Being one with nature also means being one with all nature has to offer. Sometimes, that's more of a curse than a blessing.
Nature is vast and fascinating, and as such, much of it remains unknown.
Encounters with the unknown are not the most desirable outcome of a trip that is supposed to be fun.
It can, in fact, taint the experience.
A Redditor whose username has been deleted asked:
"Whats the creepiest thing thats happened when you were camping or alone?"
Here were some of those answers.
Leaves And Screams
"Solo camping for the first time, in tent struggling to sleep and all of a sudden hear what sounds like a demon screaming and beating it’s chest. Then another one. Then another one…"
"Turns out koalas make fkn bloodcurdlingly horrible noises at night." -hahaswans
A Simple Trip To The Loo
"I was on a roadtrip by myself and stopped to camp in a small national park in New South Wales. It was off peak so I thought I was completely alone there."
"I found out I wasn't alone when a car came slowly past my camp from further inside the park. It drove around the corner and then about 5 mins later came back slowly driving back into the park again."
"I was pretty weirded out and I wasn't sure if I should leave or not. About 2 hours later after dark the car did another slow creepy drive by of my camp."
"This time I watched it to see where it was going through my binoculars. I saw it stop by the toilet block and realised it was just somebody too lazy to walk to the toilet and they were driving slowly not to disturb me! Sometimes I have too much imagination for my own good lol." -4tehlulz
Hey All You Cool Cats And Kittens
"Once camping in a safari in Africa on the open wild lions protecting from the rain leaned on my tent to sleep under the small canopy."
"I could literally hear them breathing inches away from me and see the tent move as they did. To make it worse I had diarrhea and needed desperately to go. It lasted the whole night."
"We were so close even my fart could trigger them. I honestly thought I’d either have a heart attack or be eaten. Wife woke up in the am completely oblivious. Worst night of my life."-No-Wifi2077
These experiences were so harrowing, they might make you rethink camping at all.
Awooo Awoooooo
"I got a job in another city after six months of unemployment. My sister lived there and said I could stay in her guest bedroom in the basement while they were away in California. Her house was on the very northwest tip of the city and it was January and bitterly cold."
"The very first night I was there I woke up at 1:30am to the sounds of children screaming and wailing. It was so eerie and frightening that I never wandered upstairs to investigate. I just laid there and covered my ears for thirty minutes before it either died down or I fell asleep."
"The next day my sister texted from Disneyland. I asked her if there were kids in her neighborhood who wandered around at night scaring the neighbours. She laughed and said I’d met the local coyotes."-tangcameo
Just A Baby, Go Back To Sleep
"I lived in a tent for a couple summers. One night while sleeping in my hammock I heard an animal sound near by. It was pitch black so I cant see it."
"I’m trying to guess what it is by the sounds it’s making. Not a deer, too fast for a raccoons, doesnt sound like one of my drunken friends. There are bears and coyotes in my area."
"It gets really close to me then I don’t hear it moving for awhile. I think I hear it breathing but maybe not. After a minute I turn in my headlamp and its right next to me and it immediately jumps on to my hammock!"
"It was my buddy’s black lab. He didn’t close the door to his van all the way and he got out. Spent the night cuddled in my hammock."-DannyLameJokes
Will The Sky Fall?
"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 its 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."
"F**k. 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."-outrushoutdoors
Oh...Hey Stranger...
"Back in 2010, my brother, cousin, their girlfriends, and myself were driving out to eastern Washington to camp in the middle of nowhere. We had been driving for several hours, guys in the front car and ladies in a second rear car, and it was just past sunset by the time we made it to the turn off to go down into the canyon."
"As we turned off the main road, something really weird caught my eye and I made some comment like 'Wow that was really weird...' and my cousin turns around wide eyed asking if I saw something too."
"My mind was kind of registering it still and realized I saw what looked like some eerily human like shape standing at the bend in the turn with ragged clothes, and a bloodstained shirt. My cousin confirmed he saw it too and my brother who was driving was getting creeped out and asked us to drop the subject because he didn't see anything."
"We drop it because yeah, no wreckage around and we probably just saw a weird road sign. So anyway we drive the last 20 minutes down into this valley and pull up to our remote spot and start unpacking the car."
"When the girlfriends get out of their car, they ask us if we saw the creepy expressionless figure that looked like it had a bloody ragged shirt on staring at our cars as we passed them to go down into the canyon..."-BroboticRobot
Any one of these happening even once is enough for a lifetime of trauma.
The Woman In White
"My extended family went on a big camping trip together as a last vacation for my grandpa before he passed away. My older brother and I (about 15 and 13) shared a tent. The camp was set up in a small clearing in the woods but nearby there was this really large open field with waist high grass."
"My brother and I had our tent closer to this field so we could see out into it, while still nestled in the trees. We were well away from any town, and there were no houses or whatnot nearby."
"In the middle of the night I had a VERY creepy dream and sat straight up. For a moment I just caught my breath and tried to calm down, but then noticed my older brother sitting up as well. He asked what happened and I told him I had a weird dream, he said he had one as well and described my EXACT dream."
"We both dreamed we were watching out the tent window while a woman walked out into the middle of the field and with a very piercing voice sang a song that started beautiful but became creepier and creepier as she slowly turned to first face our tent, and then begin approaching it."
