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Hikers Describe The Scariest Situation They Ever Found Themselves In While On The Trail

Hikers Describe The Scariest Situation They Ever Found Themselves In While On The Trail
Image by Florian Kurz from Pixabay

Hiking totally rules.

You get to experience the unique quiet of vast expanses and jam-packed wooded zones. You hear strange bugs, smell all sorts of things, remember how to walk on uneven ground, and forget what rushing feels like.


Of course, there are levels of hiking.

There are day hikes, which allow us to steal away from civilization for just a few hours. These feel more like a break than a total departure.

There are weekend trips: longer excursions that make society go forgotten for full days.

And then there are the out and out adventures, where a person leaves for days and days, or goes somewhere so remote that it feels not only far from civilization, but perhaps untouched altogether.

In these bolder adventures, we feel truly in touch with the natural environment. But for all that excitement, we expose ourselves to the strange and terrifying realities of life out there in the dark.

prestonmelky21 asked, "Hikers/off-roaders, what is the scariest or weirdest encounter you've ever had?"

Profound Silence

"How f***ing eerie it is how plants and vegetation can absorb sounds."

"We were on this hike and me and three other dudes got separated from the main group. We were yelling at the main group of people from a couple yards away, like we could see them and their mouths moving, but we couldn't hear their voices."

"It was like the leaves ate up all the sound, real spooky. At some points and areas, there weren't even any birdsong."

-- 426763

Communications From Nowhere

"The words 'Per audacia ad ignotum' drawn in the snow in the absolute middle of nowhere, yet no footprints around them. The words were probably a few hours old."

"The closest translation we could find was 'through audacity towards the unknown.'"

-- WilheminaHunsicker

Circling Each Other

"Scouting for elk on the Mogollon rim in Arizona. Since the hunt was a week away I couldn't carry a rifle (at least I thought it was illegal, still not sure)."

"My truck was parked in some brush and I returned to it after hiking around to look for sign. I found several very large cat tracks, presumably mountain lion. These tracks were much wider than my boot and I followed them around the truck out of curiosity."

"When I returned to the driver's side door, I realized one of my boot tracks from a minute ago had the cat's track on top of it."

"I jumped into the truck and slammed the door, and ended up laughing at myself because I'd locked it (as if the mountain lion was going to grab the handle and open it)."

"Spent quite a while looking out all the truck windows to see if it came up close again. Never saw the animal though. It was still creepy realizing it was just on the other side of the truck while I was walking around."

-- pullin2

Part of History

"Not me but my uncle. He was off-roading near Death Valley in the late '60s and came across some hippies living in some dilapidated buildings. He said they gave him some weird vibes so he turned around and left."

"He later found out that it was the Manson family."

-- froglover215

An Unexpected Guardian 

"I was hiking with my boyfriend in Northern Macedonia. We were camping one night in the middle of nowhere, next to a closed mountain cottage. In the afternoon, there were no people around, we started to set up our tent."

"This big shepherd dog came and started to hang around - he was not aggressive so we let him be."

"Around 10 pm, it was already dark, a pack of stray dogs appeared next to our tent. They were barking and growling and we were scared as f***."

"My boyfriend wanted to leave the tent and chase them away but I told him not to be stupidly heroic and to try to sleep."

"Well, sleep was complicated because we knew that there is only our tiny tent keeping the pack away from us."

"Suddenly, the big shepherd dog laid down next to the tent - literally 10 cms from my boyfriend. He started to bark and growl at the pack and I am quite sure that he was protecting us from them. The dogs left around midnight and we were able to get some sleep."

"Thank you big doggo for chasing the pack away! I also promised myself to always carry pepper spray with me while hiking. It was very scary."

-- WhiteRabbitWithGlove

The Ritual Site

"Went wheeling for some obsidian way out in eastern Oregon. Came across a burning campfire and about 20 skinned animals from rabbits to dogs and bobcats to cats."

"Sh** was weird. Must've just missed a cult. Got the hell out of there as quick as I could."

