Fear of the dark

[JonathanD]

Great to have an update on this, although how do you know he is a visitor here? Could he not have observed you burying the ale (or found the spot where the earth was disturbed)?

No way could he have spotted me burying it. The terrain makes it impossible. I was careful to cover up the sign, and the whole area had much more sign than that. He must be very good at reading sign to differentiate that from any of the other as Davey569 and I deliberately blended the area in with the rest of the camp disturbance.

 

[CLEM]

A very strange how'd ya do or what, damned shame the book was spoilt too. The person or persons who put it there obviously wanted you to have it, as JD says it was very very well wrapped. Such a shame!

 

[CLEM]

I have to confess I was really intrigued as to see if the ales were still drinkable too!!!

 

[snozz]

The book may have been bought at a Borders over here and been an import - I've had a couple of books from Borders with a $ price . But Borders has been closed for several years in this country so maybe not ... very interesting all the same!

 

[boney gumbo mcgee]

Been following this thread for a while, and it is an amazing update and hardly a coincidence that the ale is gone and replaced by the tracking book, the plot thickens.

 

[Samon]

Only you and he know what ale it was! And I bet he though that ale was a gift!

Now you have vital evidence to finding the real guy, no imposter would know the ales brand.

 

[Wook]

All this thread needs is it's very own Spartacus moment to achieve internet perfection.

"I'm 'stachio man!"

"No, I'm 'stachio man!"

 

[Trunks]

Fantastic Jon.

So logically, stashio man is either a member on here, has a metal detector, was watching you and Clem bury the beer or is a better tracker than you

Either way, some thought and planning has gone into wrapping those books - this is fascinating.

Have you checked the local area? If the old site was flooded out, you would think that someone with this level of activity would just move to another site rather than give up - especially if they had "made contact".

Maybe you should bury something new in return.

P.s., it's good to see you back buddy

 

[CallsignSam]

Great update Jon, hopefully he will see this one day!

 

[Tracker NTS-054]

You lot have a lot to answer for!!!! Just woke up after having stayed up till 2:00 to read all this!! Very very interesting!!

 

[Demonwolf444]

Read the first few pages of this thread; interesting. And read the last few with the beer and books, Odd and intriguing!

My "bump in the night" stories.

Indoors.
Our garage outbuilding is about 100 yards from the house, and ever since we moved to the house it has attracted the attention of a lot of burglars; the big doors seem to them to indicate " big prize ".. its full of junk, I always like to picture after hours of careful work breaking in their faces once they see whats in. Anyway when we moved we put huge doors on the outhouse; and to begin with put motion activated lights outside. So first thing that used to wake me up at night was the spot lights going on when the motion detector was set.. most times you could see a cat that had set it off, but seeing nothing was always scary to me.

Anyway after a break in we reinforced the doors and added a motion detector that is activated by movement inside which trips an alarm in the house, one time i woke up hearing " nee nar, nee nar, nee nar " which went on for 15 minutes; however the lights had not come on.. something must had been inside to have activated the alarm.

We now have Lights; alarms and cctv. Ever since we got the cctv we have not had a single weird incident.

In the house one night the phone rang from 2am till half 4 non stop. Every time we picked up we just go a dead line.. that was unnerving as you don't know whats going on.. someones sick game.

In the woods where a friend has permission to camp and used to have a cabin and a caravan, first time i went there he showed me the cabin.. the day before he had gone down to find the door wrenched off its hinges, loads of dirty pots and pans left, a pile of human waste left in the corner, blankets covered in human waste, windows smashed. Caravan had been broken into and a serious quantity of blood and stains.. When i came he showed me all this and kicked aside one of the blankets which reviled needles, tin foil and other druggy stuff.

After ringing the landowner we burnt the lot down, we don't feel safe going there anymore.

abandoned buildings on the land i have permission on i am fairly certain are used frequently by homeless people.. so the tends to ruin any idea's i could have of camping out.

 

[pango]

Hey Demonwolf, don't get downhearted mate. If you stay away from your favourite spots, then the A*s have won, although I'm sure Yorkshire has secluded spots aplenty.

Wook's comment brought to mind an incident of some years ago in a Scottish bothy after someone let go a stinker, prompting a variation on the "I'm Spartacus!" scenario. The identity of the real Fartacus was eventually revealed by the blushing face of one of two Edinburgh University students. The said culprit looked as though she couldn't melt butter, and I'm sure her name was Blanche!

[The aforementioned Edinburgh University students had turned up at the door just as we were broaching our whisky cargo... so proving beyond all doubt to the reprobate Fifers in residence the benefits of a sound education.]

Jonathan, having followed this thread from early days, I remember your post when this chap had drummed his fingers on your tarp during the night, and me voicing my concerns regarding whatever motive might be behind such an act. To me, simple good manners involves jumping to my feet to get the kettle on for a new arrival, offering a drink when I can no longer stand or waving a bottle about if I'm too drunk to speak. The flip side of that is to declare myself on approaching someone's camp, especially at night, and I was genuinely afraid this guy suffered from more than a case of bad manners, so this find of Tom Brown's The Tracker is a terrific discovery. There is something quite touching about it! I hope yer man hasn't become bored waiting and given up on you, but I somehow imagine him chomping pistachios with a huge grin on his face.

In justifying my remarks above regarding announcing yourself if approaching someone's camp, anyone with a military background will fully understand the reasoning. I am not of a military background, but have spent decades stravaiging [wandering aimlessly] remote Scottish landscapes in full awareness of the historical events they have witnessed, and it wouldn't be the first time I've walked on into the night until the ominous feeling lightened up a bit.

