Episode 340 - Pamola: The Wandering Spirit of Mt. Katahdin

Summary

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Two Girls One Ghost

Episode 340 - Pamola: The Wandering Spirit of Mt. Katahdin

Hosts: Corinne Vien & Sabrina Deana-Roga
Release: September 21, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Corinne and Sabrina dive into the legends and supernatural lore of Mt. Katahdin in Maine, focusing on Pamola—the wandering bird spirit said to protect and sometimes punish those who hike the mountain. The hosts weave in listener stories from the Appalachian Trail, explore themes of respecting nature, and encourage a healthy fear of ancient spirits. The tone balances playful banter with reverent storytelling, blending personal anecdotes, folklore research, and a chilling listener encounter.

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Main Discussion Themes

• Pamola: Guardian Spirit of Mt. Katahdin

  • Origin and cultural significance in Penobscot and Wabanaki tradition
  • Descriptions of Pamola’s appearance and powers
  • The spiritual dangers and weather attributed to Pamola
  • Importance of respecting the land, nature spirits, and honoring boundaries

• The Perils and Mystique of the Appalachian Trail’s End

  • Hikers’ experiences with unpredictable and dangerous weather
  • The aura and psychological effects of Knife’s Edge and other features
  • Notable historical accounts (including Thoreau) and tragic outcomes linked to supernatural lore

• Listener Encounter: The Appalachian Trail in New Jersey

  • First-hand hiking encounter featuring time slips, supernatural sounds, and a terrifying ambiguous creature
  • Discussion about how ancient spirits manifest and the importance of intention and respect in the wilderness

• Reflections on Respect, Boundaries, and the Supernatural

  • Parallels to nature spirits from other cultures (e.g., Pele in Hawaii)
  • The lesson: Nature doesn’t require belief, just respect

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Detailed Breakdown & Key Insights

Banter & Show Announcements [01:19–05:42]

• Exciting announcement: New true crime podcast “Crimes Of” launching September 23rd.
• Live show plug: One night only in Somerville, MA on October 8th, promising never-before-seen haunting investigation footage.
  • "It's actually gonna be a great show because...this was some of the most horrifying evidence we have captured." —Corinne [04:13]
• Sabrina’s solo adventure at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, tales of haunted houses, and making new friends as an adult.
  • "My biggest highlight and takeaway is one girl, one ghost is not as fun as two girls, one ghost. And making friends as an adult is horrifying. I think that's the scariest thing that happened the whole weekend." —Sabrina [07:36]

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Pamola & Mount Katahdin: Deep Dive [14:00–44:59]

The Setting:

• Mt. Katahdin: Highest point in Maine, ending point of the Appalachian Trail, revered in Native lore.
  • "But we very rarely talk about what happens at the end of the trail. And the trail ends on Mount Katahdin in Maine. It's in the middle of the north woods..." —Corinne [14:27]
• Treacherous terrain and fast-shifting, dangerous weather; notorious Knife’s Edge ridge described as “creepy” and life-threatening.

Spirit & Myth:

• Pamola in Penobscot Belief:
  • "I will start by saying that it was difficult to find a lot of this information because most of the articles...are written by the white man. So, like, most of them are retellings." —Corinne [24:15]
  • Origin as a sacred “cloud-capped” mountain, where worlds touch. The first man, Glooskap, lived there.
  • Pamola is a thunder deity, guardian, and bird spirit—sometimes with a moose’s face in modern depictions—who fiercely protects the mountain.
  • Signs of Pamola's presence often begin with chilling, unnatural wind or “low moaning echo”.
    • "Apparently, people report a low moaning echo in the wind, unlike anything that they've ever encountered. So they said it feels like a breath, like the mountain itself is alive and it's breathing." —Corinne [36:29]
  • Legends warn it's bad luck to say Pamola's name at high camp.

Historical Accounts:

• Early Records:
  • "The first written record was in 1804 by Charles Turner Jr. ... Pomola guards the mountain in the winter, but then come spring, flies off with tremendous rumbling noises." —Corinne [32:15]
• Thoreau’s Attempted Summit:
  • “Thoreau stated that Pomola's fury kept him from being able to summit. So he blamed Pomola. He said thick fog blinded his climbing crew.” —Corinne [32:44]
• Tales of Survival:
  • Story of John Neptune, Penobscot chief who wintered in the cave, possibly protected or tested by Pamola.
  • Legends include shapeshifting, gifting power, and tales paralleling Virgin Mary/Jesus with Pamola fathering a miraculous child.

Spirits, Boundaries, and Omens:

• Consequences for Disrespect:
  • "Sometimes with death, but, like, if you do something to disrespect the mountain or Pomola, the next few months are just gonna bring, like, bad luck and bad luck and bad luck." —Corinne [41:55]
  • Accidents, lost gear, and even “final destination”-style strings of misfortune.
• Other Entities:
  • “Little people”: Small rock-dwelling spirits, possible alternate explanation for the sensation of being watched in the woods.
• Offerings & Modern Experience:

  • Some hikers leave offerings in respect; many report the sensation of being watched, supernatural cold spots, or a spectral moose at the mountain’s edge.

  • The lesson: Nature’s guardians do not need belief to have power—only respect.

    "Some places do not need you to believe in them to be true. They only need you to respect them. Pomola isn’t just a jump scare. He's a boundary. And boundaries kept or broken decide whether you get to go home."
    —Corinne [44:59]

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Listener Story: Supernatural Encounter on the Trail [48:11–59:54]

Setting:

New Jersey, 2021—Camp counselors lead tweens on a multi-day hike through the Appalachian Trail.

Key Events:

• Nighttime whispers: Counselors hear their own names whispered although all campers appear asleep.[48:53–51:55]
• Lost in the Woods: They encounter an unexpected four-way fork; while scouting, Christine experiences a time slip—her watch says 40 minutes, but group says only 5 minutes elapsed. Fog rolls in, sounds become eerie, trees “whisper”. [51:55–53:20] > "I stated out loud and firmly, 'Hi, my name is Christine. I am just looking for a path for my campers so we can get to safety.'" —Christine [52:38]
• Shapeshifter Encounter: The group witnesses a coyote morphing into a human-like form wearing coyote skin. They flee back to camp, huddle together, and suffer a torrential storm and a terrifying inhuman scream at 3am. [53:24–55:33]
• Camp Director’s Warning: Their emergency camp director retrieves them:
  > "If you think you saw something. No, you didn't. And if you think you heard something, just keep moving and mind your own business." —Camp Director [57:54]

Reflection & Takeaways:

• Christine now prays and leaves offerings before every hike; nothing this intense has recurred.
• The experience combined time distortion, cryptid/skinwalker phenomena, and ominous omens of ancient, potentially protective spirits in the region.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “It's not specifically Satan. It's not a demon in the traditional sense. It is an ancient spirit. Spirits that are protecting the land.” —Sabrina [18:46]
• "Pamola isn't just a jump scare. It's not just a warning. He's a boundary. And boundaries kept or broken decide whether you get to go home." —Corinne [44:59]
• "Nature is really...it teaches you all the lessons that you need in life." —Corinne [42:23]
• “Imagine is telling her where not to go. Her watch literally said 40 minutes had passed… this is so freaky.” —Corinne [53:20, 59:04]
• "The lesson: Nature doesn’t require belief, just respect." —Episode Theme

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Parallels, Analysis, & Host Insights

• Universal Nature Spirits: Connections between Pamola, Greek gods (Zeus), Pele from Hawaii, and other cultural spirit guardians.
• The importance of humility in wild spaces—whether ghost, cryptid, or climate, hubris gets punished.
• Hosts share personal anecdotes & rituals: ocean “witchcraft” as children, the awe of nature’s power, and the common feeling of being “watched” or tested when alone in the wild.

