In the summer of 2018, TikToker Andrew (@thewanderingbeard2.0) went on a solo camping trip and experienced something that he still can’t explain to this day.
He was camping in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State, miles and miles away from the nearest human. There were no other campsites anywhere nearby.
“I was there for a full week, and I never heard or saw a sign of another living human being at all, but I was up there doing some gold dredging,” said Andrew.
“I planned to stay there for maybe 10 or 12 days, just enjoying nature by myself and camping by myself.”
He drove up an old logging trail until he reached a lookout spot. He could see a creek in the distance, and there was a small clearing in the woods where he could set up his campsite.
He arranged some rocks for a campfire, put down an insulated mat, and used his military-issued poncho liner as a blanket. He also keeps a pistol and a flashlight under his head when sleeping.
For the first six days, he was having a blast. He spent time diving in the creek, dredging for gold, and catching fish. But on the seventh day, something strange happened.
When the sun started to set, he got ready for bed. He cooked some fish, ate dinner, and lay down. He fell asleep around 9 or 10 p.m.
Sometime in the middle of the night, he woke to the sound of heavy footsteps walking around in the woods. It sounded almost like a bear.
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He sat up, grabbed his handgun, and looked around, but he couldn’t see anything. He kept hearing the heavy footsteps over and over again. He turned on his flashlight and shone the beam through the woods.
As soon as he turned it on, the footsteps stopped. He still didn’t see anything at all. He went back to sleep and woke up every hour or so to keep his fire going.
Suddenly, a rock the size of his head flew at him out of nowhere. It was launched right past him and landed in his campfire, causing the fire to explode all over the place.
“Now, I have to tell you, where I was at, it was a flat area,” said Andrew. “It’s not like this rock could have come rolling down a hill and hit my fire. And this rock was so large that a human could not have thrown it from that distance, not without some kind of special device, anyway.”
Having no idea what just happened, he panicked and grabbed his pistol. He proceeded to sprint into the darkness toward his truck, open the door, and lock himself in. He spent the rest of the night hunkered down in his truck. He didn’t sleep a wink that night.
The next day, he went back to the campsite to gather his gear, packed it up as quickly as possible, and left. He never returned to that spot again.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
