Aug 28

The Hair On My Neck Stood Up And I Was Frightened

A listener writes “In September of 2018 at Cabin Lake near Thompson Falls, Montana. I decided I would go for a solo hike to Cabin Lake and take some pictures, fish, and work on filming. I arrived at the trailhead around 9 a.m. . I was the only car at the trailhead. The hike is only about 5 miles round trip, with a 1,200-foot elevation gain. Very easy hike. The trail gets heavy use on weekends. I took a vacation day and went in the middle of the week. I made my way to the lake found a good place to eat a cliff bar and set up my fishing pole.

Usually when I solo hike it takes me a few minutes to acclimate to the serenity and solitude. I can get settled in very quickly. However, this day I could not. I was there for about an hour and felt very un-easy. I felt like I was being watched. Something just didn’t feel right. After seeing a ton of fish jumping and not biting my panther martin I decided to head back down to my car.

I would say about 200 yards from the lake I heard rustling in the brush. I yelled “hey bear” to alert whatever it was that I was there. The sound was about 30 yards off the trail possibly less. I took the safety off my bear spray canister just in case. So, after waiting about 2 minutes and me making some more noise I felt it was safe to continue down the trail. When I started walking whatever was in the brush would start traversing. When I would stop it would stop. When I started it would start again. This went on several times. I yelled “hey bear “several times.” The hair on my neck stood up and I was frightened. There is nothing worse than not being able to see what the hell is in the brush and foliage. I started walking again and the noise in the brush started coming closer to me. I pulled out my 44 magnum and fired a shot directly into the ground. The movement in the woods stopped.

It was the beginning of bow season and part of me was wondering if a bow hunter was messing with me.

I picked up my pace to get down the trail. Before you get to the parking area you have to walk across a very sturdy built wooden bride after you cross the bridge you go around a corner and then that is where the parking area is. I was relieved to see my vehicle. I was also still the only car. I unlocked my car door took off my pack and was taking a swig of water, when, I was frightened very badly. Something started banging on the wooden bridge. It was very loud and aggressive. It was like whatever it was didn’t want me to make it to my car. I got in my car and tried to drive around the corner, to the wooden bridge, but the trail was to narrow. I honked my horn and got out of my car. I had the 44 in my hand. I was going to go check out what the hell made the noise. It was at this point I thought to myself that I need to just get in my car and leave.

When I got back to the main road, I went to the Lolo National Forest ranger station. I asked the person working if they had any reports of a predatory bears or mountain lions near Cabin Lake. He said that there was nothing reported. He stated that there was a grizzly bear acting funny near Engle Lake but that was it.”

3 Responses to “The Hair On My Neck Stood Up And I Was Frightened”

  1. m99

    As much as I love going solo, and my oldest child does that all the time, I don’t think it’s as safe as I used to think it was. I was getting scared just reading his entry here. I look forward to hearing more from this person because I’m sure he has more to say than what he wrote here. Thx for sharing.

  2. theresa m

    Oh, I would love to hear what this experiencer has to share, Wes. I’m shocked that people still go out into nature alone. It just isn’t safe. All my life the thing to be weary of was other people but now it’s things other than humans.

Leave a Reply