345: Trail Tales 84

Summary

National Park After Dark – Episode 345: Trail Tales 84

Date: January 1, 2026
Hosts: Danielle & Cassie

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Main Theme & Purpose

This Trail Tales episode continues the beloved NPAD tradition of sharing listener-submitted stories about wild, weird, and sometimes scary or hilarious experiences in parks and public lands. Danielle and Cassie read and react to five tales that run the gamut from embarrassing water sport mishaps, heart-pounding wildlife encounters, harrowing moments on the fire line, animal heroics, to the outlandishly unexplained. Their trademark banter and encouragement to “watch your back” anchor the stories in community, adventure, and comedic relief, all while reminding listeners to respect and protect wild spaces.

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Key Stories, Insights & Memorable Moments

1. Water Where the Sun Should Never Shine (00:40–08:13)

• Summary:
  Cassie reads a listener’s story about a tubing mishap on a Michigan lake. What starts as a competitive and wild ride on a “sofa tube” behind the friend’s maniacal dad-powered boat ends in embarrassment. After being flung off and landing hard, the narrator spends the rest of the day “pooping lake water”—a side effect of landing booty-first with dramatic force.

• Key Insights:

  • Even “safe” looking water toys can lead to dramatic (and embarrassing) moments, especially with an overzealous driver.
  • Embarrassing stories are often crowd favorites, especially those involving bodily functions—though Danielle playfully laments, “Please tell us something that’s embarrassing that doesn’t involve poop. And people have a really hard time.” (01:22)

• Notable Quotes:

  • “[Sadie’s dad] started making sharper turns, and my hands were starting to get sore from holding on. I can be very competitive. I didn’t want Mike to win, so I squeezed my hands tighter... That was until we hit one monstrous wave just right. Everything went into slow motion.” – Storyteller (04:34)
  • “Did I forget to mention that this room was right next to the living room? Nobody said a word, but I knew they could hear me. I proceeded to release lake water 12 times.” – Storyteller (07:06)
  • “Four months is a trick. It’s like it’s the testing point.” – Danielle (07:32)
  • “Sometimes you got to poop lake water and that’s just life.” – Danielle (07:42)

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2. Face to Face with a Mountain Lion (08:29–13:52)

• Summary:
  Danielle reads a harrowing tale from a hiker in Colorado’s San Juan National Forest. The storyteller and their dog, Indy, survive being actively stalked and charged multiple times by a mountain lion over 40 tense minutes. Bear spray malfunctions and self-inflicted pepper spray only add to the chaos—but the hiker and Indy escape, thanks to Indy’s bravery.

• Key Insights:

  • Encounters with mountain lions are exceedingly rare and extremely dangerous; preparation versus reality can diverge quickly.
  • Dogs can be both an added danger and a protector during wildlife encounters; in this case, Indy appears to have saved the day.

• Notable Quotes & Moments:

  • “For over 40 minutes, this animal stalked me and charged me three separate times. I can’t explain the terror...” – Storyteller (08:29)
  • “I pulled the trigger. And instead of a powerful jet, I got a weak, rusty mist that blew right back into my own face.” – Storyteller (10:59)
  • “My lips and lungs burned. My dog flinched. The mountain lion didn’t even care.” – Storyteller (11:21)
  • “I cannot describe the relief when I finally saw the parking lot and we got into my car.” – Storyteller (12:37)
  • Danielle and Cassie reflect on animal behavior, suspecting the lion might have been protecting cubs: “I wonder if maybe it had cubs or something nearby...it wanted them to know it was there.” – Cassie (13:18)

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3. The Night I Felt Most Alone (19:02–26:20)

• Summary:
  A Virginia wildland firefighter and forest ecologist named Zoe recounts a night battling wildfire on Bull Run Mountain. Initially joined by a large crew and heavy equipment, Zoe ends up alone at 4am on the ridgeline—her only company the daunting fire and the sound of her own thoughts—when the fire crew leaves without notice.

• Key Insights:

  • The story highlights both the adrenaline and isolation experienced by first responders in the wilderness.
  • Firefighting protocol demands backup, but miscommunication (or simple assumptions) can leave one in danger.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “There is just something about being on top of a mountain at 4am with nothing but the cold wind blowing and the slow, sure crackle of fire moving around you. A few moments I sat and stared into the darkness...and I felt the most alone I have ever felt.” – Zoe (24:55)
  • “We ran out of water so we thought we were done. My response was you certainly know where to find it. Refill and come back. This fire is not contained.” – Zoe (25:29)
  • “It's like thanks for thinking I'm capable or screw you for forgetting me. Yeah, either one.” – Danielle (26:20)

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4. Don’t Smoke Cigs with Bears (28:38–43:26)

• Summary:
  Lizzie, a trail worker in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, tells a story of accidental close quarters with a black bear. On her final night after a grueling hitch, she sneaks outside the crowded cabin for a smoke—without her bear spray. When a bear appears below, a herd of curious mules steps between her and the bear, effectively keeping her safe until the bear moves on.

• Key Insights:

  • Even the best outdoorspeople can become complacent about safety, but luck (and animals) sometimes save the day.
  • Mules, often used in wilderness work, display unexpected courage, acting as formidable barriers to predators.

• Notable Quotes & Moments:

  • “As soon as I took my first drag...I saw a healthy sized black bear emerge from under the bridge, walking in my direction...I forgot to grab my bear spray.” – Lizzie (40:15)
  • “Within moments, mules moved past me, forming a line side by side...making a wall between me and the bear.” – Lizzie (42:03)
  • “Long story short, not all heroes wear capes, including mules. I truly think those mules saved me from a dicey situation.” – Lizzie (43:14)
  • “Now I gotta get a mule.” – Cassie (43:26)

• Memorable Banter:
  Cassie and Danielle digress with tales about confusing dog and wildlife sightings, sharing both serious and hilarious examples of mistaken animal identity among the public.

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5. Pizza Hut in the Narrows of Zion National Park (47:49–56:35)

• Summary:
  Taylor details taking her non-outdoorsy dad hiking in the Narrows, Zion National Park. Despite warnings, her dad is convinced there will be a Pizza Hut or hot dog stand on the trail and neglects to eat beforehand. Predictably, there is no food; his belief is only broken after asking a stranger. He bails, but miraculously finds his way back to the outfitters and manages to get Cheez-Its on IOU.

• Key Insights:

  • Non-hikers can have wildly unrealistic expectations about park amenities.
  • The humor in the disconnect highlights the cultural differences between “city people” and park-savvy hikers.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “He said he wasn’t hungry yet and he would be fine. You know why? Because, and I quote, ‘there will be a Pizza Hut or hot dog stand or something there.’ My flabbers were gassed.” – Taylor (51:16)
  • “Ask that guy next to you.” – Taylor’s dad, insisting there must be food on the trail, leading to a priceless stranger’s reaction (54:51)
  • “Taylor, your dad truly is not on this planet.” – Danielle (56:35)

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6. The Demon Trapezoid (59:37–67:00)

• Summary:
  A listener recounts her brother Eric’s strange and unsettling experience while camping in Medicine Bow National Park near Steamboat Springs, CO. Eric and his then-wife notice a massive black trapezoidal shape watching them from a boulder field. After a terrified hunter flees, the shape vanishes. A bizarre, “off” deer approaches their camp. The next morning, a sock goes missing and then mysteriously reappears on their bags. Eric invites other listeners to connect if they’ve experienced anything similar.

• Key Insights:

  • The wilderness still offers mysteries that defy easy explanation and spark the imagination—paranormal? Alien? Shape-shifting cryptids?
  • The episode closes with classic NPAD wonder at the strange, unexplained happenings reported from America’s public lands.

