Hunting the Woo Woo

In June, a group of us decided to head out on a cryptid expedition.  That is, we were looking for a creature known as the WooWoo (AKA the Bighoot). 
I know, some of you are probably scratching your head wondering what in the world this has to do with hiking or backpacking.  If you remember, I've been working on a book of paranormal stories along the Appalachian Trail for a couple of years 3 years long ass time.  The WooWoo is a creature that has been described as a giant owl that lives in the Delaware Water Gap area of the AT.  It's said you can hear it's cries at night, and naturalists have been unable to identify the type of bird making the sound.  So we booked a campsite at Worthington State Park in New Jersey as base camp and headed out into the woods. 

The Delaware Water Gap is actually an active paranormal spot for the most part.  There is the WooWoo, the Messing-W which is a Bigfoot type creature know to the Native tribes of the area (and also thought to possess supernatural powers), Old Red Eyes another Bigfoot type creature and the ghost of an old witch.  I was pretty excited about going on this trip to see what I could find for the book and get some photos.  Unfortunately, I was still wearing a boot because of my broken foot.  No one wanted to head out on the AT without me, so we didn't get to do much in the way of WooWoo hunting.
I did hike a short distance into the woods near our camp.  How did I do this on a broken foot you ask? Well the orthopedic said to "make sure you wear your boot".  So I did.  I wore my hiking boot. It is a boot and it is mine. I didn't make it far before I opted to head back. 


While we didn't spot any WooWoos or Bigfoot creatures or ghosts, we did spot about 30 Red Efts (newts) and a few small toads.  And there were a couple of waterfalls on the short hike.  And I will say, listening to my three year old grandson tell another little boy at camp about WooWoos and the ghost witch on the mountain that they have to stone to kill (I swear that's not what I told him) was pretty amusing. 
We did actually have one strange occurrence with an odd light on the very top of the mountain.  Was it a house, a hiker with a large light, the ghost witch?  Who knows.







Worthington State Park is on the list of places to definitely return to.  I want to be able to hike the AT in the area and spend more time checking out the other larger waterfalls in the area. 

Red light in the woods

Kittatinny Ridge home of the Ghost Witch

Hikes and Haunts

This weekend, we headed out to enjoy the unseasonably warm temperatures and gorgeous weather.  Since Halloween was just around the corner, the decision was made to try to check out one of the haunted areas of the trail.  So, checking some options and factoring the amount of time we had before the sun set, we ended up choosing an area known as Dead Womans Hollow.

The Appalachian Trail crosses Dead Womans Hollow Rd as it heads south into Michaux State Forest.  The name of the road is a strange one.  Many years ago, Native Americans encountered the body of a woman who had been bitten by a poisonous snake.  Her ghost is said to haunt the area.

Because the parking was limited for a point-to-point hike, we ended up finding another trail to check  out.  Near the parking area we were planning to use was a trail called the Rocky Knob Trail.  This trail crosses the Appalachian Trail just south of Dead Woman Hollow, and it has its own sinister story.  Back in 1988, two women were enjoying some time hiking and camping on the Appalachian Trail.  The women were camping near a shelter one morning when they encountered a man who asked them for cigarettes.  The man seemed a little odd, so the two women decided to pack up and hike south to find a more secluded campsite.  As they hiked, the man appeared again asking if they were lost and this time he also had a .22 rifle slung over his shoulder.  The women eventually took an off shoot trail called Rocky Knob Trail.  They hiked until they found a good campsite beside a stream and set up camp.  Unbeknownst to them, the man had followed.  He also sometimes lived in the woods around there  and knew the area well.  He was aware that the side trail the women had taken was a loop trail, and he could easily catch up with them.  That evening, the man fired 8 shots at the women.  One woman was hit twice in her head and back.  She died from her wounds.  The other woman was shot five times in her head, neck, arm and face and survived.  She managed to hike out of the woods and back to the main road, approximately 4 miles.  The man was eventually caught after an extensive man hunt and is serving a life sentence. 
This trail seems to have a very heavy feeling.  Perhaps it just comes from knowing what transpired here, or maybe it's from the history itself.  Environments can hold on to energy, whether it's joy or pain or terror, and it seems like this place is definitely holding on to its past.  On a positive note, you can't deny the heroic efforts of the woman who survived.  We hiked out the way she would have gone to reach first the gravel state forest road and then drove the road down to the area where she received help.  It's taxing when you're perfectly healthy, let alone suffering from 5 gunshots. 
My son kept asking about spooky stories from the trail during our hike and wanted to know what was my favorite that I've come across so far.  My answer is that the scariest stories in my opinion are the ones that deal with murder like the story above.  The AT is a relatively safe place to hike.  In fact, walking around a city might be a lot more dangerous that being out in the wilds of the Appalachian Trail.  But the murders that have happened along the length of the trail seem to carry either some mystery as to who committed the crime, or the perpetrator was an odd, creepy person.  Throw in the idea that you're completely isolated in some areas, and it makes for one seriously scary tale. 


