people. Almost Blair Witch Project type of stuff. Contact me backchannel and I'll send you a copy.

Mike

Thanks, Mike!

nctry: "I once had someone actually eat MY cooking!"

Was that on Gillis lake?

missmolly: "Thanks, Mike!"

I'm headed to the river in the morning, but will see if I still have that BWJ in my small collection? I sold most of mine years ago. If I can find it, I'll scan it and get it up here in the thread.

not creepy and maybe more strange then crazy . i first shared this on this site when i first joined and it was meet with much skepticism , saw this september of 1995 ? at the kingfisher to ogish portage and it was a dead holstein in the water but by shore , half it's body was out of water with a dozen+ turkey buzzards feasting on it. many feel it was a pie-bald cow moose but i had many relatives in wisconsin that were farmers and have seen holsteins many times and it was a dairy holstein cow. and we came back that way 2 days later and the whole carcass was gone , i'm sure a pack of wolves could smell that from 3 miles away , one of the nastiest things i ever smelled. believe it or not ;)

shock: "not creepy and maybe more strange then crazy . i first shared this on this site when i first joined and it was meet with much skepticism , saw this september of 1995 ? at the kingfisher to ogish portage and it was a dead holstein in the water but by shore , half it's body was out of water with a dozen+ turkey buzzards feasting on it. many feel it was a pie-bald cow moose but i had many relatives in wisconsin that were farmers and have seen holsteins many times and it was a dairy holstein cow. and we came back that way 2 days later and the whole carcass was gone , i'm sure a pack of wolves could smell that from 3 miles away , one of the nastiest things i ever smelled. believe it or not ;)"

I believe you. I've also smelled a rotting Holstein and it's a powerful stink, comparable to a spring day on a pig farm when a winter's worth of thawing pig poop pretends to be potpourri.

ozarkpaddler: "Aunuki's experience reminded me of a paddling article I read last year. Not the BWCAW, but it's pretty captivating:
Close Encounter "

Just read the story and I have to say that even when taking the whole thing at face value, you really can't trust what you think you experience when you are startled awake in the middle of the night. Sleep paralysis and waking dreams are real phenomenon's where the waking and dreaming mind gets crossed and it becomes impossible to separate real from dream in the moment.

I've experienced this myself before after I rearranged my room in the dorms and my roommate moved out. Sleeping where you might not recognize where you are has a tendency to cause incidents like this. Not that I want to take away from an interesting read, but I think it is important for people to understand what is really happening in these situations so they don't get too freaked out and think they have to leave because they are not safe when it was just a dream.

It is rather interesting though how you can turn these walking dreams into lucid dreams if you have enough control and don't get pulled into a nightmare.

shock: "not creepy and maybe more strange then crazy . i first shared this on this site when i first joined and it was meet with much skepticism , saw this september of 1995 ? at the kingfisher to ogish portage and it was a dead holstein in the water but by shore , half it's body was out of water with a dozen+ turkey buzzards feasting on it. many feel it was a pie-bald cow moose but i had many relatives in wisconsin that were farmers and have seen holsteins many times and it was a dairy holstein cow. and we came back that way 2 days later and the whole carcass was gone , i'm sure a pack of wolves could smell that from 3 miles away , one of the nastiest things i ever smelled. believe it or not ;)"

A Holstein? A real (but dead) Holstein? That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard of. What could the nearest source of a Holstein?

I'm very interested in anyone's theory on this. Aside from a cow wandering off..... way off, I can't think of any explanation.

Mike

2016 trip... first night in camp, just my eleven year old son and me. We're in the tent about 2:00 am when we heard a loud "thump, thump, thump, thump, thump" over and over again in the middle of of our site, about 15 feet from the tent. Went out to explore 2-3 different times, found nothing. Kind of creepy.

Then, after about the tenth time this happened, we hung out a Luci Light for a little illumination, went back in the tent, waited, and heard it again. Looked out the tent, and there was the largest hare I'd ever seen in person, when sitting on it's back legs must have been about 18 inches tall. Thumping one of his back legs on the ground over and over again. Went on all night.

Not sure if we pitched our tent too close to it's den, if was some type of mating call, or if was just mad at us, but that hare never left our campsite for 3 days. Thumped it's legs all night, every night. It was also cool to see how it hid itself in the tall grass every day, I'm guessing to hide itself from the local eagle population.