"We both woke up when she got close enough to see her face, which was screwed up and looked pissed. He even described exactly what she was wearing and everything. We opened the tent window and checked out but nothing was out there."
"We still weren't able to sleep and the next morning we moved our tent to the opposite side of the camp. It's engraved on my mind and I'm sure I will never be able to forget it. I don't really believe in ghosts but I have no clue what happened to us out there."-AnEsteemedCactus
How To Save A Life
"Went camping with my family once. Around 2 am everyone was asleep but I woke up because someone was trying to open my tent which i had a lock on it inside. I waited to see what this person will try to do and they kept trying to unzip the tent but nothing so they went to the next tent and I took my flashlight and a knife I had."
"Peeked outside and saw this lady who looked like she was beaten and she looked like she was desperately trying to hide. I called my dad and he got out with everyone to see what the commotion was. This lady was terrified and told us her and her boyfriend were down the road when someone ambushed them and attacked them."
"She stabbed one and ran away while her boyfriend was probably dead. She saw our campsite and ran for it to try to hide because they might be looking for her. I gave her my tent and we called the cops and they took her in for questioning. We did find out later her story was real when they found her boyfriend a few days later. The guys who did it were still at large."-odagled86
Ghostly Radio Waves
"Was much younger adult, lived in a duplex w/vaulted ceiling. Mylar balloon was up in the peak of the ceiling from some occasion (too long ago to remember)."
"It was around 1 am, I was totally alone in the duplex, working on a hobby. No tv, radios or anything on, all quiet. For just a few seconds I heard a sound like a radio playing, coming from the general direction of the balloon."
"Too brief to really grasp what was actually playing. Neighbor was always quiet, and the sound was at the far side of the duplex, away from his unit. Weird as hell."-cclay6482
SOLO
"Solo camp in the woods well away any road or track. I woke up to find that someone had made a cup of tea at my fire. There was a cup with the dregs of white tea sitting by the fire. I drink it black. The most British scary-woods-stalker ever." ~ Magnus_40
"Didn’t happen to me, but not long ago (maybe 3 months ago) I was camping and awoke to a family near me whose child had been abducted in deadset middle of the night. Major search operation underwent, and after 3 weeks or so (I think) the child was found alive and well. Needless to say, will never camp at that spot again." ~ Useful-Distribution5
Asleep...
"Wish I knew. I used to sleepwalk when I was younger but only really found out the first year I went away for summer camp. I would shower at night and go to bed clean, but wake up with mud completely caked up to my knees and no clue." ~ Pocket76
In the Wild
"Large wild animals walking through the camp at night. Northern California meant mountain lion or bear. Either way, not something I wanna tangle with." ~ shigogaboo
"I lived in Northern California for 2 years and got slightly nervous when I saw a sign warning about mountain lions in the park I always went too. I'm from New Jersey where we don't have to worry about animals like that." ~ BloodAngel85
When I Sleep
"Cop told me I couldn't sleep where I was sleeping, hassled me a bit, told me I had to sleep in my car. Next morning I find out it was because multiple people had been murdered in the area while sleeping outside, alone. I think it was a serial killer at that."
A Quarry
"Back in 2002, I camped out in a mountain quarry during a science club caving trip. I woke up as dawn was approaching to some very loud screams/moans which came from the far back of the quarry. Everyone was accounted for yet no one woke up to this but me. I was terrified so I just laid there until I dozed back off to sleep. Once everyone was up I asked if anyone heard what I heard and no one else did. Perhaps it was some strange animal but I really have no idea." ~ kimmytwoshoes
Blair witch project
"Days after seeing 'Blair witch project,' I went backpacking in Michigan on north manitou. 3rd night in, I was falling asleep when a couple chipmunks came outta of nowhere being all crazy and one ended up going under my tent. Just imagine being half asleep, in the woods, and that happens." ~ Gluten_maximus
Let me Sleep...
"I used to be an insomniac. I used to see things that weren't there. Before I knew it was due to sleep deprivation, I saw lots of scary things and I wasn't sure if I was going crazy or haunted. I saw a woman walk into my kids room and vanish. Things would start changing shape like reality was rippling. It was frightening at the time." ~ Meimnot555
The Baby
"I found a baby. Or it found me rather. I was car camping at a campground outside of LA. Middle of the night I'm chilling solo by the fire several beers deep when a baby waddles out of a bush and heads right for the fire. I jump up and grab him. I didn't hear anyone looking for their kid so I just start yelling out towards the other camp sites if anyone lost a child. Some idiot way down the road goes oh yeah that's mine. doesn't even walk over to me! I carried his kid down to their camp stunned." ~ jbnarch25
Dumfries & Galloway
"I was a teenager camping with some friends in the countryside in Dumfries & Galloway. We pitched our tents in a flat area on moorland. We were just kind of sitting around, the sun was still up and visibility was good. I saw something moving in my peripheral vision and turned to look, thinking it might be a hare or something."
"It was a small man, wearing old fashioned clothes, stood only around 3 feet or so in height and looked pretty angry. Almost as soon as I looked at him, he vanished. It turns out all of us (four people) had seen the little man and seen him disappear." ~ CoelHen2021
Will these stories have you sitting bolt upright in your tent, shivering from the potential spookies and scaries waiting just out of eyeline in the night?
Or is there no being on this plane or the next who could ever temper your love for camping?
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