Trail Tales 77

Today’s stories include being locked in taxidermy museums, meeting legends, lightning escapes, ghostly hikes and trolling blue butterflies. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at:Instagram: @nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @nationalparkafterdarkSupport the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page! Thank you to the week’s partners! Hello Fresh: Use our link to get up to 10 FREE meals and a free item for life. Cash App: Download Cash App Today: [SECURE10] #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Direct Deposit, Overdraft Coverage and Discounts provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. Monsters Among Us: Listen to Monsters Among Us Podcast now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Graza: Take your food to the next level with Graza Olive Oil. Visit https://graza.co/NPAD and use promo code NPAD today for 10% off of the TRIO! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:29Speaker 01

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• 1:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  Hello, hello everyone. Welcome to another Trail Tales episode. We are so excited to have you here. But first things first, before we get started, it's very important that you know that today is coming down to the wire for the last time that you can get your merch for spooky season. It's selling out fast. It's not going to be available much longer. So go grab it. We have tie dye, if you haven't heard, if you haven't seen. For Monday's episode, I'm still wearing the tie dye shirt today. And we have a lot of cool stuff on there. So go hop over there.

• 1:52Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, down to the wire for the last couple of days. So if you want a You Got Haunted shirt, don't say we didn't tell you it was available.

• 2:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's a tear.

• 2:04Danielle LaRock?

  But anyway, yeah, you can go to npadpodcast.com, which we revamped the site. It's so nice. If you are like interested in going to see our little like, it's just a refresh.

• 2:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 2:17Danielle LaRock?

  But it's really cute.

• 2:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  Colors. It's, yeah, it does look really nice.

• 2:20Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. So the shop page is directly linked on that. So you can go poke around and see what's there. Or if you're like, hey, I don't want any of that stuff. That's fine. But if you do want stuff in the future, we're working on that as well. So, all right, that's enough business. That was exhausting. I want to tell some stories.

• 2:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay, let's hear them.

• 2:40Danielle LaRock?

  And I want to go second because the title of yours is really intriguing me.

• 2:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay.

• 2:47Danielle LaRock?

  Your first one.

• 2:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  Do that. Let's hop right in.

• 2:49Danielle LaRock?

  Okay.

• 2:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  So my first one is titled Locked in the Bryce Canyon National Park's Taxidermy Museum.

• 2:57Danielle LaRock?

  What did I tell you?

• 2:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  It is intriguing.

• 2:59Danielle LaRock?

  Starting strong.

• 3:00Cassandra Yahnian?

  I already know I do not want to be locked in this place.

• 3:04Danielle LaRock?

  I'm interested.

• 3:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  You would like to be locked in? All right, let's go. I owe my sister-in-law big time for getting me hooked on your podcast a few years back. As a nature lover, true crime junkie, you're kind of my perfect match. I think you'll get why after this story. In March 2016, my fiance, now husband, and I went on a trip to cross off a few more national parks off of our bucket list. We spent the majority of our week's vacation exploring Zion National Park, hiking by day and hot tubbing with mountain views by night. What a dream. The last two nights of our trip, we had reservations at a motel in Bryce Canyon National Park. In the short distance between the parks, we watched a skiff of snow accumulate on the desert landscape. By the time we got to Bryce Canyon, all but one trail was closed in the park due to the snow.

• 3:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  We hiked that trail twice, posed with Thor's hammer, hit all the scenic viewpoints, and realized we still had a day and a half left in the most inaccessible park. My fiance's idea? Why don't we check out the taxidermy museum we passed by on our way up to the park? Now, he knew this was a stretch. As a lifelong vegetarian who is against hunting for sport, even I was surprised that I agreed to check it out. I guess there's only so much cops you can watch in a motel room in Utah without a beer run in sight. We got to the museum and the owner excitedly greeted us. You could tell it had been a very quiet day with the snow. He was thrilled to show off an extensive collection of animals that he boasted he quote mostly hunted himself. We'd been there a whole three minutes when he said he had to run a quick errand to the

• 4:34Cassandra Yahnian?

  post office, but that we should stay and keep looking. He walked out the door and we heard a loud click. He had locked the front door and the interior of the door did not have a deadbolt or knob to let ourselves out. We were locked in a motherfucking taxidermy museum.