MikeinMpls: "I'm very interested in anyone's theory on this...

Mike"

I am a trained biologist and I think it is difficult to identify rotting dead stuff. Think washed up ocean blobs and dead chupacabras. Positive IDs are usually made in a lab. It would be even more difficult to identify when that dead rotting thing is partially submerged in water. But then again, mysteries are fun.

johndku: "Looked out the tent, and there was the largest hare I'd ever seen in person, when sitting on it's back legs must have been about 18 inches tall."

I've had that happen a time or two. Aren't they surprisingly big? We had a couple just waltz into our campsite without a care in the world, just a few feet from us. I was really shocked by their size. These were not "wittle bunny wabbits."

Mike

Aunuki: "Last August we took the Granite river route with our first night on Clove. There are three sites on Clove. The one by the portage was occupied and the sandy beach one was open. We chose a sight we had stayed at in the past, #439 the one farthest east with Larch Lake over a slight ridge to the east. This camp is on a point with a large rock formation making the spine of the point.
Looking the campsite over after we had been there a while, I started noticing large rocks that were placed in holes in the ground about camp. These rocks were large, up to a foot and a half long, so they were pretty heavy. I thought it was kind of weird due to the quantity. I figured some bored kids did it but they would have to be pretty OCD to fill in so many holes. As we traveled around camp throughout the day and explored the surrounding woods looking for firewood, I noticed large rocks everywhere. These rocks were in places that made no sense for someone to be…very dense foliage and hard to move much less carry a rock to. The rocks had been freshly moved as some were still on tops of pine boughs or fresh grass.
The rest of the day went off without any weirdness and we went to sleep at 9:00 or so.
At around midnight, I was awoken by a loud cry coming from what sounded like up the ridge, possibly the direction of Larch. It started out real low, ended high and made my hair stand up. I was awake for sure.
The next thing I heard was a loud gravely shout that sounded like “GIT” It sounded so close. I know sound can travel but it seemed sounds were not coming from very far away, possibly coming from just over the ridge of the site...closer that any campsites.
Then the rocks started banging. Something banged rocks together for almost an hour. It was pretty unsettling.
The logical part of me assumed someone on Larch had a bear visit their camp and all they had was rocks to bang together to scare it away.
The imaginative part of me made up all kinds of scenarios; from a crazy OCD rock wielding madman, to a large upright hairy creature that shall remain nameless at this time...
"

Man, if that had happened on the first or second night of the trip in '16 when I had a buddy & our two kids along we probably would have noped out of that trip pretty quickly. Thankfully we stayed at the sandy beach site and had a lovely time there and on the rest of our trip.

MikeinMpls: "

shock: "not creepy and maybe more strange then crazy . i first shared this on this site when i first joined and it was meet with much skepticism , saw this september of 1995 ? at the kingfisher to ogish portage and it was a dead holstein in the water but by shore , half it's body was out of water with a dozen+ turkey buzzards feasting on it. many feel it was a pie-bald cow moose but i had many relatives in wisconsin that were farmers and have seen holsteins many times and it was a dairy holstein cow. and we came back that way 2 days later and the whole carcass was gone , i'm sure a pack of wolves could smell that from 3 miles away , one of the nastiest things i ever smelled. believe it or not ;)"

A Holstein? A real (but dead) Holstein? That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard of. What could the nearest source of a Holstein?


I'm very interested in anyone's theory on this. Aside from a cow wandering off..... way off, I can't think of any explanation.


Mike"

I swear there was a whole thread dissecting the viability of this discovery. I can't find it via search right now, but maybe you can, or someone has a link. Lots of theories about where the closest farm could be and how a cow could travel through the BWCA, the idea that it wasn't a cow at all, and other theories about people using it as a portage cow!

treehorn: "I swear there was a whole thread dissecting the viability of this discovery. I can't find it via search right now, but maybe you can, or someone has a link. Lots of theories about where the closest farm could be and how a cow could travel through the BWCA, the idea that it wasn't a cow at all, and other theories about people using it as a portage cow!"

You mean jokes, not theories.

inspector13: "

treehorn: "I swear there was a whole thread dissecting the viability of this discovery. I can't find it via search right now, but maybe you can, or someone has a link. Lots of theories about where the closest farm could be and how a cow could travel through the BWCA, the idea that it wasn't a cow at all, and other theories about people using it as a portage cow!"