Switching gears a bit, Michaux State Forest is also one of the leading areas for Bigfoot sightings in the state.  While we didn't see any  Bigfoot creatures, we were catching a whiff of an odd odor that we described as pungent and musky.  This is a description that often occurs in Bigfoot sighting stories along the trail.  Throw in a couple of trees with scratched areas and you start worrying about bears Bigfoot.  And then there's the Hidebehind which has been talked about since Native American times.  The Hidebehind is a creature similar to a Bigfoot that tends to follow people and peek at them from behind trees.  It's not a good idea to be last in line in Hidebehind territory, and if you are last, don't ever look over your shoulder because you might just end up disappearing. 
We didn't see any Hidebehinds or Bigfoot, but we did do a little investigating along the trail.

All in all it was the perfect pre-Halloween hike and one I'd recommend and plan on doing again in the future.  And I want to stress that while ghosts and Bigfoot and Halloween are all in good fun, never did we consider the loss of life in this area a joke.  We all have nothing but the utmost respect for both women involved: one for her selfless command telling her friend to run and hide while she herself lay dying, and one for having the courage and bravery to persevere and seek help. 

Haunted Appalachian Trail: West Virginia

The Appalachian Trail passes through about 4 miles of the state of West Virginia.  In those 4 miles, it goes through the town of Harpers Ferry home to the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.  It's considered the "psychological" half way point (the actual half way point is further North in PA).  Harpers Ferry has a rich history in outdoor adventure, but it also has quite the reputation for being haunted.



 

 Lost Gold
In 1747, Robert Harper visited the area where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meet known at that time as "The Hole".  Harper ended up purchasing the Ferry service and property from Peter Stephens.  He eventually built a Mill and improved the Ferry.  After losing his cabin to a flood, Robert Harper and his wife Rachel decided to build a home high above the flood plain.  Because workers were hard to come by during the Revolutionary War, Mr. Harper was forced to do most of the labor himself and his health began to fail.  Fearing the bands of thieves roaming the countryside, Mr. Harper told his wife to bury all their gold and tell no one where she had buried it.  Robert Harper died before finishing the house.  Mrs. Harper tried to finish the home she and her her husband were building, but she fell from a ladder and was killed instantly- taking the secret of the buried gold with her.  During the 1800's, Harper House was widely believed to be haunted and was feared by the locals.  Today, people claim to see an old woman dressed in 18th century clothes looking out an upper window gazing at the garden.  Could it be Rachel Harper looking over her stash of gold?

 Everyone Loves a Parade
In 1798, our new nation was apparently in danger of a war with France*.  Troops were sent to Harpers Ferry under General Pinkney and camped on the ridge around the bend of High Street in an area now called Camp Hill.   Because no war ever broke out, the troops were often bored, so every evening they would parade through town with their fifes and drums.  During this time, many of the men developed cholera during an outbreak and died and are said to be buried on the west bank of Camp Hill.  Today residents sometimes hear the sound of fifes and drums and go to the window expecting a parade but no one is ever there.  The music grows louder as it grows closes and then fades away.

*Other information states that the troops were there to aide in the construction of the Armory, canal and river dam.

 Screaming Jenny
In 1833, the railroad came to Harpers Ferry linking the town with the east.  Part of the track passed through the Armory Yard.  There were storage sheds located in the Armory Yard, and once the railroad came though, the sheds were abandoned.  It wasn't long before those who were less fortunate began using the sheds as housing in the cold winter months.  One woman named Jenny who was down on her luck and had no family to turn to, took up residence in one of the sheds.  On a particularly cold evening, she sat too close to the fire and a spark landed on her clothing and set her skirt on fire.  Panicking, she fled the shack and began racing down the tracks towards the station for help. In minutes, she became fully engulfed in flame.  Staggering, she did not notice the lights of an oncoming train.  The engineer, seeing the burning human like form, began frantically blowing the whistle and applying his brakes, but he was unable to stop in time.  Men from the station heard the whistle and the screeching of the brakes and ran to the scene.  They found Jenny's still burning body and put out the fire.  She was later buried in a pauper's grave.  Today engineers do not like coming through Harpers Ferry on misty nights.  They claim to see a ball of fire emitting unearthly screams.  When they try to stop, they never stop in time and feel the telltale bump that means they've run over something.  When they stop to investigate, there's never anything there.  Sometimes at night you can hear the train whistle blowing frantically and you know Jenny's ghost has shown up again.

