What is the strangest thing you ever saw in the backcountry?

[Nick Gatel]

Last week I was sitting in a wash taking a lunch break in a fairly remote area. I hear someone walking and look up. This guy, my age, but more hippie looking is walking along at a fairly quick pace towards me.

He was wearing water shoes and carrying a day pack. That is it. Just shoes. He said "Hi," and kept going. I was tempted to take a picture of him from the back, but not sure how I would explain it to my wife. I suppose if it was a young lady I would have taken a picture :)

[drowning in spam]

Some people really take their skin out weight seriously.

[Travis Leanna]

No roads, no clearings, and trees everywhere.

[Bob Gross]

I was leading a group trip in Yosemite, and I had stopped at a stream crossing to make sure that everybody got across OK. A group of four little old ladies was going the other way on the trail. They looked at the stream crossing and didn't like it, so they started to work their way up along one stream bank, looking for another spot. I knew there were no better spots unless you wanted to get wet. The four little old ladies got to a point about 50 yards away, and then they stripped all the way down and crossed the cold stream, yelling and screaming and splashing as they went. I just happened to look right then, saw what I saw for a second, and then forced myself to look the other way. It wasn't a pretty sight.

I just wonder if I will be that way when I get to be that old.

–B.G.–

[Karl Myers]

My experience is on the same lines as Nicks:
Last summer I was hiking in North Cascades NP and I had a guy pass me on the trail wearing homemade (or so tattered they looked home stiched) moccasins, a tarzan-like canvas cloth over his package and was hauling minimum 60 pounds in a vintage kelty external frame pack.

I stopped and talked with him for a minute or so before asking the burning question of, "why the tarzan look?" his simple answer was "why not?" and he was off. Talk about a guy with a unique outlook on life

[Christopher Yi]

Technically it's in the backcountry, Panamint City smokestack.

[Bob Gross]

Christopher, in the second photo, is that Telescope Peak on the left in the background?

The stack was left from the mining/smelting operations from 100 years ago.

–B.G.–

[Justin Baker]

Canvas painting of a tree frog? Maybe not that weird, just weird that it was out there.

[Duane Hall]

Just this summer in Fundy National Park: after causing an unbelievable commotion in a dense, trail side alder thicket (think bear), a heavily tattooed young man crawled on to the trail on his hands and knees in front of us. There was a small, bright green parrot hanging on for dear life to his extended index finger. My hiking partner sweetly enquired, "Did you lose your budgie?"

"No", he replied, "I lost the trail."

[John Donewar]

;-)” height=”413″ src=”https://dpcr19kltm61a.cloudfront.net/backpackinglight/user_uploads/1325762929_54623.jpg” width=”550″ />

Party On,

Newton

[Chad Miller]

Hmmmm . . . .

Pack of timber wolves (really odd cuz it was the basketball team)

Guy in military cammo with an AR-15 (wasn't hunting season)

A couple performing CPR (with all their cloths off)

A deer carcass stripped down to the bone from the neck down (basketball team did it)

A guy in a pink speedo (a few miles away from the nearest river to swim in)

[Miguel Arboleda]

Coming down from the mountains just south of Mt. Fuji it was getting late and twilight had begun, so the forest was dim and gloomy. Ahead I saw a strange glowing white shimmer on the forest floor, spread out across the entire visual range of the woods. Coming closer I realized that it was thousands upon thousands of pages from pornographic magazines carefully laid out on the forest floor as far as I could see. That will probably be the strangest sight I will ever see.

[t.darrah]

I did not see the following but remember reading the storey and enjoying it immensely;

A group of mountain bikers set out to climb a steep and challenging ascent to a summit fire lookout. All had high end race worthy mountain bikes and the latest and greatest gear; ti or carbon frames, shocks, disk brakes … Each was wearing high tech helmets, cycling footwear, race jerseys, hydration packs – the works.

Upon reaching the difficult summit they grouped together to enjoy the accomplishment, the view and the companionship. Looking down at the miles of switchbacks below they see a lone rider making his way up the same climb, never walking but just grinding his way upward. As the rider nears the top of the climb he is out of site until coming around a final bend onto the exposed and windy summit.

The lone rider is on a pink girls single speed bike adorned with a riser bar, grip tassels, spoke beads and a flowered basket. He is wearing jeans, sneakers and a grin from ear to ear. The lone rider looks at the group of mountain bikers, offers a simple greeting and turns to bomb his way back down.

[a b]

Indy and I had just entered a little thicket of woods a few miles shy of Etna summit.
Thats when we saw her..
A beautiful woman with dreadlocked hair wearing a goat skin skirt, home made shirt, breastfeeding a baby, surrounded by 19 goats each with little backpacks on.
My first words to Indy were: "We have come so far.. it's Mother Nature!"
..
..
.
Turns out the couple were spending the summer hiking north from their commune with their 19 goats, two Aussie shepards, and 10 month old baby.
They would make between 6 and 10 miles a day with the goats carrying everything the needed along the way.
They milked the goats for their own needs and sold the surplus at trailheads to buy supplementary food along the way.
Mother Nature would forage for wild edibles along the way as well and Indy and i were impressed when she named off a dozen edible plants right there in the surrounding woods.
Turns out they had started with 20 goats but had slaughtered one of them for meat for themselves and their dogs.
As Mr. Nature saddle up the goats I asked him why only 18 of the remaining 19 goats had packs on.. he said that 19th goat always likes to jump into the lakes and swim so it could not wear a pack.
They also said THAT goat would be next for the chopping block!
To this day that was the happiest little trail family I have ever met.