• 4:51Danielle LaRock?

  For some reason, I thought this was like gonna be an overnight situation, like they closed.

• 4:55Cassandra Yahnian?

  Like night at the museums, but night at the taxidermy museum.

• 5:00Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, I didn't realize it was like within five minutes of arriving in the middle of the day.

• 5:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  That would scare me so bad if I walked into some weird taxidermy shop and the guy was like, oh, I just have to run a quick errand. I'll be back soon. Click.

• 5:14Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, oh, you would lose your mind.

• 5:16Cassandra Yahnian?

  Breaking glass.

• 5:16Danielle LaRock?

  You'd be on the phone with the police immediately.

• 5:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  I'd be like, I'm being kidnapped. I am in a taxidermy museum. I don't like closed in spaces. Don't lock me in. Yeah, that would not go well for me. And it, this person feels the same way because they say, at this point, I'm starting to panic, which turns into a game for my fiance. He starts in with, do you think the other building is where he taxidermies humans? And well, at least we have good company.

• 5:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  Pan's arms to the hundreds of dead animals staring at us with cold, plastic eyes. His laughter and jokes started to fade when we were still in there 45 minutes later. The quote, "quick errand" turned out to be almost an hour long. The owner chuckled when he got back that he had run into a friend and lost track of time chatting. Little did he know, I almost yanked an antelope off the wall to bust out a window with its horns. I just about ran out of the building when the front door unlocked. While we can laugh about it now, that was the longest hour of my life. I've been wanting to share this story since I started listening to NPAD, but a part of me has always felt guilty sharing since the museum owner was genuinely so nice and had trusting intentions, we think.

• 6:29Cassandra Yahnian?

  But then again, the man locked us in a taxidermy museum, so I think I'm a thousand percent justified in sharing this. Enjoy the view, but use the buddy system when it comes to taxidermy museums. Cheers, Lauren.

• 6:42Danielle LaRock?

  I can't believe she didn't call anyone.

• 6:44Cassandra Yahnian?

  You would have called, I would have given you.

• 6:45Danielle LaRock?

  I would have called nine one one immediately.

• 6:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  Five minutes tops.

• 6:48Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, okay, so I was being generous.

• 6:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, I would have banged on the glass for him to turn around. And if he didn't, I would have called nine one one.

• 6:54Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. I mean, which is fair because you don't know their intentions and it feels, you can't just lock people.

• 7:00Cassandra Yahnian?

  In a building.

• 7:01Danielle LaRock?

  In a building and leave.

• 7:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. It sounds like it was genuinely a mistake and he was probably a really nice person and hopefully has not done it since. Thankfully, but just especially, I mean, maybe if I was with Al, I wouldn't feel that way. But if I was, if it was me and you, or if I was by myself as a girl locked in a building by a man, I would call the police immediately.

• 7:23Danielle LaRock?

  With a bunch of dead animals.

• 7:25Cassandra Yahnian?

  With a bunch of dead animals, yeah.

• 7:26Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 7:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  I feel like he would do the same thing her partner did where start choking.

• 7:33Danielle LaRock?

  Make light of it, for sure.

• 7:34Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 7:34Danielle LaRock?

  I can envision that.

• 7:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  So then maybe I would, I would last a little longer.

• 7:39Danielle LaRock?

  Up to 10, maybe. Okay, you're like, okay, I've had enough. I'm not that interested in it. See, I feel like I would, I feel like I would milk that 45 minutes pretty easily. Like looking around, depending on.

• 7:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  The vibe.

• 7:54Danielle LaRock?

  Depending on, because at first I was like, oh, like a museum, but the way it's described, it feels like it's more of somebody's like personal collection.

• 8:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 8:03Danielle LaRock?

  That is like, I don't know.

• 8:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's how serial killer stories begin.

• 8:08Danielle LaRock?

  I don't know. So I was

• 8:11Danielle LaRock?

  a couple of months ago and Jeff came to visit and we went, there's a museum that's like kind of in a nearby community. That's just like in an old like building. And like it's a, it's a true, it's not somebody's personal collection from present day. But you go into the museum, I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know what this museum was even about. I was just like, you feel like you're, it seems like you're bored. So let's do something. So we go and lo and behold, it is, it is somebody's personal taxidermy collection from like the 1800s. And this person was like, she, oh, she was the fiance of John Wilkes Booth.