• Notable Quotes:

  • “They both noticed a very large black trapezoidal shape with some white on it sitting very still in the boulder field...They both said it felt like it was watching them...much too large to be a bear or a moose and taller than any of the trees in the area.” – Storyteller (61:07)
  • “It is the trapezoid. It’s now a deer. It was once a trapezoid and now it’s trying to be a deer.” – Danielle (63:39)
  • “Get the sock. It's aliens. It's aliens for sure.” – Cassie (65:08)

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Notable Banter, Themes, and Takeaways

• On the Joy of Embarrassment:

  • “Poop is the most embarrassing. Arguably, but we’ll find out anyway.” – Cassie (01:37)

• On Animal Misidentification:

  • Hilarious tales about people mistaking bulldogs for mountain lions and dogs for wildlife, highlighting both confusion and the real-life dangers of mistaken identity in the wild, especially during hunting season.

• On Safety and Preparation:

  • Stories reinforce the need for bear spray, proper fire protocol, and realistic planning for backcountry trips—while poking fun at all-too-human lapses.

• On Mystery and Community:

  • From shape-shifting UFOs to mule heroism, the trail tales highlight not only the unpredictability of wild places but the importance of storytelling and shared experience.

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Structure & Flow

Each listener-submitted story is followed by Danielle and Cassie’s candid, comedic, and thoughtful reactions. Their conversational style, often tangential but always entertaining, keeps the episode light even as it touches on near-misses and the supernatural. The hosts’ genuine care for listener experiences and shared fascination with the strange and awe-inspiring aspects of public lands make the stories feel personal and universal at once.

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Closing Notes

Listeners are invited to submit their own tales for future episodes, and those wanting even more “Trail Tales” are encouraged to join Patreon or Apple Subscriptions for bonus content. The episode wraps with good-natured resolution and a reminder, as always, to “enjoy the view, but watch your back.”

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Useful Timestamps

| Segment | Time |
|---|---|
| Water Where the Sun Should Never Shine | 00:40–08:13 | | Face to Face with a Mountain Lion | 08:29–13:52 | | The Night I Felt Most Alone | 19:02–26:20 | | Don’t Smoke Cigs with Bears | 28:38–43:26 | | Pizza Hut in the Narrows | 47:49–56:35 | | The Demon Trapezoid | 59:37–67:00 |

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Tone:
Candid, humorous, sometimes unnerved but always community-focused; hosts riff on both the hazards and hilarity of park life, with warmth for both the wild and the human foibles within it.

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Quote for the Road:
“Sometimes you got to poop lake water and that’s just life.” – Danielle (07:42)

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For more stories or to submit your own, visit npadpodcast.com or connect on social media.

Transcript

[Cassie]

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to National Park After Dark. This is our trail tales episode where all of you write into us and tell us your stories out on the trails or wherever. And we're really excited because we have some good ones today.

[Danielle]

Yeah, I think you should go first. Set the tone. Like, let's just really set the tone, please.

[Cassie]

I'm here for it. I am happy to go first because mine is titled Water where the Sun Should Never Shine. Debatable. I just think of nudist and I'm like, hm, it says water should never shine. Oh, right, right. Let's just find out what this is. Hi, Cassie and Danielle. First of all, I love your podcast. You guys keep me company on long car rides, trips to the gym, and even long office work hours. Thank you for all the work you put in and for sharing everyone's trail tales. They are my favorite to listen to. I'm slowly listening to all of your trail tale episodes and I just heard the call for embarrassing stories. Better late than never, right? Sure is. Tell us your embarrassing stories.

[Danielle]

I'm begging you. I. And I did put a little, like, asterisk at the end. After, like, the third or fourth round of asking for them, I'm like, please tell us something that's embarrassing, that doesn't involve poop. And people have a really hard time.

[Cassie]

With that because poop is the most embarrassing. Arguably, but we'll find out anyway. My story comes from two and a half years ago in a little lake in West Michigan. One of my best friends, let's call her Sadie, suggested that my boyfriend Gavin, now husband, and I come up to her cottage for a boating and tubing day with her and her boyfriend, who's now her husband. Let's call him Carter. Sadie's dad. Let's call him Mike. A lot of name changes here. This must be embarrassing.

[Danielle]

I know. They must protect identities at all costs.

[Cassie]

Like witness protection for this story.

[Danielle]

Right off the bat.

[Cassie]

Well, Mike would be driving their speedboat and attempting to destroy us for the better part of the afternoon. My Mike is a fun guy with lots of spunk. Sadie once told me that she knew Carter was welcomed into the family when Mike mooned him. Thankfully, I was never welcomed into the family. Gavin and I were so excited to spend a day with another couple. We arrived at the cottage, changed into our suits and headed towards the boat. It was at that moment we saw it. We wouldn't be tubing that day. Not exactly. Sadie's family had invested in a sofa tube. If you've ever ridden on one of These. You know the danger they hold. Though these tubes look like a safe and easy tubing option, they are far from that. I'm sure if you ever had a gentle driver, these sofa tubes could be lots of safe and carefree fun. But not with Mike.

[Danielle]

Oh, no. I'm picturing a banana boat, because that's all other than a classic tube.

[Cassie]

I'm picturing an actual sofa that's a.

[Danielle]

Tube being dragged along. I haven't seen any other form of tube other than, like, a standard get whipped around or a banana boat when you're in, like, Mexico or the Caribbean or something.

[Cassie]

There's also. I bet you've seen these because they were really big for a while. The big unicorn or the big swan tubes, where it's like a big circle that you can sit on its body, but then there's a giant neck and.

[Danielle]

A swan attached to a boat.

[Cassie]

I don't know if people attach them to boats. They're just.

[Danielle]

Okay. Yeah, the lounging kind.

[Cassie]

Lounging. That's what I'm picturing for. This is like a lounging tube that's being used.

[Danielle]

Oh, as a gotcha. Incorrect use. Yeah.

[Cassie]

But who knows? The four of us mounted the sofa tube and began our descent into Mike's unforgiving water sport desires. The first few turns weren't bad. We screamed and squealed, holding on to our significant others. Other boats sped past us, making the waves nice and choppy, perfect for Mike's deadly desires. As our driver became more comfortable with the wheel, the four of us started to realize what we had signed up for. Sadie had warned us all that her dad liked to make people fly into the high heavens. But I figured he would relax a little, seeing as we were just kids and he didn't know Gavin and I very well. Well, I was wrong. I started to panic about halfway through the ride. Laughter turned into nervous yelps, and our hands stopped holding onto each other and started holding the straps of the sofa tube. Those waves got bigger. Mike started making sharper turns, and my hands were starting to get sore from holding on. I can be very competitive. I didn't want Mike to win, so I squeezed my hands tighter and held on for dear life. That was until we hit one monstrous wave just right. Everything went into slow motion. Scream, splashing. And I saw my body getting farther and farther away from the tube. Below me, I saw Mike manically laughing at the flying children. It was at this moment I thought, I'm about to meet my creator. We all know a person like this, though. We've all been on the other end of a tube where the person in the front, you think that they're just going to send you for like a fun ride, but they want to fuck you up.

[Danielle]

They want to destroy you. Yeah, yeah.

[Cassie]

That's the end goal. That's what Mike is doing. Just as quickly as my body had flown from the tube, it was descending at a frightening speed towards the choppy water. I. I felt a smack on my butt. And then silence. No screams, no maniacal dad laughter. Just me and a weird feeling in my tummy. I resurfaced to hear laughter, cheering, and lots of you. Good. With a smile and a thumbs up, I climbed into the boat. It wasn't long before that strange tummy gurgling became a bit more urgent. I whispered to Sadie, my stomach really hurts. I feel like I have to poop. But I don't know. If only I had known what was to come. The cramps continued on and soon the entire boat, which was not a small number of people and included my boyfriend, knew of my predicament. We were pretty far from the cottage, so they suggested I jump in the water and swim to the little island in the middle of the lake to relieve myself. How embarrassing. But okay. The four of us jump in and I decided to do a little test to see what would happen if I tried to relieve myself from the pain while we were under the COVID of lake water. I quickly learned that it was not not harmless relief and I should certainly wait until we were back at the cottage. I told Sadie I really needed to use the bathroom. After a bumpy and agonizing trip back to the cottage, I ran inside.

