Finland State Forest
#Area/Woods #Location/US/Minnesota #Creature/Humanoid/Bigfoot
This happened in the Finland State Forest in Northern Minnesota over the month of August in 2013. I was a fairly fit 34 year old male and have been doing 5-10 trips a year since I was 18.
The state forests in MN allow you to disperse camp (camp anywhere you want) as long as you follow "Leave no trace" principals and aren't on the side major roads.
I mostly backpack solo since I love the feeling being completely alone in a natural setting. Since there are no clear places to set up a tent, I typically sleeping a backpacking hammock (tarp, hammock, quilt).
This particular trip, I was about 4 hiking hours off the road making my own way through an area that I have been wanting to explore for a while. It was starting to get late in the day and I decided to set up in this nice maple forest area that wasn't too far from a nice clearing with an overlook.
Ever year I read stories about trees falling on people and killing them while they sleep. so I like maples since they don't have as many trees with dead tops (widow makers) as you find in a Birch or Pine forest. I don't usually have a fire when I disperse camp since there isn't a fire ring and it's a bit of a hassle most of the time. I do gather materials to make a fire should I need one in an emergency though.
After eating my dinner, hanging my food, and going to the bathroom, I decide it's time to read a bit on my kindle and fall asleep.
After a couple hours of sleep, I find my self awake with a sense of unease. I am a pretty light sleeper when I camp solo, so I wasn't too alarmed by this, but then I hear loud footfalls in the woods and realized this is why my body woke me up.
It sounds like a person walking through the leaves, but it honestly could be any animal making it's way through the woods. After about 30 seconds, the footfalls stop and I then hear a massive creak and a thump from a tree being knocked over and hitting the ground.
Ok, that's a bit odd...probably a bear doing what bears do. Then I hear the footfalls again and they are getting closer to where I am sleeping in my hammock. Silence again...followed by another tree being pushed over. Fuck.
I'm debating do get out and try to scare this thing away or just stay quiet and hope it moves on. It's a cloudy night and it dark as it can get. I can't even see my hand in front of my face. I don't want to put my headlamp on and draw it's attention my way.
There is nothing but silence for what seems like forever. Then I hear more footfalls...getting closer still....groaning tree....whump on the ground. I could feel the tree hit the ground this time. I'm not going to die in my hammock and this thing knows I'm over here. So I hop out and start screaming as loud as I could scream. I throw rocks into the woods and make an unholy racket.
I hear something run away from me and then it was gone. I decided I needed to let my adrenaline subside, so I started my emergency fire and ate a quick snack. Sunrise was only 3 hours away, but I wasn't going to stick around after that. So I tore down my kit and set off towards my car via my GPS.
I arrived at my car mid morning and felt paranoid that I was being followed the entire time I hiked back. As I was driving home, I was reflecting on how I specifically chose an area far away from any noticeable dead trees and how bizarre it was to have three trees fall like that. It was probably a bear rubbing down it's itchy back...my imagination told me it was a bigfoot and it was messing with me.
I still solo backpack, but the experience still puts me on edge on when I am alone in my hammock at night.