>>2311405>Sipsey Wilderness, AL>had a late start but planed a short day>sun setting, close to where I planned on camping>taking a leak>there’s a stream behind me, maybe 30’ back>in front of me is mega-dense, overgrown forest, backed by a cliff wall maybe 100’ away>hear someone walking down the trail>glance but don’t see anyone>hear him say “excuse me” in a tone you’d use if you wanted to walk past someone>he was right behind me, clear as day, though I hadn’t hear him walk up>turn around, all I say is “dude!” as in “dude, I’m trying to piss, why are you standing right behind me?”>no one thereYeah, it’s the typical “and no one was there when I turned around story.” I had never felt more fear and dread than I did at that moment. It was the most horrifying thing that’s ever happened to me.
It was 9 years ago, when I was 31. I first started camping when I was 3 months old, and started backpacking when I was 8. So this wasn’t a case of an inexperienced person hearing a sound and being freaked out because they’re in an unfamiliar environment.
And it wasn’t just “a sound.” It was a man speaking to me, just a foot or two behind me. Too close while I’m trying to pee. It would be impossible for someone to have been somehow playing a prank by yelling from the bushes or something; there was no where to hide and I could hear how close he was.
So I’d planned on about an 8 mile hike, and it was timed pretty well. I would have arrived at camp probably with very little sunlight left. Instead I hiked straight back to my car, without stopping, in the dark (I used a headlamp, so it’s not like I was using moonlight only).
A portion of that is a 30’ long “cave” with no bypass that you have to go through sideways without your pack. It’s just where a giant boulder and I guess a small landslide fell into another boulder. Pretty neat under normal circumstances, but terrifyingly during this. (Cont)
