Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Scary in the Woods
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, are they not?
But they can be scary too. Bob and I love to hike and over the years, have been on too many hikes in the woods to count.
Many times, while we’re on the trail, he’ll remark, “wouldn’t it be scary to be lost in the woods?”
“Well, yes, it would.”
The shapes more sinister as the sun goes down.
Cold. Critters in the night. Every rustle, unsettling.
“Why do you say that?” I ask, and he tells me of a childhood friend who went hunting with his dad. They got lost and had to spend the night in the woods. Not uncommon in the fall when the sun goes down early and everything is suddenly dark. Fortunately, they made it out the next day.
It almost happened to us, on a hike to Coal Creek Falls on Cougar Mountain.
Not that far away but unfamiliar. And the trails were not well marked.
We made it to the falls. They were fine.
But we couldn’t find the trail back to the car.
It was going on 4 o’clock. It was late October and the sun would be setting soon.
There were signs here and there that we weren’t happy to see.
Giant holes in the ground to beware of, from mining a hundred years ago.
And then there was this: Nike Missile Base a relic of the Cold War.
Seriously? People like to hike here?
I guess they do but to me it was creepy. And a little bit scary when we got lost in the woods.
Fortunately, we found the right trail and made it out before sunset. We have no plans to go back.
Sharing with this week’s #Sunday Stills Challenge, Scary.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
Well, you make a hike in the forest a little unsettling, Susanne! Gorgeous pics of the trails. Yep, many forests are already somewhat dark, but autumn is downright black! I got lost visiting a bathroom in Sequoia NP when I was 12. I got turned around and went the opposite way. It was dark. A couple helped me, but I saw a table lit with a lantern and realized it was my mom and brother. Clearly I still remember it. I’d rather jump off the challenge course 🤣
It’s really unsettling how dark it gets in the woods! And to be lost and stuck in the cold and dark without shelter is frightening, which I guess is why it made such an impression on Bob. And you, too!
Great photos, Susanne! My dad and I got lost in the Michigan woods long ago but we found our way out just about dark. An amazing coincidence.
Thanks, John! It’s a scary feeling, isn’t it? Good thing you made it out before the sun went down!
oh yes, I remember this clearly. We were going to use birch bark to start a fire. It was autumn. This was in the 1960s.
Beautiful. Sorry you got lost though.
It was beautiful, until we got lost! Fortunately, we found our way before the sun went down.
The woods can be a scary place, especially when it starts getting dark. Excellent photos by way of illustration.
Thanks, Graham. Bob has said that so often, I thought it was time it made it onto my blog. And it was unsettling when it seemed we couldn’t find the right trail back to the car, knowing the sun would be setting soon.
Great moody story and images, perfect for the season.
Thank you! 🙂
Love the photos, especially the moody, black’n’white ones….I assume you’ve never seen “The Blair Witch Project” and what Bob asked came to a very scary fruition in that film! That’s the entire plot of the movie!
Thanks, John. I had fun with the photo challenge, remembering that creepy hike in the woods. I’ve never seen the Blair Witch Project, so didn’t know that was the plot. I can see how being lost in the woods at night would make a scary horror movie!
Oh, they aren’t just lost at night….for several days! And every day gets creepier and creepier when they sense they aren’t alone…
Ohhhhhhhh. 😲
Your black and white photos really capture the mysterious, spooky nature of some woods! I’m glad you made it out before sunset and didn’t have to spend the night here 🙂
Thanks, Sarah! Those woods were kind of creepy anyway, so being lost near sunset was a bit scary!
Fabulous photos!! I would not want to be caught in the woods after dark!!
Thank you! Me neither!!
What a great Halloween post! And you didn’t mention the enormous spiders that weave webs across the trail, visible in the daylight but in the dark…
Thanks, Judy. That would make it creepier for sure!
One day we were visiting Julie’s parents in Hertfordhire, and I took Ollie for a long walk in the local woods. I had always been very sure of my sense of direction, but when it started to rain heavily, I lost my bearings. I was completely lost for over an hour, until I found a main road I recognised and walked back along it to the house to discover I had gone 4 miles in the wrong direction. Ollie and I were both completley saturated!
Best wishes, Pete.
Oh, wow, Pete, that’s a long way in the wrong direction, and even more dangerous with the cold and rain! So glad you found your way back! In our case, there were lots of crisscrossing trails but mostly unmarked. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining, but we were worried about getting out before dark.
Oh my! Scary indeed!
Awesome pictures!
Thanks so much!