The Dread
#31 · May 17, 2009 (Edited)
those gut feelings of something being wrong, being watched, or some unseen danger always freak me out. but i did have a strong since to get the hell out dodge one day while sitting by little river deciding on fishing or not. i had just got my pack off and found a spot to sit when i had that odd felling of being watched from behind.
i got up and moved down stream about 400 yards to a spot where there was a larger clearing between the river and the taller brush and trees. i did not see or hear anything while walking, only some old deer tracks in some dried mud, but when i got to looking at a spot to sit for awhile i got that feeling again. i could see pretty good all around me (about 100 to 175 yards) and just thought that i being silly.
i ate some of my food that i brought and watched the area around me as i tried to figure out which lure to use. for awhile the feeling went away. i fished for about an hour (no luck) and i needed to go pee, so i stood up and walked back into the bush to take care of business. while standing there, that felling came back stronger than before. all i could hear was my **** hitting the ground. no birds, no wind, no little critters of any kind. i finished and walked back to my spot. as i got there i bent down to pick up my pole, and i heard my dads voice call my name out loud and clear, using a tone of voice that meant i was to do what he told me too, do it now and ask no questions.
my dad had passed away 3 years before.
like others have said, instantly every cell of my body was all keyed up. the area i was in is known to have bears, mountain lions, and wolves were just starting to make a come back, (s. e. washington ). but i had not seen any sign or heard from anyone else that they had been in that area for awhile.
i grabbed my stuff and packed my bag as quick as i could, this time i took my s&w 686p out of my pack that i brought as extra weight in the pack and for snakes and put it on my hip. normally i don't like to open carry like this.
as i put my pack on, that feeling of danger got even stronger. i started back to my truck the way i came in and froze solid after a few steps. i could not go back the way i came in. i stood there and listened and watched for about 10 minutes and heard nothing. the river was running slow, so it hardly made a sound. i looked all around me and every time i looked back up the trail i came in on i got more and more nervous. the trail looped around back to my truck, but it was about a 2 mile walk versus a 3/4 mile walk the way i came in.
so i went the long way back and when i got to my truck, something had been there and scratched it up pretty good on the drivers side and tail gate. i don't have a clue what it could have been because i was in a designated parking spot that had just been regravled. there were scuff marks but i could not find anything that looked like a print from a man or animal. that feeling of danger did not go away untill i had driven up to the top of the ridge and was just about back on to pavement.
when i did get to the t in road, there was a game warden and a sheriff deputy parked and talking there. they were kinda blocking the road as i pulled up and they got out and walked over to my truck to talk with me. the conversation started normally, i told them i was fishing with no luck down at the river, so i decided to come back and when i mentioned my truck had gotten all scratched up while parked, they got quiet, lost their smiles, and looked at each other. they asked what time i parked and which way i went up or down river and if i noticed anything around the parking lot. i said i saw some scuff in the gravel but nothing else. i did not say anything about weird feelings. again they looked at each other and said ok have a nice day and went and moved their trucks off the road.
this all happened between about 10 am to 3:30 pm. in late may of 2005. i never went back as i moved to spokane at the end of june. i would have just thought i was being paranoind being out there by myself. but the way those 2 cops acted made everything else feel even stranger. i would like to go back someday. but i'm gunna take a buddy along. and maybe my shotgun.
#Area/Woods #Location/US/Washington #Emotions/Dread