Campfire stories

[Sanders]

Seems like if you're going to see weird stuff, you'll see them while out camping. Some things are scary, some are weird, some are just funny and entertaining. All are memorable.

Here's one of mine:

When I was 16 yrs old, I hardly ever slept in my own bed. Either I'd be off at a friend's house, or more than likely I'd be in the mountains of the 200,000 acre ranch we lived on. If my friends were busy, I was never averse to taking off by myself. There was always something interesting to do and see out there. When the weather was warm, I never took more than a blanket or sleeping bag to camp with, and slept on the ground. As I got older, I added a sleeping pad to my kit, then a tent, and eventually a bigger tent. Now that I'm much older, I'm thinking an RV trailer or motorcoach isn't such a bad idea.

Now, I've always been a Stoic person. Few things get me too excited. It's just my nature, I reckon. Anyway, I was camping by myself in the mountains near our home in Southern Arizona on a long abandoned mining road cut into the side of the mountain. The range is criss-crossed with these roads, and few of them are ever traveled anymore, let alone maintained by anybody. Back then, it was all deeded land owned by a family run ranching and mining corporation. There was a small, familial community up there and everyone was related, except my family. We were renting the house that a pissed off family member sold to some outsiders just to spite the rest. The fags who bought it were bullied off their place, but instead of selling out, they just rented it and my parents were the ones who first moved in. We were accepted right away among them.

I had parked in the middle of the road and figured I'd just sleep on the ground beside my CJ-5 for the night. After gathering some rocks and making a small fire ring, I built a little fire to heat up my can of chile - which would have been either Stagg or Cimarron back then. After I ate, I sat on the ground in front of the fire as it got dark. There were clouds rolling in, as late summer in Southern Arizona is the rainy season and afternoon and evening thunderstorms are not uncommon. The wind rose, and lightening was flashing. My little campfire was still burning brightly, though. In a flash of lightening, I noticed a man standing on the other side of my fire. A grizzled old prospector type of fellow. I was startled at first, but said nothing - making no sudden moves as my hand casually moved toward the pistol on my hip, a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 magnum.

Anyway, the old man said nothing. He knelt down beside the fire and stretched his hands out to warm them over the flames. He never looked at me, and acted as if he didn't even know I was there. It was at that moment, in another flash of lightening and boom of thunder the sky opened up in a deluge and put the fire out and the man was gone. I got back in the Jeep, thankful I had the soft top on, and tried to go to sleep and wait out the storm, but couldn't get comfortable in it. So, I decided to get turned around (about a 30 point turn) and head home. A few days later, I went back up there, but found a section of the road, about 40 feet of it, had been washed out in that storm. It was never repaired. If I hadn't turned around and went home when I did, I'd have been stuck up there with no way out, as the road dead-ended at an old mine site.

As to who the old man was? I don't know. There was an old hermit living in those mountains, but his place was several miles away from where I was, and on the other side of the mountains, and was a nice enough fellow from what I'd been told from folks who knew him. I always figured he was the ghost of an old miner who lost his life either while prospecting or in one of the numerous mines around there.

[4thIDvet]

William Bonney AKA Billy the Kid??? Dang good thing you did not pull the big iron..

[FloridaAKM]

Good story, things happen for a reason, yours turned out good!