What's your strangest trail encounter?

[ejay]

I stumbled upon two transients fighting on a fire trail in the Angeles National Forest. One had the others prosthetic leg in his hands and wouldn't give it back. They saw me, sat on a rock, and took a break from the fight. It's as if it was a regular thing for them. I just looked in shock as I drove by.

 

[anarce]

In 2016 my wife and I did the Alpine Loop. We spent the night in Ouray and walked around town. I picked up one of the freebie tourist newspapers and skimmed through it. I saw that the next day was the start of something called "Sheep Days" on Engineer Pass, then promptly forgot about it, until...

We're on top of the pass the next day admiring the view, and then... what the hell is that sound? Turns out it was a whole bunch of sheep baa-ing in the valley below:

Once we got down there, they really had no interest in moving off the road.

We also saw this guy that day near Animas Forks. Maybe he was on his way up to herd the sheep.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I unfortunately didn't meet the driver, but following the vein of the OP it also involved a Ford Escape.

There's a trail here that has a creek crossing that freezes and stays frozen all winter. Sometime in November of 2017, a girl was wheeling alone in her Escape and got stuck in this muddy water crossing with water approximately up to the bottom of the bumper. She abandoned the vehicle and got a ride home to come back with her dad and uncle 3 days later to find the creek frozen solid and zero chance of getting it out. So it stayed there. All. Winter.

This is what it looked like in March of 2018.

Note the Bernie Sanders bumper sticker.

The windows were probably vandalism but the way the expansion of the ice had tweaked the body (look at the liftgate forced up and away) I bet they'd have broken anyway. By my return in June it had been recovered.

 

[Aviatortroy]

And that is the exact Colorado stupidity I speak of. Underestimate the mountains and weather to your peril!!!

What trail was that anyway? Looks like the gulches area?

 

[freedom_in_4low]

And that is the exact Colorado stupidity I speak of. Underestimate the mountains and weather to your peril!!!

What trail was that anyway? Looks like the gulches area?

Pikes Peak NF Rd 311.A, it's a spur off of Schubarth trail between Woodland Park and the AF Academy.

 

[Aviatortroy]

Pikes Peak NF Rd 311.A, it's a spur off of Schubarth trail between Woodland Park and the AF Academy.

Roger that, I have it on my Rampart Range map. Rampart. I rest my case.

 

[Rubicon John]

Great thread, I wish I I could contribute

 

[Ocho]

Park Rangers trying to arrest our whole caravan back in the early 2000’s at the other side of Bartlett Lake after finishing Log Corral.

About 8 of us finished the trail in about7 hours and the water was low in the reservoir so we did a bit of cruisin’ around the dried up lake bed.. one of the group then led us to a ‘shortcut’ around the lake instead of doubling back to the 87.

Little did we know, we drove right through a bald eagle nesting area. BIG no go.

There was no signage so we were let off the hook (even though we did drive through an ‘open’ gate that was clearly marked as ‘Access Closed’ on the other side.. no bald eagle sign though!) Who looks in the rear view anyway??

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I almost forgot about this one.

About 4 years ago I went hiking with my wife and my son who at the time was about 18 months old. A little trail in Roosevelt NF a few miles east of Estes Park and RMNP called Gem Lake. Not too intense being that I had the kid on my back.

We get to the lake, or pond really, at the end of the trail, and across the pond on a big slab of granite is a guy laying on his back under a girl on her knees with her tail in the air and her head bobbing. He could see us and started laughing, and she just kept going. Mind you there are plenty of places to hide if they wanted privacy; instead the went right where they would be impossible to miss.

The photo isn't graphic but could invite questions from the wrong audience so click the attachment if you're curious.

 

[Thunderhead]

I almost forgot about this one.

About 4 years ago I went hiking with my wife and my son who at the time was about 18 months old. A little trail in Roosevelt NF a few miles east of Estes Park and RMNP called Gem Lake. Not too intense being that I had the kid on my back.

We get to the lake, or pond really, at the end of the trail, and across the pond on a big slab of granite is a guy laying on his back under a girl on her knees with her tail in the air and her head bobbing. He could see us and started laughing, and she just kept going.

The photo isn't graphic but could invite questions from the wrong audience so click the attachment if you're curious.

View attachment 190568

Well good for her

 

[tworley]

I unfortunately didn't meet the driver, but following the vein of the OP it also involved a Ford Escape.

There's a trail here that has a creek crossing that freezes and stays frozen all winter. Sometime in November of 2017, a girl was wheeling alone in her Escape and got stuck in this muddy water crossing with water approximately up to the bottom of the bumper. She abandoned the vehicle and got a ride home to come back with her dad and uncle 3 days later to find the creek frozen solid and zero chance of getting it out. So it stayed there. All. Winter.

This is what it looked like in March of 2018.

