Going camping? The forests of California are a great place to visit. Just make sure to avoid any dreadful beasts, both human and inhuman.

Welcome back to Unexplained Encounters. I'm your host, Darkness prevails. You can follow me on Twitter at Dark prevails by the way.

Today I've prepared for you some very creepy allegedly true stories, some about camping and others about California.

Enjoy and don't forget to send me your scary stories at darkstories.org. I'd love to read some stories from forest rangers.

Also don't forget to check out all our other horrifying shows at eeriecast.com. Now let's begin.

Thing in the woods. From bad.

I don't think you should necessarily be afraid of the dark, but you should definitely be aware of your surroundings when nighttime comes, or you might just encounter something very unpleasant.

Despite all the bad things going on in the world, my mom and I decided it would be a good idea to go on a camping trip in Northern Ontario, Canada.

When she told me about this campsite, I just couldn't say no. I love the outdoors. We invited our friend to, let's call her Phoenix.

She was more than enthusiastic to tack along. On July 7th we set off. It was a long tiring trip, but the landscapes were breathtaking nonetheless.

After driving 5 and a half hours, we made it. I was so happy just to be out of the car.

The first few days were great. We had a lot of fun fishing, swimming and hiking the trails. The weather was good too. It was like a dream come true.

Though after a while, we began to hear strange noises at night, usually while we were in our tent. My mother and Phoenix just brushed it off as an animal in the woods. But I felt uneasy.

It didn't sound like an animal, it sounded human, but there was no logical reason for someone to be in the woods past midnight, right?

I should mention that we were in a pretty remote area. We only had one neighbor beside us the whole time. They were on the right side and the noises were coming from the left.

A few times by the campfire, we would hear the same noises, like feet scattering around in the woods.

When I flashed my flashlight towards the noises, I wouldn't see anything, nothing peculiar.

The second last night, me, my mom and Phoenix, put out the fire and turned in for the night.

I had done a lot that day, so I had no trouble falling asleep. The night was peaceful, until I woke up to someone walking around outside.

At first I thought it was one of my campmates, but when I looked over, I saw them both fast asleep.

I shifted around a bit, and when I did, they must have heard me and gotten scared off, because the footsteps turned into a run. They faded away into the woods.

I was too freaked out to even say anything, so I just lay there in silence. I mean, I couldn't hear that person anymore.

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