This is pedantic but I think is worth saying: for some reason its taken off to call mysterious stuff that happens in the Appalachians "skin walkers". That's from the tribes out West. No one here ever called it skin walkers, but the Cherokee did have stories about Tsul 'Kalu, a giant that lived in the forest. Some of the happens in the mountains might have been chalked up to "the Little People" though I don't know if the Eastern tribes had many stories about them. The Scoth-Irish that later settled in the mountains brought their folklore, and so fey and other old European spirits got added to the mix. Just so there's some regional context :)
@@knightsofnee8626 Yeah, I'm aware of the Skinwalkers origins, it's kinda a placeholder among a lot of people for "Unknown humanoid creature" The Cherokee in the area had a legend about the Moon Eyed People, but they weren't scary types from what I remember, just friendly short people who built some old structures in the area. There were also stories of witches that can shapeshift, like a skinwalker, amongst both natives and settlers. I'm not sure if that one is a Cherokee, Catawba, or Shawnee legend. The Skinwalker is an Algonquin legend I think, which there were tribes in Eastern NC who belonged to the Algonquin language group. It's possible there are legends which cross over through tribal interactions. There are other legends like Judaculla or the Devil that lived in Devils Courthouse which could have similar behaviors. I don't know. But you're right, Skinwalker is more of a western US and Canada thing, I'm not here to take that away from them. Just, there are tons of stories of people in Western NC and other Appalachian areas hearing their name called out in the woods when alone, or hearing people talk to them who aren't there. Appalachia is a weird place lol. Thanks for the comment, I love discussing this stuff. Where I worked at the time had people from all over the US and Canada who worked in the Outdoor Sports industry, so we'd share our cryptid and ghost stories around the fire. With my story, I think it was likely a Raven or Crow just imitating a persons voice, but it freaked me out at the time haha.
@@lukefellnerphotography oh sweet, I hadn't heard about the Moon Eyed People before! Thanks for that and thanks for uploading the experience, which I forgot to say in my original comment! Just for clarification, was not meaning to diminish the video, the comment from people in staff housing you mentioned was just the latest mention I'd heard and so I wanted to put it out there. Safe travels!
@@knightsofnee8626 Yeah, I appreciate it! I'm glad to have been able to share the story with you. Maybe I'll have another spooky story in the future to share
That voice was creepy as heck! My husband's grandparents lived on Mount Pisgah. When he was little and all the cousins, his grandfather told him not to get too far in the woods or the woods people would get them. They just figured it was a way their grandparents told the story to keep him from wandering away. Now I'm not so sure. The Grandpa and Grandma have been dead for many years so can't ask.
@@gbosearcher-3686 It's common to warn people that if they hear someone call their names in the woods of Appalachia, don't respond. I feel like I had that similar encounter. I've been on Mount Pisgah, beautiful place, creepy when a cloud rolls through though
@lukefellnerphotography definitely creepy. My family lives in Buncombe, Haywood and Jackson counties. I had a scare in the Uwharries and never went back.
@@gbosearcher-3686 I've only ever driven through the Uwharrie National forest, did some school portraits in that area and briefly worked for the zoo. But never got to explore it much. Any cool spots you know of?
@@lukefellnerphotography Coolers Knob is an easy trail, but Jumping Off Rock is really cool. Most of the trails are moderate to hard. The area is very scenic and Badin Lake is beautiful.
I wouldn't be so Bearanoid unless of course the area has some recent issues, which are kinda rare on the east coast. Maybe do a little research on the whole Skinwalker thing its recent manifestation is bunk, but the reality of it from Canadian indigenous peoples is just as scary if not more. You should go back to the HEY site and don't respond unless it gets really close and then demand it says its name. I've had some crows make some really odd sounds, deer make an odd grunt when startled and obviously bear do some huffing and puffing. How fast it was moving makes me think bird, but when you got stalked that obviously points in another direction, don't go alone and be "prepared". It would be awesome to get some audio if it does return. Great story thanks for sharing!