• 8:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, I remember you telling me this.

• 8:52Danielle LaRock?

  Yes, and I forget her name.

• 8:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  Which is really funny.

• 8:56Danielle LaRock?

  But anyway.

• 8:57Cassandra Yahnian?

  The worst taxidermy ever.

• 8:58Danielle LaRock?

  She came from like a lot of money, so she had a ton of like philanthropic pursuits. And I guess she donated her personal, I mean, there are thousands of taxidermy, everything from like big game animals to like thousands of butterflies to eggs of all kinds, to reptile. It was a lot. And I feel like Jeff was like Ace Ventura in that scene of, you know, when he walks into the trophy head collection and he's like gasping. He's like, where have you taken me? I'm like, I'm really sorry. I'm so sorry, but we're here. Enjoy this 10 foot bear, polar bear. And he's like, that's really sad.

• 9:44Cassandra Yahnian?

  Like, I hate it here.

• 9:45Danielle LaRock?

  He's like, get me back to Utah. This is upsetting. Anyway, okay. Roundabout way of saying I spent 45 minutes there very easily, so I don't even know if I would know I was locked in.

• 9:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 10:02Speaker 05

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• 10:32Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, we're taking a different turn. We're going to a natural disaster type thing. Okay, this story is titled A Close Call With Lightning in the Chiricahua National Monument. Hi Cassie and Danielle, I'm a longtime listener of your show and a first-time story submitter. I told the following story to my sister Hannah, also a big NPAD fan, who urged me to send it into you. So shout out Hannah, and here's my story about a sketchy lightning storm in the Chiricahua National Monument. I awoke that morning at a quarter after four with the wild urge to get out and go hiking. I had gotten back late the night before from hanging out with friends, but despite the little sleep, I felt especially energized. I checked the weather forecast as I packed my gear.

• 11:14Danielle LaRock?

  It was July and the first monsoon storms had already hit Tucson a week before. Monsoons can be hazardous for hikers with lightning and flash floods being routine features of the late afternoon storms alongside heavy rain, high winds, and hail. I was unconcerned about storms, however, as I intended to be off the trail well before the storms usually arrived, and the forecast indicated nothing out of the ordinary for that afternoon. I hit the road as the sun broke over the Rincon Peaks east of town and raced along I-10 towards the mountains. It was 7:30 when I parked my car at Masai Point and began the 10-mile circuit through the National Monument's hoodoo forests. Shrubby junipers and stately ponderosa pines grew amongst towering gray columns of volcanic tufts.

• 11:58Danielle LaRock?

  Agave, yucca, and cactus made up the underbrush, filling out the classic sky island ecosystem found in the mountains of southern Arizona and New Mexico. While keeping any eye out for wildlife, I located the greatest natural walking stick I have ever found. This detail may sound dumb, but I just can't express how perfectly straight, ergonomic, and well-proportioned this staff was. It seemed tailored just to me, and combined with the empty trails and beautiful weather, was just another lucky addition to an already auspicious day. By 9:30, I made it to Inspiration Point, a high vista which gives incredible views into the interior canyons of the National Monument. I found a small ammo box hidden beside a tuft boulder with "Open Me" scratched into the lid.

• 12:41Danielle LaRock?

  Opening it revealed a notebook and pen for hikers to leave messages, along with dozens of fragments of paper, coins, seashells, a picture of someone's pet peacock, and more. My favorite note read, Enjoy a beer on us, weary traveler. Sorry, it's PBR. Ned and Ashley 3224. I left a short note of my own and continued hiking. I took Big Balanced Rock Trail past its namesake into the heart of the Rocks Loop where I ate my lunch amongst the hoodoos. Visible to the south were the largest of the chiricar was. Irregular mountains which alternated between jagged ridges and wide rounded peaks. Many extended into timber zones where trees clumped in dark patches, giving the mountains a look like the back of a great buffalo shedding his shaggy winter hide.

• 13:23Danielle LaRock?