A Bevy of Ghosts
The Booth House, also known as The Haunted Cottage, was named because of its infamous visitor John Wilkes Booth.  Booth was a nationally known actor who visited Harpers Ferry several times.  He always rented a room at the cottage sometimes inviting a lady friend to join him.  Over the years it served many purposes.  It was rented to families as a single family home and eventually earned the reputation of being one of the most haunted houses in Harpers Ferry.  Paranormal author Vince Wilson rented the home and woke up one night to the sounds of footsteps on the floor above him.  He was able to actually record the ghostly noise.  Many people have experienced paranormal activity at the Booth House.  They report footsteps, strange noises, singing and people talking.  Objects have been known to move on their own.  There have been sightings of shadowy figures and some even report having their hair or clothing tugged. 

To read more detailed information about the Booth House investigation I did, 

visit the Gettysburg Ghosts Blog

Haunted Appalachian Trail: Maryland

I want to preface this by saying that I believe that Maryland is the most paranormally active section of the entire AT.  I've read that the Smokies and the Shenandoah National Park are considered the most haunted, but with only 40 miles, Maryland packs quite a punch for its relatively short distance.  Perhaps the fact that Maryland is the only place along the entire trail corridor where the AT passes through a major Civil War battlefield has something to do with that.

 Crampton's Gap

The Battle of South Mountain is the basis for many of the area's ghost stories.   In the area of Crampton's
Gap, people have seen campfires in the woods at night. They've also heard canon fire and the screams of the wounded men and have seen ghostly soldiers walking the battlefields.  Not far away, there is an area known as Spook Hill where your car seems to roll uphill while in neutral.  Legend says that ghosts of Confederate soldiers are the ones pushing the car thinking it is one of their canons they refuse to leave for the Union Army to take over.  It's said if you sprinkle flour on the trunk of your car, you'll see their hand prints.

 The Purple Church

Just past Crampton's Gap on the road sits an old dilapidated church.  The church is supposedly haunted and it is said that in the 1980's it was the site of Satanic Rituals.  

Fox's Gap

In the area of Fox's Gap the focal point for the Battle of South Mountain, there was a farm owned by Daniel
Wise who lived there with his children.  During the battle the family fled to the safety of a nearby church and their home was used as a Union hospital.  After the battle, the Union dumped 58 Confederate bodies in a well on the property.  The bodies remained there for 12 years before being re-interred at the Confederate Cemetery in Hagerstown.  Now people hear the thud of the bodies being thrown in the well and see soldiers walking the battlefield.

Washington Monument

The rocks below the monument house a maze of caves.  Legend says that a young Civil war soldier stopped
at a nearby farm to get a drink from the well.  He met the farmer's daughter and they fell in love.  She begged the soldier to leave the army and the war and run away with her.  The soldier deserted and they both hid in the caves.  A rockslide ended up trapping the young couple in the caves and they died.  The distressing cries of the couple can be heard as they try to escape.

George "Gath" Townsend

George Townsend was a journalist and a novelist who built an estate in what is now Gathland State Park.  He also built the first War Correspondents memorial.  Though he died in New York and was buried in Philadelphia, Mr. Townsend's ghost still walks the grounds of his estate.

 

 Old South Mountain Inn

Just off the Appalachian trail is the Old South Mountain Inn.  In the 1800's, owner Madeleine Dahlgren was

hosting overnight guests.  One hot evening, one of her house guests opened the bedroom window and sat dozing in a rocking chair.  She awoke suddenly when she sensed something different- the crickets were quiet. Seeing a glow coming from the window, the woman looked out and saw a glowing figure about 50 yards from the house.  The specter was taller than any normal human being and hovered above the ground.  Terrified the woman closed the shutters and hid in the bed under  the covers.   Several nights later, another friend was occupying the same room.  As she got ready for bed, the woman noticed a strange glow coming from the window.  When she went to investigate, she saw the same ghostly figure.  The woman ran to get Madeleine to bear witness to what she had seen.  As both women watched, the figure spread a pair of large luminous wings.  Madeleine slammed the shutters closed and both women dropped to their knees and prayed.