[Danielle]

So it is about poop.

[Cassie]

You spoke too soon. God, everything comes back to poop.

[Danielle]

It does.

[Cassie]

Warning. This is a little bit icky. I sat down on the toilet and realized I couldn't decipher what was happening. I thought I had to poop. But why does it sound like I'm peeing? And it's exactly what you're afraid it was. I had landed right on my bum, shooting at least a liter of water into my butt. The four of us played a board game in the living room as I took incremented breaks to run, not walk, to the toilet. Unlike peeing, you can't control this bowel movement. All of a sudden it'd be going and I had to boot scoop, boogie to the restroom. Did I forget to mention that this room was right next to the living room? Nobody said a word, but I knew they could hear me. I proceeded to release lake water 12 times. Gavin and I had been only dating for four months and here I was taking board game breaks to poop lake water.

[Danielle]

Four months is a trick.

[Cassie]

It's like it's the testing point.

[Danielle]

Honestly, it's the testing.

[Cassie]

You got married after this, so this wasn't a deterrent.

[Danielle]

Yeah, thankfully sometimes you got to poop lake water and that's just life.

[Cassie]

That's just how it goes. After the appropriate amount of teasing and what felt similar to a juice cleanse, I recovered. Gavin was a gentleman and only teased me a little bit. What a green flag. We stayed together and got married two years later. Thank you all for reading and listening. I hope this brought a little laughter and at the very least, a cautionary tale. Don't land booty first. Enjoy the view, but watch your back. There could be a mic waiting to whip you off the tube and into the high heavens.

[Danielle]

Bella, you must have landed hard to get that much lake water up there, right?

[Cassie]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Danielle]

You must have really been force up there.

[Cassie]

Up high heavens is right.

[Danielle]

My first story is titled Face to Face with a Mountain Lion. Gets right into it. I honestly don't think I should be alive right now. Yesterday I was mountain lion prey. For over 40 minutes, this animal stalked me and charged me three separate times. I can't explain the terror of going from being the one exploring the wild to realize I was the thing being hunted.

[Cassie]

That's so scary.

[Danielle]

I know. This is okay. Hold on. I'll save my thoughts to laughter. I had been camping all week in the San Juan National Forest. On September 26, I decided to hike Hesperus Mountain. Hesperos. I don't know how to say that. Sorry. I'd made it to almost 11,154ft when I stopped to check the weather. That's when I heard rocks tumbling above me. I grabbed my binoculars, scanned the slope, but nothing. I threw my pack back on and that's when Indy growled. I turned around and 15ft away, a mountain lion was staring right at us that had just come out from under the brush. I locked eyes with it for a split second before Indy took off after it. I saw the black ring on its tail as it disappeared. I thought it was so rare to see one that I actually thought it was really cool. That moment was very short lived. I called my dog back, heart racing, and tried to figure out what to do next. I contacted a couple people to say where I was and that I had seen a mountain lion. Then got off my phone to save its battery. I knew what that meant. Mountain lions don't just show themselves like that. They stalk, they. They ambush. I pulled out my bear spray, took the safety off. I even did a test spray to know what to expect because I wanted to be ready. But when it did come back, I was not ready at all. It had circled close again without me hearing a single thing. This time it was crouched, camouflaged, watching me. My stomach dropped. I yelled, threw rocks. Do you know how hard it is for me to look big and scary? I looked at my phone and of course no signal. I tried to call 911, but it didn't go through. I felt like a hostage and that there was no way I was going to make an escape alive. It got up from its crouched position on the rocks and started slowly moving towards me. Okay. And also I'm going to note there is either a picture or a video attached to this, so I'll post it. And it's legit, like kind of like on a rock scramble on a slope. So there's no. It's just right there.

[Cassie]

Yeah. And there's no trying to. It feels like there's nowhere you can really go either, right?

[Danielle]

Yeah. I stepped forward to spray out. And on the ready, it came within 12ft. I pulled the trigger. And instead of a powerful jet, I got a weak, rusty mist that blew right back into my own face.

[Cassie]

Oh, you peppers, you bear. Sprayed yourself while being stalked by a mountain lion.

[Danielle]

Yes, indeed.

[Cassie]

Not ideal.

[Danielle]

No. My lips and lungs burned. My dog flinched. The mountain lion didn't even care. Then Indy chased after it again. My 75 pound German shepherd versus this huge, muscular cat. The size difference was sickening. By some miracle, the lion turned and ran again. I pushed forward, keeping high and in the open, always checking behind me. I was walking sideways, trying not to turn my back on it. I thought maybe we had shaken it off. But when Indy jumped a log and I followed, I turned around and there it was, five feet away. I am now face to face with this thing. Time shrank to nothing. It was just me, that lion's eyes, and the hiss it let out as it showed its teeth. I held the trigger down and sprayed like my life depended on it. Because it did. The hiss, those fangs, those whiskers were so close I could see them twitching. And then, as fast as it appeared, it was gone. That was our chance. Indy and I ran like hell until we were back at the car, my lips and lungs still burning and dry from the spray. My pack was heavy and my lungs were out of breath. We covered one And a half miles back on the trail and across a couple of streams. I cannot describe the relief when I finally saw the parking lot and we got into my car. We. We walked away unharmed. And I don't know how going through that kind of interaction with the mountain lion. People are killed or seriously injured and sent to the emergency room. What I do know is that Indy saved me. She didn't hesitate, not once. That dog's bravery is burned into me forever. I keep replaying it. The rocks falling, the massive predator slowly walking towards me, the hiss in my face. I cannot believe we made it out alive.

[Cassie]

That was a close call, for sure.

[Danielle]

I don't understand why it. I feel like if the dog was not there, it would have been a very different story.

[Cassie]

I agree.

[Danielle]

Because there was some hesitation there.

[Cassie]

Yeah.

[Danielle]

Because of the dog.

[Cassie]

I also wonder if maybe it had cubs or something nearby and that was why it was acting the way it was, because it felt like it was following them for a long time and wanted them to know it was there. Which I think is kind of not as normal when they're hunting and stalking as they kind of show up last minute and attack and their stalking is really quiet. And I know they mentioned that they couldn't hear it and it was very clearly stalking them, but I wonder if it was stalking you because it was following you to get you out of a certain area.

[Danielle]

Yeah, that could certainly be it. And I don't know, but in my mind, I always. I'm thinking of that type of scenario. I think of that viral video of that guy in the canyon in Utah that came across. He's like, what is that? Like he was recording. He's like, what is that? And it was like a little fluff ball, you know, in the trail in front of him. And he realized it was a mountain lion kitten. One second before the mom came out of the brush and fucking, like, was just on him as he was backing up. But she was so, like, yes, she was close and in his face and. But she was really aggressive and, like, very persistent. This is more of like, I'm going to creep up on you and get close to you, and then I'm going to go away and I'm going to creep up on you again and go away. So I don't want. I don't know.

[Cassie]

It's like a cat playing with its prey.

[Danielle]

Yeah, well, you're lucky, whoever you are.

[Cassie]

I couldn't help but. And I know that this was a real mountain lion, and I'm not discrediting saying that. I think that you saw a real mountain lion. But I couldn't help but think about a story that I saw yesterday that popped up and it was like the headline was something along the lines of mountain lion turns out to be or mountain lion sighting turns out to be an abandoned Frenchie.

[Danielle]

What?

[Cassie]

And it was this dog people were reporting. It was in California. They were like, there's a mountain lion. I saw a mountain lion, blah, blah, blah. And it turned out that it was. Someone had abandoned their Frenchie puppy. And people were reporting a. Reporting a mountain lion. And then a rescue came in and took the Frenchie. And now it's. I think it's up for adoption, But.