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Timestamps for Key Sections

• [14:00] – Introduction to Mt. Katahdin & Appalachian Trail’s end
• [18:31] – Introduction of Pamola & traditional spirit lore
• [25:43] – Bird symbolism & descriptions
• [32:15] – Historical accounts: Charles Turner Jr., Henry David Thoreau
• [36:29] – Signs of Pamola’s presence, wind, and omens
• [41:55] – Modern consequences for disrespecting the mountain
• [48:11] – Listener story begins (Christine’s encounter)
• [57:54] – Camp director’s cautionary warning
• [62:33] – Episode wrap-up

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Summary Takeaway

Pamola and Mt. Katahdin stand as reminders that some places carry guardians and powers beyond simple physical danger. Entering sacred spaces with ego or disrespect can bring not only accidents but encounters with ancient forces. Whether one is visited by bad luck, unearthly winds, or a spirit in animal guise, the mountain’s underlying lesson persists: Nature demands respect, and sometimes the spirits of the land teach that lesson personally.

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For More

• Read about the Penobscot and Wabanaki folklore for deeper context
• Listener story map: Christine’s digital trail map (noting uncharted four-way fork)
• Watch for Sabrina’s Horror Nights vlog on their YouTube channel for spooky “fieldwork”

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“Some places do not need you to believe in them to be true. They only need you to respect them.” —Corinne [44:59]

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Transcript

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Corinne]

Putting debt in check?

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[Sabrina]

A pain in the neck?

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[Commercial Voice]

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[Guest/Advertiser]

Very spooky.

[Corinne]

Hi.

[Sabrina]

Hi.

[Corinne]

Hello. Hello. We only saw each other a few days ago, but I feel like it's been so long because you did so much in between.

[Sabrina]

We saw each other a week ago. There's so much to catch each other up on.

[Corinne]

Okay. All right. Well, this is two girls, one ghost.

[Sabrina]

Two girls, one ghost. And we are your ghostesses. That is Corinne. Hello, I am Sabrina. And if you can't get enough of us, we have some exciting news. Corinne and I have a new podcast.

[Corinne]

Coming out and a new studio to record in.

[Sabrina]

Yeah, it is so fun. We're so excited about it.

[Corinne]

Sometimes before I go to bed at night, I just look at the picture of the empty studio, like, no us in it. Just like the setup. And I'm like, ah, God, it looks so good.

[Sabrina]

It does. Okay, so mark your calendars. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify wherever you listen to podcasts. Corinne and I are the new hosts of a new podcast called Crimes of, brought to you by Pave Studios. It's a crime house production. Crimes of is hosted by us, and the first two episodes are going to be released on September 23rd. So get excited. It's basically a weekly show, but we're gonna do seasons within.

[Corinne]

Yeah, we're breaking it up into seasons.

[Sabrina]

So each season's probably like eight ish episodes. The first season's eight episodes, and we're calling it Crimes of Infamy. And we're covering the terrifying true stories of serial killers who inspired horror films.

[Corinne]

Yes. And some of our favorite horror films.

[Sabrina]

So episode one is about Ed Gein, who inspired.

[Corinne]

Which is very Timely. Cause of course we record that. And then right after recording, they announced that there's an Ed Gein movie.

[Sabrina]

Oh, wait, you mean. I thought there's a monsters show.

[Corinne]

Well, it's about. Well, sorry, the show, but it's about Ed Geen. Like, he's the main guy. I was like, God, we didn't know that when we were recording it.

[Sabrina]

Well, they're also doing the next season after that is going to be Lizzie Borden. Shit. Anyway, Crimes of comes out September 23rd. We're super excited and can't wait to see you over there on the Crimes of show. You can watch on YouTube, you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. And we're really excited about it.

[Corinne]

Yes, we are. You did a great job. I look. What's more to say? I don't know. I can't hear more to say.

[Sabrina]

No, it's really, really fun.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

And sad because it's murderers. But.

[Corinne]

Well, and we go into some. We include some gruesome details. It's a little bit more like. I feel like on this show sometimes we just. Yeah. We cut back on some of, like, the gruesome details.

[Sabrina]

Paranormal side of things.

[Corinne]

Right. But there we are, including some of the gruesome details.

[Sabrina]

But that is coming out and it will be on a weekly basis. So check that out. And then also, if you can't get.

[Corinne]

Enough of us, we have a live show for one night only. One night only for all you Somerville, Massachusetts people or people who, for some.

[Sabrina]

Reason, I thought you were gonna say for all you sickos.

[Corinne]

All you sickos.

[Sabrina]

Who wants to see our sweat beads in real life?

[Corinne]

It's actually gonna be a great show because this is a show where we are going to show you guys some footage that we have been sitting on for a couple years now from a place that we went, which ended up being. Out of all the places that you guys know, we've gone to investigate. I would say that this was some of the most horrifying evidence we have captured. It was very scary because usually we.

[Sabrina]

Leave houses and we have a good vibe or we feel like a message has come through to us. This house we left and we were like, we don't wanna come back here.

[Corinne]

No. And also, every other house we've been in, we've been left alone. And this time the people who provide the tours were like, oh, we'll just like, be whatever. And we're like, you guys can stay. Yeah. And they captured stuff as well while they were there watching us. Cause we had them watch the cameras in the property as we were going around and they captured things. The whole thing is just terrifying and.

[Sabrina]

But it will be fun.

[Corinne]

Unfortunately, we're gonna revisit it and share.

[Sabrina]

It all with you, but it'll be very fun. So one night only. Wednesday, October 8th. Doors are at 6:30pm show starts at 7:30pm and we can't wait to see you there. Tickets are on sale now, if there are even any tickets left.

[Corinne]

But this is a good excuse, too, to come to, like, the Salem and Boston area during spooky season during October. See us and then see all the haunts that we go to.

[Sabrina]

Absolutely. Till we see you there. What? I don't see you there. And we'll talk just like that.

[Corinne]

Okay, so more talking at the beginning of this episode because you went to Halloween Horror Nights in Universal.

[Sabrina]

Yes, I did.

[Corinne]

Can you tell us about it?

[Sabrina]

Okay, so we usually don't have this much banter up front and we will get to the spooky story that Corinne has prepared for us, but I missed you so much. Oh, I went to Lava.

[Corinne]

You stayed in the same hotel that we stayed at. I saw you in the. You took pictures of the. Did you go in the Lazy River?

[Sabrina]

Oh, for sure. Okay.

[Corinne]

I wasn't sure if you just like, took a picture and drew me in.

[Sabrina]

The Lazy river as some context. I'm very grateful. Universal Studios invited Corinne and I both to go to opening weekend.

[Corinne]

We want to go every single year. But the last time we were invited was maybe like four or five years ago.

[Sabrina]

2019. 2020.

[Corinne]

Yeah. And then we went together and it was like the best time ever.

[Sabrina]

It was so much fun.

[Corinne]

We got to interview. I don't know if he's still. If the same guy does it, I don't know. But we had interviewed the person who was basically like the creative director and in charge of everything with the houses, horror nights and the houses and, like, how to do the certain smells and the feeling that you get as you walk in and took us behind the scenes of all the planning, I can't remember.

[Sabrina]

Was that a separate episode we did? It's still available to listen to back from 2020. Or was it in an Encounters episode? I can't remember. We'll find it and we'll put it in the show notes and if you're watching on YouTube, we'll link what episode it is.

[Corinne]

Yeah, it was very, very. So we've always been like, oh, to be able to go back, that would be so great. And then we.

[Sabrina]

And we harassed them this year or our Management team harassed them.

[Corinne]

She said, can Corinne and Sabrina come? And they were like, yeah. And then I was like, great, I can't come.

[Sabrina]

And anyway, so they invited us. So thank you to Universal for inviting us. I also got to film, like, all the houses.

[Corinne]

They let you?

[Sabrina]

Yeah. So I have to edit it. So there will be a vlog coming to our YouTube. I'll give, like, little teasers of every house.

[Corinne]

Wow.

[Sabrina]

Cause there's 10 houses this year at Horror Night.

[Corinne]

Did you do all 10?

[Sabrina]

I did all 10.

[Corinne]

My God.

[Sabrina]

My biggest highlight and takeaway is one girl, one ghost is not as fun as two girls, one ghost. And making friends as an adult is horrifying. I think that's the scariest thing that happened the whole weekend.

