Appalachian trail man
This happened to me back in March-June 2021. I was travel nursing to Virginia on a contract. I lived fairly close to the blue ridge mountains/ Shenandoah national park. Because it was just me and my husband (fiancé at the time) was back home in a different state, I went alone went to the blue ridge mountains since you don’t have to pay to get in. I used my all trails to find a good spot to put up my hammock. I went on a trail that was specifically appalchancian trail not far in maybe a little under a mile there was a perfect set up of a clearing overlooking a mountain with two trees in the perfect spot. I spent a good amount of time there.
However it was getting close to when I was going to pack up and an older guy with white hair was walking with a younger girl who had a dog. They stopped said hi, we exchanged a few greetings and they went on their way. Maybe 15 minutes later he come back by himself. I thought it was a little weird but he came back and started really really talking to me. Asking why I was out, who I was with, how close I lived, etc. I was just kinda feeing creeped out and decided when he left I would pack up and leave. Well he kept talking and that’s when I noticed his fly was down and had a little roughed up look about him.
I never asked about the girl or the dog because I was scared he would react poorly. Also, I never heard any sounds that would have made me question something happen. But weird that they came together on the trail and didn’t walk far then split up. I just didn’t feel good at all being in his presence. Well after talking for like 15 minutes he finally started leaving the trail after asking to walk me back. I stayed about 10 more minutes to get good space between us because I didn’t feel comfortable walking with him. I immediately called my husband and gave him a description (lol). When I started walking back up the trail I kept hearing these quiet rustling sounds that would stop when I would stop to listen more closely. I never saw anything but I felt impending doom in my stomach that I’ve never felt before, so I just took off running until I got back to the road.
The encounter never sat right with me and from time to time (especially the rest of my contract) I always kept an eye out for a missing girl/dog in the area around that time