[Danielle]

I don't understand how that ever happened to any. Why French bulldog looks nothing like it doesn't have a tail.

[Cassie]

I know, I know. I was like, this is why I can't trust mountain lion sightings. And then you tell me a mountain lion story. But I just was like, I know it's not a Frenchie. I know you get attacked by a Frenchie.

[Danielle]

We have photographic evidence on this one. We can be rest assured.

[Cassie]

Verify.

[Danielle]

Yes, yes. Okay. Whoever thought that needs to brush up on their. Yeah, biology.

[Cassie]

Yeah, I did meet a bulldog yesterday named. An English bulldog named Macaroni Salad. It was so cute. Yeah.

[Danielle]

Wait, weren't we just talking about. Oh, my God. Also, I thought of. Okay, so was this on our bonus episode? We were talking about somebody asked us the weirdest dog names we've heard.

[Cassie]

No, that was on er. No, it wasn't. It was on my Christmas episode.

[Danielle]

Oh, right. Okay, good, good. Okay. So it hit me. Remember, I was like, her Majesty. Her Royal Majesty. Something.

[Cassie]

Yes.

[Danielle]

Grubeus came to me. Her Royal Majesty Grubus.

[Cassie]

You're so right. I do remember that.

[Danielle]

Close the loop on that one.

[Cassie]

People should really be naming their pets things like that. And Macaroni.

[Danielle]

Macaroni Salad is a perfect example.

[Cassie]

It's a perfect name.

[Danielle]

Okay, no notes, please.

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[Cassie]

The next story is titled the Night I Felt Most Alone. Hello Cassian. Danielle. I have been thinking about writing this out for a while but kept not getting around to it. I love your podcast and listening to the ones about the next park I'm headed to. As a side note, Cassie, your handmade wedding dress with all the botanical details was amazing. Thank you. I agree. I wish I was wearing it right now. I'm gonna wear it for an episode one day. Just because I need to put it on again.

[Danielle]

I think you should.

[Cassie]

I think I should too.

[Danielle]

I'll. I don't know what I'll wear, but it can be a moment.

[Cassie]

It will be a moment. We'll pick. We'll pick an episode. Maybe the first one. Not until next September.

[Danielle]

Time flies.

[Cassie]

Wait that long?

[Danielle]

You just had it on.

[Cassie]

It's already been too long. Okay, I've already worn it since then.

[Danielle]

We'll workshop it. You have? Yeah.

[Cassie]

When I showed it to my aunt, I went to her house and showed it to her. Yeah. So one of these episodes. I have to plan a botanical episode now so I can wear it. Okay, we'll come back to this. Okay, on to the story. My name is Zoe. I am a forest ecologist and wildland firefighter in the great state of Virginia. No, our fires aren't quite as huge and impressive as the ones out west, but yes, we do get a decent Amount of them and depending on the conditions, they can get bad. This is the tale of the fire on Bull Run Mountain and when I felt quite alone. It was 11:30 at night and I had gone to sleep per usual. I was on a call due to increased fire activity and I knew these 50 mile per hour gusts that I was likely to get one. Somehow I made it all day without a call. So I went to bed. Well, lo and behold, my radio and phone started going off. I woke up and groggily answered the call from dispatch. Bull Run Mountain was on fire, but Bull Run Mountain was not in my county. So why in the world was I being resurrected from my deep sleep? Well, the other forester slept right through all the calls so I told them I would be on my way and drag myself out of bed. I threw my hair into a quick braid, suited up in my nomex and grabbed all of my pre filled water bottles and snacks I had lined up and we were off. I called my favorite part timer on my way out. The are the volunteer folks who we trained to help on wildland fire. He is a phenomenal dozer operator and sawyer. Luckily him and I are good pals. So he agreed to meet on top of Bull Run in the middle of the night. I arrived to the fire with engines blaring and brush trucks lining the mountain. I made my way up the mountain towards the flames. Multiple dead trees had fallen on the power line on the ridge and lit a fast moving understory fire. I looked around and was actually slightly relieved I could deal with this. I headed over to the battalion chief, a bald man with a nice large mustache. I love that visual. That's how I picture all firefighters.

[Danielle]

Well, they have to have a mustache. It's like a prerequisite. Right.

[Cassie]

I'm pretty sure you have to be able to grow a mustache to be a male firefighter.

[Danielle]

Yeah, and I didn't make that up. It's just the way it is.

[Cassie]

It's just the way of the world.

[Danielle]

Thankfully. Thank God. I love that.

[Cassie]

A guy who can grow parts of this world.

[Danielle]

The curl. Oh, I don't want the curl.

[Cassie]

I don't think it's a. I don't like it, but I'm impressed.

[Danielle]

Yeah, you gotta give them the curl.

[Cassie]

Really impressive. Yeah, about that. So bald man with nice mustache. To see what he had going on and remarked that it wasn't as bad as I thought. He gave me an incredulous look. You know the one where the eyebrow cocked up that says are you joking? Then pointed up the mountain and told me to keep climbing. My stomach sank and continued up the mountain, which got steeper and rockier. I made it to the top and it looked like a hellscape. Every dead snag on the ridge was ablaze, lighting up the ridgeline like a glowing path of destruction. Not only was the entire ridge on fire, it was aggressively throwing embers down the north side of the mountain, starting little spot fires that were spreading. This was going to be a good one. I clambered back down and started giving orders for a line to be put in where we could access. My dozer operator arrived and unloaded our saving grace, or so I thought.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

The dozer could not make it up.

[Cassie]

The sheer shale rock face. It was slipping and sliding down the mountain as the tracks tried to gain purchase. Well, there went the plan to push over the trees, throwing embers and get some line in. Up on the ridge we would have to use the saw, which we are not supposed to do in the dark. But not much can be done for when embers are threatening multiple neighborhoods and when gusts are moving the fire at 40 to 50 miles per hour. We got the trees down and began working in a line around the whole fire. This is where the alone part begins. My part timer had worked his butt off, so I sent him home. At this point it was just me and the brush trucks and the engines on the fire. After four hours I had sent some of the fire departments to deal with the other fires breaking out over the county, but left some with me. I was on the ridge with a bow saw cutting off flame ring branches to reduce spot fire risk when I saw all of the lights and engines fading and leaving the scene. I looked around wildly as the crackle of fire and the great abyss of silence began to swallow up the night. I had gone from 20 or so pieces of equipment and engines with 30 firefighters to absolutely none. There is just something about being on top of a Mountain at 4am with nothing but the cold wind blowing and the slow, sure crackle of fire moving around you. A few moments I sat and stared into the darkness, absorbing the absolute silence after so much noise and orders and work. And I felt the most alone I have ever felt. It was the sheer lack of noise, the come down of adrenaline and perhaps the possibility of what might be lurking about just outside the firelight or what could happen to me. We are not supposed to be on fires alone for safety reasons. It wasn't necessarily a scary feeling, but I felt completely, completely, utterly alone. No one was due to come back and no one was coming to help. And the silence and darkness was unlike anything I had experienced. Anyways, eventually I came back into my command brain and started to get pissed. I called the fire department over the radio. I did not release you. Why did you all leave? Their response well, we ran out of water so we thought we were done. My response was you certainly know where to find it. Refill and come back. This fire is not contained. After some grumbling, they reappeared 45 minutes later with full brush trucks. So that is my story of the night that I felt the most alone. It is a bit long, but so was that night. I was able to crawl into bed reeking of smoke even after a shower at 8am and was due back to check in on the fire four hours later. I also stepped into a stump hole that night and melted the laces right off my boots. So a good story all in all. Hope you enjoyed that's so scary getting left alone. I know you said you didn't necessarily feel fear, but I can just imagine you're fighting this fire and you think you have backup and you're not alone. And then you turn around and you just see everyone leaving and no one said a word to you.

[Danielle]

Yeah, that has to be. I mean, I know you said it's against protocol. Yeah, but that's.

[Cassie]

And not to even mention anything to you.