  I hiked down into the Sarah Demming Canyon, thankful again to have my trusty staff, as I navigated the steep terrain before heading east and north of the walls of Ryleight Canyon. Around noon, as I descended the northern wall of Echo Canyon, I turned back and saw dark thunderheads gathering about the mountain peaks. In the hour or so that I had been in the canyons with a sight with sightline cut off to the south, monsoon storms had moved in. My mood instantly darkened. I increased my pace to stay ahead of the storm clouds which swept north and west with astonishing speed. I was deep in Echo Canyon, climbing higher into the northern hoodoos when the thunder and lightning began to crack and boom on the plains to the west. I began to really regret my position.

• 14:06Danielle LaRock?

  I was under the ragged edge of the storm, the sky split black and blue above my head. The safest place from the lightning would have been deep down in the canyon, but that would have involved hiking back under the storm clouds and trading the threat of lightning for that of flash floods. I debated sheltering in place among the hoodoos, but the weather was only going to worsen and I really doubted the ability of the volcanic tuft to protect me from the lightning. Recalling an NPAD episode about hikers struck by lightning in a cave on Yosemite's Half Dome. Who could ever forget that? That was really upsetting.

• 14:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, that was an awful episode.

• 14:41Danielle LaRock?

  My best option appeared to be hiking with all haste back to my car. The trail was very exposed along the rim of Echo Canyon, but there were only two miles left and I was still somewhat ahead of the storm. I decided to press my advantage and booked it. I knew that lightning can strike even in clear conditions and I was under no illusion that just because I was on the edge of the storm, that I was safe. The truth was that at that point, no option was safe. And the best thing I could do was to minimize my time exposed to the storm. While the hoodoos conveyed a psychological comfort and gave the feeling of cover, I knew they offered no actual protection from any incoming lightning strikes. For the first time in years, I felt legitimate fear about the situation that I was in. I remembered that the average person has a one in 11,000-ish chance of being struck by lightning

• 15:26Danielle LaRock?

  in their lifetimes. I wondered what the probability was for me now. I was unsure about the exact amount of risk I faced. I doubted my decision to charge down the last couple of miles of the trail, and I flinched at every peal of thunder. But I stuck with my decision and kept my thoughts on the shrinking trail ahead of me and humored myself with thoughts about what stories would be told in the wake of my electrified annihilation. At least I'd go suddenly while doing something I loved. Hannah, at least, would understand. I was practically running from cover to cover between stands of hoodoos. I held my walking stick horizontally at my side as I navigated stairs, rocks, and boulders, winding my way ever closer to the trailhead. At one point, I nearly halted at the sight of a large gap in the hoodoos,

• 16:09Danielle LaRock?

  50 or so feet that was completely open. I kept my eyes on the blue sky ahead of me and hurried across it. But by midway, the thought occurred to me that my loyal hiking staff might cause me more risk than benefit, that I might be carrying a wooden lightning rod that could make the difference between getting hit or getting home. It had been with me all day, contributing to a sense of confidence and fearlessness during my terse mental deliberations about the incoming storm and my rapid evacuation from the canyon. But in that moment of exposure and fear, my nerve broke, and I dropped it. As I rushed along the trail into the next patch of cover, I turned to look behind me and saw my faithful friend lying betrayed and abandoned in the dust. I kept going, and soon it was out of view. It's like Wilson.

• 16:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  Wilson.

• 16:55Danielle LaRock?

  Wilson, no. At this point, I was close to the Echo Canyon trailhead, which lay a quarter mile or so ahead of Masai Point. Thunder boomed behind me, and I whispered a repetitive chant for safety, aimed as much at heaven as it was at whatever spirits yet remain. Among the hoodoos. I scrambled around an outcropping of tough boulders when I suddenly came upon a family of tourists. I was alarmed at the sight of them casually strolling and admiring the rocks. I quickly explained that it wasn't safe for them to be on the trail with the lightning storm bearing down. The dad said something about how they weren't planning on being there long anyways and thanked me for my concern. I nodded, realizing I wasn't going to convince them to turn around, and made a mental note to tell the visitor center of the hikers I knew to still be on the trail.

• 17:39Danielle LaRock?

