BWCA Scary BWCA Halloween Stories out there? Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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muskiejerk
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10/27/2016 11:22AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Anyone have any spooky stories from inside the BWCA given it is almost Halloween? Hauntings, sightings, creepy feelings, etc.

I remember one time we were quite a ways behind our campsite bushwhacking/exploring (beyond the beaten trails around most sites) and stumbled across what looked to be a stashed shelter awaiting it's owners return. We were pretty spooked and when we went to bed that night we knew we weren't alone like we thought were the night before.
 
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Whatsit
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10/27/2016 11:35AM  
I read one once from a young Boy Scout guide.
He said the Boy Scouts were sleeping in their tents and he was in a hammock. He said he was woken in the middle of the night while camping in the BWCA after hearing something walk up to the campsite. He said he kept laying in his hammock watching as a man walked into the camp and just stood there for what seemed like an hour or so and then just walked away. The guide was ready to do what ever it took if he needed to, but the stranger just stood there for awhile and left. Very strange and creepy if you ask me
 
Whatsit
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10/27/2016 11:43AM  
Another one I read where these two men and their daughters where camping in the BWCA near a portage. This took place in the 60's or early 70's. The girls were cleaning up after dinner when the two men went for a walk to the portage. The one daughter that later told this story said it was just getting dark when the two men ran into camp in a panic yelling at the girls to pack up and they needed to leave immediately. The daughter said the two men were scared out of their mind and the dads refused to talk about what happened for many years. She said one day in the late 90's she asked her dad what that was all about. He said the two of them were walking to the portage. He said when they got to the portage they walked the complete distance to the other side. (I'd imagine this was a good length). He said as they were walking back to the side they were camped near all of a sudden the woods went still. He said they both knew something wasn't right. As they walked they heard something very big running towards them from behind. As they turned they said it was at least an 8 foot tall man covered in hair (big foot) running towards them. They both stopped frozen in their tracks. The Bigfoot stopped very close to them and the three of them just staring at each other. Then the Bigfoot turned and walked away. The dad said the two men ran as fast as they could and had never been as scared in their lives as they were at that moment.
By the way. The two men were both doctors.
(FYI, this is just a story I read. Doesn't mean I believe or disbelieve this, just repeating what I read)
 
10/27/2016 01:38PM  
There I was and this is no S_ _ T.

I was solo canoeing and camped out on an Island on Isabella Lake in October of 2007. I was enjoying my early morning cup of coffee, there was slight little mist dancing above the calm water that morning as I reflected on my life and the beauty of the BWCA.
All of the sudden I heard this blood curdling scream.

I tried to focus my sleepy eyes off in the distance when I saw what appeared to be a woman with blond hair swimming across the lake a couple hundred yards away. Her neck and head were completely out of the water, but I could not see any part of her body, she was swimming at an unbelievable speed.
I hurriedly got in my canoe and began to paddle toward her, but I was making very little progress.
When she got to shore and walked unto the beach. I was about 150 yards behind her.

I can not get the sight of what I saw emerge from the water out of my head to this day.

It was a woman's head and neck on a deer's body.

I left immediately headed for the landing at Forest Center, leaving all my gear at the campsite.
I went back to Isabella and stopped by the Moose Ridge bar.
When I entered the owner said to me. "What in the Hell happened to you"? You are as white as a ghost.

I relayed my experience to him and he did not seem all that alarmed, and simply said.
"Oh you saw the She Devil"
I asked him what he was talking about and he told me this story.

Years ago in the mid 50's the loggers at Forest Center were suffering through a brutal winter and were holed up in the tar paper shacks, unable to get out in the woods and cut pulp wood.
Idle time is the Devils Workshop as the saying goes.
Anyway, the loggers children used a Ouija Board and accidentally conjured up an evil spirit that winter, who still roams the woods around Isabella Lake to this day.
The spirit is known as the "She Devil", she has a woman's neck and head on the body of a deer.
I have not been back to Isabella Lake since.