You mean jokes, not theories.


"

Oh man, you're right. That's a funny thread - my memory was a bit of a more serious analysis of how/why that cow could have gotten there.

Last year, we were on the portage from Angleworm to Home. Just about to Home Lake when we heard a couple gun shots ahead of us on home. We then continued, weary, to see one group across the lake. By the time we got there, they were gone. It was low 40s and raining so we were going to camp there anyway to get a good start the next day.

So we did and went to the east shore site. There, we found an empty bottle of Jack Daniels, scat spread out around the perimeter, random other garbage that looked as if it was set up to attract animals (sans the scat around the perimeter).
Weird. We cleaned up the garbage the best we could and found that series of events strange

Two days later, we saw a rescue chopper headed back that way when we were on Crooked (Sat/Sunday bay area).

lol... Our imaginations wandered with that one.

treehorn: "

inspector13: "

treehorn: "I swear there was a whole thread dissecting the viability of this discovery. I can't find it via search right now, but maybe you can, or someone has a link. Lots of theories about where the closest farm could be and how a cow could travel through the BWCA, the idea that it wasn't a cow at all, and other theories about people using it as a portage cow!"

You mean jokes, not theories.



"

Oh man, you're right. That's a funny thread - my memory was a bit of a more serious analysis of how/why that cow could have gotten there."

you would have to go back to 2012 , i posted it when i first joined this site, and yes everybody welcomed me with many good & funny comments ;)

About 30 years ago, on Insula Lake, on a calm quiet night,we heard distant native drums and singing just after sunset. Eerie, but cool

yes , hard to believe. looked at a map many times to figure out where this dairy cow could have came from . theres homesteads on the canadian side of the border lakes on the east side , but that is still a long travel. the carcass was very intact with the exception of the ribs above the water line that the buzzards were feeding on. we were up close and personal and it was as black and white as any holstein you ever saw. the only animal that it could be confused as is a cow moose and it was no moose. as we paddled close it wasn't like that kind of looks like a dairy cow , it was more like Damn thats a dairy cow WTH ! i know still hard to believe ;)

Maybe it was a failed attempt to stock the lake?

mooseplums: "About 30 years ago, on Insula Lake, on a calm quiet night,we heard distant native drums and singing just after sunset. Eerie, but cool"

I would have loved that.

This did not happen in the BWCA, but definitely qualifies as unsettling:

A friend and I were climbing in Southeastern Utah. The formation we were heading to required a 60 mile drive down 4x4 roads, followed by a strenuous hike. We opted to camp near the truck. We pitched our tent in the dark, ate a cold dinner, and went to bed. Hank had mentioned there were pictographs nearby.

Sometime in the night I awoke to very clear human footsteps around the tent. They walked around the tent once, and then proceeded off into the night. In the morning, we found we had camped directly under a pictograph panel.

A couple years ago we were camped on the north end of Alice Lake in a small bay. When we retired to our tents it was dead calm, not a ripple on the water. About an hour later waves suddenly rolled up on the sand beach landing area. The waves weren't big by any means, but big enough to hear them roll up on the sand, and then recede and crash into the next incoming wave. At first I thought an animal was swimming by, but there's no way an animal could have created a wake that would produce waves of that size and duration. And then dead calm returned. Very weird.

johno: "A couple years ago we were camped on the north end of Alice Lake in a small bay. When we retired to our tents it was dead calm, not a ripple on the water. About an hour later waves suddenly rolled up on the sand beach landing area. The waves weren't big by any means, but big enough to hear them roll up on the sand, and then recede and crash into the next incoming wave. At first I thought an animal was swimming by, but there's no way an animal could have created a wake that would produce waves of that size and duration. And then dead calm returned. Very weird."

Another great anecdote.

Tony: "

nctry: "I once had someone actually eat MY cooking!"

Was that on Gillis lake?"

Yes, how did you know??? Hahahaha!

Have posted this once before.

We rescued/found a lost hiker. He had been doing trail maintenance on the Kek and got separated from his party. He had been alone for a couple of weeks. We brought him to our camp and fed him.