Though she has since passed away, Madeleine Dahlgren still resides in her home at Old South Mountain Inn.  The current owners tell a story about how the ghost of Madeleine saved the Inn.  One evening, the cleaning man was staying late at the Inn waiting for a delivery of linens.  He noticed that a door that was always kept closed was sitting open.  The janitor smelled smoke through the open door and called 911.  A fire had started in the rear of the Inn, but the smell of smoke coming from he open door alerted the man and the Inn was saved.  The current owner also mentions seeing a "flash of something" in the attic one day as she was looking for some holiday decorations.

The White Woman

There are reports of a banshee roaming the South Mountain.  This banshee is said to be a harbinger of death or disaster.  A young girl saw a shrouded figure rise out of the ground and pass through her house.  Two days later her uncle died and the house burned.  The White Woman was also seen by a woman caring for her nine day old grandchild.  The banshee was seen leaning over looking at the child in her cradle.  Not long after, the child died. The White Woman has been seen other times, though there were no deaths associated with her sighting.

The area of the Appalachian Trail that runs through Maryland isn't just known for its ghost stories- it also has its fair share of cryptids (a creature whose existence has been suggested but hasn't yet been discovered or documented by the scientific community). And personally, I find the cryptids a little more frightening than the ghosts.  Afterall, the ghosts are not alive, the cryptids are...

Snallygaster

The snallygaster is described as being part reptile and part bird with scaly body, lizard tail, and metallic beak
lined with razor sharp teeth.  Some descriptions report octopus like tentacles as well.  It has hooked claws, one large eye, poisonous breath and its screech sounds like a train whistle.  It flies over South Mountain looking for prey, and once it finds a meal, it tears the flesh from the victim and sucks the veins dry. So when you're laying in your sleeping bag at night on the Appalachian Trail on South Mountain and you hear a train whistle you'll wonder "Is that really a train or the Snallygaster looking for a meal?"

Dwayyo

The Dwayyo is said to be similar to a wolf with the arms, stance and stature of  man.  It has a dark colored
shaggy coat and a bushy tail.  The Dwayyo is tall with some estimates claiming it's 7-9ft tall and leaves enormous clawed footprints.  It makes a frightful screaming noise.  Chickens and cattle have been found dead in area where the Dwayyo has been sighted, and dogs have refused to hunt the animal and hide when they sense the Dwayyo is near.  It has allegedly attempted to attack several people and shows up every summer.

Snarly Yow

The Snarly Yow is possibly more ghost than cryptid, but no one knows that for sure.  It's described as a
phantom black dog with a grotesque red mouth and fangs.  While most descriptions say it's black, some say the animal appeared as a white headless dog and some say that the dog had the ability to change color from black to white.  The Snarly Yow is known to chase cars and jumps out of bushes to scare passing hikers.  Many have heard its werewolf like howl.

Bigfoot

You can't have a list of cryptids located in a wooded area without adding Bigfoot.  Maryland isn't without Bigfoot sightings, and some hail from the South Mountain area.  There are some who believe that the Appalachian Trail is used by Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) to migrate along the mountain range.

When you're out and about on South Mountain, keep your eyes and ears open-

 there's no telling what you might encounter.

For more in depth information on some of the hauntings/cryptids, 

please check out the Gettysburg Ghosts blog.

The Haunted Appalachian Trail

I mentioned previously that I had come across information about parts of the Appalachian Trail being haunted.  While I'm not surprised to learn that the trail is haunted, I am surprised that it wasn't something I had even considered.  I've been a paranormal investigator for many years, and before that I was a paranormal junkie- going back to the age of 4.  Typically my adventures start with the paranormal, but this particular trip was only about accomplishing something on my list and enjoying the outdoors.  For me, adding in the paranormal has made this the ultimate adventure.
Since I've been trying to come up with something interesting to blog about on my ghost blog (Gettysburg Ghosts), I came up with the idea that I would research ghosts and other paranormal occurrences along the AT.  So from time to time, as I gather my information, I'll throw a post up here about the ghosts and legends of one of 14 states along the AT.  I decided to start with Maryland as that is the state I'll be spending most of my time in during my section hike in October, and it's the state that I have the most knowledge about as far as the paranormal. 

So stay tuned! 

Unless you're worried you'll be too scared to sleep in those shelters.