[Danielle]

No.

[Cassie]

And just leave you out there fighting fire. Like sure, I got this whole massive thing thing by myself.

[Danielle]

It's like thanks for thinking I'm capable or screw you for forgetting me. Yeah, either one National Park After Dark is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

[Sponsor Voice 2]

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[Danielle]

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[Danielle]

Okay, my next story is titled Don't Smoke Cigs with Bears. What's up my trail trekking homies? My name is Lizzie and I have been listening since January 2021 when I searched for National Park Podcast on Spotify and a new podcast with two episodes appeared. I'll keep it short. Love you, mean it. My husband, dog, cats and I love your storytelling and feel like you're just the neighbors down the road after all of these years. And sorry for that one time I tried video messaging you on Instagram to show you Denali while I was drunk in Talkeetna one beautiful clear March day. Not my best work, but I just thought you would love it. Sue me. Did we even see that? Does that ring a bell for you?

[Cassie]

I feel like I do kind of remember that. I feel like not seeing it in the moment, but seeing a message later that apologized like a missed video call and a message. I feel kind of vaguely do remember that.

[Danielle]

Okay, Anyways, this whiplashing tilt a whirl we're on called Life has taken me to some pretty cool rad places over the years. I was a former school psychologist but have since decided to return to school to pursue another master's degree in conservation. I was burnt out on working in the public education system and I knew life wasn't meant to be lived miserably. So I quit my job and I am now going to school with hopes of working outside in hour parks.

[Cassie]

Good for you. That's awesome.

[Danielle]

Yeah, it was a terrifying choice. But guess what? The world kept turning and I am even closer to reaching my dreams now. At 30, I have lived and worked in six states including Alaska and the most recent being Wisconsin. So glad you finally got here Cassie. As Lizzie McGuire said, I hope you got some cool cheese she didn't. She tried.

[Cassie]

I tried really hard.

[Danielle]

Yeah. Next time though. I live in Wisconsin full time. I worked in Montana this summer on a trail crew in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. That's where we'll be. Bop boop. In our time machines for this story. I lived and worked at a backcountry ranger station 30 miles from the nearest trailhead, which was then another two hour drive from the closest town. Some say remote, I say paradise. I remember them asking repeatedly during my interview if I could handle living in a very remote setting or how I would fill my time. My response? God forbid I relax or find a hobby. No cell service, no electricity, just you, your homies, some cross cut saws and the prairie. It was truly blissful to be so unaware of the ongoings of real life. All that mattered was when we were going to hang out by the river on our off days, bumming beers from passing rafters. My bestie, Kitty and I spent other days hiking local trails or spending the night in a fire lookout. Kitty is a wild child and she's also six years younger than me. At 24, she and I bonded right off the bat, explicitly asking, hey, so we're best friends, right? After the third week of knowing each other. Just one of those dopamine rush friendships you find every once in a while throughout life. One of Kitty and I's favorite nightly routines was rolling tobacco before bed and smoking it in the pasture overlooking the nearby mountain range, backlit with vivid orange and pinks of the summer sky. Now, I mention this because it comes back later in the story. Kids, if you're listening, don't smoke. It's not cool. Don't be me. But if you're a trail worker dogging it in the backcountry, you light one up for yourself every once in a while. Homie, take a load off. Now back to the story. This particular moment happened on my last day in the Bob right before my season ended and the magic of summer floated away in tendrils on the winds of the upcoming fall. My job this summer on the trail crew largely consisted of clearing logs off the trail, digging and fixing, tread building, signage and other general trail maintenance work. Another crew member and I were on day eight of a nine day hitch. For those who don't know, hitches are the term we use to describe our working days. We would work a nine day hitch in various parts of the wilderness, then have five days off back at the station. Most of these hitches we were all backpacking or carrying what we needed to survive for Nine days, as well as tools such as crosscuts and axes. I think my heaviest pack of the summer was 75 pounds, which I hiked with for 12 miles. Yikes. So you're jacked. So you're jacked.

[Cassie]

So you're the fittest person ever.

[Danielle]

Yep. Luckily, this time I was carrying just a couple days worth of backpacking supplies. We had just arrived at our destination for the night, which was a forest service cabin we commonly worked at during the summer. My dudes, when I say I was tired, I was freaking tired. We had just finished a 32 and a half mile route overnight on the last two days of our hitch, at our most exhausted. Yep, we hiked 19 miles that first day, re clearing a trail previously done in the season, also by yours truly. Then the second day, we cleared 13 and a half miles of trail, climbing over 2, 700ft. So at this point, I was ready to kick back and relax at the cabin. I would probably need three to five business days off from that. Not just like I could hike that, no problem, but carrying packs and doing work at the same time, That's a whole nother thing. That night at the cabin, it was quite the full house. Another trail crew was there, using the cabin to work out of on their hitch. There were also two packers there as well. Packers work with stock within the wilderness area to move goods, and a lot of outfitting companies use packers with stock to transport clients and their supplies. We saw a lot of them at Granite Park Chalet.

[Cassie]

Yeah, we did.

[Danielle]

That being said, that also meant There were about 20 mules and horses free roaming about, grazing the fields after a long day of traveling. Danielle's literal horse girl dream. Okay, Yeah. I mean yours too. You like horses, too? I'm not the only horse girl around here. Don't pin it all on me. I'm more of a mule gal myself. Mules are cool, too.

[Cassie]

Yeah, I like mules.

[Danielle]

I just like their ears. They're just so cute. I have a thing for big ears.

[Cassie]

I like their personalities. I think mules are fun.

[Danielle]

They're. They're spicy.

[Cassie]

Yeah. Sometimes. Just sometimes they're sweet. I don't know. I love donkeys also. I think donkeys are so. They can be. They're just so spunky and fun, and some of them are really my experience. I know a few donkeys that are so cuddly and sweet, and I just love them. And yeah, I mean, the horse.

[Danielle]

You got a mule. Perfection. I mean, there's like that phrase, right? Stubborn as a mule. They just have their Own. Yeah. Minds of their own. Okay. Anyway, people knows. People know what mules are, I think.

[Cassie]

Okay, who knows? People also thought a mountain lion was a Frenchie was a mountain lion. So who really knows?

[Danielle]

Good point. Good point.

[Cassie]

Google it if you don't know. I'm dying for a mountain lion.

[Danielle]

Because I did. See, this was years and years ago. This is when I was. I remember seeing it at the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife center when I was working there. And it was a post from like a Facebook community page in Manchester, New Hampshire. Why I was part of that, I don't know. I've never lived in Manchester. But maybe it was like a suggested post and it was from the news and it was a. It was a picture that somebody had taken and people were losing their minds because they thought there was a mountain lion in the neighborhood.

[Cassie]

It was bobcat.

[Danielle]

It was a house cat.

[Cassie]

Oh, God, that's bad. That's bad.

[Danielle]

I'm like, what in the world? Clear as day. It was a house cat.

[Cassie]

Yeah. I was hiking.

[Danielle]

I guess it was a tannish, but. And it was like kind of a blurry photo, but I'm like, look at the scale. First of all, just right off the bat, look at the scale. This thing is small.

[Cassie]

I was hiking with Ember once. She was on a leash and we were on a hiking trail and someone was like, oh, my God, I thought that was a coyote for a second.

[Danielle]

Amber looks nothing like a coyote.

[Cassie]

Nothing like a coyote. She's not even close. She's not even like a.

[Danielle]

She's bright.

[Cassie]

She's not even close to color. Like, she's not even the color. Like, she literally. She doesn't even have the same length fur. There's nothing about her that even remotely resembles.

[Danielle]

Well, and that's a perfect example of why I am so neurotic. Not even. Especially during hunting season, but pretty much always. I am and always have been super neurotic about having my dogs on a leash. And it kills me because especially in off leash areas in the woods and like, they live for that, you know, running around and stuff. But I don't trust anybody because people don't know how to identify dogs, you know, and they're just like, oh, I thought it was a. I mean, you see it every hunting season. Somebody's domestic dog, it's usually a husky, but gets killed by somebody because they thought it was something else. A coyote, a deer, whatever the hell.