View attachment 190456

Note the Bernie Sanders bumper sticker.

View attachment 190457

View attachment 190458

The windows were probably vandalism but the way the expansion of the ice had tweaked the body (look at the liftgate forced up and away) I bet they'd have broken anyway. By my return in June it had been recovered.

I remember reading about this one. The vandalism sucks and I don't know why someone would smash out the windows like that

 

[Thunderhead]

My wife and I headed up a FS road in the Mendocino NF on a spring Saturday morning. Snow in areas. About 6 miles in we see a guy jogging but then realized he is waving us down.
I got no back seat just the dog in the back. He is from Sac and wanted to go over to the “coast” and saw Covelo on the map. Said he was fighting with his wife and just decided to go see the biggest Oak Tree in California that’s in Covelo. He fucking hiked 20 miles down the mountain. He was at a place called Mendocino Pass which is some deep switch backs with deep snow drifts. He was 10 feet into the snow and couldn’t get out
Pulled him out and he took off. We went to our spot up there and had a fire and lunch
Not sure why he didn’t dig himself out of those 10 feet

 

[scottgraham]

Wasn't a "trail" encounter, but an "on the water" encounter. Had some sports w/ me on a charter, saw a boat free drifting in the bay. Motored up to check it out and upon approach saw an old (older than me) fat dude laying face down on the deck, as I approached closer, picking up my radio to call the coast guard, the dude lifts his head up and there's a woman under him...I slowly turned my skiff and motored away.

 

[Aviatortroy]

I remember reading about this one. The vandalism sucks and I don't know why someone would smash out the windows like that

I guarantee you that thing didn’t survive a week up there without all the glass broken, every intact body panel shot full of holes, and then a squatter sleeping in and peeing himself in the back seat.

 

[Aviatortroy]

That reminded me of another one. About 12 years ago I was out on my R1200gs on a several day long riding and camping trip around the state. Anyway we were on Last Dollar Rd out by Telluride and that road is known for getting pretty muddy. In the middle of nowhere was a pretty new Ford Focus in a deep mud hole. I mean it looked like that Escape, mud up to the door sills and completely filling the interior of the car. I can’t really picture a wrecker getting back there to pull it out, who knows how long it sat there.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

I guarantee you that thing didn’t survive a week up there without all the glass broken, every intact body panel shot full of holes, and then a squatter sleeping in and peeing himself in the back seat.

They call it a soup kitchen.

 

[Aviatortroy]

Last winter there was a Ford Explorer parked at the gate where they close Jackson Creek for the season and every time I parked at the trailhead there were more parts missing. By February it was up on logs with wheels, bumpers, door handles, headlights, grill, tailgate all stripped. It was like a time lapse video of those beetles reducing a cadaver.

 

[qslim]

This is one of our favorite spots on the Wasatch Front. It’s a 4K foot climb up a cliff-side fire road to the top, then another 45 mins of tight trails into the bowls to these snow melt ponds. There are two ways in - one dives down through thick trees (the one most people take) the other is a 5 ft wide trail that comes down off a ridge with switchbacks so tight that I did it once and I’ll never do it again. This pic shows the second option:

If you zoom waaaay in you’ll see this:

Somehow a land cruiser ended up on its roof right in the middle of the long straight part. Our best guess was that it met another vehicle and tried to get up on the high side to make room. That thing sat there for the entire season blocking the first entry to the bowl. No idea how it was recovered.

 

[Thunderhead]

This is one of our favorite spots on the Wasatch Front. It’s a 4K foot climb up a cliff-side fire road to the top, then another 45 mins of tight trails into the bowls to these snow melt ponds. There are two ways in - one dives down through thick trees (the one most people take) the other is a 5 ft wide trail that comes down off a ridge with switchbacks so tight that I did it once and I’ll never do it again. This pic shows the second option:

View attachment 190709

If you zoom waaaay in you’ll see this:

View attachment 190711

Somehow a land cruiser ended up on its roof right in the middle of the long straight part. Our best guess was that it met another vehicle and tried to get up on the high side to make room. That thing sat there for the entire season blocking the first entry to the bowl. No idea how it was recovered.

Awe the Wasatch mountains. It’s like me saying “Mendocino” NF
So much unexplored land

 

[JeepingNet]

We stopped in a rather random spot on a trail for lunch one day. I didn't bring anything to cook so I decided to go for a little walk back into the woods. Stumbled across a clearing which was full of marjunia plants. At that time I was working in forestry and knew it was not uncommon for these areas to be guarded and to be using trail cams so I quickly retreated and didn't tell the group.

I came back a week later with some fellow forestry coworkers and the plants had all been harvested and the area was full of restricted chemicals.


Another once that comes to mind was we went back to a very remote lake and ran into a hermit that we didn't know was back there. Locals told us they had heard roamers he was still back there but no one had seen him in almost a year.