The next morning, I woke up and found him sprawled out next to the fire grate with an empty bottle of vodka next to his head. He would not wake all day and eventually we all went fishing. When we got back at dark, he was dead and laying in the middle of our campsite. Two of us paddled a few miles the next day and found a group leaving to resupply. They called the sheriff.

About 6pm that day a float plane pulled up to our camp. They questioned all of us, packed up the body and flew away. The worst fishing trip ever.

There is a true story of this happening....not in the BWCA, I can't remember where...but some guy went into some people's camp and was creepy so they asked him to leave. Dude left, came back and killed them. Yikes.

MikeinMpls: "Probably 10 years ago or so, my wife and I were portaging in the Fire Lake and Lake Four area. It was earlier in the morning, a bit foggy, but not too bad. I can't remember what portage it was, but the halfway point of the portage peaked on a large, open bald rock on the midst of big trees and beautiful woods. In fact, this portage stood out to me as particularly pretty. The rock allowed me to see in all directions.


So my wife and I bring our first load of gear over. I go back for the second load (we one and a half portage.) As I peaked the hill and arrived on the large bald rock, I noticed wolf scat. Fresh (still steaming, sorry about the grossness) and very evident that this just happened. At that point, the hair on my neck stood up because I knew there was a wolf watching me, but I couldn't see him. I wasn't scared of the wolf, wherever he was. What was creepy was knowing that an animal like that was hiding in the woods and watching me. Very cool too. Not too creepy, but kinda.


Mike"

How can you not remember the portage ?
I remember portage crossings, where basically nothing happened.

brantlars: "He would not wake all day and eventually we all went fishing. When we got back at dark, he was dead and laying in the middle of our campsite. Two of us paddled a few miles the next day and found a group leaving to resupply. They called the sheriff. "

Wow, what a horrible and strange story. I feel like your joking but for some reason I don’t think you are. So the guy couldn’t find his way out for weeks? Did his party/organization return to find him initially? Was it your vodka or had be been carrying it the whole time? Was this published anywhere?

Stumpy: "How can you not remember the portage ? I remember portage crossings, where basically nothing happened. "

Uhhhh...because I just don't remember exactly which portage it was. We were in the Fire Lake/Lake Three/Rifle Lake area. I think it was probably one of the portages into or out of Rifle Lake.

Mike

I am not sure this is "Crazy/Creepy", but all the talk of the dead cow got my mind wandering thru the meadows of memory (hey, I like that! "meadows of memory"... I will need to remember that one).

Back in the 70s, I was on Isle Royale on a backpacking trip with a Boy Scout troop. Up the hill from one of our campgrounds, one of the boys found a pit. I am guessing it was dug by someone mining copper "way back when". Anyway, there was what looked like a dead moose in it. It was basically a huge piece of leather floating in the water.

Boys being boys, we started throwing rocks at it. One of us hit it right in the middle with a huge rock, and lots of bubbles burst out from the sides. In less than 5 seconds all of us were running away - the stench was SO BAD! It had been rotting there in the sun, and the gas was trapped under that leather, and WOWZERS!

Does that count as crazy? It was the talk of our troop for many years to come....

Fun4dad2

Backpacking the northern most trails of Yellowstone in very early spring we were coming across winter kill elk almost every half mile. Each dead elk had its own grizzly bear. It was pretty hairy, we bailed on our planned route and hiked cross country to the road. We notified the ranger and they closed the trail the next day


Other stuff from that memorable trip. Speaking about memory there are bunch of portages that I have no recollection of, at all,

johno: "A couple years ago we were camped on the north end of Alice Lake in a small bay. When we retired to our tents it was dead calm, not a ripple on the water. About an hour later waves suddenly rolled up on the sand beach landing area. The waves weren't big by any means, but big enough to hear them roll up on the sand, and then recede and crash into the next incoming wave. At first I thought an animal was swimming by, but there's no way an animal could have created a wake that would produce waves of that size and duration. And then dead calm returned. Very weird."

There's a lot of Ojibwe/Anishinaabe stories of underwater monsters. Boat sized leeches, giant snakes, underwater panthers, and many spirits/manidoog in every lake. Pretty fun to think about!

brantlars: "Have posted this once before.

We rescued/found a lost hiker. He had been doing trail maintenance on the Kek and got separated from his party. He had been alone for a couple of weeks. We brought him to our camp and fed him.