[BlackHatGuy]

Ken Thompson, I believe…..

[Aaron Armstrong]

Pink and polka dot panties hanging on a tree limb right on the trail, evidence of a party thrown recently nearby too and I was assuming these were part of that same evidence.

[David Thomas]

Matthew: Great post!

>"Turns out they had started with 20 goats but had slaughtered one of them for meat for themselves and their dogs."

It could be argued that Amundsen succeeded at getting to the South Pole while Scott died because:

Shetland ponies can only eat the hay and oats you brought for them.

Dogs can eat dog meat.

[David Thomas]

>"saw what I saw for a second, and then forced myself to look the other way. It wasn't a pretty sight.

I just wonder if I will be that way when I get to be that old."

Bob: with time, all body parts get bigger, hairier, and closer to the ground. Happens to all of us.

[David Ure]

A guy carrying a huge backpack (110L)with a 12kg bag of raw potatoes attached to the outside. We were easily 25KM from the nearest road.

[David Thomas]

Point Reyes National Seashore. Wildcat Camp. 6 miles from the trailhead. October 1993.

(1) a guy, in a tuxedo, with a backpack, on a unicycle, going over the trail / fire road.

(2) an 8-inch reflecting telescope set up at night for star viewing.

(3) a basketball and regulation basket (backboard, 18" hoop 10 feet up, net). Carried in.

(4) FOUR half-gallons of ice cream, plus fudge, carmel, whip cream, nuts, cherries.

(5) a hot tub consisting of 10-mil poly sheeting in a sand dune, 100 feet of garden hose to tap a stream by siphon, and an automotive radiator as a HX over 6 MSR stoves. Later filled with naked college student when it got to 104F/40C.

(6) a med student making chocolate fondue.

Follow-up:

(1) I later catered his wedding (smoked salmon on crackers, champagne, and a 3-tier hazelnut-chocolate torte) on top of Half Dome.

(2) Mike Brown later became "the man who killed Pluto" when he discovered Eris (2003 UB 313, a.k.a. "Xenia")

(3) but only one for a half-court game.

(4) is was too much ice cream for 20 people but the adjacent Boy Scout troop appreciated it (and the naked co-eds in the hot tub).

(5) this is why you should not let chemical engineers go backpacking.

(6) I married her.

[Nick Gatel]

Some of the posts jarred this one from my memory.

A few years ago I was hiking in the San Jacintos. Near Saddle Junction I saw an unattended backpack with a 50lb bag of dog food strapped to the top!!

Later that day I see the owner on the trail with a huge St Bernard on a leash!!

[clay stewart]

While standing on the edge of the Vermillion Cliffs, one sunny cloudless summer day, gazing out over Marble and Grand Canyon, the urge to urinate hit me, so I gave in to the urge. I sent it sailing two thousand or so feet downward (no one was down there of course) and when I finished, I resumed gazing out over the landscape. A few moments later, I felt a strong warm breeze blowing up the face of the cliffs and shortly there after, a warm and salty like rain began to rise upward. It only lasted a moment, but it was the strangest thing and not a cloud in the sky. ;)

[David Thomas]

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't pee into the wind
You don't pull the mask off the ol' lone ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim.

[joseph peterson]

We got a late start and only hiked a couple hours on day one on a trip from forks of the kern to Jordan hot springs. We got just past the river crossing and the fisherman, and camped for the night. The whole next day we didn't see a soul, except for a pilot in a fighter jet flying low inside kern canyon. First off, not sure if he broke the sound barrier directly over head or what because the sound didn't "approach" it literally exploded to deafening noise above. In fact I thought the mountain above had exploaded. I look up expecting to see death from above, but I just saw a black streak. Perhaps 3/4 of a mile ahead, the canyon make a 90 degree turn. After maybe 1/3 of a mile it take anoter 90 degree turn in a sort of S shape. He hit that left hand 90, and was just gone sound and all.

Last year off trail in yosemite found porno at a campsite above a lake.

Saw an unexplainable wave 3 feet wide and 18 or so inches tall moving pretty Damn fast across sky blue lake in miter basin. Shaft of strong wind? Sea monster? Either was it was wierd.

Not too wierd, but saw an extremely large all Asian hiking group. I started counting at one point and was over it at 50. Probably around 70 to 100 people! Who does that, and why?

I have been the naked guy, but I was drying off in the sun after bathing. I thought I was alone….. My nakedness apparently didn't bother this fellow, and he continued chatting me up then inviting me to his camp. I didn't go to his camp.

Saw a deer leg in the middle of the trail. When we came back through it was gone…..no suprise.

Found a field of these signs from the dept of toxic substance control listing 1. Hazardous substance area 2. Zone historically issue for balistic testing and 3. Area under investigation for explosive hazard. Lots of cow bones, and a couple 55 gallon drums taboot. By the drums used to be a boulder with a USGS benchmark off by 1000 ft.

There is always something wierd or amazing especially on multiday trips. These are some odd happenings, I have met some really odd people in the backcountry too, that's one thing I like about hiking….there's some true individuals out there.

Two times I have had episodes of sleep paralysis in the backcountry. Thought it was paranormal at the time though. Had some spooky stuff happen on an off road camping trip that made us pack up and leave after settleing in our sleeping bags and turning in for the night

[Ken Thompson]

Edit: Photo removed for common decency. Available on request.

Check and mate.

[Author]

Posts