[Corinne]

Yeah. But were people all solo? Just, like, you know what? Oh, my God.

[Sabrina]

I'm proud of myself. I put myself out there. The first person I met, her name was Tiffany from Cinemablend. She was great. We ended up being in the same group. Cause I made her be my friend.

[Corinne]

And because you made yourself be in the same group.

[Sabrina]

Yeah, we had different groups at first, and I was like, so, hey, can I be in her group? And my group ended up being awesome. I met some really cool people in our arena of the universe.

[Corinne]

Like horror.

[Sabrina]

Yeah. Like, very Becky Valentine type of girls.

[Corinne]

Becky had her baby.

[Sabrina]

Becky had her baby. But vamp. She's super cool. Lively ghosts. I felt like I shouldn't be there, like, because everyone was so cool, which.

[Corinne]

Is maybe why we weren't originally.

[Sabrina]

Yeah. Anyway, loved it. Had a really good time. It's called the Rip Tour now.

[Corinne]

Having done rip, I feel like I would save money every year to be able to do the Rip Tour because it makes everything so much nicer. You get to skip the lines and actually go to all of the houses.

[Sabrina]

You can also get an express ticket, which I think if you can't do the rip, that's just helpful if you want to go to all 10 houses.

[Corinne]

But.

[Sabrina]

But each year they do a theme kind of for the whole Horror Nights season. And this year, the theme was based off of one of the houses, and it usually is. And it was based off of El Artista, which is a Spanish haunting. So this place, it was stunning. It was like a Spanish style villa. Really beautiful. Very haunting of Hill House. And it was this artist. That's the other thing about the Rip Tour is, like, they give you the story behind each house, but the art comes alive and possesses him. So, yeah, so that house was spooky to me.

[Corinne]

But 19th century Spain a tortured artist moves to an isolated country manor to seek inspiration, but instead, the art comes alive and possesses him. Yeah. And you are about to be a part of the permanent exhibition. Ah, that's so cool.

[Sabrina]

El Artista was definitely spooky. But my number one is the Terrifier the Clown. Yeah. Based on the movies. I kind of love Art the clown. Maybe I love Art the Clown that's in this haunted house, but I don't know if I haven't watched the movies. I loved this house. There is a dry path and a wet path in this house.

[Corinne]

Ew. What is the wet path?

[Sabrina]

A bloodbath. Literally, it's called dry path or blood path or bloodbath.

[Corinne]

Sorry. Is the dry. Did you do both?

[Sabrina]

Oh, I only did the bloodbath because.

[Corinne]

I wasn't sure if the dry one is truly dry. That. That was my. Do they trick you?

[Sabrina]

No, it is truly dry. And I think in Hollywood there is only a wet path option.

[Corinne]

Oh, wow. Okay. Interesting.

[Sabrina]

I loved it, but I was expecting it to be blood. Like fake blood, you know, but it was just water. The other strange thing about the terrifier house is there is a room that smells like feces.

[Corinne]

Ah, sick. Which I know when we did the interview of that man whose name I can't remember, Charles something. I don't know. But there was a whole big conversation about, like, the old factory experience as you move through each house and room to room. And we were talking specifically about Jordan Peele's US was like, the main. Yeah.

[Sabrina]

That year.

[Corinne]

And we were talking about, like, just like the smell of the fun house and like, the cotton candy and then the, like, whatever. I was not thinking about.

[Sabrina]

Nope.

[Corinne]

A feces room at that point. I wonder how they did it. Did you ask?

[Sabrina]

No, but Rich, who was our RIP tour guide, said that they bring the bathroom potty smells back around every five years. And this was so.

[Corinne]

That makes sense.

[Sabrina]

This was the year. So Terrifier was one of my favorite. Just for enjoyment. Like, I had a really good time and I loved the interactiveness of the clowns. The most terrifying one was for sure, the Jason Universe house for Friday the 13th house. They popped out everywhere. There was one area that was truly pitch black and there were Jason's popping out. I wanted to run through it. I was so scared. We had an option to do that one twice, and I was like, nah, I'm good.

[Corinne]

Oh, my gosh, man. I'm having so much FOMO right now.

[Sabrina]

And then the last one that was in my top three, and this was Purely out of a production. And I loved the movie and it was cool to see. It was the Five Nights at Freddy's. They worked with Jim Henson's Creature Shop to create the animatronics. And it is really, really cool.

[Corinne]

Mother trucker.

[Sabrina]

It was awesome.

[Corinne]

Okay, we gotta plan my life so that I can go next time we get invited.

[Sabrina]

Yes. Because I can't go alone every year.

[Corinne]

I wanna go so bad.

[Sabrina]

But anyway, yeah, I'll put more in the vlog that I'll put on our YouTube channel. So if people want to see some of the moments. If, Corinne, you want to live vicariously.

[Corinne]

I will.

[Sabrina]

You can. I bought a GoPro and I was filming on the GoPro. Oh, very cool. So I have some cool inside the houses type of content. Maybe I am an influencer now.

[Corinne]

Will we make the list next year? We'll see.

[Sabrina]

I tried to befriend Jen. Thank you, Jen, for being our PR person.

[Corinne]

We love you.

[Sabrina]

Even though you do not love us.

[Corinne]

We're not afraid to ask for what we want. And it is accessible. Two Halloween Horror Nights every single year.

[Sabrina]

Well, now I will go to Orlando every year. I will say it's also really cool because I stayed at the Cabana Bay Hotel, which we say that last time because very, like, retro, but because it's a universal hotel, they decorated it all, like, all out. There were pumpkins hanging everywhere. All of the drinks at the bars were Halloween themed. And it was really cool to see how many people fly out for opening weekend. Wow. Like, dedicated.

[Corinne]

It's kind of hurting my heart. I was very excited to hear about it, and now I'm actually hurt.

[Sabrina]

I was hurt, too. Corinne, I was thinking, I know it's not your fault if you can go. Don't be like, Corinne, don't, don't. Don't be home and cry. Go to Horror Nights.

[Corinne]

Oh, God. Weird pivot into this episode because this. I feel like Horror Nights is actually probably the scariest part of this episode.

[Sabrina]

Oh, yeah. And maybe our listener stories.

[Corinne]

Oh, okay. Interesting. All right, well, surprise, surprise. We're back on the Appalachian. Appalachian. Appalachian Trail.

[Sabrina]

You did both. You did your New England pronunciation.

[Corinne]

Appalachia. Although I should say Appalachian Trail, because we're in Maine. I feel like oftentimes when we talk about the Appalachian Trail, we are talking about usually, like, Virginia and the beginning of the trail.

[Sabrina]

The most horrifying parts of the trail.

[Corinne]

Right. Because that's where most of, like, the Cryptids, the monsters.

[Sabrina]

Yeah.

[Corinne]

The murders.

[Sabrina]

Yeah. What's for you?

[Corinne]

Things like that.

[Sabrina]

What's up with you.

[Corinne]

Yeah, get a hold of yourself, you guys. But we very rarely talk about what happens at the end of the trail. And the trail ends on Mount Katahdin in Maine. It's in the middle of the north woods in Maine. And I say end because apparently because I was like, well, why can't you just start in Mount Katahda and go the other way? But I guess most people start, I think, early in the year in the south when the weather's good and then you can end. You basically, like, follow good weather and, like, the warmth up to New England.

[Sabrina]

Okay.

[Corinne]

Which makes sense.

[Sabrina]

That's nice.

[Corinne]

Because it probably gets. If you do the opposite. If you start when it's nice, it gets too hot. It gets too hot. Or I think that's like, there's. You know what? Don't ask me.

[Sabrina]

We don't make the rules.

[Corinne]

But that's.

[Sabrina]

It's Appalachian. We don't ask questions. We just follow the rules.

[Corinne]

Mount Katahdin, which I once pronounced Mount Katadin years ago. And then my mom called me horrified after hearing it on the podcast. Oh, Mount Katahdin. Bad for Deb. I know. How dare I, the New Englander, mispronounce one of the million difficult town names? You know what? Things are difficult to pronounce. And I'll probably butcher a few words in this episode.