The next morning, I woke up and found him sprawled out next to the fire grate with an empty bottle of vodka next to his head. He would not wake all day and eventually we all went fishing. When we got back at dark, he was dead and laying in the middle of our campsite. Two of us paddled a few miles the next day and found a group leaving to resupply. They called the sheriff.

About 6pm that day a float plane pulled up to our camp. They questioned all of us, packed up the body and flew away. The worst fishing trip ever."

Wait, what? Can you share more information? That is definitely crazy. So many questions...

I agree - i'm curious. Did you ever hear cause of death? Did the news share his story? Was there no one looking for him?

OgimaaBines: "

johno: "A couple years ago we were camped on the north end of Alice Lake in a small bay. When we retired to our tents it was dead calm, not a ripple on the water. About an hour later waves suddenly rolled up on the sand beach landing area. The waves weren't big by any means, but big enough to hear them roll up on the sand, and then recede and crash into the next incoming wave. At first I thought an animal was swimming by, but there's no way an animal could have created a wake that would produce waves of that size and duration. And then dead calm returned. Very weird."

There's a lot of Ojibwe/Anishinaabe stories of underwater monsters. Boat sized leeches, giant snakes, underwater panthers, and many spirits/manidoog in every lake. Pretty fun to think about!"

Pretty fun to think about?!!? Oh man, I'll be doing a solo trip the first week in June and now I'll have boat sized leeches and giant snakes swimming around in my subconscious :-)

When this event happened my nephew and a buddy of his were with me. It was a beautiful night and we didn't put the rainflys up on either tent. I was reading a book when the waves started and I sat up to look at the waves, the moon was nearly full. My nephew was snoring away, but his friend also heard the waves and sat up to look. The next morning Jake and I talked about it and neither of us could come up with a good explanation for the waves.

But now I know, and I still haven't been able to talk my nephew into joining me on the trip to protect me from the creatures in the dark! :-)

johno: "Pretty fun to think about?!!? Oh man, I'll be doing a solo trip the first week in June and now I'll have boat sized leeches and giant snakes swimming around in my subconscious :-)"

Nothing a little salt can't take care of lol

Was on Ensign for opening fishing this year, call of nature about 3:30 AM, doing my business look north there's a line of lights, 60-70, not equal distance apart but all traveling together.

Custaguy: "Was on Ensign for opening fishing this year, call of nature about 3:30 AM, doing my business look north there's a line of lights, 60-70, not equal distance apart but all traveling together."

Haha, satellite lights called Starlink. Elon Musk project.

I don't have any great stories.

Overnight trip on Crooked Creek (a branch of the White in Arkansas) with a few friends. They brought hammocks.

There was a little sand island we built a fire on. No rain in sight and no concern of a sudden water rise so I just threw down a tarp and a sleeping bag on the sand near the fire. Did the rope trick for snakes just for my own mental well-being.

Anyways, no flood or snakes. But the dang beaver that swam up next to me and tail slapped the water in the middle of the night was unsettling. Being woken so suddenly it took me a while to put two and two together and figure out what it was. For a minute or two I thought we were under attack.

Lawnchair107: "

Custaguy: "Was on Ensign for opening fishing this year, call of nature about 3:30 AM, doing my business look north there's a line of lights, 60-70, not equal distance apart but all traveling together."

Haha, satellite lights called Starlink. Elon Musk project."

I saw those the week of opener and wondered what it was. Cool.

Was on a solo trip in the BW’s back in 2012. Awoke one night around 1 am to someone searching around my campsite with a flashlight, waving it all over the place. As I shuffled in my sleeping bag to get up to unzip the tent and have a look, the flashlight went off and it went dead silent. Not so much as foot steps walking or anything. I contemplated what to do next, but knew the person had heard me wake up. Sat there the next hr listening to see if I could hear someone walk off, or do anything for that matter. Never heard a peep. Eventually went back to sleep (passed out rather, against my will) and woke to everything perfectly fine in the morning. Kinda figured all’s well that ends well, but man does it leave you feeling vulnerable.