-- FreshFartsFastSharts

Horses in the Night 

"Camping once at a place called Gordon Country, it was my first time ever camping and it was freezing cold, -5ish Celsius..."

"...in the middle of the night my partner shakes me awake because she can hear breathing and something rubbing up against our tent, we were terrified the whole night."

"Turns out the owners of the property allow the horses to roam freely in the field, other than that it was a great trip!"

-- ihaveabigego_12inch

Some Very Alarming Yard Work 

"Shovel, 8 foot deep hole and a garbage bag a little over 100km into dense wilderness with the nearest trail about 15km away (outside of bunny trails)."

"Nothing in the bag, but holy f*** did that spook me."

"Like there wasn't even any dirt, the whole was shoveled, dirt removed and a bag with a shovel 3 feet away left?"

"Spooked me out and I don't go out in the area anymore. Quite a lot of old 1800-1900 coal mines and trapper cabins but it's all since been forgotten about."

-- ThisIsAAccountNameYa

A Specter in the Wheat

"I went on a scout camp when I was a kid where we camped at the bottom of a cliff. We went on a big hike that ended at the top of the cliff, which we abseiled down."

"While I was waiting my turn to abseil, I was watching the wheat fields that surrounded the hill."

"I noticed a man who appeared to be walking along on top of the wheat crop. Just sort of floating up there. My friend could see it too."

"We found our troop mates to show them, but by the time we did, the floating man was gone."

"To this day I don't know if we saw something supernatural, or just an optical illusion. Either way, it was very eerie."

-- bornwithatail

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Two identical goats stare into the camera while standing in a field.
Photo by Jørgen Håland

When discussing love and relationships, the motto is usually less is more.

But what if there is more of one partner?

Being involved with identical twins can be quite the experience.

Can you really tell them apart?

Is everything identical?

If you're attracted to one, aren't you automatically attracted to the other?

So many questions.

Now we need some answers.

Redditor nicknamesofdaveryder wanted to hear about love and the twin experience, so they asked:

"Redditors who married someone with an identical twin sibling, why are you glad you're not with the other twin instead?"

I've never met a lot of twins, let alone gotten involved with a pair.

I have questions.

Hopefully I get some answers.

Saved

Comedy Central Wink GIF by Drunk HistoryGiphy

"My late husband's twin was a non-functioning alcoholic and my husband wasn’t. My husband says joining the navy was what saved him from going down that road."

iteachag5

Falling Asleep

"Story time! I am an identical twin (we still look so much alike!) and one night I spent the night at her house. She and I fell asleep in the same bed because we were up late talking, etc. Her husband slept on the couch. The next morning my twin went to take a shower and her husband laid down on the bed with me (thinking it was her of course). I jokingly said 'Hey sailor, looking for a little variety?' He shot off the bed and said 'If I was looking for variety, do you think I'd choose you??'"

tanyagal2

The Good Guy And The Other One

"I didn't marry him but I dated an identical twin. His twin's girlfriend and I used to joke around that she got the evil twin. He was just a selfish, messed-up person. One of the benefits of breaking up with my boyfriend was no longer having his twin in my life. Plus, his ex gf and I are still great friends! The good guy was just the lesser evil. She wanted to get as far away from that family as I did. The best thing to come out of those relationships was our friendship."

super-ro

Love Wins

"My dad's an identical twin. People have a hard time distinguishing them, but to my mom and me, they look like two completely different people because of the way they walk/talk/etc. Obviously, my mom only fell in love with this one person. When you love someone it's actually pretty easy to tell identical twins apart."

michaelsgavin

Issues

Threaten Ashley Olsen GIFGiphy

"The other twin has the same personality as I do. We argue readily and are super competitive with each other. We butt heads on a lot of issues."

why_not_send_a_nude

Personality clashes aren't just a twin thing.

It's a human thing.

We can't help ourselves.