[Sabrina]

It's okay.

[Corinne]

But Mount Katahdin is the highest point in Maine. And while the peaks ragged summits and jagged ridgeline proves a difficult climb.

[Sabrina]

Is it a 14K? 14er? The peak?

[Corinne]

I don't think so. The peak is 5,000, 269.

[Sabrina]

So it's a 14er minus nine.

[Corinne]

Minus nine. Yeah, it's big, but like.

[Sabrina]

But not.

[Corinne]

It's New England big.

[Sabrina]

Okay, fair.

[Corinne]

Okay. So it's definitely, like, terrain wise, there's like a part that's called the Knife's Edge, which is actually very creepy if you look at photos of it, which if you're watching on YouTube, I have a few photos of, like, the mountain and various things we're going to talk about throughout the episode.

[Sabrina]

I like how you said it's actually very creepy because as if I didn't already think Knife's Edge would be a perilous, terrifying. Creepy.

[Corinne]

Right. Like, it really does look like it's literally the Knife's Edge. Like you're up on, like, the tip, walking a tiny little ridgeline, and then on either side, it's just like you fall off, you die.

[Sabrina]

It's like angels landing.

[Corinne]

Yeah. I hate watching videos of people There.

[Sabrina]

And Colin, Sabrina.

[Corinne]

Okay, so I feel like every year, despite the mountains in New England definitely being a lot smaller than many of the other hikes, like, you cannot compare them to the western mountains, although I will remind people Appalachia has, like, the western mountains in the US Are growing. Right. They're teen mountains. Appalachia is, like, old. Like, we are. We are walking with a cane. We're on our descent. They were larger at one point, and they're literally shrinking.

[Sabrina]

They're rumbling and tumbling and falling down.

[Corinne]

Yes. While they are drastically smaller in height, the changing weather patterns are very extreme and extremely dangerous. And people get trapped and lost and die every single year in the White Mountains and Mount Katahdin and places like that. So I think a lot of the conversation around planning, if you're doing the Appalachian Trail or if you're just a hiker, a lot of the conversation and discourse around Mount Katahdin is about the weather and planning things just right. It's kind of like a little mini Everest in a way, where things can get really dangerous. There's huge thunderstorms that can come in just, like, out of nowhere. Same with snowstorms in the middle of summer. You know, like, there's glacial parts. Like, it can be extreme weather. However, the people who venture up on this part of the Appalachian Trail have something else to worry about. On the ridge, knife's edge, the world falls away on both sides. The air changes shape around you. It presses cold and close. It feels different, like the mountain itself is alive and breathing down your neck. You glance back once, but there's no one behind you. You glance forward, only clouds beneath you. And then the wind turns. It's sudden, and in it, something that isn't just the wind. A warning, a presence, a bird, an angry bird. Very angry bird. I'm here for it.

[Sabrina]

Okay?

[Corinne]

Okay. But this is not like the Angry Birds, you know, not the game, not the red bird with a furrowed brow. But this bird is ancient and feared and respected. This is Pamola, the wandering spirit of Mount Katahdin.

[Sabrina]

And I will say I feel like this is a common theme throughout Appalachia or Appalachia, wherever you are regionally. There are these spirits, like, very deep episode that we talked about, like the devil in Appalachia, where it's like. It's not specifically Satan. It's not a demon in the traditional sense. It is a ancient spirit. Spirits that are protecting the land.

[Corinne]

Yeah, shoot, I should have written down this one. Quote Henry David Thoreau, he was there, and he. He was. He was there. I'll talk about him later. But he had this one quote that he had written down about Mount Katahdin where like it was like some sort of comparison where it was like just close enough to Satan, but like not quite like a satanic place. Like, it felt very perilous and very dark. Dark and dangerous. Yeah.

[Sabrina]

If you disrespect the land, just know it will kill you, that there are ancient spirits and entities that will punish you.

[Corinne]

And that is exactly what Pamola is there to do. Let me just make sure I'm saying Pamela. Right. Okay. It's not like Pamela.

[Sabrina]

Pamela.

[Corinne]

Pamela.

[Sabrina]

She's modernized her name.

[Corinne]

I did call her a her.

[Sabrina]

You can call me Pan.

[Corinne]

And then had to go back and correct it because apparently it's a he. Oh, okay. It's Pamola. And this was recommended from our listener, Riley. So thanks, Riley.

[Sabrina]

Thanks, Riley. We love when you recommend things so truly in our YouTube videos, in the comments, email us.

[Corinne]

Even on campfire, Campfire stories is definitely one people like. Have you heard of this? We're like jotting it down.

[Sabrina]

Send us recommendations. We do see them and we do write them down. And we do like now research, cover them. I've talked about my brother's dog, Jackson before, and Jackson is a picky eater. Jackson wants what he wants. And you know what he wants is Ollie.

[Corinne]

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[Sabrina]

For any first timers. Ollie will send out your pup's first box with two weeks worth of meals, a free storage container for mess free serving, and a guide of how to gradually switch them over to their new diet. And they have five fresh protein first recipes like beef with sweet potatoes and Turkey with blueberries. So there are so many different options for your pup.

[Corinne]

Dogs deserve the best and that means fresh, healthy food. Head to ollie.com TGOG tell them all about your dog and use code TGOG to get 60% off your welcome kit when you subscribe today, please. Plus they offer a happiness guarantee on the first box, so if you're not completely satisfied, you'll get your money back. That's O L-L-I e.com TGOG and enter code TGOG to get 60% off your first box.

[Sabrina]

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[Corinne]

Supplements and if you are prescribed medication from one of the doctors, it comes with ongoing care check ins, dosage and medication adjustments and access to 24. 7 online support at no additional cost. There are no hidden fees and no membership fees. So whether you want to lose weight, grow thicker, fuller hair or find relief for anxiety, hers has you covered. Visit forhers.com TGOG to get a personalized affordable plan that gets you that's F O R H E-R-S.com TGOG for hers.com TGOG weight loss by hers is not available everywhere. Compounded products are not approved or reviewed for safety, effectiveness or quality by the fda. Prescription required. See website for full details, important safety information and restrictions. Actual price depends on product and plan purchased. So for centuries, Mount Katahdin has been this very sacred realm for the Native people. This is. I'm so sorry, I'm going to butcher this a little bit. Penobscot people, which is a Native group of people that are mostly in the northeastern northern woods of Maine, and they're part of the Wabanaki confederacy. So sometimes in researching this, it's kind of like interchangeable, whether it's the Penobscot people or Wabanaki. Okay, so I might say Wabanaki because an article said Wabanaki, and I'm not really. I don't want to like guess that it wasn't sure. So Katahdin literally translates to the greatest mountain. And this was the Penobscot name for the peak because it sits like an altar in the northern woods. It is the greatest mountain. It should be revered, it should be respected. The mountain was very sacred within the all of the Wabanaki tribes and the Penobscot people. And this was believed to be the place where the human world and the spirit world touched. And at its heights, the mountain was most sacred and it served as a warning against just casually summiting. So basically it was like, don't just try to conquer the mountain. Don't come with an ego, because this.

[Sabrina]

Is a place it's a good lesson just generally in life.

[Corinne]

Well, it is. I feel like that's a big thing within, like, the hiking community itself, too. So I'm going to attempt to tell a bit of history and, like, lore and culture that I am not familiar with. I have never learned before researching this. And I will start by saying that it was difficult to find a lot of this information because most of the articles that I was referencing and, like, literally doing, like, word searches in these, like, archives from the 1900s and stuff, they are written by the white man. So, like, most of them are retellings. And so I might get some things wrong. And if you know the correct answer, please, again, like, YouTube, Spotify.

[Sabrina]

Yeah.

