Have you ever had insanely terrifying or weird experiences while hiking? I’m sure some of us can recall at least one or two horrifying times, but if you’re able to talk about it, at least you made it out alive. For some people in these hikers’ stories, the ending wasn’t as great.
If you’re lucky enough to not have had any scary experiences on the trail, then we can be sure that these stories will give you goosebumps. We headed to the Internet to see what people have noted as their craziest hiking experience. Needless to say, we couldn’t believe what some of them said.
The Lucky One
“I was climbing Mount Fitzroy in Argentina. Everybody said it was safe to do it by myself. The day began with beautiful weather. I could easily follow signs and met quite a few people on the road. Suddenly, the weather changed. Everything was dark, I couldn’t see my hand before my eyes. I got completely lost and decided I had to find my way back down to the village. The only thing I could remember was that I crossed a little river. I walked towards the sound of water and found it but it had risen so much that you couldn’t cross. But, I knew I had to try. So, I looked for big stones to throw in and tried to hold myself as I crossed.
I almost lost my life, but thankfully only lost my watch and my backpack. I finally reached the other side, completely wet and trembling. I still couldn’t see anything. There was no path. I had been crying and shouting for help for almost an hour. Finally, in the distance, I heard a voice. A Swiss couple guided me back. Once I was safe, I heard an Argentine man and an American tourist were missing. Later they found their dead bodies.”
-Wuytens G., Girls Love Travel
The Headless Horse
“I was backpacking in Yellowstone above the tree line at about 10,500 feet. We were hiking on a ridge above a lake when all the sudden we come across a horse skull. No body, just the skull. Pretty cool looking. We get to our campsite not too far away from the lake near where we found the horse skull. When we climbed down to the lake we find the body of the horse rotting on the edge of the lake with negative film strips floating in the water and laying around the shore near the body.”
When Things Take a Turn for the Weird
“I once found the diary of a homeless person. In it, he wrote over and over again about how his 3rd grade teacher was the only person who mattered to him. The guy’s bad writing made it even weirder.”
The Man with the Knife
“I once was hiking/camping in the CO mountains with a friend. We set up camp and made dinner when the cops showed up asking about “a man with a knife.” We didn’t know anything about it, so we kept cooking. Later, a man from the next camp comes over and is very drunk and starts ranting angrily about gay people (my friend was also a girl, and I suppose he didn’t like that.) He tried to inspect our tent and we had to ask him to leave. As he turned away I saw he had a very large knife strapped to him. Needless to say, we packed up and left.”
-Holly W., Girls Love Travel
Step on a Crack, Break Your Mother’s Back
“A few years ago my friends and I were exploring near our usual camping area when we came across a small entrance to a cave. As we approached the entrance, we noticed this white piece of wood lying directly in front of the cave that looked to be about 3 feet long. As we finally make our way to the entrance, we realized it wasn’t a piece of wood, and instead a backbone. We just stood in silence for awhile.”
GTFO
“I was hiking alone in the Sangre de Cristo range in northern NM, I had just gotten to the top of a ridge so I stopped to take a break under a tree. I was sitting there eating a food bar, when I felt a drop of something wet on my leg. It was a perfectly clear day so I was surprised for it to be raining, so I looked down at my leg, and the drop was red. As in blood red. I looked up to see the front half of a deer in the branches of the tree I was under. While I was looking at it I heard a mountain lion calling. I then proceeded to nope the f*** out of there.”
So, do you have any stories like this from your own experiences? We want to hear them! Share yours in the comments below.