  That family, plus one other hiker and trail runner I'd passed hours before, ate lives still on the trail. This gave the rush back to my vehicle a sense of purpose beyond the simple satisfaction of my survival instinct. In record time, I reached Masai Point, drenched in sweat and laughing hysterically as I reveled in the protection of my Honda Faraday cage. I pounded a lead of water and electrolyte and drove down into Bonita Canyon to talk to a ranger at the visitor's center. I walked in quickly, rain beginning to patter on the parking lot, and made a beeline for an elderly woman sitting at the front desk. She was the only Parks employee I had seen all day. I quickly relayed to her the seriousness of the weather conditions outside, the eight souls still out on the trail, and the disaster that could potentially unfold. I asked if there was another ranger who could hike in

• 18:23Danielle LaRock?

  or at least sit at the trailhead and count the hikers on their way out to account for their safety, and her response dumbfounded me. "Did you see the big balanced rock?" she asked, completely unfazed by my concern. "What?" I responded. "The big balanced rock," she pointed to a poster on the wall. "Did you see it?" "Um, yeah," I responded, absolutely perplexed. "Did you take a photo of it?" she asked. "Yeah, uh, I think so," I said, unsure of what the hell was going on with this lady. "Well, that means you hiked at least five miles today, and you get a pin." She produced a small metal pin from the drawer in front of her, bearing the image of the big balanced rock. This lady completely disregarded everything I told her of the storm, the hikers, the deteriorating weather conditions. I was soaked with sweat, flushed with exertion, rain was audibly hitting the roof.

• 19:08Danielle LaRock?

  I just told her of the imminent possibility of loss of life, and this crazy old bat wanted to give me a pin? I hesitated for a second and began to turn around at the same moment a ranger walked in the door. Relieved at the sight of another Parks employee, I shot out a quick "thank you" to the lady at the desk. "Took the pin for some reason?" question mark. And then quickly relayed everything to the other ranger. She listened and thanked me for the information, adding that the monument had a procedure for bad weather and would make sure everyone would make it off of the trail safely. I thanked her and walked back to my vehicle, letting the rain fall on me as I strode across the parking lot. I sat a moment before I turned the engine on, processing everything that had just happened and meditating on the new respect I had for the weather. I vowed to do more research on lightning safety, look at more than one forecast before

• 19:52Danielle LaRock?

  committing to a long hike and make no assumptions about weather, regardless how clear and sunny the day seemed. I urge other listeners to do the same when participating in the outdoors. In addition to the preparations we make for the risks presented by wildlife, terrain, temperature and more, it is important to never leave home without a contingency for sudden bad weather, especially during yearly periods of unpredictable patterns like monsoon season in Arizona. Thank you for reading my story. I wrote it more as a thank you for providing good information about stories about the outdoors. I really did think about the Yosemite lightning fatalities during my own lightning experience, and it convinced me to not shelter in the safe feeling, but actually unsafe hoodoo's. I'm also pretty sure that the one in 11,000 statistic came from your episode about Sparky,

• 20:37Danielle LaRock?

  the Shenandoah ranger who got struck several times during his life as a ranger. Seven times, actually, or no, 11.

• 20:43Cassandra Yahnian?

  I don't remember. It's been a while.

• 20:44Danielle LaRock?

  You guys can tell me. By sharing stories that may seem macabre about the risky, hazardous and deadly situations that claim the lives of other unfortunate outdoorsmen, you provide lessons for the rest of us to live by. Alongside Tooth and Claw and other podcasts that feature stories of wilderness survival scenarios, you provide an incredible source of entertaining information that undoubtedly has helped inform the actions of other hikers to their benefit. So, thank you for your podcast and I look forward to the next episode. Sincerely, Jordan.

• 21:14Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, glad you made it out, Jordan.

• 21:16Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, that's scary. It's like, I feel like in older age and with the knowledge of what we've now learned over the journey of National Park After Dark. I don't know, I used to like get really stoked for thunder and lightning storms, especially in the summer as they roll in in the afternoons here in New England. It's just, it's a really like almost comforting type of thing, or I used to find it comforting. Yeah, but now I'm scared.

• 21:41Cassandra Yahnian?

