Odd man in Irondequoit Creek (Spring 2026 - Rochester, NY, US)
I thought I would finally share an experience I had early in spring this year, I kind of kept it to myself because now normal it seemed on the surface but the more I think about it the less it makes sense.
I started taking daily hikes to forage beginning in this spring, behind my house is an easement for transmission lines and if you follow it, it’s a short walk to the Irondequoit creek. The creek is a bit low in a ravine so you can only enter it if you know to walk from the easement it’s a bit inaccessible from the houses in the neighborhood, long story short no one goes down there besides me, and occasionally some kids.
To enjoy my antisocial solo hikes I always take them early in the day and on week days to avoid crossing paths with anyone. It was spring so I was cautious not to scare any deer or fawns, they would usually huff at me and sprint away.
I got to the entrance of the creek which is up on a hill, you can see down there without anything being able to see you, I enter and see a deer walking along a shallow branch of the creek, so I pause and decide I should enter a bit further down the easement to not disturb her.. as I’m thinking that my eye catches something right next to her.. maybe within 3 feet.
It was a man.. his back was to me.. and immediately I was like OH SHIT A PERSON. So I turn and start walking back home.
But then I realize what I actually saw as I was walking away, he was shirtless, and he was bending down into the shallow mostly mud part of the creek, scooping up water and putting it to his face.. which.. was weird? The ticks were insane that spring, and so were the mosquitos him being shirtless was weird, but even weirder? He was putting muddy creek water to his face?? AND the deer had no reaction to him.
I would expect this of maybe someone unstable, but by appearance he was very out of place, he was tall, and somehow suntanned even though we just got out of the worst winter most people looked half dead around here, he was muscular, and he was very very clean, like not a speck of dirt on him even though he was standing in a muddy creek, I only saw the back of him but he had short dark hair. Now I know everyone in this neighborhood this was a stranger, I think I would know if there was a model that lives here / also hikes this area I hike daily. At the angle I couldn’t see below his waist so I’m unsure if he was actually just fully butt naked or shirtless either way there is stinging nettle down there, ticks, mosquitos like you need pants and sleeves to not suffer.
Anyways.. I really just chalked it up to a weird guy in the creek, after all I’m a forager I also look weird picking fern heads down there.. but then I did some research into local Haundenosaunee stories, and found the horned serpent (Gas'hais'dowänen) which… is a monster that lives in Lake Ontario (the Irondequoit creek runs out of the lake) that shape shifts into a handsome man to lure young women to the water. (Didn’t work on me because I avoid all people handsome or not).
I never encountered anyone down there since and I’ve still been going down there daily. I’ll attach some photos below of the creek so you can see how muddy that one ravine/branch of the creek is and where my viewpoint was.