[Cassie]

There was a dog near me that got shot because I. They thought it was a bear and it was a dog that looked Just like Tucker.

[Danielle]

Yeah.

[Cassie]

See, I mean you could have put them next to each other and you would think that they were the same dog. That was how similar they were. And I was like, this is. And where I live there's a lot of hunting. It actually just stopped. But we're lucky enough that we have land where we can hike and walk on. But we haven't been hiking on the trails or anything. And the hunting season actually just stopped yesterday. So will go back out now. But yeah, they have giant bright orange vests and everything. And I have bright orange things because people really.

[Danielle]

I put a bell on Chaska. Yeah. Jingle bell. Like a. Like it's a leather strap. A big. It looks like like on like Santa sled bell. It's like.

[Cassie]

Yeah, it's the most domesticated there can be.

[Danielle]

Don't shoot him. He has a jingle bell on. Okay, we're in the middle of a story. Okay. Anyways. Okay. So they're at this cabin. There's a lot of other people there. With all the people in the cabin, it was so loud. And not just the vibe for my last night under the stars of the Bob Marshall. So I made my way outside with the intention to sit by the river for a quiet moment and smoke one last rolled tobacco Kitty gifted me before leaving. The pasture was a grassy 1.5 acres with a small corral and a barn with hitching posts along the sides. As I walked down the dirt path through the pasture, saying hello to my four legged friends, I took in the trees lining the grass, breathing in the fresh air and moving my gaze to the beautiful evening sky. It greeted me with hues of pink emerging on the horizon of mountain peaks. And I could hear the rushing of water of the Flathead River. When I reached the river, I stood above the 20 foot embankment and decided I felt too lazy to go down to the river's edge, instead opting to perch myself on a boulder at the top. I settled in on the rock and smiled, cherishing this moment, capturing it through a mental photograph. Then I reached into my pocket and took out my smoke. As soon as I took my first drag, my gaze fluttered down to where the swing bridge met the riverbank. Alerted by something moving in my periphery, I saw a healthy sized black bear emerge from under the bridge, walking in my direction. Though remember, I am still about 20ft higher in vertical than this bear. The bear was clearly very interested in smelling the shoreline for food and it didn't notice me sitting as still as a statue up on the rock. However, it was in this moment that I remembered one thing. I forgot to grab my bear spray out of my pack when I left the cabin. Now, I want to make one thing very clear. I love bear spray. Huge bear spray, girl. I always have it on me when I'm outside because I know its effectiveness, especially living and working in that area of Montana. You should always have it with you when you're recreating outside, but even always can have an exception. And this evening was it for me. I think the fake comfort of the cabin 75 yards up the hill for me and the distraction of all that was going on in the cabin. I just hurried out of there forgetting to grab it. I also hadn't seen a bear all summer, so I sat there frozen, thinking of what I should do next. We are extensively trained in how to handle a bear encounter to avoid negative interactions, but this was unique in that I didn't have my deterrent and I was on top of a hill. I know normally staying quiet is not a good idea because you could accidentally sneak up on a bear and spook it. However, I had already done the sneaking accidentally and now I needed to think. Like I said, the bear had not noticed me and was clearly very focused on grazing along the shore. It was moving rather quickly, so I figured it would walk by in no time without even seeing me. Since the bear had not noticed me and we were in such close proximity, I feared spooking it by announcing my presence. Moving might not end well either, so I told myself I would sit and wait while coming up with plans B and C just in case. When I was coming up with an insurance plan, I turned my head to see a big old mule clopping down the path in my direction. Mules are curious animals and this particular mule was also very social towards humans. It was clearly interested in seeing what I was doing and if I had any snacks. But as it lazily strolled towards me, it kicked a rock, making a huge noise. My stomach dropped and my head snapped back to the bear. The bear locked eyes with me. Now fully aware of my presence and proximity, I stood up and started backing away. Seeing it began to walk up the embankment towards my location. When I got up so abruptly it spooked the mule a bit and it also noticed the bear. Like a chain reaction, the other mules caught wind of all this action and being the prey herd animals they all are, the they ran over to investigate what was happening. Within moments, mules moved past me, forming a line side by side with the one already there, making a wall between.

[Cassie]

Me and the Bear see love mules.

[Danielle]

At this point, the bear ran down the embankment and continued running down the river. And I turned and moved as quickly as I could back to the cabin without running. You know one of those comically fast walks where you just say shit, shit, shit, over and over again in your head while you move? Yes, I know it well. It's like a speed walk, like, but you're like. You do this with your body, like when you're trying to move fast but you don't want to run. It's like your body just like propels you forward. The entire time I walked away, more mules and horses went to the herd and offered the same security. I bursted into the cabin and told the packers what had happened. The one threw on his hat and came with me to see my trail mate tagged along too. We walked back to where the mules were standing. Yes. This time with bear spray. And the packer even carried a firearm. While walking down, he told us a story of his mules running off a grizzly over and over again when it wouldn't leave them alone. Mules make close bonds among their herds, and in addition to companionship, the herd offers them protection. As we predicted, the bear was now 300 yards down the riverbank, continuing on its way. Long story short, not all heroes wear capes, including mules. I truly think those mules saved me from a dicey situation. Thank you again for providing us all with tales from the trail and stories that fuel my sense of adventure. And remember to enjoy the view, but watch your back. Otherwise, I hope you have a mule around to watch it for you, Lizzy.

[Cassie]

Now I gotta get a mule.

[Danielle]

I've been telling.

[Cassie]

So cool. And donkeys are cool. Horses. They're all cool.

[Danielle]

Yeah. I have a. The. This story kind of reminds me of. So when we were in glacier. So Cassie tends to get pieces of art everywhere we go on different trips. And I oscillate between things. I don't have like one particular thing I like. I kind of just. Whatever. And we went to this art studio. I think it was on the west side of glacier. I forget. But anyway, it was outside of the national park and it was a very small old art studio. It was in like a 90.

[Cassie]

It was near the world's biggest purple spoon.

[Danielle]

Yes. Right next door, actually. Yeah. So if you know where that is.

[Cassie]

If you know where that is, then you'll find it.

[Danielle]

You'll find it. But anyway, and we went in and so we were like looking at all the art and stuff and there were so many beautiful pieces, but they're just tucked in the corner were a few casts of a grizzly print. And I was so, I was like, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen. It's so cool. So basically this guy had been hiking the Bob Marshall wilderness for years with all this casting equipment looking for the perfect grizzly print. And he came across one, you know, after however long the whole piece came with this information and he cast it. And I was like, God, I really want that. But we carry, we travel with carry ons. And I'm like, there's no way this thing is fitting in here. So I'm like, whatever, it's just not meant for me. And like two weeks later, I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I emailed them and they sent me one. I bought it, obviously, but now it's hanging on my wall and every once in a while I'll just look at it and put my hand up to it, be like, God, my God, it's so crazy. Like this thing is just walking around the Bomb Marshall Wilderness. Like, yeah. So it's a cool physical reminder of, you know, we think of bears all the time. Like, oh, you know, like bears are around. Bears, bears, bears, whatever. But when you really have that, like in your face of the size discrepancy and it has all the claws on, oh my God, it's just so cool. This is so cool. But anyway, cool story. Glad the mules had your back.

[Cassie]

Yeah, thanks for sharing.