  Same. We've scared ourselves for sure. And

• 21:44Cassandra Yahnian?

  I think there's just something different about where I live too, because I'm at higher elevation and I'm kind of towards the top of a mountain.

• 21:52Cassandra Yahnian?

  And your neighbors fucking outhouse blew up with a lightning strike.

• 21:56Cassandra Yahnian?

  And my neighbors actually got struck by lightning and not the people, just their outhouse. Yeah. And sometimes when we're up here, I mean, I've, the thunder is so loud and I just feel, I'm not the tallest thing around me, which is helpful. And that's something important to know is that lightning usually goes for the tallest thing around. So even in the hoodoos, you know.

• 22:16Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. But can it bounce around and?

• 22:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  It can. And I mean, it's definitely not a safe situation and glad you got out of there. But even with that, like where they say, wherever you are, you just don't want to be the tallest thing around. And also if you're outdoors and there's really nowhere to shelter, to stand on your backpack and curl up and wait it out because you're creating a gap between you. So if the ground or something near you gets struck, that electricity is not going to come up through your feet if you're standing on your backpack. Of course, if you have like metal and shit on it, like make sure that's off of it. But yeah, I just, when I'm at my house now, I hear the lightning or I hear the thunder, lightning. Yeah.

• 22:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  You're in the market for a-

• 22:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's so close.

• 23:00Cassandra Yahnian?

  I'm in the market for a lightning rod.

• 23:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 23:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  So if anyone knows how to get one in Vermont, because I have been struggling to find someone who actually installs them, please let me know.

• 23:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 23:12Cassandra Yahnian?

  Cause I'm scared.

• 23:13Cassandra Yahnian?

  I'm scared. You first told me all of that when I was physically trapped at your house, when the roads were eroding away.

• 23:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 23:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  And you're like, oh, by the way, it's really dangerous up here and you're stuck and we can't leave.

• 23:24Cassandra Yahnian?

  Like, do you like my house?

• 23:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  Get me out of here.

• 23:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  There's a scam going on right now that almost got me about unpaid.

• 23:39Danielle LaRock?

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• 24:20Danielle LaRock?

  To get your new wireless plan for 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com/NPAD. That's mintmobile.com/NPAD. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/NPAD. Limited time offer. Upfront payment of $45 for three-month, $90 for six-month, or $180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only. Greater than 50GB may slow when network is busy. Capable device required. Availability, speed, and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com.

• 24:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, okay. My next story is titled Jenny Lake Ranger. Hello, ladies. This isn't so much a trail tale. It's more of an expression of my gratitude for your education of all things National Park. I am a fairly new listener. I stumbled upon your podcast while looking for two of my favorite things, National Parks and societal history, especially of the haunted variety. One of the first episodes I listened to was a trail tale about a rescue from the Jenny Lake Rangers, where I learned they are the badass elite of the MPS Rangers. Just this last week, my family and I traveled to Wyoming for my husband's dad's surprise 80th birthday, just about 30 miles from Jackson Hole. Fortunately, I have an extended family who loves hiking, so if you were up for a quick hike to the Tetons.

• 25:42Cassandra Yahnian?

  I hadn't put Jenny Lake and the Tetons together until someone mentioned doing the lake trail, and it dawned on me. I told the family about the Jenny Lake Ranger. Rangers and my desire to meet one. They thought I was a little ridiculous, but I felt no shame. Imagine David Rhodes of Schitt's Creek with his snarky response of not feeling shame for the mall pretzel here. Obviously, my husband and I went to the Ranger Cabin first thing. There were two Rangers there. The younger one was helping a different couple. So I asked the older gentleman if he was one of the badasses of the exclusive Jenny Lake Rangers. He chuckled a little and said yes, that he had been there for 30 years. He explained that he was one of the oldest veterans, confirmed what had been mentioned on the podcast, that there was very little turnover, and how the newer generation, gesturing to the other Ranger, are getting prepared to take the reins.