@@rcm944 yeah, Crow or Raven sounds very possible. They can immitate peoples voices and are pretty intelligent. I like to imagine that it's some unknown Appalachian creature that lures people in by mimicking another person in the woods. There's already the legend in Appalachia that if you are alone in the woods and you hear someone call out your name, you don't respond to it. Ultimately, I'm not sure what it was, doesn't need to be supernatural or cryptid to freak me out about that situation. But fun to speculate. Also, regarding Bears, I'm always extea cautious. People underestimate the black bears in Western NC. They focus on the statistics without considering that, those are just confirmed bear or mountain lion killings. If a bear or mountain lion gets someone and nobody is around to see or hear it, then it's a "missing person" which there is a much higher rate of in Western NC. Particularly, you need to watch out for male Black Bears, there's 1 for every 10 female because they are hyper territorial and they get significantly larger than the females. In Western NC they range from 200 to 700 pounds, Eastern NC had the largest Black Bear at over 800 pounds. Which is a monster lol. I go out alone into these remote areas of Western NC so much that the rare shit is more likely for me. It only takes one day of having your guard down for you to become a "missing person" Thanks for watching and thanks for the feedback! It's fun speculating on this stuff, my favorite stories to share with other hikers in WNC are the ghostly and supernatural stuff, which Appalachia has no shortage of.
At first, I thought it might have been a starling or something bc they’re remarkably good at mimicry of human speech. Then, after it moved to another place I thought maybe two starlings that had learned the phrase from each other. They are also known to imitate car alarms very well. So I’m lol imagining how many hikers these birds have trolled to constantly repeat not only "Hey!" but also “Hello!" They might be singlehandedly responsible for all reports of mimics (the paranormal phenomena kind) on the AT. It is notorious for spooky stuff…. Until you mentioned the broken sticks… maybe two sounds of different animals? Not when the direction of the speech sound comes from same direction as the steps and breaking sticks AND the direction it’s coming from keeps switching rapidly. So, then I thought it was most likely a hiker who took a shortcut using your voice to locate the trail. That’s why they were moving so quickly, they went straight. They probably didn’t want to be caught in the dark on a sketchy trail full of rocks and hollows. They were probably just as wary about you as you were about them. Imagine being asked if you were a human… it might not occur to you that the person is asking bc all you’ve said is "Hey" or "Hello". You might wonder why they ask and decide it’s not a question you want answers to before reaching the trail to assess the situation. Lol they probably wondered if you were hallucinating or delusional and whether or not you were safe to approach. Wondering all this, in the dark, in the woods, with bear smells, after they left the trail to catch up to talk to you. Now, they realize they might be following a mentally unstable person in the woods at night… but they still have to depend on your voice to relocate the trail…. Maybe they thought it was best to let you assume they were maybe not human? If you assumed they were a delusion, maybe they wouldn’t be in danger Idk. Then it occurred to me they might have just been using your voice to tell when you had left the area, but that doesn’t explain why they’d follow you or how they moved around so quickly or WHY anyone would be worried about your exact location or proximity to something… except that they wanted you to leave for some reason- so weird. It would be extremely strange if you went back and it happened, again.
Yeah, starling is a good theory. I think it has to have been a bird, if it was a hiker they'd have needed to traverse a cliff and some very dense foliage and loose rocks to get to me.
Let's just say, the living conditions were below awful and you'd be better off sleeping outside, the work itself was a blast. The employer was terrible (we were regularly getting investigated by OSHA, who ultimately ignored even basic stuff like fire-extinguishers having no pressure in them and being years out of date), but the coworkers were awesome. Pay sucked too, but I was there to get more photography experience, wasn't concerned about the pay. It's definitely an experience I'm glad I had, I tried going back but it didn't work out. I'm kinda glad to not still be working there actually. My experience probably wasn't the same as others, I was the only one there who was completely sober haha.
So Very stupid to respond Again to a voice in the woods in an isolated area when it is getting dark and you are alone, and yet you responded 5 times ? Stupid.
fire towers are creepy in themselves as they sit alone and isolated and one never knows if its a hideout or 'home' for someone!😱
This is pedantic but I think is worth saying: for some reason its taken off to call mysterious stuff that happens in the Appalachians "skin walkers". That's from the tribes out West. No one here ever called it skin walkers, but the Cherokee did have stories about Tsul 'Kalu, a giant that lived in the forest. Some of the happens in the mountains might have been chalked up to "the Little People" though I don't know if the Eastern tribes had many stories about them. The Scoth-Irish that later settled in the mountains brought their folklore, and so fey and other old European spirits got added to the mix. Just so there's some regional context :)
@@knightsofnee8626 Yeah, I'm aware of the Skinwalkers origins, it's kinda a placeholder among a lot of people for "Unknown humanoid creature"
The Cherokee in the area had a legend about the Moon Eyed People, but they weren't scary types from what I remember, just friendly short people who built some old structures in the area. There were also stories of witches that can shapeshift, like a skinwalker, amongst both natives and settlers. I'm not sure if that one is a Cherokee, Catawba, or Shawnee legend. The Skinwalker is an Algonquin legend I think, which there were tribes in Eastern NC who belonged to the Algonquin language group. It's possible there are legends which cross over through tribal interactions. There are other legends like Judaculla or the Devil that lived in Devils Courthouse which could have similar behaviors.
