Hmm, creepy stories round the campfire time.
I'm pretty much 100% behind the "...you're the scariest thing out there..." credo as it was taught to me. In the UK at least all humankind usually has to worry about is more human kind. Though remember dogs and cows don't mix, and deer get pretty wound up during the rut... enough to have a go and finish you off if they want too. ( Plus I knew a man who was pretty successfully eviscerated by a hare, but to be fair he had shot it first).
On to my campfire story. A number of years back I was camped at Loch Etchachan below Creagan a' Choire Etchachan ( it's right next to Beinn MacDuibu or Ben Macdui as its better known).
I set up my tent in the early evening on a slight rise near the water, good views all around, stunningly clear windless day. Cooked my tea over the Coleman multi-fuel I used those days, ate, tidied up and decided to relax for a while look at the view and read my book. ( You can do both, it's called savouring the time.
Decided to have an early night as it was a long walk out the next day. Warm night so lying on my sleeping bag reading 'till I doze off. I hear something hit the fly of my tent.
Brush it off as an insect or bird poo. Go back to my book. A couple of minutes later I hear it again. Put book down, can't see bird poo through the fly? It happens again, off to my side. Out of the tent... Is someone playing silly buggers? Look around, have a good 360 view of my surroundings for a good few hundred yards, and there's water covering a good proportion of that. I'm pretty good at finding hiding folk, worked with gamekeepers, have hunted, poached the odd rabbit. Pretty sure no-ones about, the only other folk I saw that day were this morning heading the other way in the distance.
Go back to the tent, not been in more than 10 minutes when it happens again... burst from the tent... Something definitely hit the tent. Nothing. Then remember stories of corvids dropping stones on things. Look up, not a sausage... no birds at all, Nada. Feeling slightly uneasy I head back inside as it's getting to-wards dusk.
Lie there, book tossed aside, waiting. And it seems not in vain, something small hits the left hand side of the tent, as I sit staring at nylon another thing hits the fly behind me. Now I'm officially concerned, burst out of tent to be confronted by....
Nothing. Think to myself whilst looking for non existent birds, maybe it's a loose guy line snapping about. No they're all secure and tight, and there's no wind anyway. Have a walk around to make sure no-one is playing silly persons and rather worriedly get back in the tent.
I'll shorten this down somewhat as pretty suffice to say, I spent the whole night awake, awake and bolt upright in the middle of my tent, facing the door ( why the door I don't know in a tent as it's all pretty flimsy) and I'm ashamed to say my knife in my hands. Anything coming through that door was getting it. The reason for this, for the whole night, and I do mean the whole night, sometimes every couple of minutes, sometimes for suspenses sake it would be up to a 15 minute gap, though sometimes in very quick succession, something would hit the fly of the tent, and usually from a different direction from the last.
I thought about making a bolt for it, but the nearest place is about 10 miles as the non-existing crows fly. And in the tent I had that childish head under the blanket feeling of safety.
As soon as it grew light enough ( everything was packed up way earlier believe me ) I grabbed my pack, scooted outside and collapsed the tent after a quick look 'round. While taking the tent down I noticed that there was an outline of little rocks like a mini drystane dyke in the shape of the tent. Something had been pitching pebbles at me all night after all. Tent was thrown into the sack and off I trotted at a much higher speed than is usually achieved.
No I've spent huge amounts of time living in the woods whilst doing research and just bumming around. I actually like the dark as I feel I've pretty good night vision and my other senses are pretty good. Not really scared of the thought of ghosts and boogles as well they aren't there to hurt you. But I was freaked that night, if it was a person, I'm sure I would've heard them shift position, and would they stay there all night?
Also some of the Scots may be thinking Ben Macdui!!! Well I hadn't been on there that day, and where I was, though close isn't really Ben Macdui - and I hadn't really heard of the Gray man at that point.
I still love being out at night, yeah sometimes things make me jump, but that happens during the day too. Just never been able to explain that night, and never camped near there since.
Cheers
Goatboy.