Try pitching your tent near Tigh na Bodach [the house of the old man] in Gleann Cailliche [the glen of the old woman], west of Glen Lyon, or the Deil's Jingle in Eskdale, or your basha beside what have probably been roads since the Neolithic, the Wheel Causeway, Note o' the Yett, or lying under canvas on the Catrail that crosses what is now the Scottish-English Border, trying to convince yourself it must have been thunder you just heard, and not a troop of reiver horse. Only then will you understand why notice of your presence is required when approaching someone's camp in the night, as, having learned from past experience, the last thing you want when lying in a tent is another bout of explosive diarrhoea!

Thank you,

Pango.

 

[Rich D]

Love this thread, just read it back from the start.

 

[beretta63]

Well here a scary story with a difference...It will make you laugh!

My old friend John Bowie (yes thats his real name!) used to do a lot of night navigation walks in the Scottish Highlands and one night, around 1 am, whilst walking in a group miles from civilisation they came across a lone tent. As they walked past the the tent someone in the tent let out a very loud fart! Quick as a flash and without hesitation John called out ''you dirty *******'' the group just walked on silent but at the same time trying to hold in the titters!

I bet the guy in the tent crapped himself...Literally!

 

[Alreetmiowdmuka]

Funny that mate

 

[mdsjack]

Amazing thread, although I read only the first pages.

I'm firmly convinced that human beings are the main source of danger/threat in the wilderness.
For example the guy imitating the wolf someone told about at the beginning of the thread threats me more than any unexplainable mistery.
To make a comparison with horror movies, I think Hostel, Worg Turn and similar are more likely to happen in real life than Blair Witch & co.
(deviated) human mind is extremely dangerous. Even a guys who goes in the woods to scare hikers is not 100% ok...

 

[Drewboy64]

OK, but I have to say now, it is not bed time reading.

I went to stay over at a mates house, as he had a new tent he wanted to test out, and decided best way was to bed it in whilst in the back garden. I agreed, and duely gathered up some kit for a weekend and trotted round his place.

He has a real nice house mind, and a huge, easily 250 feet each way garden, that is bare of shrubs bar some around the rear fences. We duely set up the tent, merrily chatting away and it went up easy, so we had a brew (Tea) and a BBQ, and just shooting the breeze.

It got dark, and we watched the stars for a while, then a bit past midnight we decided to knock it on the head and get some kip.

Well, laid there, this noise started at the top of the tent, a scraping sound accompanied with a sniggering 'laugh'. I turned to my mate and gave him hell for trying to scare me, and he did like wise, and neither believing the other, so we left it at that.

I grabbed a mars, he grabbed his yorkie, and we both started munching, when from the tip again down, starting that aweful slow scraping and sniggering noise, and then the ground sheet started to be tugged on and again that sniggering laugh.

Well #### that was it - we flew out the tent and there was absolutely nothing there at all. You couldn't of caught us if you tried that night as we ran, two grown men, ran like the wind to the back door, and sat up all night long till dawn wide awake until the sun came up and we could retrieve the tent.

I still go round his way every now and again, but things have changed. His garden has alot of lights, and he keeps Rhodesian Ridgebacks - when he goes out to take out the washing, they go with him, when he goes out for a smoke, they go with him. When his little one goes into the garden in full day light, two go with her.

Oh and when I go out into his garden, which ever of the dogs is home gets let out first.

Man that gave me chills.

Yeah, I wish the fear I felt at night was rational at least - like a fear of dangerous animals - but I'm just afraid of scary monsters and creepy things that my imagination likes to think up.

I will say that there are some noises that sound scary but are probably just strange owls or other animals. I camped alone in a little patch of woodland in the middle of a suburban area, but even that was scary. I heard what sounded like some raspy exhaling or breathing, but now I think it was either someone's air conditioning unit, or maybe the hiss of a Long-eared owl.

But imagine hearing some of the sounds this barn owl makes without knowing what it was:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/barn_owl/sounds

 

[beretta63]

One of the best ways I have found of beating the fear of the bogeyman is to have a skin full before walking or camping in spooky areas!
I used to walk right through the hardwick park Estate and right past Bess Of Hardwick's front door when coming home from a girlfriends house and even though it was around midnight and with tales of ghosts of the past supposedly walking the grounds, the Six pints of Pedigree really helped alleviate the jitters!

It makes me laugh when I think back of how many noises I swore at though

 

[CRAY]

One of the best ways I have found of beating the fear of the bogeyman is to have a skin full before walking or camping in spooky areas!
I used to walk right through the hardwick park Estate and right past Bess Of Hardwick's front door when coming home from a girlfriends house and even though it was around midnight and with tales of ghosts of the past supposedly walking the grounds, the Six pints of Pedigree really helped alleviate the jitters!

It makes me laugh when I think back of how many noises I swore at though

True words.

I took a wilderness camping trip with some friends here. Canadian wilderness is beautiful. Especially when you'v grown up in England, the space and tranquility is just awesome. But it's very scary at night when your not used to the sounds of a new place, and then the constant threat of bears which keeps your behind twitching every now and then when something breaks a branch in the wee hours near your bed.

But the second night I decided to indulge in a few tots of the loudmouth soup, courtesy of the flask of single malt that I always seem to find space for in the pack. Needless to say I slept like a baby. The irony of it though was that I actually came a cropper of one of the most deadly animals on the planet, the mosquito! In my drunken stupor I rolled into my hammock and didn't bother to put the bug net on, my **** looked like a fly agaric in the morning!

 

[Prodigal Son]

I don't know what made me come looking for this thread again. Glad to see the update with the book. I have been fascinated since the beginning.

It is a shame there is no sighting or meeting. But possibly this is a nice way to draw a line under it.