I don't know. But you're right, Skinwalker is more of a western US and Canada thing, I'm not here to take that away from them. Just, there are tons of stories of people in Western NC and other Appalachian areas hearing their name called out in the woods when alone, or hearing people talk to them who aren't there. Appalachia is a weird place lol. Thanks for the comment, I love discussing this stuff. Where I worked at the time had people from all over the US and Canada who worked in the Outdoor Sports industry, so we'd share our cryptid and ghost stories around the fire. With my story, I think it was likely a Raven or Crow just imitating a persons voice, but it freaked me out at the time haha.
@@lukefellnerphotography oh sweet, I hadn't heard about the Moon Eyed People before! Thanks for that and thanks for uploading the experience, which I forgot to say in my original comment! Just for clarification, was not meaning to diminish the video, the comment from people in staff housing you mentioned was just the latest mention I'd heard and so I wanted to put it out there. Safe travels!
@@knightsofnee8626 Yeah, I appreciate it! I'm glad to have been able to share the story with you. Maybe I'll have another spooky story in the future to share
The Oblivion music slaps. Thanks for the video.
@@Kaleb-u6p Thank you, if you like Oblivion here's a link to a video on my gaming channel where I played it : th-cam.com/video/EsRMxvdyghY/w-d-xo.html
Beautiful place, we are so lucky to live so close to it. Thank you for showing how beautiful it is
I'm glad you enjoy the video, you might like my other videos as well
We love Fog.....and Rain... Thank you for your work!💚
Glad you enjoyed it
That voice was creepy as heck! My husband's grandparents lived on Mount Pisgah. When he was little and all the cousins, his grandfather told him not to get too far in the woods or the woods people would get them. They just figured it was a way their grandparents told the story to keep him from wandering away. Now I'm not so sure. The Grandpa and Grandma have been dead for many years so can't ask.
@@gbosearcher-3686 It's common to warn people that if they hear someone call their names in the woods of Appalachia, don't respond. I feel like I had that similar encounter.
I've been on Mount Pisgah, beautiful place, creepy when a cloud rolls through though
@lukefellnerphotography definitely creepy. My family lives in Buncombe, Haywood and Jackson counties. I had a scare in the Uwharries and never went back.
@@gbosearcher-3686 I've only ever driven through the Uwharrie National forest, did some school portraits in that area and briefly worked for the zoo. But never got to explore it much. Any cool spots you know of?
@@lukefellnerphotography Coolers Knob is an easy trail, but Jumping Off Rock is really cool. Most of the trails are moderate to hard. The area is very scenic and Badin Lake is beautiful.
I wouldn't be so Bearanoid unless of course the area has some recent issues, which are kinda rare on the east coast.
Maybe do a little research on the whole Skinwalker thing its recent manifestation is bunk, but the reality of it from Canadian indigenous peoples is just as scary if not more.
You should go back to the HEY site and don't respond unless it gets really close and then demand it says its name. I've had some crows make some really odd sounds, deer make an odd grunt when startled and obviously bear do some huffing and puffing. How fast it was moving makes me think bird, but when you got stalked that obviously points in another direction, don't go alone and be "prepared". It would be awesome to get some audio if it does return.
Great story thanks for sharing!
@@rcm944 yeah, Crow or Raven sounds very possible. They can immitate peoples voices and are pretty intelligent.
I like to imagine that it's some unknown Appalachian creature that lures people in by mimicking another person in the woods. There's already the legend in Appalachia that if you are alone in the woods and you hear someone call out your name, you don't respond to it.
Ultimately, I'm not sure what it was, doesn't need to be supernatural or cryptid to freak me out about that situation. But fun to speculate.
Also, regarding Bears, I'm always extea cautious. People underestimate the black bears in Western NC. They focus on the statistics without considering that, those are just confirmed bear or mountain lion killings. If a bear or mountain lion gets someone and nobody is around to see or hear it, then it's a "missing person" which there is a much higher rate of in Western NC. Particularly, you need to watch out for male Black Bears, there's 1 for every 10 female because they are hyper territorial and they get significantly larger than the females. In Western NC they range from 200 to 700 pounds, Eastern NC had the largest Black Bear at over 800 pounds. Which is a monster lol.
