[pct-l] Spooky Trail Encounters

[Reinhold Metzger]

Hi gang,
I never had any problem with "Horses" or with "Horsemen".
I step aside, smile and say  "Howdy"  and they always respond in kind.
Sometimes unpleasant encounters are of their own making.
If you smile, you probably will get a smile in return.
If you frown and display  a hostile attitude, you will probably get the 
same in return.
If you curse and yell at the horsemen, don't be surprised if they 
respond alike.

I had a spooky encounter on one of my  JMT speed hikes a few years 
ago........I was hiking solo
late at night in a forested part of the JMT that was considered a  
"HOT"  bear area.
It was very dark but I was not using my headlamp to preserve my night 
vision.
With my night vision preserved I could barely make out the trail and was 
hauling as fast as I could.
I was keenly aware of the danger of a night encounter with a bare and 
tried to minimize that danger by periodically singing my favorite songs, 
including "Bobby McGee".

Well anyhow, there I was speeding down the JMT, in the middle of the 
night, in a  "HOT"  bear area, singing  "Bobby McGee".
It was very spooky and reminded me of the night patrols and ambushes in 
Vietnam.
My eyes and ears were on high alert...WHEN SUDDENLY....2 BIG BLACK 
OBJECTS APPEARED ON THE TRAIL JUST AHEAD OF ME.
MY HEART SKIPPED A BEAT and my first reaction was  "B E A R S".
I turn on my headlamp real quick and what do I see???...."H OR S E 
S"...two big, horses.

About that time I hear in the distance a chanting, song like voice and 
the horses just turn to the right and disappear in the woods.
I concluded a horseman was camped near by, allowed the horses to roam 
and graze and was calling them back to his camp.

Say MendoRider,...was that you?

JMT Reinhold
Your afraid of the dark trail companion