[Corinne]

Comments like, let us know the corrections. You can also email. And I can also correct myself. Yeah, but it was. It was a bit tough. But anyway, so in Penobscot oral history, the first man. So, like, in Christianity, it would be Adam. The first man was named Glooskap. He stayed in Mount Katahdin. He had a lodge on Mount Katahdin. So this was the very first man. And he is a big part of their lore and their legend. And there's a lot of supernatural creatures that kind of have relations to Glooskap in a lot of their retellings. But this mountain was extremely important, not just because Glooskap, the first man, lived there, but also because of this, like, thunderous God who was associated with, like, lightning and thunder and being a bird to keep watch over this very sacred place.

[Sabrina]

It is interesting how in so many cultures, birds are these higher beings.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

And like, even today in modern culture, we do view birds as signs, and also they're so intelligent that when weather patterns change, like, birds are the first to indicate changes, but then also, you know, cardinals being a sign of a loved one passing. I just. I think it's interesting how this has translated across so many different cultures and throughout history.

[Corinne]

It's so old, too, right? Like, birds are dinosaurs, and they're guardians. They're protectors. They can fly in the sky and see all. So it. It does make sense to me. But enter Pamola. Right. Pomola is the guardian, the storm guardian, the bird spirit, the protector of Mount Katahdin, an ancient being who the Penobscot people have spoken about for centuries. Some descriptions call him the thunder being of Katahdin. He's fierce, he's protective, and his temperament demands respect for the mountains that he inhabits. Apparently, he's a little bit volatile at times, and I guess He's a little bit testy with. He's quick to anger.

[Sabrina]

He's like karma, though.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

Because again, same with most of Appalachia. It's only if you are disrespectful of the land are you in danger of being attacked by these.

[Corinne]

Exactly.

[Sabrina]

Protective entities.

[Corinne]

Right. Respect the mountain that he inhabits, and you will be fine.

[Sabrina]

Yeah.

[Corinne]

So Pamola is bird, like a sharp beak, long, spindly arms and legs and wings and talons. And so if you're watching on YouTube in Sprint, I'll show you. There's a sketch of Pomola by a Penobscot chief. It was drawn in 1775, and it shows this winged creature with long talons carrying away a human. So that's like the feet and the talons, and then that's the person getting plucked off of, I think, the mountain. So Pomola protects the mountain. When the weather turns for worse, That's Pomola. A sunny, balmy day turning into an intense thunderstorm within minutes. That's Pomola. Clear skies and then a sudden shift into violent snowstorms. That's Pomola.

[Sabrina]

And, like, have a lot of similarities to, I feel like Zeus in Greek mythology.

[Corinne]

Right. And I think that also was like, a lot of the articles were comparing not specifically to Zeus, but was like thunder God or lightning God, because it is all weather beach.

[Sabrina]

Yeah.

[Corinne]

Which is interesting that people say thunder and lightning, because almost all of the stories and encounters really start with wind. I almost feel like Pamola is a wind God, a wind spirit. But that also feels very apropos for, like, forest spirits and stuff like that. I feel like the wind is a big piece of the magic. Yeah. Right. So like many guardians and gods, Pomola serves to protect, but also has a short. A short fuse. If he feels the mountain is at risk. If it's not being respected, he will try to frighten people away. And unfortunately, sometimes because of the weather and because of the rough terrain, frightening ends in death. So sometimes people die if you come in with a particular attitude, a desire to conquer the peaks instead of respect them. It is the equivalent of telling Pamola that you're here to fuck around. And he will make sure that you find out. Local lore says it's bad luck to speak his name if you're at the high camp, and if you do, oftentimes suddenly your gear will go missing, tents will be ripped. Even if you're totally okay, like, the whole time you're ascending or descending, everyone in your group is suddenly getting these Crazy injuries that would be preventable. Like, everyone's rolling an ankle or something.

[Sabrina]

Oof.

[Corinne]

So you don't call upon him.

[Sabrina]

Okay.

[Corinne]

You just sit there and behave and respect the land. Yeah. So centuries ago, when it was really just the native people, there was a ton of respect. Right. For this spot. And so Pamola was, you know, feared and revered and respected, and people did summit the peaks, I think, sometimes, but most people did it with a hefty amount of respect. However, in modern times, a lot of people don't know about Pomola, and a lot of people are going up for their Instagram pic or to say that they did it, or their mind is just somewhere else that's not in a place that is, like, fully appreciating and capturing what Pomola wants you to capture when you're up there.

[Sabrina]

Can I say one thing I really, really loved about Machu Picchu in Peru was there are people up there monitoring everyone who's taking photos, and they stop anyone who tries to do, like, a dance or like a TikTok.

[Corinne]

Oh, really?

[Sabrina]

They're like, you're allowed to take a picture. You're allowed to pose. You cannot do anything that is, I guess. What's the right word? Disrespect, I guess, in a way. But, yeah, there's. You can't disrespect it. And they are monitoring very, very closely.

[Corinne]

Such, like, a modern thing to have to do.

[Sabrina]

I know.

[Corinne]

So in modern times, obviously, it's a little bit different. And I don't know if this is how Pamela always was, or he maybe, like, went through a little bit of a transformation and glow up because there's some updated depictions of what he now looks like. Very mane, I will say. So his face is a moose. He still has a beak, but he's a moose face. A very buff, muscular male torso.

[Sabrina]

He's had a lot of time to work out.

[Corinne]

Right. Big eagle wings. And if you're watching on YouTube, there's artwork by Maurice Day depicting this more modern Pamola, who actually looks very friendly in this photo and is, like, chatting with a guy on a peak. So Pomola's prerogative is more than just ensuring the mountain is respected. For a long time, it was actually believed or felt that it wasn't just about him protecting the mountain and making sure people come up to the sacred place where the mortals and the gods can coexist. It was that mortals were not worthy of summiting at all. So for a long time, it was like, don't you dare Even try to go up Mount Katahdin. The summit was for the gods. And all of the violent weather was a warning to people to not go there to preserve its beauty. That changed. So this guy's been doing this for a long time. This guy, this guy, this. This God or creature or something. So oral legends have existed for centuries, but the first written record was in 1804 by Charles Turner Jr. And he was told by the Wabanaki that Pomola guards the mountain in the winter, but then come spring, flies off with tremendous rumbling noises. So now it's confusing. This is why I'm like, we need more information. Because there's some conflicting reports. Is Pomoa always there or are, like, the spring thunderstorms and stuff, Pomola leaving?

[Sabrina]

I don't know.

[Corinne]

I don't know either. Okay. So Charles Turner Jr. He made it to the summit, and he survived. But that luck did not extend to Henry David Thoreau, who also decided to tempt fate with Pomola. And he did not get to summit. In 1846, Thoreau stated that Pomola's fury kept him from being able to summit. So he blamed Pomola. He said thick fog blinded his climbing crew. She was very angry with them. They had no choice but to turn back. And it was kind of a confusing thing because he was being guided by the Penobscot native people. And so you would assume that they have all of the respect for the mountain. And so. Exactly, it seems.

[Sabrina]

Does he have a big ego?

[Corinne]

We may deduce. We may deduce Henry David Thoreau had inadequate respect for the mountain. But this is also kind of a lesson of, like, even the native people aren't always safe. If Pomola warns you to turn around and you don't. Even if you have all the respect for the mountain, if there's a sign that you should turn around and you do not, that is also a sign of disrespect.

[Sabrina]

Yeah. Especially with big weather changes. That would feel like a warning and a caution you should heed because it might be for your own safety. Like, maybe there's something worse up at the summit of this mountain, at the peak of it, that maybe Pamola is cautioning you to protect you.

[Corinne]

Right. It is confusing because I like, obviously this is not Mount Everest, but it keeps reminding me of Everest in the way that people's ego and desire to conquer gets in the way. And they don't heed the warnings of the incoming weather in the mountains. And it does result in deaths. There's A tale of a man who was able to thwart Pomola's attacks. It was the early 1800s, and there was a former Indian island chief named John Neptune, and he decided that he was going to stay in a cave on this mountain for the winter. I don't know why.

[Sabrina]

The entire winter.

