A good friend, Doug Billings, sent me a link to a video the other day that sheds light on one of the eeriest things that I have ever experienced. It happened 50 years ago while I was walking one night from the old lodge, now Cabin 3, to my little log cabin. This was a relic from the gold rush that used to sit down near the water in front of where Cabin 8 is now located. There was no one in camp other than my Dad and me.
I was following the narrow footpath using my flashlight when this blood-curdling sound came from the other side of the narrows, actually right where we plan to build our new cabin this summer. It was a loud moan, a cry, a wail, a scream. It lasted for maybe 10 seconds, then after a pause, it started up again
I flew back to the lodge.
"Dad! Dad! There's a weird sound coming from across the narrows. Come quick!"
Dad had been about to get in bed but now he quickly pulled his boots back on.
"What do you think it is?" he asked.
"I don't know! I've never heard anything like it. It sounds like a woman, a woman screaming in pain!"
We both ran out to the point in front of Cabin 3. The sound immediately came shrieking from across the narrows, only this time from a spot farther to the south than where I first heard it.
"It's moving!" I exclaimed.
Again and again the sound came wailing out of the bush, probably 600 yards away. Whatever was making it was definitely heading toward Trout Bay. It was now climbing the mountain right across the narrowest part of the narrows.
I was shaking with fear as I listened to it, all the while trying to reason what it could be. It wasn't a moose, not a wolf, certainly not an owl. And it couldn't be human because who would climb a steep mountain in the dark, especially if he or she was in agony?
"What do you think it is?" I asked.
To my astonishment, Dad said, "I actually don't hear anything. Well, I've got to get to bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."
A lifetime of loud noises without ear protection had ruined his hearing.
He went back inside.
I raced to my cabin, grabbing the axe as I went inside. I got into bed wearing all my clothes, including my boots. I wanted to be able to make a hasty exit if necessary. As I lay there trembling with my axe in hand, a Great Horned Owl landed on the roof and started hooting. I never did get to sleep.
Here is the link to the video.
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2 comments:
That would have curled my hair!
What a great story. I'm glad I saw that the other day. I'm sure I would have reacted about the same way, wondering what in the heck was making that blood-curdling noise. I've listened to that clip without the picture and it is unworldly for sure.
When I was 20, I stayed at a friend's cabin in the Missouri Ozarks during a very cold winter weekend. I was by myself and I stepped outside to get some firewood off the stack for the fireplace. While I was bent over, picking up an armload of wood, a loud, piercing, and screeching scream came from the nearby woods, not more than ten feet away. It startled me so that I threw the firewood into the air and ran straight for the cabin. I could hear the firewood hit the ground-thump-thump-thump, about the time I hit the door!
I never did figure out what it was until years later when an old-timer told me it was a Bobcat scream. He figured I startled it when I happened out of the cabin in the middle of the night. I told the old man that the thing could not in any way have been more startled that I was that night!
It's funny, that was over forty years ago and I can still hear that unearthly noise-to this very day.
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