But I definitely had too much time on my hands last summer in AK.
How's that for a story? ;-)
 
Whatsit
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10/27/2016 03:03PM  
quote LindenTree3: "There I was and this is no S_ _ T.


I was camped out on an Island on Isabella Lake one fall in October. I was enjoying my early morning cup of coffee, there was still a little mist dancing above the calm water when I heard this blood curdling scream.
I tried to focus my sleepy eyes off in the distance when I saw what appeared to be a woman with blond hair swimming across the lake a couple hundred yards away. Her neck and head were completely out of the water, but I could not see any part of her body, she was swimming at an unbelievable speed.
I hurriedly got in my canoe and began to paddle toward her but I was making very little progress.
When she got to shore and walked unto the beach. I was about 150 yards behind her.


I can not get the sight of what I saw emerge from the water out of my head to this day.


It was a woman's head and neck on a deer's body.


I left immediately headed for the landing at Forest Center, leaving all my gear at the campsite.
I went back to Isabella and stopped by the Moose Ridge bar.
When I entered the owner said to me. "What in the Hell happened to you"? You are as white as a ghost.


I relayed my experience to him and he did not seem all that alarmed, and simply said.
"Oh you saw the She Devil"
I asked him what he was talking about and he told me this story.


Years ago in the mid 50's the loggers at Forest Center were suffering through a brutal winter and were holed up in the tar paper shacks, unable to get out in the woods and cut pulp wood.
Idle time is the Devils Workshop as the saying goes.
Anyway, the loggers children used a Ouija Board and accidentally conjured up a bad spirit that winter, who still roams the woods around Isabella Lake to this day.
The spirit is known as the "She Devil", she has a woman's neck and head on the body of a deer.
I have not been back to Isabella Lake since.


But I definitely had too much time on my hands last summer in AK.
How's that one? ;-)
"

So I can't tell. Are you truly saying you saw this for real or are you just having us on?
Mike
 
10/27/2016 09:01PM  
Mike,

It's a Halloween campfire story, I don't want any kids having nightmares around Isabella Lake.

I cant say if what I saw was reality, I was recovering from a really bad hang over at the time.

I'm surprised I didn't swamp the boat trying to catch her. :-)

 
bassnet
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10/27/2016 09:14PM  
This isn't a Halloween story...it's happening to me, now.

I was sent to Central Supply, for a set of #14 Fallopian Tubes. The ER doc said he needed them stat. When I got there (I work nights) of course all the lights were out...finding the light switch turned out to be a small adventure. I found the tubes, way back around the corner...kinda a place to steal a kiss from........ANYWAY, I could hear a couple of guys arguing......I dunno (I could not hear exactly), I think they were chapped about a growth hormone, GU-27950.....apparently something they were experimenting with. Seems one guy had been using it on himself, and he was really aggressive, yelling and flailing his arms(glad they had not seen me!).

Well, the guy who had not taken it brandished a revolver (this is the weird part), and shoots the other guy....it just RANG OUT in the confines of the basement.....and the guy just falls back, dead. AY CARAMBA, BATMAN!!!

The shooter calmly pockets the gun, looks around (I'm not breathing!), and just walks out. I don't know what to do. Dead guy is leaving a bigger and bigger puddle of blood and.....there is a bare wisp of smoke coming from the body....and it grows....and now the torso is practically sending up smoke signals and BURSTS IN TO FLAMES!!! Of course the fire alarm goesboff, and I don't know how to explain, I have never seen these guys at the hospital and as I run out of the hospital the security guard yells "HEY, STOP" at me and I run to my car and careen into the night.

I drove around for an hour...maybe more. Hunger (and a full bladder!) Sent me to a Macdonald's for a Happy Meal...VISA declined, Discover declined, Mastercharge DECLINED!!! This can't be right.....Wait a minute....what if the shooter knew who I was, stopped my cards.. ..KNEW WHERE I LIVED???? I turned and burned back to the abode, and entered an entirely ransacked house!!! The shooter knows me, where I live, and from the looks of my PC, knows A LOT about me.