[Corinne]

So the legend goes, he was staying in this cave. I would imagine it was like an ode to the first man, right, who also took up residence in a cave on this mountain because he was very sacred to all of them. But he decided to go there, and Pamela was like, what the heck are you doing, man? This is not a place to fuck around and find out in the winter. This is very dangerous. Go, leave. And so Pomola is very agitated and is also feeling a bit challenged, I think, by this man's confidence in being able to survive on this treacherous mountain in these harsh conditions. And so Pomola took all of his strength and channeled it towards this cave to try to get this man to leave, to heed the warnings. But this chief was prepared to fight back. And so the legend goes, he actually froze a rock in the entrance, protecting the inside of the cave from Pomola. And all of the winter elements in Pomola had to just settle on the outside.

[Sabrina]

So did this man trap himself inside the cave?

[Corinne]

That's why I'm like, so the legend goes.

[Sabrina]

And did he just have. Have all his resources inside the cave?

[Corinne]

How was he freezing the rock?

[Sabrina]

Right.

[Corinne]

There's questions. And again, this is a lot of, like, these people heard this from the Penobscot and the, like, Wabanaki. And then they're writing it down, right? Because it's not even like some of it is just like, it's a mod podge of people who were. Some people just, like, passing through some people.

[Sabrina]

That's why you said mod podge pad.

[Corinne]

Should I say?

[Sabrina]

I don't know, maybe that's just.

[Corinne]

It was a modge podge, but, like, not everyone was there to, like, study Mount Katahdin or the people there. Like, it was just a lot of, like, random trail guides and people just passing through. And it's. It's the mod podge of all of this. So I think there's a lot lost in translation, which, again, the problem is that we aren't really hearing, like, a full fledged background. And, yeah, we don't have the resource of the Penobscot people. Or maybe we do, but it's not like the Internet is accessible. Yeah, it is failing us now.

[Sabrina]

I'm gonna look and see if there's a book written by the natives.

[Corinne]

Yeah, please do. So what do you do if you encounter pamola? Or how do you know that you're encountering Pomola? So it's said that it's more than just a weather change. Apparently, people report a low moaning echo in the wind, unlike anything that they've ever encountered. So they said it feels like a breath, like the mountain itself is alive and it's breathing. Like there's this disdain being carried in the wind, a warning, a groan. Some people are like, okay, well, that's just like the echoing ravines. Right. Like, the sound can be carried in strange ways through these peaks. And there's temperature inversions. The wind funnels through the gaps. It can create what could be interpreted as a moan.

[Sabrina]

Okay.

[Corinne]

Or a whisper. Well, people are like, okay, well, this only happens at dawn, at dusk. And then again, the argument is like, okay, well, that's when most of the temperature fluctuations happen. So this could just be that. But there are people who are also like, okay, but it's more than just the moan in the wind. It feels like something else is up there on the mountain with you. Like, you know that there is a presence. There are spectral silhouettes, inexplicable cold spots, the feeling of being watched. Many people swear that the mountain itself is alive or it's pamola watching and moving through the forest very quickly. It almost reminds me a little bit of, like, Bigfoot sightings, too, where people are like, I know I was being watched, and whatever was watching me was, like, moving at a really fast pace and was, like, big, and you could just feel what something is.

[Sabrina]

Like, this reminds me of Pele, too, in Hawaii. Like, these really, really intense nature spirits. And I think that goes to show that we as humans are so. What's the right way to say it? But I just. I guess it's. Nature is so palpable.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

That it does feel otherworldly, and it's.

[Corinne]

Magical, but it's also like. But is it magical because there is more than we understand? Like, it's more than just like, we could be killed by nature in any second. And it's powerful. And there may be that maybe there is more.

[Sabrina]

I think there is more.

[Corinne]

Right.

[Sabrina]

If you just stand. I mean, I'm thinking of, like, Pocahontas, colors of the wind. But, like, if you just stand outside and let the wind wherever you are, you don't have to even be a mountain, but just, like, close your eyes and let the wind blow on your skin. Like, there it is. Magical.

[Corinne]

It's magic. Yeah. The wind feels magical. I will say every time I don't like swimming in the ocean, because every time I'm in the ocean, I am just. With every little wave, I'm reminded that I could die in a second. Like, this is so much more powerful than me.

[Sabrina]

Oh.

[Corinne]

If I survive, it wasn't because of me. It was luck.

[Sabrina]

Yeah. Actually, one of the most witchy things I've ever done is starting when I was a child, me, my sister, my cousins came up with a ritual that we did in the ocean.

[Corinne]

Really? And very moana.

[Sabrina]

It was our way to ask the ocean to bring waves. And we had this whole chant that we did with these, like, hand motions in the water. And we'd say, many big waves crash here. And we'd just do it, like, over and over.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

And did it work? We thought it worked.

[Corinne]

Ooh, it might have. Water's alive.

[Sabrina]

Water's alive. I've always been a water witch, and I didn't even know it.

[Corinne]

Yeah. You should do that again. Water as memory. Maybe it'll. It'll.

[Sabrina]

It'll remember me. The Atlantic Ocean.

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[Corinne]

Okay, so people are like. People can say whatever they want. It's a mountain, there's extreme weather. We get it. But that does not. It doesn't make sense that, like, we're hearing a voice within the wind, that we're getting all of these warnings that when we don't do what we're supposed to do, bad luck follows. There are examples, too, of not even just people, like, rolling ankles and stuff after not, like, heeding the warnings. It's more of, like, almost like a final destination sort of thing, but without death. It's like if you. Sometimes with death, sometimes with death, but, like, if you do something to disrespect the mountain or Pomola, the next few months are just gonna bring, like, bad luck and bad luck and bad luck.

[Sabrina]

Oh, it follows you.

[Corinne]

Yeah. Your decisions do.

[Sabrina]

It's similar to how people.

[Corinne]

Good lesson.

[Sabrina]

That's a great lesson. Wow. This is inspirational. If you need to teach your kids manners and how to follow rules, tell them to listen to this episode of Tear Girls Wonders.

[Corinne]

Bring them to Mount Katahdin.

[Sabrina]

But it's like people who steal rocks from certain places and then send them back because bad luck follows them.

[Corinne]

Right.

[Sabrina]

Nature is really.

[Corinne]

It teaches you all the lessons that you need in life.

[Sabrina]

Why is this really, like, touching?

[Corinne]

This is like, I said it wasn't gonna be scary.

[Sabrina]

This is piercing my heart, Pamola.

[Corinne]

But people feel pierced by the feeling of being watched. On the knife's edge. There are breath stealing gusts, the sudden onset of fog that will erase the path in front of you. And every time someone tells a story like this, the one common denominator is the feeling of a presence, an external presence outside of just the mountain. So this is why people are like, this is Pomola. But others are like. Or could it be the little people? Because there is a group. This is apparently, like, a very big thing. This is outside of just like the Wabanaki people. Because when I was reading about it, there's, like, a bunch of different. Mostly in Canada. The articles were, like, depicting the different regions and their beliefs about these little people. But they are rock dwellers that exist within this, like, indigenous storytelling. They are small forest spirits who were connected in this specific story, connected to the first man, Gluskap, who once resided in Mount Katahdi. So it's thought that they're also there to protect the mountain and the forest. And that when you're feeling like you're being watched and like there's a presence in the woods, perhaps these are also the little people. So whatever it is, the mountain is very ancient. And the beings who guard Mount Katahdin are too. Some people bring offerings to show respect for Mount Katahdin. And Pamola will be watching sometimes in the form of wind, maybe as the feeling of peering eyes coming from a rock face, or even as a spectral moose. Because for the past century, people have reported seeing this giant pale moose wandering the north woods. And when I first read this, I was like, oh, well, it's just like an albino moose. Like, how magical and beautiful. But the sightings have lasted, like a hundred years plus.

[Sabrina]

Right. I mean, the first, like, written record is from 1804. Right. It's now 2025, you guys.

[Corinne]

Yeah. So Pamola also might be watching you in moose form. Next time someone tells you that the mountain is just a rock. Remember, some places do not need you to believe in them to be true. They only need you to respect them. Pomola isn't just a jump scare. It's not just a warning. He's a boundary. And boundaries kept or broken. Decide whether you get to go home.