I go out alone into these remote areas of Western NC so much that the rare shit is more likely for me. It only takes one day of having your guard down for you to become a "missing person"
Thanks for watching and thanks for the feedback! It's fun speculating on this stuff, my favorite stories to share with other hikers in WNC are the ghostly and supernatural stuff, which Appalachia has no shortage of.
New sub ❤
At first, I thought it might have been a starling or something bc they’re remarkably good at mimicry of human speech. Then, after it moved to another place I thought maybe two starlings that had learned the phrase from each other. They are also known to imitate car alarms very well. So I’m lol imagining how many hikers these birds have trolled to constantly repeat not only "Hey!" but also “Hello!" They might be singlehandedly responsible for all reports of mimics (the paranormal phenomena kind) on the AT. It is notorious for spooky stuff….
Until you mentioned the broken sticks… maybe two sounds of different animals? Not when the direction of the speech sound comes from same direction as the steps and breaking sticks AND the direction it’s coming from keeps switching rapidly.
So, then I thought it was most likely a hiker who took a shortcut using your voice to locate the trail. That’s why they were moving so quickly, they went straight. They probably didn’t want to be caught in the dark on a sketchy trail full of rocks and hollows. They were probably just as wary about you as you were about them. Imagine being asked if you were a human… it might not occur to you that the person is asking bc all you’ve said is "Hey" or "Hello".
You might wonder why they ask and decide it’s not a question you want answers to before reaching the trail to assess the situation. Lol they probably wondered if you were hallucinating or delusional and whether or not you were safe to approach.
Wondering all this, in the dark, in the woods, with bear smells, after they left the trail to catch up to talk to you. Now, they realize they might be following a mentally unstable person in the woods at night… but they still have to depend on your voice to relocate the trail….
Maybe they thought it was best to let you assume they were maybe not human? If you assumed they were a delusion, maybe they wouldn’t be in danger Idk.
Then it occurred to me they might have just been using your voice to tell when you had left the area, but that doesn’t explain why they’d follow you or how they moved around so quickly or WHY anyone would be worried about your exact location or proximity to something… except that they wanted you to leave for some reason- so weird. It would be extremely strange if you went back and it happened, again.
Yeah, starling is a good theory. I think it has to have been a bird, if it was a hiker they'd have needed to traverse a cliff and some very dense foliage and loose rocks to get to me.
They were about to warn you about a man falling in Lego River
@@jimofthejungle02 they were probably looking for Bells Canyon
Sounds like a Wendigo, the only cryptid that can talk.
Creepy, thanks.
Creepy Experience! WOW!
nice video, it was interesting
Thank you
I live off hwy 69 in Wi, great video!
@@RobsNeighbor Thank you! Means a lot that people like to hear about my trips in the woods
The 69 in this video is a mile marker on a National Forest road here in North Carolina haha. The way to Wayah Bald
Everytime I see green overgrowth I think chiggers
Fortunately none of those. But definitely bring a lint roller. Great for if you have a bunch of chiggers or ticks crawling on you
that is scary, creepy
I wanna go now!!
Thanks man
Could it have been a crow?
@@Trashcansam123 Absolutely could have been, who knows
Likely a Bigfoot
Hippie jail, Pisgah Inn?
@@irradix213 No, a whitewater sports company with staff housing
Bigfoot!!!!!!
Go home!!!😊
I managed to get home haha
@lukefellnerphotography So good😀👍
I wanna be one of your coworkers!
Let's just say, the living conditions were below awful and you'd be better off sleeping outside, the work itself was a blast. The employer was terrible (we were regularly getting investigated by OSHA, who ultimately ignored even basic stuff like fire-extinguishers having no pressure in them and being years out of date), but the coworkers were awesome. Pay sucked too, but I was there to get more photography experience, wasn't concerned about the pay. It's definitely an experience I'm glad I had, I tried going back but it didn't work out. I'm kinda glad to not still be working there actually.
My experience probably wasn't the same as others, I was the only one there who was completely sober haha.
After the first "hey" and no response, really, I'll just keep answering.
So Very stupid to respond Again to a voice in the woods in an isolated area when it is getting dark and you are alone, and yet you responded 5 times ? Stupid.
My assumption was that it was a hiker, I run into hikers all the time and this was along the Appalachian trail
Afraid of Dear? . Dear will not hurt you LMFAO!
It was deer breeding season. Males with Antlers will gore you if you startle them and they get territorial
Definitely! They can hurt you!
@@violetsinspring5863 exactly, even if it's rare, I'm out in the woods and mountains enough that rare odds are too high
Deer, not Dear
Some bucks will.