I write this.....somewhere in the states, on some highway at some rest stop. I'm glad it's dark. I have some cash, not enough....I just need to get....somewhere, safe, somwe here to be quiet, and think this out. I have relatimer out west, friends on the Gulf, relatives in the southeast......but north, maybe I would be safe up north. Maybe if I could find out about GU-27950....you know, knowledge is a formidable weapon.

Terry


 
Whatsit
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10/27/2016 09:49PM  
quote LindenTree3: "Mike,


It's a Halloween campfire story, I don't want any kids having nightmares around Isabella Lake.


I cant say if what I saw was reality, I was recovering from a really bad hang over at the time.

I'm surprised I didn't swamp the boat trying to catch her. :-)


"

You never know what you are going to see out there. Just wondering if this is a true story or as you said "a campfire story".
 
missmolly
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10/28/2016 08:59AM  
Not BWCA, but a paddling story:

I was kayaking the Mississippi in late October and it was a howling, gray day.

As I was leaving a lock, the lock master yelled at me, "Spend the night here!"

But I wanted to make more miles since winter was coming. It was rough going with the river valley funneling the wind into my face. I camped on islands, but there were none. Darkness arrived and I was paddling by the light of lightning. Up aside, backlit by lightning, I saw Devil's Island. I didn't want to stay there because of its name, but I was out of options. I ran into a mud bar upriver of the island and dragged my kayak for half a mile. The island was a tangle of giant, creaking trees and I had to snake through roots to find the merest tent pad. It was hard sleeping with the trees creaking and the thunder booming, so I rose the next morning to skedaddle. Coming around the upriver end of the island, I passed two gray men drinking coffee out of tin cups. They waved me ashore, but I kept paddling.

Years later, I read an account of another Mississippi River paddler and he had the same experience, from the mud to the creaking trees to the two, gray men with tin cups.
 
10/28/2016 09:33AM  
"You never know what you are going to see out there. Just wondering if this is a true story or as you said "a campfire story".

Mike and all,
It is not a true story, as far as Isabella Lake is concerned.
However it is a true story that was going around the White Earth Reservation in the early 1990's where I grew up.

The story was that some Natives had conjured up a spirit and the She Devil ran around the woods on the Rez.
I was younger and was the only one living on a 12 mile logging road at that time.
I actually was a little scared back then.

I just changed the details of the story to be around the BWCA, since that is what this thread asked for.
 
muskiejerk
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10/28/2016 09:37AM  
Now that is SPOOKY!!! I have been at the beach site on Isabella and whether true or not that gives me the chills
 
Whatsit
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10/28/2016 09:43AM  
quote LindenTree3: "You never know what you are going to see out there. Just wondering if this is a true story or as you said "a campfire story".


Mike,
It is not a true story, as far as Isabella Lake is concerned.
However it is a true story that was going around the White Earth Reservation in the early 1990's where I grew up.


The story was that some Natives had conjured up a spirit and the She Devil ran around the woods on the Rez.
I was younger and was the only one living on a 12 mile logging road at that time.
I actually was a little scared back then.


I just changed the details of the story to be around the BWCA, since that is what this thread asked for."

Ha! You never know what people think they really see, but you are a good story teller :-)
I've heard people swear up and down how they came face to face with werewolves etc etc and even know I don't believe these things it's still fun to hear the stories.
Well done :-)
Mike
 
missmolly
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10/28/2016 10:11AM  
@LT3

Oh, deer.
 
10/28/2016 10:31AM  
Terry/Bassnet,

Great story, hope it is not true.
 
missmolly
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10/28/2016 06:22PM  
I often have canoe country nightmares. I dream that a lake shore will be paved with a walking path and the lake bottom cemented like a swimming pool. There will be families and diapers littering the shoreline and the lake will be emptied of life.
 