[Sabrina]

I like that. Good lesson.

[Corinne]

Yeah. Pomola is a lesson. God, creature, spirit.

[Sabrina]

So I haven't been able to find any books written by the Native people. They all seem to be written by. Right. The white man.

[Corinne]

Yeah. Which, like, a lot of people did interview people like.

[Sabrina]

Right.

[Corinne]

I saw people being quoted, but it was like such a small thing, like, taken out of context sometimes, and it was hard to piece it all together.

[Sabrina]

But there is one story that is on a native languages.org website, which I think is.

[Corinne]

I feel like I've been on there before for one of our other.

[Sabrina]

Yeah, it's the Native nations website. The one thing I did find on this website is interesting because it's very, like, parallel to Virgin Mary and Jesus. But there's a story of a woman, a Wabanaki woman, who didn't believe in the existence of Pamola unless she saw him. And apparently he appeared to her and put her very twilight, put her on his back, carried her up to the Top of Mount Katahdin.

[Corinne]

You think you can outrun me?

[Sabrina]

And then lived there for a year with Pamola and got pregnant with his child. And Pomola was like, this child will grow to be a very important person and, like, almost save humanity.

[Corinne]

Who was the person?

[Sabrina]

Well, so then she gives birth to this child, and I guess he was able to point his finger and kill, like, an entire flock of deer and animals.

[Corinne]

Oh, was it his finger? Because. Okay, I did read a version of this. His forefinger. I read another version of this where it was like he found a stick, and that stick was magic. And if he pointed the stick.

[Sabrina]

Interesting.

[Corinne]

Whatever he pointed the stick out would.

[Sabrina]

Die, which is wild.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

So then this is happening around people, and it hap. It gets to the point where this child points a finger at a man. The man drops dead. So now it's obviously terrifying. And Pomola tells this woman to keep her and the son, like, away from people until he grows into a man, and they basically disappeared.

[Corinne]

That's sketchy.

[Sabrina]

But maybe. Maybe Pamola has evolved so much because it's been passed on to his son.

[Corinne]

Oh, maybe. Yeah. The moose head is Pamola's son.

[Sabrina]

Well, because in part of the story, he points out a moose, and the moose falls dead, too.

[Corinne]

Oh. It's also so interesting because, like, Glooskap is supposed to be the. The first man also had kind of interesting powers like that too. Like, I was reading that when Glooskap arrived to Earth, the moose and the squirrels were so gigantic, like, the most giant creatures.

[Sabrina]

Scary.

[Corinne]

But Glooskap had these powers to shrink them down into the sizes we know them now. And then he took from the bark of an ash tree, he, like, carved and created the rest of man. Like, created people out of this. The stories are so fascinating. But then I also just didn't write a ton down because it was like, I got conflicting ones, and I was like, is this real? Is this true?

[Sabrina]

Recently, I really wanted to go back and reread some of the Greek mythology, because I do think it's so fascinating and there are ties in so many different cultures.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

All right, maybe. Maybe I will. Okay. In vein of north east Appalachia. Appalachia. I have a listener story from New Jersey. Appalachia. Appalachia. I know it's just gonna piss everyone off, so I'm saying it both ways, so it's gonna make people mad either way. So I'm just gonna say both. This is from our listener, Christine, and she says, hi there. I came across your YouTube channel recently and saw you covered Apple covered Appalachia. Now I can't even say it. I almost bit out my coffee when I came across it. I figured I would give it a listen and I've only ever shared my trail stories with my dad and uncles since they're really the only ones that believe me. Coming across you guys though made me realize many other people experience similar things. So here we go. I was working at a sleepaway camp in 2021 as a counselor. So I had another co leader that I shared a sleeping arrangement with along with 8 to 10 tween aged new York City kids. We each slept in what's called a hogan. It looks like those westward expansion wagons with the rounded white tarp, an opening in front but no wheels. This holds about three to four people inside. This camp is based in New Jersey. Our local state forests were Stokes State Forest and High Point State Park. The Appalachian Trail runs through majority of them. As part of the sleepaway camp itinerary you would lead these tweens on a one to two day hiking trip including camping near a local trail shelter or at a site if there was space. So we set out for a vagabond on a Friday and we aimed to be back Monday. Most of our campers were excited, but a few of them were nervous. Our first day of the hike was great. We got through nine miles and got to a camp shelter. We stayed up late of course, telling stories we probably shouldn't have been telling 13 year olds. Then it was lights out. Me and my co counselor who were sharing a tent, started to hear whispers. Naturally we flash our flashlights at the girls tents and remind them that it's lights out and to be quiet. We lay back down and hear it again, but this time we heard someone say our name. So me and my co leader, who I'll call Z, step out of our tent, walk over to the girls tent that we thought we heard it from, shake the tent a little and tell them loudly, stop making noise. It's time for sleep. We have an early day tomorrow. We hear nothing, so we tell them, okay, we're going to open the tent. No response. So we unzip the tent, peek inside and see them all seemingly asleep. Me and Z look at each other confused. We peek into another tent again. They're asleep. We repeat this until we physically see every camper asleep. Z and I feel a little uneasy, but don't say anything about it and just go back to our tent and get in our sleeping bags. The next Morning. We still don't talk about it because we didn't want to frighten the kids. We go about our business planning the hike. We clean up our site and head out for day two. This hike was supposed to be seven miles. We all thought, well, that's nothing. We did nine miles yesterday. So we start into the hike. We're very confident. The campers are vibing. I'm leading. Z is the sweep, which I imagine means the back. And I get to a fork in the road. We knew we'd get to a fork in the road around four to five miles into this hike. But weirdly, we reached it really, really early. We also realized that the fork on the map only included two different paths, which was a different trail we anticipated coming across. But the path in front of us, this fork in front of us, had four different paths. We were confused. We pause. The girls find a log to snack on and Z and I look at the map. We go over it over and over. We have never gotten lost before and we couldn't figure out why we couldn't see this four path fork in the map. At this point we figured, well, we're here now one of us has to go check the path to see if there are any other trail markers. We decided I would go because I knew a little more survival skills than Z. Leave Z with the kids also.

[Corinne]

Just breaking off and being alone I know at all is a horrible idea.

[Sabrina]

But what else are you supposed to do? What would you do?

[Corinne]

Hunker down and ignore?

[Sabrina]

Just stay there forever? Turn back? So I went down the first path. This had other trail markers that we anticipated. The second path had no trail markers and a lot of trees in the way. I thought maybe it wasn't supposed to be a path or maybe it was an old path. Then the third path got strange. I start to hear the forest and it feels like it's coming alive. Suddenly I felt like I was being watched. It got foggy and the path grew unclear. I walked slowly and just observed the trees desperately looking for a marker. The trees were brushing so aggressively against each other, it sounded like indistinct whispering. I am superstitious and I believe in other realms. My family is Dominican and native Peruvian. I grew up believing in nature spirits. So with this background I I stated out loud and firmly, hi, my name is Christine. I am just looking for a path for my campers so we can get to safety. I don't mean to disturb you. I am just looking for a trail marker. Suddenly I get goosebumps all over and the trail in front of me starts to get foggier. I look down at my watch and see that 40 minutes had gone by. I freaked out a little bit and forced myself to walk back. I noticed that the trail back was clearer. No fog, the nature sounds were calm. So I turned back to the fog and said thank you. I went back to the group and apologized for being gone for so long. And they looked at me confused. They were like, what do you mean? It's only been like five minutes.

[Corinne]

Oh, instant chills.

[Sabrina]

What the fuck?

[Corinne]

Imagine is telling her where not to go.