• 26:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  After chatting a bit, I asked if I could take a picture with him and he tried to push it off on the newer Ranger. And I politely, yet aggressively, with love of course, said, "No, I want you. You're an OG. You've seen some shit." He laughed again and willingly complied. He came out from behind the desk like his arthritis had seen better days. He took a selfie with my husband and I and asked how I heard about the JLR. I told him it was because of your podcast, and since I was so close, I had to meet the greatness in person and get a picture so I could die happy. As we were thanking him and leaving the Ranger Cabin, he threw out, "We should listen to the lightning strike episode." We went for a hike to the waterfalls and Inspiration Point, and on the way home turned on episode 13.

• 27:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  Little did we know, the Ranger we talked to, Jack McConnell, was one of the two Rangers who ran slash scaled the mountain in 45 minutes to get to the injured. Holy nutballs. Our jaws dropped. The dude with arthritis and bow legs is truly a hero and a freaking savage. I was in awe meeting him, but after learning about his heroism, I wish I was able to express the astonishment directly. I feel very fortunate to have met such an amazing human and get a picture with him. One of the coolest aspects is how much you can tell he still loves his job after 30 years. I just wanted to thank you ladies for the podcast and love you Cher for all cool stories surrounding the amazing playgrounds in our country. I've shared your podcast with several work friends, but you for sure have a large following from my extended family now.

• 27:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  I included pictures of the fraction of my family who went to the Tetons, as well as the picture of my husband and I took with Jack. Please keep doing what you do. Much love and appreciation. Go on.

• 28:01Danielle LaRock?

  Well, I subconsciously put those two trail, the one I just read about Jordan thinking about the lightning strike episode. And now, you know what I mean?

• 28:10Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, you always find like a little theme in there.

• 28:13Danielle LaRock?

  I know. And I put these together like kind of months ahead of time. So if it feels like I'm listening to it for the first time, we'll see. Cool. I mean, it's cool to see like people actually making real life connections and stuff through the stories we share. So that's always

• 28:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  And it's nice that you're showing a bunch of love for the people who are involved too.

• 28:33Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, and deserved of that to love.

• 28:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yes.

• 28:37Danielle LaRock?

  My second story is titled eminent doom is lurking beneath Safeway. Yes, it relates to nature? Question mark?

• 28:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  I always was suspicious of Safeway, so I'm intrigued.

• 28:49Danielle LaRock?

  Deep beneath the grounds of the small mountainous community of Nevada City slash Grass Valley, California, lies something that third grade me was terrified of. Something lurking, waiting to give in and wreak havoc.

• 29:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  Safeway.

• 29:04Danielle LaRock?

  Dot, dot, dot. Hi ladies, my name is Will. Feel free to use my name. I've changed the names of other people involved. I live in Bellingham, Washington, but previously lived in Nevada City, California, where this story takes place. You called for small city lore, and here I am providing. Although, I don't know if people were as genuinely terrified as I was. So I don't know if this counts, but it is definitely known by the public. It has caused many sinkholes and a few newspaper articles and studies done about this. So Nevada City is a mining town in Northern California that became pretty popular during the gold rush. This will be important to the story as I get into it. So without further ado, I was in Mrs. Zell's third grade class. As any other third grader, I was bouncing up

• 29:49Danielle LaRock?

  and down with energy, ready to learn about the gold rush. It was the first day of the unit after all, who wasn't excited. Actually, everyone, everyone wasn't excited. Everyone but me. We looked at the map of the Empire Mine State Park and learned about what gold was. We ended it with city lore. Deep beneath the ground, there are 367 miles of flooded underground mining tunnels that extend all throughout the city. The weakest spot was right below our local Safeway, where I go all the time with my mom and is less than a mile from our house. I mean, she had to be joking, right? Nope, she was not. You know that scene at the end of season four of Stranger Things where it is just the ground ripped

• 30:32Danielle LaRock?

  open and looks like pure hell? That was going to happen at Safeway. Where would I get my ice cream? Where would I get the stupid little Safeway monopoly cards that I never won anything from? I wasn't really concerned about food as much as I was about those things. I was the only person scared of the Safeway giving out when I was inside of it. I wouldn't step in it for months, probably six to 10, because I didn't want to sink into the ground. A 2022 report deemed the underground mining tunnels very unstable. I was going to end up with the donkeys that couldn't pull themselves out, and that wouldn't happen if I didn't go in. Thankfully, while I lived there, nothing did happen beneath Safeway, but I will not be going back. So for those who are wondering, how does this connect to a nature, to nature

• 31:17Danielle LaRock?

  or a national park? As I said earlier, Empire Mine is a state park. Does this count? Yes, of course, counts. And it is where those tunnels originate from. Also, I don't know if this is quite small city lore, but eminent doom is lurking beneath Safeway, deep, deep down, haunting that small city. Thanks again for all you do and hope you enjoyed the story, even if it may not count as small city lore. Enjoy the view, but don't get too close to Safeway, Will. I mean, the things you learn in like third grade timeframe.