10/28/2016 06:48PM  
I remember this story when I ran the fire engine out of Isabella in the Early 2,000's

For the last five decades, the legend of the Hairy Man of the Pow Wow Hiking Trail has intrigued many who have decided to venture out into secluded areas with names such as Isabella Lake and Island River.

Although there are endless numbers of haunted stories in the BWCAW -- such as glowing headstones, ghosts of little kids leaving their prints on canoes, and of cults chasing people -- the one that stands on top of them all is the Hairy Man.

But now, the Hairy Man of the Pow Wow Hiking Trail has caught the attention of some famous outsiders.

The Hairy Man has gone Hollywood.

The cast and crew of the new SyFy series Haunted Highway made their way to the small community of Isabella to try their luck at uncovering what is behind all the Hairy Man claims.


Haunted Highway investigators Jael de Pardo and Devin Marble conducted street interviews in Isabella for a day, then went out into the BWCAW wilderness to conduct their own overnight investigation of the Hairy Man.

The Hairy Man episode is set to be shown on the Haunted Highway's debut event Tuesday, Monday October 31st, "Halloween Night", starting at 9 p.m. on the SyFy Channel.

In its news release, SyFy states, "In the premiere episode 'Bear Lake Beast/Pow Wow Hairy Man,' Jack Osbourne and Dana Workman venture to Bear Lake, Utah, in search of the elusive Bear Lake Beast.

Meanwhile in Isabella, Minnesota, Jael and Devin (Syfy's: Paranormal Files) trek through the dense forests on the trail of a creature known to locals as the Hairy Man.


An aggressive eight-foot humanoid, the Hairy Man has been spotted frequently and is thought to be the unknown malevolent cause of many animal attacks.

However, when Jael and Devin reach the last known location of the beast, they find some compelling evidence that this giant may not be a legend after all."

So what exactly has fueled the legend of the Hairy Man?

To get that answer, one has to go through as many twists and turns as the trails themselves. It's easy to get lost as one story turns to another, but one thing is certain, the Hairy Man has captured the imagination of local people and BW paddlers.

And soon, it will be there for the entire nation to wonder about, as well.

Origins unknown

There are numerous eyewitness accounts of what has become known as the Hairy Man of the BWCAW. This newspaper has been in contact with about a dozen people from around the area who reported run-ins with the Hairy Man.


Consistencies from each account include a humanoid-like figure, ranging from over seven to eight feet tall. Shaggy, long-haired characteristics are reported in each account, while a musky odor accompanies run-ins with the beast.

In more than a couple of instances, the Hairy Man is reported to be barefoot, which sticks out, especially during the frigid months of winter.

What is not known is when the first reported sighting of the Hairy Man occurred, or for that matter, when the legend began.

The earliest talk of the Hairy Man can be traced back to the late 1960s, but no one has an answer to how it started.

"I heard of the Hairy Man legend when I was a kid growing up as a kid at the old logging camp of Forest Center on the south shores of Isabella Lake," said Bettyy Heath. "The stories just grew and grew as time evolved."

The minimum maintenance roads and dirt trails of the hilly, deeply wooded trails have long been a destination for young explorers.

The Hairy Man legend started to pick up momentum in the 1970s, when sightings of the Hairy Man became numerous.

One of those is lifelong resident Krista Hanson, who had her run-in with the beast in 1972, while snowshoeing with her cousin, Joy Hanson.

The 12-year-old Hanson and her cousin were snowshoeing on the Pow-Wow hiking trail just off what is known as the entry to the BWCAW a short distance away from the old logging camp of Forest Center.

There, the Hanson duo circled an old desolate campsite with sleds in tow, when their enjoyment on that winter afternoon was suddenly interrupted.

"We were snowshoeing around the lake when we found an un-occupied campsite, and all of a sudden, a beast-like creature popped out from behind a big Cedar Tree grove holding a huge stick," Hanson said. "It had very broad shoulders and I was trying to rationalize what it was, but what really stood out to me, is it was barefoot in the snow.

"We took off fast and went back to tell the adults."

Even though the adults were not convinced of Hanson's ordeal, it became a lifelong memory for this Isabella resident.