NorthstarNick: "Was on a solo trip in the BW’s back in 2012. Awoke one night around 1 am to someone searching around my campsite with a flashlight, waving it all over the place. As I shuffled in my sleeping bag to get up to unzip the tent and have a look, the flashlight went off and it went dead silent. Not so much as foot steps walking or anything. I contemplated what to do next, but knew the person had heard me wake up. Sat there the next hr listening to see if I could hear someone walk off, or do anything for that matter. Never heard a peep. Eventually went back to sleep (passed out rather, against my will) and woke to everything perfectly fine in the morning. Kinda figured all’s well that ends well, but man does it leave you feeling vulnerable. "

This past Friday night on Pine lake I woke up in the middle of the night to several people walking past my tent with their flashlights on. I made a loud sound to try and spook them. I then woke my gf up and asked if she heard people walking through our site or if I am losing my mind. She confirmed I was just losing my mind.

Honestly, I don’t understand what possesses people to go through camp sites like that late at night. It’s insensitive for one, not to mention the creepy element of it.

NorthstarNick: "Honestly, I don’t understand what possesses people to go through camp sites like that late at night. It’s insensitive for one, not to mention the creepy element of it. "

Probably a waking dream. I've had them before and it is hard to distinguish the dream from reality. The fact that you passed out without doing much more than rustling the sleeping bag says to me that you were never really awake.

The creepiest experience for me was just an eerie moment. I was paddling on Gillis near sunset and looking for a campsite. We were in deep water, but not too far from shore. The lake was calm and really clear. I think we were in about 60 FOW and I look down and see this huge boulder that came up to right beneath the surface. Just seeing that massive boulder that was hidden just out of sight a few feet away from me was eerie and made me feel small. That image of the massive boulder fading into the depths has stuck with me ever since.

A1t2o: "

NorthstarNick: "Honestly, I don’t understand what possesses people to go through camp sites like that late at night. It’s insensitive for one, not to mention the creepy element of it. "

Probably a waking dream. I've had them before and it is hard to distinguish the dream from reality. The fact that you passed out without doing much more than rustling the sleeping bag says to me that you were never really awake.


The creepiest experience for me was just an eerie moment. I was paddling on Gillis near sunset and looking for a campsite. We were in deep water, but not too far from shore. The lake was calm and really clear. I think we were in about 60 FOW and I look down and see this huge boulder that came up to right beneath the surface. Just seeing that massive boulder that was hidden just out of sight a few feet away from me was eerie and made me feel small. That image of the massive boulder fading into the depths has stuck with me ever since."

Ugh... things under the water get me!!!! I had a panic attack on Clearwater seeing all the rocks and trunks under the water; pretty ridiculous, I know LOL

We heard an ELK in the middle of the nigh. Went on for about 40 minutes. about 8 years ago on the S side of Iron. Can't convince me otherwise.

This is quite a thread. Between the stones story and the chains/axe in the milk crate story I believe I will have enough to keep me awake at night out there. I was contemplating a solo trip... not so sure now! :-P

Nothing as good as the others, but it's something that's still with me.

Solo trip in October a bunch of years ago. I stopped for lunch on the side of a river in a beautiful spot. Had a nice lunch and enjoyed the fall weather.


After, I decided to go for a quick hike, and wandered back into the woods a ways, enjoying the scenery.


Suddenly, for no apparent reason, I had this instant, overpowering feeling that I was in danger, that something was watching me.

Was really weird. Just hit me out of nowhere. I looked around a bit, and didn't see anything, but I turned around, quickly got my stuff together and got back out on the water.


Never have had the same feeling or experience since. I really have no idea what it was about, if there really was something watching me like a mountain lion or bear or wolf or person or something (hadn't seen another person in days since it was Oct.), or if it was entirely just in my head.

Very creepy and I still wonder about it sometimes and wish I knew what it was about or what caused it. Was I in danger and this saved me, or am I just a nut. or both.

Brad, I totally trust early warning systems. You were wise to scoot.

Agreed, trust your gut! Your 6th sense doesn't lie.

An instance like Brad's - some years back quite a ways up a local river, picking agates in a pretty remote area...I had the same feeling suddenly, looked around nothing. Shook it off and continued on my way. About 10-15 minutes later got the same feeling again, paused and looked deeply into the woods no sound...nothing, no movement, just complete quiet, which was weird. I shook it off and continued on. A few minutes later, I heard the distinct sound of a "kerplunk", like a rock tossed into the water. I looked back to see the ripples. That was enough for the day, turned around and walked out.

I've been back to that area countless times with no issues.