Different People

Triplets GIF by RuPaul's Drag RaceGiphy

"I work with a guy who married an identical triplet, one of the triplets also works with us. I asked him one day if it was weird working with someone who looked just like his wife. He got a little pissed and basically said they are all very different people and he doesn't see much of his wife in her."

LeafMeAlone_99

He's Evil

"We’re not married but known each other since we were 12 and have been together 3 and a half years. His twin is a massive di**head who tried to break us up multiple times, was madly in love with me in his own words, and after 2 years of pursuing me declared I was a terrible person and put him through hell. Because I didn’t break up with his TWIN BROTHER to date him."

xMollyP

Life Choices

"My husband and his twin brother look very different to me, although they are identical and get mistaken for one another all the time. They couldn’t be more different in terms of personality. They have different values and life goals, hobbies, one is introverted and the other is extroverted. If they were two people who didn’t look alike, I would automatically not be attracted to my brother-in-law simply because we are not remotely compatible personality-wise."

"Also they have very different styles. I do not find the way my husband’s twin dresses/grooms his hair attractive. It’s so wild to me when people can’t tell them apart because they couldn’t be more different in my eyes."

lanieeeeeeee

Opposites

"Well, my wife and I have been together for 30 years. She has a 'mirror' twin. Even now, if you don’t know them well or interact frequently you will not be able to tell them apart. They are complete opposites. I married the extrovert, she has never met a stranger, will try anything at least once, and can find a positive aspect in almost everything she encounters, they are also best friends, my wife drags her sister along all the time."

"Once she’s out she enjoys our activities. I love my SIL, all three of them, but so glad I married the one like me. The mirror part even goes for looks, when I see my wife’s reflection I see my SIL, it’s weird sometimes. Also, attitude and personality are everything, I have never been 'attracted' to her twin."

redbonecouchhound

The Look

Sexy Damon Wayans Jr GIF by Global TVGiphy

"I used to date an identical twin. Although I found his brother objectively handsome, I wasn't attracted to him at all. It was cool to directly experience how attraction goes far beyond just the looks."

Liatessa

I've never been intrigued by twins, and now I never will be.

confused man in blue t-shirt

Sander Sammy on Unsplash

My Father was considered a genius.

At 16 he graduated high school as Valedictorian, joined the United States Navy as soon as he turned 17 then was promptly recruited by Admiral Hyman Rickover's team converting the Navy from diesel to nuclear power.

He served as a nuclear and electrical engineer on naval vessels after the conversion project ended, then as a reactor inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after retiring from the Navy.

He also needed a full time babysitter in order to survive. Things like paying bills, buying groceries, feeding himself all escaped him. He lacked any semblance of common sense.

Really smart people doing very unsmart things isn't uncommon.

And sometimes a person is labeled a genius who's really an idiot with good brand marketing.

Keep reading...Show less

Corporations don't get big overnight.

A lot of tough decisions, big wins, and sometimes even bigger losses, go into their growth.

But sometimes companies make mistakes that the public simply cannot let slide, and it can be hard to imagine how the company could stay afloat after the backlash.

Redditor Astro_Shogun asked:

"What decision by a company received the most amount of backlash from the public?"

Dang It, Photobucket

"When Photobucket decided to take the whole internet hostage by asking for 400 dollars a year for what was previously a free image storage solution. The move broke years of forum posting and erased a significant portion of the web collective knowledge."

- denpo

"Yup. And now they're holding almost all of my son's childhood photos (some of which I managed to save in other places) hostage."

- KnockMeYourLobes

"Browse any forum thread from the early 2000s and practically all the images are gone because everyone used Photobucket back then. It will be the same way with Reddit whenever Imgur goes under."

- NothingOld7527

So Salesy

"JCPenny doing away with sales and trying to present itself as a more upscale store. Sales immediately plummeted, and they reversed course quickly."

- flyingcircusdog

Cheap Jewelry

"Gerald Ratner said the reason his jewelry company could sell stuff so cheap was because the products were crap. It destroyed the company overnight."