"I know what I saw that day," and it wasn't human, she added.

"I still to this day, can't drive out there at night alone," Hanson said. "The family has not camped out there since, and none of us wander out in the woods alone."

Another well-known eyewitness account came from another lifelong Isabella resident, Tim Zitzow, who has since passed away.

It was said that Zitzow, who was a regular visitor on the Pow-Wow Hiking Trail, came back one afternoon after hiking on and he was pretty shaken up.

His car had large dents in the hood, which he said were made by a big, hairy creature, who jumped on the front of his vehicle and started smashing his fists down on it.

Since the 1980s, the sightings have dissipated.

But even today, there is a creepy feeling felt by some Isabella residents who wonder if there are eyes watching them from the deep woods of the BWCAW.

Until now, the Hairy Man legend has mostly been supported by eyewitness accounts -- but now there appears to be some concrete evidence.

Jan Doyle, had quite a visit with one of the longtime residents of the Isabella, who brought in a shocking artifact.

What she saw lying right in front of her that day was a huminoid skull of unknown origin, one that definitely doesn't have the characteristics of either human or primate.

"The owner of the skull (a quiet, respectable man who wants to remain anonymous) said one of the oldest families in Isabella found it south Kelly Landing," Jan said. The current owner has had the skull for five or six years, and said the family that gave it to him owned it for a number of years before that.

It was found in the area known as the Kelly Landing, an old railroad siding area where logs from the Tomahawk Timber Sale were loaded logs unto the trains for their journey to saw mills, where a few of the Hairy Man sightings occurred.

"They thought it could be one of the offspring of the Hairy Man," she said.

"But whatever it is, it sure doesn't look human," she added. "I certainly didn't know what it was."

The skull has humanoid features, including its eye sockets, teeth and even three to four vertebrae which are still intact.

But there are plenty of features that don't match human features, or primate, for that matter.

There is vegetation stuck to the back of the skull, which may indicate it was unearthed in a swampy area after quite some time.

The skull has never been tested by its owners and very few people outside of Isabella even know it exists, so the discovery of something which looks as strange as it does, in the same area as Hairy Man sightings, makes it more intriguing.

Ken Gerhard, who is a nationally-renowned cryptozoologist, said there are several features which are either missing or in the wrong place to be an anthropoid.

Gerhard, who doesn't claim to be an anthropologist or an expert on defining skull features, has good experience in researching Homo Sapien and primate artifacts, which is needed in the cryptozoology field

"What I noticed right off the bat, was the unnatural features the skull had or at least 10-12 noticeable characteristics which were missing for a Hominid (defined as being part of the human family)," Gerhard said. "The face of the skull does resemble human, but there isn't a cavity large enough to hold a large brain.

"The eye sockets do seem smaller, compared to a hominid and there isn't a nasal cavity bone."

But Gerhard added he couldn't conclusively determine if the skull was that of the Hairy Man.

"I'm just going by photos, which is difficult to make a solid determination," Gerhard said.





 
10/28/2016 06:51PM  
The "little hairy man" on ensign. Search for old threads here on this. I got it second-hand; but he was shaken up!
 
10/28/2016 11:43PM  
quote missmolly: "I often have canoe country nightmares. I dream that a lake shore will be paved with a walking path and the lake bottom cemented like a swimming pool. There will be families and diapers littering the shoreline and the lake will be emptied of life. "
i've had dreams of arriving to camp in the SAK and there was a food truck there . and i thought to myself (in the dream) we could have drove to this spot LOL.
i have had some unique experiences in my house that was built in 1888. mainly when we 1st moved in and did alot of remodeling. but not BW related.
 
