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  1. #1
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    Scared to death in the middle of the night

    Last summer while on a multi-day work trip to western Maryland I did as I usually do and set up camp rather than stay in a hotel. I was the only person in Big Run State Park, a remote spot deep in Savage River State Forest where I've stayed most years since the late 80's. The campground has no power so it's as dark as can be. I set up, took a long walk, had a couple beers by the fire and ate a leisurely dinnner.

    This is bear, bobcat, redneck and rattlesnake country so I'm always a little bit on my toes. This warm August night was no exception. I always hear things in the dark when I'm by myself. After 30 years of this I pretty much ignore whatever I hear. It's always a deer or a small mammal. I was tired from diving so not long after dark I settled into my Warbonnet and fell fast asleep. Being over 50, at some point in the middle of the night I had to pee. It was much colder and I didn't mess around. I sometimes struggle to fall back asleep after this and I tossed and turned for a while.

    I drifted in and out of sleep, and was adjusting my bag when out of the corner of my eye I caught a light in the campground. I figured someone set up after I went to bed, which happens. I tried to go back to sleep. Suddenly I woke up to someone shining a flashlight into my eyes from under my tarp close to my feet. My heart started pounding a mile a minute as I contemplated what my next move was. Still half asleep my mind raced. I thought of kicking out at the light to knock it down. I tried to remember where my knife was. I was panicking.

    I decided to yell, so I sat up and tried to yell but what came out was a weird moan. I think I was too scared to really yell. I fumbled for my zipper to get out of the hammock and as I did it realized that the light hadn't moved. I looked right at it for the first time. Then I grabbed my glasses off my shelf and put them on. The light was the moon, which had risen to just the right point to shine under my hammock. OMG.

    I laid back about as awake as I've ever been- breathing really hard and trying to calm down.

    Fifty one year old man scared half to death by the moon!

  2. #2
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    That’s a great story! I can definitely relate. Sometimes moments like these make my whole trip. Thanks for sharing!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    I've had dreams where I could not scream.
    That was a good story.
    Bad Moon ...Bad Moon.
    Shug
    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  4. #4
    Senior Member tsshaw78's Avatar
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    I have had occasional sleep paralysis (not sure the real term). As I understand it, our bodies normally go into paralysis during REM sleep to prevent sleep walking, although it doesn't always work for some. For me, I sometimes am awakened during REM but my body fails to come out of paralysis. Now that is scary until you get used to it.
    As for the moon story, Dixie shared a similar encounter about being followed by a light during a night hike and it scared her. She discovered it was the moon. If I find the video, I might post a link.
    A day camping in the rain is better than a good day at work,
    --Shaw.

    tsshaw78 is too hard to say on the trail - Just call me Shaw.

  5. #5
    Recalc's Avatar
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    About 2 years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with a Sheltowee Trace canopy so bright that I had concerns of someone watching me. Was I sleeping in forbidden spot? It's amazing how the mind can sometime work when you are alone.

    This backlit forest was something to see. Thought about getting out my phone to test the night mode of my Pixel 2 camera but was too comfortable to make the photography effort. I regret that to this day. It was something to see.

  6. #6
    New Member WillieWeasel's Avatar
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    Great story!! The woods are definitely filled with things that go bump in the night, but I've found our minds to be the scariest of them all.

    Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

  7. #7
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    That's a great story. I never truly appreciated how much the moon appears to move throughout the night before hammock camping. Glad you didn't have a heart attack!

  8. #8
    New Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tpatter View Post
    That's a great story. I never truly appreciated how much the moon appears to move throughout the night before hammock camping. Glad you didn't have a heart attack!
    Same experience for me! My first hammock trip, as soon as I lay down the full moon rose over a mountain top and it was so bright I couldn’t sleep. I watched it track across the sky.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Hang Williams's Avatar
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    I was sleeping in the back yard a couple weeks back and my wife let the dog out so I woke up to 70 lbs of excited lab barreling into the tarp and trying to get in the hammock. Definitely took a few seconds to come out of the sleep paralysis phase.

    Still better than the time I left my phone alarm in the living room and didn't really come out of the dream that I was trying to deactivate a bomb until I was midair over the glass coffee table (I am one of those people that sometimes sleep walk, though it is rare for me).

  10. #10
    rhjanes's Avatar
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    I was in a group of five hiking the Arkansas Eagle Rock Loop. We hiked in some 5 miles and set up camp. Rain was predicted overnight and all the next day. Which happened. Night two we set up in the rain. Around 2 AM I am awaken by daylight! I'm still tired but my foggy mind is saying "oh no! I'm late! Did the guys really leave me here! Did they hike on!". Then I remember, I drove them to the ERL! I'm the last person......
    Then I realize, the storm had cleared and it was the full moon......
    And a minute later, the storm moved back in, rain picked up again.
    I think I got to sleep an hour later.

    the guys all reported awakening to all sort of ideas about the full moon. Moonshiners, police.....all sorts of "WHAAAAT!" in the middle of the night.
    Call me Junior

    Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
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