Something Spooky is Out There

SOMETHING SPOOKEY IS OUT THERE


"It was just the isolated mountain wilderness setting that triggered your imagination to think you saw something that wasn't there."

“Look my good friend let it go.  You had a great backpacking trip in a beautiful part of the Sierras. Your earlier 2 weeks of hectic world business travel left you stressed out. You deserved the time off away from civilization.  No one is accusing you of anything weird.  Most of the guys are just being jokers, and frankly, I think they are jealous of the great job you have. None of them have done what you have done. Take my advice and ignore them.”

I thought about my experience and my friend’s thoughtful remarks.  My wife had picked me up at the San Francisco Airport 10 days earlier.  “You look terrible,” she commented.  You’re working too hard, and you haven’t taken any time off in a year. I know you feel guilty about being gone so much from the family.  Think about it…..the kids are starting college and are extra busy themselves. I am busy with my church activity, and card playing group. I don’t want you hanging around the house because you think you owe me. I want you to do something you enjoy.  We have the long vacation planned this fall when the kids are home.  Why don’t you take one of those remote backpack trips that you love?” 

“OK,” I said. "There has always been that beautiful part of Desolation Wilderness near Lake Tahoe.  I have all the maps. Maybe I could take Sweetness with me.”  At the sound of his name, our large German Sheppard perked up his ears and lifted his head off my lap.  Sweetness had been on a couple of long overnight trips, and did just fine.  “I’ll dig out his pack, and start planning in the morning. We still have all those freeze-dried yummy delights left over from last trip.”

I rubbed his big head, and said “I’m sorry I haven’t been around to take you on those runs in the park.  I promise you a real workout on this trip big guy!” Sweetness seemed to know something exciting was in the air.  He stood up and started wagging his tail. I told him “Your gonna be my special guard dog again.”

This backpacking trail through the Desolation Wilderness had always beckoned, but I had never been able to put the hike together. I called the national park service office, and checked their open hours.  I could pick up my wilderness permit at my convenience when I arrived.  The ranger said, “You can park your vehicle right here near our office.” My planned 4 day trip would end back at the ranger station.

With hiking permit in hand, I said thanks and goodbye to the friendly ranger who had dropped me off at the trail head just above Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe.

“Come on Sweet, let’s start climbing.”

The early trail up to the official Wilderness area gave a gorgeous view of Emerald Bay in the foreground.  It looked like a bright blue appendage to the greater Lake Tahoe. 

“Pretty neat view huh Sweet?”  He obviously was more intent on sniffing around the boulders looking for critters.

In a few hours we reached the top, and I paused to check out the trail map.  After a cold drink of water, we eagerly began our hike south on the trail. Sweetness looked at me knowing that this new adventure was beginning.  It was a warm early afternoon, and I had planned our first overnight stop to give us some free time to inspect the terrain.  After a mile or two I dumped our packs about fifty yards off the trail above beautiful Dick’s lake. I pulled out the bottled water and filled Sweet’s plastic bowl. We each had a big drink.  He watched me with head cocked as I laid out our ground tarp, fixed the rain tarp over it, and built a fire well with nearby rocks. Sweetness seemed to think I was preparing the spot for him.  He lay down on my bag, and looked at me as if saying, 'OK what’s next.' “OH no big guy, were going swimming.”

I brought the collapsible water jug to give us water for dinner and breakfast. Sweet beat me to the water; took a few laps of water, and then did a swim out with a quick u-turn. I stripped down and jumped in anxious to wash off the trail dust. "YIKES!"  I shouted. “Thanks for the warning Sweet!”

The cold water was a shock and really got my blood pumping. We both lay on a sun-drenched flat rock to catch our breath as we dried off.

“OK fella, are you hungry for dinner?”

It was about half past four.  At the word ‘dinner’, ole Sweetness perked up his ears, and headed uphill for our campsite.

After our dinner, and taking care of some of his business, Sweet plopped down next to my sleeping bag. He would always snuggle tight to my side at night. I gathered dead pieces of branches, and started a small camp fire in the center of a circle of large rocks. There was still enough light for me to get further into the mystery novel I had brought along. The sun set behind the Crystal Range, and I hadn't even finished the first chapter before my eyelids became heavy. I remembered to set my alarm watch earlier to wake me so I could get a few photos of the orange sunrise on the massive rock wall to our west across the Rubicon River. This was a major visual attraction in Desolation Wilderness. I tossed a few larger pieces of wood onto the fire, and zipped up the sleeping bag. Sweetness took up his position next to me on the ground tarp. Within a few minutes I could hear his slow breathing as he fell asleep. I wondered if he was dreaming of chasing critters among the large boulders and pine trees.