- simplemtbman

Front Wheel Drive

"Ford, in the '80s, tried to replace the aging Fox body Mustang with a front-wheel drive, Mazda-based car. This was pre-internet, but car people got UPSET and deluged Ford with a letter expressing their anger."

"Ford backtracked, kept the Fox body around, and released the vehicle that was going to be the new Mustang as the Probe. It lasted two generations, but the Mustang soldiers on."

- StillN0tATony

Online Only

"Microsoft got roasted when they announced Kinect and always-online were required for the Xbox One. Took all the momentum they had from the 360 era and put them miles behind Sony."

- Jerry_Williams89

Childhood: Destroyed

"Sonic having human teeth."

- LightDash

"I just immediately pictured teeth in a Sonic milkshake and had a horrified reaction before my brain caught up to you meaning the character."

- Rolizas

Questionable Upgrades

"Very recently, T-Mobile. A company that 10 years ago called itself the Uncarrier by making a series of pro-consumer changes to its plans and the previous CEO built almost a sort of cult of fans of the company. Then T-Mobile acquired Sprint and got a new CEO."

"A couple of weeks ago, T-Mobile internal documentation revealed it was going to automatically upgrade customers on old grandfathered plans up to new plans, which were more expensive. Customers would have to call in to opt out of the change. 'They weren’t raising customers’ rates, they were moving them to better plans.'"

"Well, major tech news got ahold of that, and then even some local news stations, and T-Mobile quietly 'clarified' a week later via internal communications that only one percent of their customers would be affected."

- artimaticus8

Coming Together in Hate

"Anyone remember the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad when she solved police brutality?"

- vernon3

"Those moments are precious. There are a few things these days that bring everyone on the Internet together. That was one of those things. We all hated the Pepsi ad that solved police brutality."

"That ad had it all. Pandering, ignorance, arrogance, and talking down to their audience."

- notwoutmyprob

"And a Kardashian."

- Kitchen_action

With Every Purchase

"I couple of years back a local Detroit area car dealership decided the best way to celebrate MLK day was to give away free car alarms with every purchase."

"Nobody liked that."

- graveybrains

A Sale Gone Too Well

"Hoover UK offering two free flights to America if you spend £100 on their products. They anticipated that people would spend a lot more than the minimum required which would cover the approximately £600 value of the tickets."

"When the company was deluged with purchases around the £100 mark, they reneged on the offer, which prompted a very expensive lawsuit. The fallout was so bad that the UK division of the firm was sold to a rival company."

- Live-Dance-2641

New Drink, Who Dis?

"New Coke."

- PeggyWithPhatA**

"After the relations disaster, the public clamored for the decision to be reversed, and Coca-Cola released 'Coke Classic.'"

"Coke Classic soon had an even higher market share than Coke did before the public relations fiasco, and a new theory made the rounds: that Coca-Cola deliberately made these decisions, simply to gain publicity, and increase market share."

"The reaction from Coca-Cola’s executives was, 'We aren’t that smart, and we aren’t that stupid.'"

- Malthus1

A Tweet Turned Sexist

"Burger King stating that 'Women Belong in the Kitchen.' What they were TRYING to say was that they wanted more diversity. People didn't see it that way, and in the end, they had to issue an apology."

- zerbey

The Downfall of an Incredible Publication

"Here’s one there should be a public outcry about."

"Disney bought National Geographic and controls everything it does. This is the last year the iconic magazine will be available. I’m incensed."

- redheadMInerd2

(The writer of this article is equally incensed.)

Predicting the Future

"I feel like whatever YouTube is cooking up lately will be the next one."

- Just_Aioli_1233

"Tech companies sure know how to kill off highly popular and profitable apps, super quick. It’s interesting to watch it happen in real-time. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, all losing tons of followers and destroying their own stock."

- Eleanor_of_Accutane

It's easy to see how all of these mistakes resulted in huge backlash, sometimes at the total expense and downfall of the business.

But some of these mistakes were made by companies that are still huge today, and to a certain extent, that's kind of surprising.