10/28/2016 11:51PM  
off topic but here's a good story. me and the wife went to visit a friend 1 evening. (our house has the mud room and sun room at each end of the house but you can see through the house to at each room.) when we left we both checked the lock on the sunroom door that we left through, 1 of those push in turn door locks. when we arrived back home , my oldest step son was coming to take my boat. so we parked in the front . i said i want to check if eddy took the boat yet. i walk to the back of the house and it was still there . so i entered the house and saw deb standing in the sunroom, when she walked in i said oh you had your key, she said no , i said how did you get in ?? she said she was standing there waiting for me and heard the door knob click and unlock, she thought right away wow i got there fast , she entered and there was nobody there , almost as if somebody unlocked it for her.
NOT super scary but how does 1 explain that.
 
missmolly
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10/29/2016 09:15AM  
One doesn't explain it, shock. There are mysteries. Thankfully.
 
bassnet
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10/29/2016 09:43AM  
This is a fun thread.......
 
10/29/2016 02:29PM  
quote bassnet: "This is a fun thread......."


Bassnet/Terry,

Glad to hear that things have settled down for you, and you now have time to read BWCA.com ;-)
It must have been so stressful having to go through what you recently witnessed, and being on the run can really take its toll on a person. I hope they catch the guy soon.

I'm sure you will be happy when you get to move back into your home soon and get the mess cleaned up.
That was a great story seems like I heard it before but I am not certain.

Here is what I found out about GU-27950

GU-27950 medications reduce the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, usually allowing a person to function more effectively and appropriately. GU-27950 drugs are the best treatment for schizophrenia right now, but they don't cure schizophrenia or ensure that there will be no further psychotic episodes.
 
bottomtothetap
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10/29/2016 04:11PM  
It was 1998--several trips in for me but the first time I had convinced my wife to join me for all of the fun I'd been having. Another couple, Mike and Tina, joined us for the trip. We went down the Kawishiwi River, entering at Lake One and taking the southern track of the "triangle" toward Farm Lake.

As the route turned north toward Clear Lake it was time for us to start looking for a campsite. Along the way we met a group going the other way consisting of two adult leaders and a number of younger teens. When we asked if they were aware of any open campsites ahead, one adult said they had left one just south of Clear Lake earlier in the day and it should be open. "But", said the other adult, rather laughingly, " the kids are convinced it's haunted. I guess there was some 'funny' stuff that happened that might have spooked them". We brushed off the "haunted" thing as a product of the imagination from silly teens and decided to check it out. It was a nice looking site so we decided to stay for a couple of nights.

The rest of the day went as expected and after enjoying a campfire we decided to turn in for the night to the 9x9 tent that we would all share. Before doing so we pulled the canoes well up on to shore and turned them over so they would not collect water in case it rained.

Before I got to sleep, an owl that sounded like it was perched right over our tent started hooting. It was almost exactly midnight, as I remember checking my watch. This stupid owl went on for some time, keeping me awake. Then suddenly it quit, AND, I noticed, so did the frogs or toads that had also been making some noise. The silence was distinct. Then I heard what I can only describe as "movement" that sounded like it came from near the lake near our aluminum canoes, though I did not note any "canoe" noise specifically. I suddenly remembered the guy's "haunted" comment from earlier in the day but again brushed it off and then did finally get to sleep shortly after the toads started in again with their croaking.

The next morning, imagine our shock to find both of our canoes upright and one of them half on shore and half in the water! It had not stormed so that is not what moved them--the ground was bone dry. The others said they had also heard the owl and MAYBE something else. The only one who said they had got up for the night was Mike who said he went out once to the latrine. I remembered him getting up and going out because it woke me and this was much AFTER these sounds, which had occurred before I fell asleep in the first place. He said he did not notice anything with the canoes and his path from the tent to the latrine would not have taken him down near the lake. This was completely freaky! We actually talked about moving to a different site but then thought how silly-- let's be adult about this. There is surely SOME type of explanation for the canoes and there was no reason not to stay at this nice site for another night. We stayed put.

