I decided to hike the A.T. for my first overnight weekend backpack trip. The plan was to go shelter-shelter, it was late November and the trees were bare & there was no foliage, and you could see a good way into the treeline. I saw deer, a black bear, raccoon, squirrel & my favorite moment, sharing my apple & trail mix with Chipmunks. I’d never seen one & they came right up to me at Len Foote Hike Inn, a small hostel in the middle of the forest. It was refreshing, the sounds of the forest in my ears & the breeze of wind on my face. I started on the approach trail at Amicalola Falls, heading northbound to the Southern Terminus(Springer Mountain). It was 4 shelter all about 8-10 miles apart and it took most of the day to travel from one to the next. On the second morning, at the Springer Mountain shelter, everything had a layer of ice on it when I woke up, the temp was 17degrees and1 everything was frozen. I attempted to make coffee but it was futile, it was too cold & I couldn’t get the lighter to work to light my propane stove. I packed everything up & headed to Hawk Mt. Shelter. As the sun breaks the horizon it begins to warm up. The sky was clear, sun was beaming, but the woods were eerie. I’d assumed it was from the cold start, but it’d warmed up to 45 degrees at this point. I didn’t hear any animal noises & the forest was silent, the previous day birds chirped, heard small animals rustling in the layer of fallen leaves, and watched a deer bound off when it saw me. As I got closer to the shelter, I remember having this irrational fear come over me.
Once I reached the shelter, I unpacked and set up my area inside, it had access to water & I had gone to fill my bottles to prep for dinner. The site’s water source was a few hundred ft down a hill behind the shelter. While I was down there, I had this weird fear while refilling that I was being watched, keeping my head on a swivel and kept thinking something might pop out at any second. Then heard something big rustle in the treeline, my heart was thumping in my chest, I grabbed my water & sped walked back to the shelter. A little late two guys I’d seen hiking earlier showed up & we made small talk, they unpacked and set up their areas in the shelter as well. We all pitched in and collected firewood and started a fire, sat around making small talk and eating our dinners.
As night began to fall a loud pop came from something hitting the shelter. I checked the trees but didn’t see anything that might have fallen. I shrug it off, continue chat with the guys at the fire. A bit later another loud pop came from the shelter. We discuss what it could be, and rationalize it must be falling something falling from the trees. I was skeptical, personally didn’t think anything falling from a tree could’ve caused that loud of a noise. It happened a few more times as dusk became night. After hour we call it a night, got in the shelter & head to bed. After a few mins, another loud POP came from the back wall of the shelter, we brush it off again. After a bit I pass out, I had to get up and relieve myself, it was so cold I recall climbing back into my mummy bag and using my breath to warm myself back up.
I fell back asleep fairly quickly and it felt as though I’d just closed my eyes when I was jolted awake by what I can only describe as a lions roar/human screaming lasting 10 seconds that echoed through the woods, it was extremely loud. We all three were sitting up in our bags asking each other “What the hell was that!?” Terrified we grabbed our weapons, loaded the chamber & sat there for what felt like an eternity, never been so afraid in my life. We made a plan for what to do if something happened but nothing ever did. Then what sounds like a tank began running through the trees. It tore through trees, footsteps thumping with each step. Slowly it became clear it was leaving, as the sound was moving away, I’d never been so relieved. Eventually we fell back asleep when adrenaline wore off. Next day I look around shelter for any possible signs of what it was, I can’t guarantee it, but there were a few ping pong balls sized rocks at the back of the shelter that looked out of place, the rest were partially buried. I also found a set of rocks that were arranged from largest to smallest in a straight line a little farther back, between the shelter and the water source. I don’t know what that thing was but it was definitely a very strange night.