[IndianaATClub] Fwd: [at-l] Weirdest night noises

[vjl_47 at yahoo.com (Vera Hurst)]

Ok ...here is my/our tale...:) It is long so bear with me...
   
  It was a dark and scary nite...well it could have been...I was hiking with Sloetoe and the teeny, tiny boys (aged 6 maybe then?) It was July, it was hot, it was sultry, we had backpacked about 90 miles in one day on the infamous Knobstone Trail in Indiana. (not really it just felt that way)  As the McGinnis tells it 19000 plus feet of rise and fall...in IN?!!! We chose to stop by a public lake area but just off trail on a spit of land, with a small trail slightly overgrown down to the lake...we had 3 sides of water around us in a largish campsite.  I believe it was dark...lots of stars but no moon a beautiful nite. We had a light dinner consisting of a bag of potatoe chips, cheese, mooseballs and other such famous Sloetoe trail food...yikes...:) We chose to all sleep under the stars and had thrown out a tarp on the ground. The boys were tired and feel asleep quickly...Sloetoe being the ever diligent father hedged them in with 'stuff' to keep them from sleepwalking off the side of
 the hill and into the water. I believe we must have left things laying about after dinner in a pile near the boys. 
   
  We had carted our normal fare of Oliver winery wine with us and proceeded to sit on the side of the hill near the lake away from the boys so our talking would not disturb them...The sky was beautiful and we could hear in the distance across the lake other campers enjoying the night...It was peaceful, we were tired, we were slipping into the arms of sleep there on that dusty side of the hill when all of a sudden we heard this ferocious rustling sound, loud thumping and running noises, around and around the campsite the noise continued...we were stirred from our reverie and jumped up...Sloetoe first up the hill yelling, CONNER, COLE...boys!! thinking of course that the loud noises were the boys getting up to pee and somehow they had started stumbling around and had fallen down the hill into the water.....I was up quick as a flash after him (opps ahh no.....now that I remember there was that bottle of wine...:) and so we bumbleed and stumbled up the steep hill to the top where we
 surprised SOMETHING running down the hill toward the lake into the brush.. ...it turned as it went down the hill to look at us and there was, as incredible as it may sound, a black face with a white mask...a largish animal about the size of a ...ah no ..couldn't be but it was, a black face with white mask...on an animal about the size of, yes, a PANDA...we did a double take you know one of those cartoon head turning things ...and looked back down ...bright eyes shone back at us and then with a turn the PANDA rushed down the hill...and disappeared...
   
  We ran over to the boys thinking...OMIGOD a rabid Panda has attacked and eaten those poor children...ah no...they were sound asleep...happy and peaceful...however...the potatoe chip bag was gone......who knew Panda's ate potatoe chips...
   
  so you can chose to believe it or not..all I know is that whenever the McGinnis and I camp together there on the edge of the campsite is the panda ready to strike. It has followed us together and separately all over this big USA and stolen things from our campsites...a stake bag, a flashlight, another potatoe chip bag....it came at us in the Deam Wilderness one nite when we were hiking back to the lake to meet some friends..it so scared me that time I jumped into Sloetoes arms in an attempt to climb to the top of his head so the Panda would eat him first! There was a full moon we were hiking flashliteless... (well and see there was that bottle of wine from Oliver's winery again...) I believe we saw it lurking at Storr's Pond 4 years ago...
   
  so next time you see shiny eyes in the woods guard yourself well lest the panda come after you ...
   
  good nite,
  missing kink

--- bluetrail@aol.com wrote:

> Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:44:34 -0500
> From: bluetrail@aol.com
> To: at-L@backcountry.net
> CC: 
> Subject: [at-l] Weirdest night noises
> 
> Looks as if we need a hiking topic.  Please share
> your tale of the weirdest (or most mysterious,
> humorous, scariest, most annoying, whatever) night
> noises you ever heard while camping.  
>  
> Joan  (who ought to be played by Kathy Bates if they
> ever make a movie of this list)
> bluetrail@aol.com
>  
> Scariest--camping along the FT in the Ocala NF in
> the only clear spot we could find--it was right at
> dark when we set up camp.  ...


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