Later that day I was tending the campfire and I heard a splash down by the lake and an immediate cry for help. It was Tina in the lake trying to get up onto shore but she could not because the steep rocks were covered with slippery algae just under the water line. I raced down to the lake and extended my hand as far as I could and she was able to grab it. Soon after, Mike and my wife joined me and we were able to pull Tina up out of the water onto shore. We asked what happened and she said she was simply sitting y on the rocks cooling her feet in the water when she swore "something" pulled her into the lake!!! As soon as she was in the water she did not feel pulled anymore but could not get back up onto shore. She went to the tent and got into some dry clothes and we all felt grateful that nothing more than a scraped knee and soaked pants and shirt was what happened to her. The rest of the day went on uneventfully.

That night we again enjoyed a nice fire and turned the canoes over again before turning in to the tent. After we all had gone to sleep, we were all startled awake by a loud crash behind our tent. I think it was a tree that fell, but why just then? The night was completely still and the lake was smooth as glass. I know this because I got the guts to venture out of the tent (I'll admit, I was pretty spooked and only did so to instead display to the others that I was really "brave"). I was compelled to check the canoes and this time they were fine--just as we had left them--and I went back to bed.

The next morning, we found our camp chairs tipped over by the fire rather than upright, as we had left them the night before when we went to bed. Remember, the night had been still with a glass-like lake surface.

Little was said that morning as we had a fast breakfast and packed up quickly to get out of there ASAP. Our paddle out to the exit on Farm lake was quite uneventful but we were all thinking about the weird happenings at the campsite we had just left. On the trip home, it dominated the conversation as we tried to come up with plausible explanations for the canoes, falling in the lake and the tipped-over chairs but just couldn't.

One more thing: Mike and Tina are divorced now (my wife and I are still happily married). The date their divorce became final? Five years to the day from when we spent our final night at that campsite.

I can still feel the hair on my back stand up when I recount this story (used to be hair on my head but has now migrated). A number of years later, another group I was with thought this same campsite would be good for a lunch stop as we paddled by. I didn't want to say anything to avoid being thought the fool but I felt uneasy the whole time we were there. I would NOT have camped there for the night and if I can help it will never set foot on that site again.
 
10/29/2016 04:55PM  
Having to head home because all the campsites were taken...
 
10/29/2016 07:25PM  
"Creak", a sound, faint, distant, but still heard.
"Crack", something snapping, or being trampled on.
The woman sits in her tent, reading. The campsite is silent except for the quiet fire burning.
"Creak" ..Just a branch falling, nothing more.
"Crack", Perhaps some small animals nearby.
"Whoosh", Was that the wind?
The woman crawls over up and peeks out the tent screen thinking.
"I'm never soloing on Ensign Lake again" A clear night is all she sees, the full moon brillent in the sky. Laughing at her nervousness, she returns to her book.
"Creak", the woman now silently chuckles at the sound.
"Crack", how could she have been scared of some sounds.
"Whoosh", must be breezy out tonight.
"Thump"...did that come from nearby the campsite?
The woman stares into the fire, trying to calm her jangled nerves.
"Creak"...
"Crack"...
"Whoosh"...will the sounds never cease?
"Thump"..."Thump"..."Thump"...
Closer, she thinks, the sounds are getting closer. She shuts the book and closes her eyes, and thinks of something besides her wild imagination.
"Creak"
"Thump"
"Crack"
"Thump"
"Whoosh"
"Thump"..."Thump"..."Thump"...a pause? The woman moves quietly, slowly, towards the tent door with a nervous slow crawl. "Thump"...a step back..."Thump"...yes, it's getting closer. "Thump"...she stares out the tent screen, trying to somehow see through it..."Thump"...she reaches slowly for the zipper, hand shaking, no longer able to take not knowing..."Creak", a branch breaks, near the tent outside..."Thump", she slowly opens the tent flap...
"A scream"
...silence...
 
mr.barley
distinguished member(7231)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberpower member
  
10/29/2016 07:59PM  
I was once went on a trip with 6 people! The horror...the horror...the horror
 
Savage Voyageur
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10/29/2016 09:21PM  
quote overthehill: " The "little hairy man" on ensign. Search for old threads here on this. I got it second-hand; but he was shaken up!"


