Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

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mreha
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Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by mreha » June 12th, 2016, 2:05 pm

This is going to sound kind of weird, but...

I was on Benson Plateau earlier this week and I ran into this spot on the PCT that just gave me the worst vibe. It was on the north side of the plateau, just before the trail starts to really lose elevation. It was past the junction with the Benson Way Trail but before Teakettle Spring. There were two campsites on the east side of the trail, and as I got close to them I got this intense feeling like I was being watched. I had been wanting to stop and rest for a minute to drink some water, so I stopped at the campsites and sat for a bit, and the feeling never went away. I noticed that it was absolutely silent there, too - no birds, no squirrels, etc. I had been thinking about eating some lunch, but after a few minutes it unnerved me so much that I moved on. I kept feeling like someone was watching me as I walked down the trail, but after about 5 minutes it went away and I started hearing birds sing again, etc.

I'm not one to get spooked in the woods normally, I love being in the forest and I usually get nothing but good feelings in it. I just wondered if there was some history to this spot or if anyone else had noticed anything there? Or maybe it was a bear or cougar that was watching me and that's why the other animals were so quiet? It was a strange experience and it stuck with me...you could not have paid me to stay at those campsites.

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texasbb
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Re: Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by texasbb » June 12th, 2016, 4:05 pm

Benson Plateau: creepily beautiful or beautifully creepy? It's both!

You're not the first to report creepy feelings up there. The place always feels on edge to me, like something's about to happen. My theory is that it reminds of so many "places" we've seen in LOTRish movies and such. The open forest, the shady darkness, the sounds attenuated by so much moss and duff and often fog--it all works to pull up memories. The sunny days don't give me as strong feelings. I love the foggy days up there.

mreha
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Re: Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by mreha » June 13th, 2016, 5:00 am

In general I thought the plateau was really cool; I spent the night at Benson Camp and loved it. It was just that particular spot...weird. Good to know I'm not the only one who's got the willies up there, though!

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AAdamsPDX
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Re: Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by AAdamsPDX » June 13th, 2016, 10:30 am

Yeah...you're not the only one! Most times I love the plateau. Sometimes though, in some spots, it feels pretty weird.

Last time my husband and I were up there we stopped for a bit beside the trail and I was kind of done for the day but he wanted to find the "perfect" campsite (I've unofficially given him the trail name "Goldilocks" because he's always looking for the "just right" spot to break, camp, whatever). So I sat by myself for about half an hour while he wandered around.

I both day hike and overnight on my own, and I've long since lost that creepy feeling I used to get sleeping in a tent at night, thinking every noise is a bear...but I got a little weirded out that time, I confess. Was glad when my husband returned. We went a little ways down the trail and suddenly everything felt fine again.

I think texasbb is onto something with the open forest and attenuated sound, but it's much more fun to wonder about what those shepherds got up to on the plateau years back. Maybe some fun ghost stories to share around the campfire! :lol:
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Peder
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Re: Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by Peder » June 13th, 2016, 11:53 am

AAdamsPDX wrote:I think texasbb is onto something with the open forest and attenuated sound, but it's much more fun to wonder about what those shepherds got up to on the plateau years back. Maybe some fun ghost stories to share around the campfire! :lol:
Also the plateau is so very big that you are not always sure are not about to get hopelessly lost!
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Koda
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Re: Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by Koda » June 13th, 2016, 12:12 pm

why is the one campsite call "Hunters Camp", whats the story behind that?
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drm
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Re: Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by drm » June 21st, 2016, 10:40 am

When a friend of mine said to me some years ago that Benson Plateau was spooky, I thought he was weird. Since then it has come up again and again here on oh.org and yet despite countless visits, both dayhike and camping, I've never felt even the slightest sense of it. People have suggested various reasons why the word "creepy" and "spooky" seem to be connected with it, but none make any sense to me.

It seems that many human cultures, though not all, find forests to be spooky. But these tend to be dense and dark forests, and Benson Plateau is not that. Is this some kind of evolutionary left-over from humans not wanting to be preyed upon by predators and thus preferring open grasslands with good views of predator at a distance? Even so, it still doesn't explain why it appears to be unique to BP. Just one of those mysteries.

mreha
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Re: Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by mreha » June 21st, 2016, 11:22 am

drm wrote:When a friend of mine said to me some years ago that Benson Plateau was spooky, I thought he was weird. Since then it has come up again and again here on oh.org and yet despite countless visits, both dayhike and camping, I've never felt even the slightest sense of it. People have suggested various reasons why the word "creepy" and "spooky" seem to be connected with it, but none make any sense to me.

It seems that many human cultures, though not all, find forests to be spooky. But these tend to be dense and dark forests, and Benson Plateau is not that. Is this some kind of evolutionary left-over from humans not wanting to be preyed upon by predators and thus preferring open grasslands with good views of predator at a distance? Even so, it still doesn't explain why it appears to be unique to BP. Just one of those mysteries.
I love dark, dense forests and usually feel really comfortable in them...and I spent two days on the plateau and felt fine everywhere else, it was just that one spot. The only other time I can remember feeling kind of creeped in a similar way (but a lot less) was at Skookum Lake, which other people have reported also. This time, I'm leaning towards the idea that maybe I subconsciously noticed the silence in that particular spot and that was what unnerved me even before I consciously realized that I couldn't hear any animals or birds anymore.

Incidentally, I did a search for sudden silence in the woods and the first result was that Bigfoot "hunters" say that it's a sign that Bigfoot is near...pretty sure it was not that :lol:

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retired jerry
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Re: Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by retired jerry » June 21st, 2016, 3:10 pm

I camped there over night and I didn't feel any spookiness

A little south of Teakettle springs

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Re: Creepy spot on Benson Plateau

Post by texasbb » June 21st, 2016, 5:43 pm

drm wrote:It seems that many human cultures, though not all, find forests to be spooky. But these tend to be dense and dark forests, and Benson Plateau is not that. Is this some kind of evolutionary left-over from humans not wanting to be preyed upon by predators and thus preferring open grasslands with good views of predator at a distance? Even so, it still doesn't explain why it appears to be unique to BP. Just one of those mysteries.
It ain't unique to Benson and it ain't just forests. I once got a very similar feeling skirting the edge of a wide open wet meadow near Big Therriault Lake in NW Montana. It had become suddenly and unexpectedly overcast, almost foggy, as I walked by, and for whatever reason everything got quiet and even the sounds I made seemed muted. I think the lack of noise is one of the main creepiness generators.

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