Frost greeted us when we woke in the early pre-dawn frigid air. I forced myself up and started the camp stove to boil some water for coffee and oatmeal with freeze dried fruit. Dodger gobbled his breakfast and then wandered off to take care of more business. The big guy came back and lay down with his ears in full upright alert. He was staring across the valley below us to a fixed point almost three hundred yards away. “What do ya see Sweet?”

He began emitting a deep throated growl never breaking his visual concentration. I looked, but saw nothing. “It’s OK guy, probably just a ground squirrel.”

I poured another cup of coffee and sat down next to my large fuzzy guardian. I again tried to pick out the spot he had fixed upon. I said “What is it big fella?”

All this did was to increase the intensity of his growl. I immediately saw something big dart between boulders. The movement lasted only one second. My first thought was that I just was not quite awake. I rubbed my eyes to clear them, and splashed my face with some cold water. I saw no further movement.

I had seen Marmots; Deer, and Black Bears on earlier trips at this altitude in the Sierras. I guessed there might be Mountain Lion that inhabited this wilderness area. I checked the printed sheet given to me by the ranger.  “Nope, no pictures of big scary beasts in this area it says here Sweet.” 

My heart started to beat a little faster as I packed up our gear before starting our second day. Sweet was still on alert and staring at something. “Crap,” I said to myself.  I forgot to pack my mini binoculars. His low growling had subsided to a low rumble, telling me that he still sensed something. I again sat down next to him and cupped my hands over my eyes. As I started to turn back to finish packing our camp gear, I saw something move in my peripheral vision. The big Sheppard half-stood and increased his growling. I looked hard for another minute but saw no movement among the rocks. “Oh shit,” I muttered, “If you could only talk.”

I put my arm around his huge neck and nuzzled his snout. Nothing doing, he seemed to be saying.  Sweet wanted nothing to do with petting.  This time the ‘thing’ moved between large boulders for maybe 2 seconds.  It seemed to be upright.  “Uh-oh big guy.”

That could be trouble.  Sweetness continued to stare at the spot across the Rubicon River that ran through the center of this wilderness. “Geez, am I seeing things?” I said out loud.

I started talking to myself.  “It probably was just another hiker,” but I knew if Sweetness had recognized another human, he would have started wagging his tail.

He thought every human wanted to be his friend. The words ‘Crap’ and ‘Oh Shit’ again became part of my mutterings to no one in the cold air.

I quickly deciding that I did not want any part of a large carnivorous animal stalking us, I finished packing and Sweet and I made ready to hike all the way to our pick up point at Highway 50. I did not want to risk our planned second overnight camp stay.

The final hike was a fast a fast one, as I continuously cranked my neck to the right hoping not to see any more evidence of our mysterious stalker. I held my six inch Buck lock-back knife open and clenched in my right hand during the entire walk. Sweetness would occasionally look back at the area I called the ‘beast sighting.”  He stayed close to my side, and had decided not to do his normal wander-sniffing-here-and-there routine.  He definitely sensed something.  If my furry friend had not been with me, I would have ignored it all.  It would go down in a hiking journal as an imagination gone wild.

At the end of the trail we found a small hut occupied by the USNF.  I greeted a different ranger.  After the usual ‘did-you-have-fun?’ conversation, I explained our experience and described what I thought I saw. He looked at me with a grin and said, “You were the only hiker in that area. It could have been a hiker without a permit, but I doubt it.”

He did explain that there were rare Mountain Lion sightings, but they were not indigenous to the area I was in. I told him about my dog’s reaction, and was quick to note that dogs certainly did not have the vivid imaginations of humans. “This proved to me that something was out there.” I said, “The creature was standing upright and moved in that position……”

I immediately regretted making this statement. The ranger, nodding his head, began to make notes in a large open book. I could only imagine what he would be telling his buddies later on.  “I will make note and bring up your experience in our meeting tomorrow. I could here the joking now: “Ya had another loony flat-lander with a spook sighting, huh?”

On the way back home my friend joked about the story and said: “Well it seems that you now are forever going to be included in the goofy bunch who claims they witnessed a Yeti or Abominable Snowman……or maybe they call them Sasquatch in these parts. I can’t wait to bring this up with the guys.”

The rest of the ride was subdued as I kept reassuring myself that I was a level-headed individual not prone to making up vivid stories. I was a sane and very practical person.

I would forever wonder what we had ‘seen’ on that day hiking in Desolation Wilderness.

NOTE:  photos taken on this adventure can be seen at blog: tmac-traveltales.blogspot.com    "...SPOOKY..."

http://tmac-traveltales.blogspot.com/2011/04/spooky.html