I have stayed on Ensign for about 35 days now. The only hairy men I've seen were my fishing buddies, and they weren't small.
 
10/29/2016 09:27PM  
Reading this thread is like watching the movie Deliverance. Don't do it right before camping.
 
10/29/2016 10:38PM  
Island river campsites are kind of creepy.
 
10/30/2016 05:59PM  
Here is tonight's story, Hope I'm not coloring outside of the lines.
I will stop after Halloween.

My supervisor radioed me just after sunrise on a warm summer morning in 2003 to report another incident that occurred in the BWCAW on a small Island. Myself and my co-worker were patrolling the Insula Lake area at the time and were staying on a small campsite on Hudson Lake.
“A bunch of drunks were boozing and brawling on an island last night,” the dispatcher said in a grumpy tone that clearly indicated his lack of patience.
I sighed. Again! I had no idea why so many summer visitors flocked to Lake One and Insula Lake, which is located off a major canoe route in the BWCAW east if Ely MN..
“I want you to head out there and make sure no one got knocked on the head or stranded on the island when the brawl ended,” my supervisor continued.
“I copy that,” I said.
We hurried down to the portage across Hudson Lake and headed out in the canoe we used for official business. It was a moderate paddle combined with many short and long portages out to Insula.
We paddled and portaged for 2-3 hours when we drew closer to the campsite on the Island.
I sighed as we looked at the creaky old tent perched precariously on the shore. There were empty beer bottles strewn on the beach and floating in the water, always a sign of people with no regard for the wilderness.
We beached our canoe and gathered up as much trash as we could. Then we cautiously ventured onto the beer strewn campsite.. Thankfully, we found no bodies huddled asleep in the beer-soaked tents. Time to check the surrounding woods.
This particular Island on Insula Lake was .5 miles long, and we were going to have to check the whole darn thing, just in case some of the drunks had gone exploring last night. With a sigh, we headed out in a basic search pattern.


By early evening, I was hot, grumpy, tired, and convinced I was on a wild-goose chase. There had been no sign of stranded canoers – drunk or sober. We headed back over the portage to our canoe

As we came over a tiny rise, a huge wind struck us hard, making both of us stagger backward a few paces in the suddenly freezing air. In front of me, I saw the lake churning in great waves while a huge storm cloud massed overhead.
I saw something big and bulky floating at the edge of the water. Something man-shaped. My heart leapt into my throat, and I rushed forward. Dear God, someone had fallen from the canoe last night and hit their head! My hands felt cold and clammy as I fumbled with the radio at my belt. I had to call this in! But when I spoke into the radio, it only returned static.

I dropped to my knees beside the body; noticing that the sodden clothing was old-fashioned clothing dating from the1800's. The drowned man looked rather like a paddler from the era when the Voyageurs first started trading with the Indians in the era of the Hudson Bay company. I checked his neck for a pulse. There was no pulse. I turned the body over and stared into a pair of bulging blue eyes on a pale-white face.
And then, in between one breath and the next, the body vanished. Suddenly my hand was gripping empty air instead of an old-fashioned jacket. I reeled backward with a gasp and landed on my rump in the sand. Where had the corpse gone?
I glanced frantically over the calm, sparkling waters of the still lake, searching for the body of the drowned man.
The warm summer wind caressed my face as my brain registered the change in scenery. What had happened to the approaching storm? Where were the huge, wind-swept swells that had frightened me so much when I came over the rise?
I scrambled to my feet and stood hyperventilating with my head between my legs, arms braced on my knees. This couldn’t be happening. But I knew it was. Storm, cold wind, and corpse had vanished in a heartbeat. They had been shades of a former time, a former accident. So that was why the man’s clothes had been so old-fashioned.





 
ozarkpaddler
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10/31/2016 12:07AM  
quote 4keys: "Reading this thread is like watching the movie Deliverance. Don't do it right before camping. "


Well let's hope this thread don't go anywhere near Aintree (LOL)!
 
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