[Danielle]

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[Cassie]

My next one is titled the Pizza Hut in the Narrows of Zion National Park. Hi Cassie and Danielle. I have to do the obligatory gush about the pod. This is the first podcast I ever truly loved and listened to every episode from Go. You guys feel like friends I've never met and I love the unique and much needed community you've built. Well, thank you for being a part of it. Okay, story time. My dad's company is based out of Las Vegas, so we travel there a lot together when I was a kid and and that turned into fun free vacations for me as an adult. Vegas for me is not what it is for most people. I've never really been one for clubbing or getting wasted. I love Vegas for the great customer service, five star food and proximity to the great outdoors as it's relatively close to Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Death Valley, Red Rock Canyon and ski destinations like Brian had. So on one of my trips to Vegas with my dad as an adult, I was planning on renting a car and driving to Zion to hike the Narrows. I Back then Zion had no lottery system for any of its hikes. I was planning on going solo because I've hiked solo my whole life and am very comfortable in my own company. That and my dad is not an outdoorsman. He not only doesn't hike, but if it's not the Grand Canyon or maybe Yellowstone, he's probably never even heard of it as a park. He's not in great shape, he has a very short attention span and all in all, he's pretty much just living on another planet all of the time.

[Danielle]

Okay.

[Cassie]

I never want to be described like that.

[Danielle]

Which part?

[Cassie]

Oh, the end.

[Danielle]

Short attention span, not living on this planet, doesn't know what's happening.

[Cassie]

Let your dad hear this. So over dinner the night before my hike, when he asked about my plans for the Next day I said I was renting a car and going to Zion National Park. He had no idea what it was or where it was and is perpetually blown away by the fact that I love to hike and am willing to drive multiple hours to get to a great destination. In his mind, I've seen plenty of nature and basically how different could any park be when you've seen like five parks already? I've seen way, way more than five, but to him it's a ton of. So he proceeded to ask me why I would spend my money to rent a car and drive a couple hours there and a couple hours back when I can hike at home. I live in South Carolina, which, you know, is kind of different from Utah. I honestly should have just said because I want to and left it at that. But instead I tried to help him understand that the Narrows is a bucket list hike for a lot of people and it's unlike pretty much any other hike I've done and how famous it is. You get the point. Well, another thing about my dad, and if he thinks something is a once in a lifetime, he's sold. Doesn't matter how unprepared he is or if it makes any sense, if he thinks it might be something like that, he has real fomo and he has this sometimes wonderful and sometimes deeply disconcerting quality where he thinks no matter what, he will be fine and everything will be fine and he can do anything no matter what. Not eventually, but today, this very day. I like that attitude. It's not.

[Danielle]

That's how you want to be described.

[Cassie]

It's a little dangerous. Not fully, but like, I'm down for anything and I'm down for it now. Once in a lifetime. I'm sold. Sign me up. He said he wanted to come then if it was such a great hike. I was crestfallen. He is not good company for hikes for many reasons that I've already stated. Which compound on a hike. The Narrows is a lengthy hike and I wanted to enjoy it, but there was no way talking him out of it so early in the morning. We head out. I tell him he should really eat something before we leave the hotel or at least buy something to take with him. He said he wasn't hungry yet and he would be fine. You know why? Because, and I quote, there will be a Pizza Hut or hot dog stand or something there. My flabbers were gassed. I was like, where? He said, in the park. I said, dad, there are no Pizza Huts in Zion National Park. He said, will be at least a hot dog stand on the trail. I said I can promise you with absolute certainty that there will not be a hot dog stand or any kind of stand on the side of the Narrows. There is not even a side for anything to be on. Yeah, there will. I'll be fine.

[Danielle]

Sigh the confidence. You didn't even know what this was 10 minutes ago and now you are convinced there's hot dogs involved?

[Cassie]

I feel like there might be.

[Danielle]

You know better.

[Cassie]

I haven't done the Narrows. I have been at the entrance of the Narrows, but I haven't done the Narrows. I would be shocked. My flabbers would also be guested if there was.

[Danielle]

Okay, hold on. Yeah, okay.

[Cassie]

But just the way the story is leading, I feel like maybe there could be. Maybe he's right. Maybe there is a secret Pizza Hut at the end that no one tells anyone about.

[Danielle]

It's a little known secret.

[Cassie]

Yeah. The most remote Pizza Hut that ever.

[Danielle]

Existed in the world. That's why it's so crowded. Everyone is trying to get to it.

[Cassie]

Everyone wants Pizza Hut, their cheesy bread. Amazing. We arrive at the park, we go to the outfitters. You need waterproof waiters for the Narrows because the water comes up to your chest in parts and the urine the river. The whole time he thinks nothing of the fact that we need all this gear to do the hike. Nothing at all. I tell him how long it is. I plan to go 9.4 miles, normal for me. And he acts like it's nothing when he certainly hasn't walked more than half a mile or maybe a mile, if I'm generous, in a long time. But he goes to the gym, I. E. He rides a bike for 15 minutes and does a few machines and goes home. So he's fine. We get on the shuttle and get to the trail and start walking. There's a short little two mile paved trail to the real part where you get in the river. And I'd say we were about 10 minutes into walking in the river in Zion national park, in the famous Narrows, one of the most beautiful hikes in the world. When he asked me a question which sums up how my dad is in a nutshell, he asked me, is it just more of this the whole time? Oh my God.

[Danielle]

Sacrilege.

[Cassie]

I say, you mean one of the most gorgeous places you or I have ever seen? Yes, it is more of this. He's like, well, if it's just more of this, then I think I've seen it now. I'm going to go sit on this rock and Wait for you to finish. We are maybe two and a half miles in. It's a 9.4 mile hike. The hardest, deepest parts are yet to come. I'm like, dad, it's gonna be a long time before I come back. That will be a long time of just sitting on this rock. You might as well just see the whole thing. He asked me, how far is the closest hot dog stand or Pizza Hut or whatever? I am internally combusting. This is the most my dad I have ever heard. Dad, I told you there's not a Pizza Hut hot dog stand or restaurant of any kind on this trail. I told you to eat at the hotel. I told you to grab a protein bar at the outfitters. You didn't do it. He says, I bet there's something. Ask that guy next to you. I do it.

[Danielle]

Let it go.

[Cassie]

When the guy looks at my dad like he's lost his mind, my dad finally believes maybe there is isn't a Pizza Hut on the side of the Narrows. But he decides to just sit on that rock. Okay, I tell myself, I told him what it was. I was honest about everything. He wanted to come. That's on him. I'm going to hike the Narrows. So I do. I do the length I'm planning to do and I don't rush because I don't feel like I should be penalized for this, whatever you want to call it, willful ignorance. I come back to the rock, he's not there. I'm mildly concerned, not that he didn't stay, but where he might have ended up. Because he's not observant. He surely doesn't know what shuttle we took or where we came from. And he has no cell phone because he insisted on leaving his in the locker at the outfitters because he didn't want to carry it. Nor did he want to carry the key to said locker. So I had the key and my phone and no way to reach my dad or find out where he was. So I went back to the outfitters and as I'm walking from the bus to to the store, I see my dad laid out on a bench funneling a bag of Cheez Its into his mouth. He had no wallet or money. So my first question. Where did you get the Cheez Its? I got them on the IOU from the store. How did you know what bus to get on and where to get off? There's more than one bus. The man has the most insanely good luck in the world. He got on the first bus and got off on the first stop. And it just so happened to be correct. He does not even remember where we went or what it's called to tell people about it or try to say that he did it. But I'll always remember that my dad thought there would be a Pizza Hut in the middle of the Narrows in Zion National Park. Hope 2026 brings all the blessings to you both. Taylor.

[Danielle]

Taylor, your dad truly is not on this planet. I don't know where he is, but he's not with the rest of us.

[Cassie]

Honestly, it's a great story. And it's like my dad, my dad, he went for it, wasn't impressed.

[Danielle]

I just never been that mentally unplugged in my entire life. He's just a vibe.

[Cassie]

He's a whole vibe. He's just doing his thing. He's so unbothered.

[Danielle]

I've never reached that level of not even close. Not even close. Even when I'm like recovering from surgery on oxy, I'm still keenly aware of what's happening.

[Cassie]

I cannot relate to that. I'm on a whole nother planet.