[Sabrina]

Her watch literally said 40 minutes had passed. I looked at Z confused, and she was like, yeah, I mean, we all agreed if 10 minutes had passed, we would come look for you. I looked at my watch and somehow it rewinded. It showed like they had said only about six minutes had passed. I was so confused. But sure enough, as I looked to the fourth path, the trees showed markers of little inward towards the path. I can't believe that happened. And I wasn't sure I wanted to explain it either. So anyway, we go and hike. We find our designated campsite. We settle in. We needed to find somewhere for our designated bathroom use. And we figured we'd go up the trail a bit and find somewhere. We all left the campsite. It's after dinner, so about 7 to 8, the sun is almost fully set when we start to hear some rustling in the trees to the left of us. So we all stop because, well, from the camp we had protocol. If there were bears, there was a special camp song to sing. It was loud and rowdy, so it helped scare the bears off. So we start screaming this song, hopefully scaring the bear. But in between a verse, we all got quiet and realized that there's nothing. No animals, no wrestling. It was too quiet. So quiet that the kids are all now holding onto each other and us. We all aim our flashlights in front of us where we heard the rustling. And I don't believe what I'm about to say. We see what looks like a coyote walking from the left of the trail like it's going towards the right side. We all freeze because we didn't know what to do. And then this coyote starts making crackling noises like a horror movie where the bones crack. We're all frozen watching this creature and its body start to morph into. I don't even know what. It starts to stand upright, like on its hind legs. But the legs morphed into what looked like human legs. We are holding onto each other so Tight. And then it looks at us. It literally turns its head towards us. But it was so weird. It looked like a human wearing coyote skin, like it had a hood made of a coyote head. And we were so scared that you could literally hear all of us gasp in shock. Then the thing turned back in the direction it was walking, toward the right side of the trail and disappeared.

[Corinne]

Oh.

[Sabrina]

All of the kids began asking, what was that? Did you see that? What the fuck kind of animal was that? And Z and I are speechless. We didn't know what to say. We didn't know how to address it. We just told the kids, let's, let's just turn back and go back to camp. We went to sleep in our tents, but the kids came running to our tent saying that someone was in the forest. We didn't know what to do. We started to feel helpless. Our best idea was that we could move all of our tents very, very close together. And we made it so that the opening of our tents were all together in the center. None of the openings faced the forest, but terribly enough, it started to pour. And I mean torrential downpour, thunder and lightning that made the ground shake. One of our campers had a larger five person tent and we all decided to find a way to fit all of us in that five person tent. It was so snug with our sleeping bags, but we made it work. But then toward the witching hours, around 3am we heard a scream. This insanely deafening scream as if someone was being murdered. We're all scared shitless and I peek out to see if anything's out there and nothing. It didn't sound like an animal and it didn't even sound like a human. It just sounded awful. At this point, we are all shaken up, ready for this weekend to end. We try convincing the kids, listen, this is the last night. All we have to do is hike back tomorrow. But none of them were willing to. So I messaged our camp director, our emergency contact, and asked, hey, can you come get us? So he came with the van to take us back. Initially, he tried to talk us into staying, but once I told him about the kids and the thing we saw, he said, all right, let's get those bags in the trailer. Me and Z looked at each other like, oh my God. He knows because this is a stoic man. He was friendly, he had tons of dad jokes, but some things he just didn't fool about. He was a stern Southern man that grew up hunting and living in these woods. He had a way about him, but In a good way, like the protective uncle of the camp. The ride back to camp was so eerie. You have to pass this steep hill over a creepy bridge. And we get to the hill, and a fog starts to roll in. We see what looks like a hitchhiker along the road, and all the kids are yelling, oh, my God. Did you see that person? And the camp director goes, if they did, you don't stop for a hitchhiker in these parts of the woods. This part of the woods is real old. Many things out here you don't want to meet.

[Corinne]

And, of course, send the kids to camp there in the first place and to hike for two days. Right.

[Sabrina]

And a couple of the girls ask, what do you mean? Who do you not want to meet? Did we meet something? And he just says, I won't tell you the things I seen, but I will tell you if you think you saw something. No, you didn't. And if you think you heard something, just keep moving and mind your own business.

[Corinne]

Yep.

[Sabrina]

So at this point, we get to camp, and he just reminds us all to stay safe and call if we need anything. That night at camp, we all felt strange falling asleep, but we woke up feeling rested. I've never experienced anything like this before, but once I shared it with my dad and uncles, they didn't seem surprised at all. They just reassured me that I'd be okay. But to remember, the Appalachia region has been around for centuries and. And has a rich history, so it would be wise to remember that plenty of spirits and entities likely live there. Now, when I go hiking, I make sure I have an offering and I say a prayer. Nothing too intense has ever happened to me again. I do get sounds here and there, but nothing like that.

[Corinne]

Wow.

[Sabrina]

Best Christine and Christine shared the digital version of the trail map. It says that there is one area that has a fork, but not where they were hiking, and it's not the one that they saw.

[Corinne]

Hmm. This is so freaky, because it's like, it does kind of feel like everything was trying to warn them and keep them safe and, like, move them in the direction that they needed to be. But at the same time, it's also, what's the difference between something being scary but helpful and something being scary that just crossed your path and might want to circle back for you?

[Sabrina]

Well, also, let's just say it was trying to warn them and not it was following them.

[Corinne]

Right?

[Sabrina]

Until Christine was like, I'm just trying to get my campers to safety. Please stop scaring me.

[Corinne]

Right? Because also, she was gone for 40 minutes. So, like, she could have been a missing person, Right? Like, it captured her. And then maybe once it realized someone was looking, like there were kids and were involved, maybe they second guessed themselves, the fog released her.

[Sabrina]

The fact that it was 40 minutes for her, but five minutes for everyone else.

[Corinne]

Oh, my God. This is so. Oh. Oh, this freaks me the fuck out.

[Sabrina]

It's almost like every scary thing that you can experience in Appalachia. Christine experience, Right? The whispering your name and it not being any of the campers. A flesh pedestrian.

[Corinne]

Yes, that. Oh, sick. And everyone's seeing it.

[Sabrina]

Yeah.

[Corinne]

I can't believe it just kept moving.

[Sabrina]

It makes me think of how animals get bigger when they're hunting, you know, because it felt like it was almost scared of humans and it wanted to look more intimidating, which is why it stood on its hind legs, got taller, showed this really creepy form. Half human, half coyote, which also, like.

[Corinne]

Could it be a werewolf? It could be anything.

[Sabrina]

Team Werewolf.

[Corinne]

Team Werewolf.

[Sabrina]

I don't know. It's scary, though. And I don't want to hike that trail, but I do that camp sounds cool. I've never heard of a camp where you sleep in those old carriages.

[Corinne]

Things are in the woods. You guys proceed with caution and respect nature.

[Sabrina]

And if you are camping or hiking and there's a change in weather, maybe take that as a warning, try again another day or just go home, pack it up.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

Camp outside in your backyard. Yeah. Yeah.

[Corinne]

Get a skylight installed on your bedroom.

[Sabrina]

That's all you need. Oh, man.

[Corinne]

Well, thank you guys for coming back. See us over at Crimes of.

[Sabrina]

Yes, and it's officially spooky season. Our next episode really marks the beginning.

[Corinne]

We have things for you.

[Sabrina]

We say, don't go outside. Don't go camping. And next week, we might be outside. I think we will be. We'll see you there. But thank you, everyone, for listening. If you have emails, if you know of books or any references of Pomola, share them with us. You can email us at two girls, one ghost. Podcastmail.com. join us over on Patreon, where we have bonus episodes. We have ad free and one week early episodes. We have campfire stories. We have book club, which next book club. We don't have a date yet, but we're reading Here lies a vengeful bitch. Spotify also has it free. Like if you're a Spotify premium. Yeah. To listen.

[Corinne]

Oh, okay.

[Sabrina]

I also am reading. We live here now. And it's so good.

[Corinne]

Is it?

[Sabrina]

It's so spooky. Oh, highly recommend. Anyway, we love you all and thank you to Jamie, who edits and produces our podcast. We're very grateful for you and we.

[Corinne]

Love you all and we will see you on the other side.

[Guest/Advertiser]

Very spooky.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And, Doug, here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

[Sabrina]

Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty, Liberty.

[Sabrina]

Liberty.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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