[Danielle]

Oh, yeah. 2026. This is the first. It's January 1st.

[Cassie]

So this is out.

[Danielle]

Yeah.

[Cassie]

Wow. Happy New Year, everybody.

[Danielle]

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[Danielle]

Okay, my last story is titled the Demon Trapezoid. Ooh, again, getting right into this experience. Okay, I need 20, 26 call out. I don't need praises like they're very welcome and I love them so much and we appreciate them, but just getting right into it is. It's like you're raw dogging, you know.

[Cassie]

It'S just like, it's too jump scare for you. You need something.

[Danielle]

I need like a. Hey. Hi.

[Cassie]

Hey, what's up?

[Danielle]

Hey. So this is my story. Like this is just. It's getting right into it and maybe it. It's the tone of the thing. It's fine, it's fine. Actually, I take it back. You can do whatever you want. Just write in. I'll get over it. It's just. Okay. Hard for me. Okay. This is an experience. My brother Eric lynch, who is a professional Nordic combined athlete, please feel free to google him and his then wife had while camping in Medicine Bow national park near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, my hometown, in August of 2025. Are you googling him?

[Cassie]

Yeah, they asked me to.

[Danielle]

Okay. E R I K Lynch, do you have a visual?

[Cassie]

I am a skier athlete. Nordic combined is my passion. Yeah, I found them pretty quick.

[Danielle]

Great. All right.

[Cassie]

I'm creeping them on Instagram as one does.

[Danielle]

Athleticism is his passion. He asked me to share.

[Cassie]

I have a visual now.

[Danielle]

Thank you.

[Cassie]

Okay, great.

[Danielle]

He asked me to share his story to see if anyone else has had an encounter like this, as he simply cannot explain what he and his then wife saw. So if you can tell him on Instagram, I guess send him a message. Send him a message. He's gonna be like, where is all this coming from? Okay. They were setting up camp just off a hunting trail near a stream, barely tucked into the tree line at the edge of a boulder field which marked the top of one of the mountains in that range. Not sure which one since there are so many. They both noticed a very large black trapezoidal shape with some white on it sitting very still in the boulder field up the side of the mountain. And they both said it felt like it was watching Them. They both relayed that the shape was much too large to be a bear or a moose and taller than any of the trees in the area. And it was just sitting above the tree line. But the shape was sitting perfectly still as they kept an eye on it for about 30 minutes. So they turned their attention away from it and prepared their lunch. Then suddenly, they heard a sharp yell, quickly followed by a hunter sprinting down the trail in full tilt. The hunter didn't say a word to them as he passed, but he looked terrified. Eric and his ex looked up into the boulder field and the black trapezoidal shape was gone. About another 20 minutes after this hunter had booked it down the trail, a deer approached them as they were eating. Eric stated, this deer walked right up to them, zero hesitation, and stopped three feet away. They both stopped talking and stared at the deer. My brother said the animal seemed off and had never seen a deer move or behave in that way. Its walk was jerky and its proportions didn't seem normal. After about four or five minutes of this deer lingering in their. In very close proximity, it very slowly walked off into the forest. They were thoroughly freaked out, but decided to stay the night at their site anyway since it was a perfect camping spot. I don't care personally about that. I would have been gone.

[Cassie]

Like, get me out of here.

[Danielle]

Actually, like the weird shape. The hunter probably would have done it for me.

[Cassie]

Yeah. Seeing someone else react like that, definitely there's like a. I don't know, like, crowd reaction. Just you get vibes from someone else who's terrified would automatically terrify me as well.

[Danielle]

Would you just see someone booking it down the trail yelling, yeah, whips by you. Doesn't say that weird in that weird thing that you were clocking for. The better part clearly is now gone. Also, like, what the fuck? I'm out of there.

[Cassie]

Yeah, I'll come back.

[Danielle]

Yeah. And then that weird deer.

[Cassie]

No, also an alien.

[Danielle]

Also, it is the trapezoid. It's now a deer. Yeah. It was once a trapezoid and now it's trying to be a deer. But they're like. But the spot, it's beautiful. Yeah. Not if it's the last thing you see. Who cares? Okay. Anyway. That night, as they were getting into their tent, Eric took off his shoes and socks, rolled up each sock and stuffed each sock into the toe of each shoe. In the morning, one of his socks was completely missing. They went through all of their things three times over and looked all around the camp, and the sock was nowhere to be found. But he insisted he tucked it into the very toe of his shoe. They packed up camp and went down to the stream one last time to dip their toes in before heading back to civilization. Leaving their bags at camp. They were at the stream for about 15 minutes, and upon returning to pick up their bags, they immediately, immediately saw Eric's sock stretched out perfectly, resting right on top of their bags. The first thing that comes to my mind of what that could have been is a Navajo shapeshifter. But even that feels like a stretch. And while it does explain the deer, I'm not sure if it explains what my brother refers to as the demon trapezoid. Thanks for reading. It's like, I know the perfect prank. I'm gonna take this sock and then put it back.

[Cassie]

They'll never know. This will really freak them out.

[Danielle]

The trapezoid and deer didn't do it. We gotta level up. We gotta take this sock.

[Cassie]

Get the sock. It's aliens. It's aliens for sure. That's the only explanation I can think of.

[Danielle]

I feel like the deer, like what I'm envisioning. Especially when it said it was, like, moving and jerky movements and look disproportionate. It feels like glitchy and straight. I don't know. I just don't know why aliens would need to be a deer. Are aliens a deer? I'm losing the plot.

[Cassie]

I don't know. Or the. Or the deer was recently abducted by the aliens and was put back. And now they're just all kind of wonky because they're refinding. They're like, what the just happened to me?

[Danielle]

Oh, so you think the deer was an abductee? Yeah. That's okay. Okay. I thought it was like doing recon for them. It was like an alien disguised as a deer. It's like, don't worry about me. I'm just a deer.

[Cassie]

If they wanted to do something like that, they would do a bird, because a bird could hang out in a tree and watch you. But a deer is a lot more obvious.

[Danielle]

See, I feel like they have remote viewing going on. They don't need to even bother with any of this stuff. That's so low level, you know?

[Cassie]

Which is why I think the deer was abducted for observation and then released. And it was just feeling all wonky from whatever happened. And then the deer was probably just like, why doe eyed walking up to them like, hello.

[Danielle]

Did you guys just see that? Yeah. Okay, well, I. I don't have an explanation clearly, because I don't even know what I feel like the story is. But if anybody, as this writer requested, you know where to find Eric if you too have had an experience like that. Yeah, I'm sure he'd love to hear from you.

[Cassie]

We'd also love to hear it too, though.

[Danielle]

Yeah, that's true. Oh yeah. Keep us involved.

[Cassie]

Well, thank you everyone for hanging out with us. We do have two more trail tales for you today, if you're on Patreon or if you're on Apple subscriptions. Mine is titled A Light Too Bright, a Silence Too Deep, a story of a horse pack trip to Chateau Lake.

[Danielle]

And mine is titled Alaska and the Mysterious Critter that Almost Ruined Our Trip.

[Cassie]

Did I say Chateau? Weird. I feel like I said Chateau. It's a chateau. Am I. I'm over there. Oh, well, find out.

[Danielle]

Were you just abducted?

[Cassie]

I just. Am I glitching?

[Danielle]

I don't know.

[Cassie]

Find out in our bonus story. We'll see you all next time. Enjoy the View Boat.

[Danielle]

Watch your back.

[Cassie]

Bye.

[Danielle]

See ya. Thank you for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale of your own you'd like to share, you can write to [e-mail] or visit our website at npadpodcast.com bonus trail tales and content are available to Patreon members and Apple subscribers. Follow the show on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook and X NationalPark after dark. And if you prefer to watch our episodes, you can find us on YouTube at National Park After Dark. And as always, if you enjoy the show, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe. Wherever you listen to podcasts.

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[Danielle]

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