• 31:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  Stick with you forever.

• 31:50Danielle LaRock?

  Forever. Remember like that meme that's been going around? It's like, I can't believe how concerned I was about the sun exploding in five billion years when I was 12, or something like that. It's like, how is nobody thinking about this stuff anymore?

• 32:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 32:05Danielle LaRock?

  And it feels like that is, I mean, it seems like much more of a reality that you should be concerned about, because sinkholes are very real and can be quite dangerous.

• 32:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  If I ever see a news article that says Safeway collapsed into a sinkhole.

• 32:23Danielle LaRock?

  Some, somewhere, Will, from Bellingham, Washington, Will's gonna be like, I fucking knew it. I knew it.

• 32:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like, it's why I haven't gone in in years.

• 32:34Danielle LaRock?

  I've been trying to warn the people. Um, yeah. So if you're in Nevada city Safeway, be careful out there.

• 32:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  Careful out there. Yeah.

• 32:43Cassandra Yahnian?

  Use our code NPAD at Safeway.

• 32:47Danielle LaRock?

  Do you remember the Monopoly things? We had them at Shaw's, I think.

• 32:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, I feel like Market Basket might have had them when we were kids.

• 32:55Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, I'm my stepdad was so into them. Like, we had like stacks and stacks. And I don't know if anything ever came of them. Um, I thought it was a scam.

• 33:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  Try major couponing where you go in and you bring in all these groceries and then they owe you like $3.

• 33:12Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, you know, who does that? Um, we know somebody, we know an extreme couponer.

• 33:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  We do?

• 33:18Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, Jess from our group trips, Vet Tech Jess.

• 33:21Cassandra Yahnian?

  Is she?

• 33:22Danielle LaRock?

  Yes.

• 33:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  I didn't know.

• 33:24Danielle LaRock?

  She'll post her hauls on Instagram and she'll be like, you know, this was the retail value. This is the coupon amount and like, this is what I was owed. And then she has like a picture of her stash.

• 33:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  I need to pick her brain. I want to just do it one time, just for the thrill.

• 33:40Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, just to see.

• 33:41Cassandra Yahnian?

  This is what happens when you're in your 30s.

• 33:44Danielle LaRock?

  I just want to feel something.

• 33:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  I just want to feel something.

• 33:49Danielle LaRock?

  Um, I was like, cause there was a show about that, wasn't there?

• 33:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, there was. Wasn't it called like Major Couponers or something?

• 33:57Danielle LaRock?

  I don't know, but it was around the time that, um, my mom was like, you guys can't have, me and my sister, like, we're not doing cable. Like for the summer, like where you need to, you can have like the five basic channels and then like go outside, which I'm very thankful for now. But one of those channels was, um, it always had supermarket sweep on. Do you remember that show?

• 34:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  Hmm, it rings some bells, but.

• 34:20Danielle LaRock?

  The whole premise was essentially contestants would like start at a grocery store with carts. And a timer would, they would have like a time.

• 34:29Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, I do kind of remember that.

• 34:31Danielle LaRock?

  And they would have to go and get like the most expensive things or something. And so I remember everyone would always go to the baby aisle first. Cause every, like diapers and formula and like things that were like a lot of money.

• 34:43Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 34:44Danielle LaRock?

  I don't know the, the details are fuzzy, but that made me feel something when I was 10, I guess.

• 34:53Danielle LaRock?

  Like, what are they doing? So the opposite of extreme couponers.

• 34:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, you were watching that. I was watching SpongeBob.

• 35:02Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 35:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  The trauma our parents put us through.

• 35:12Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, do you have another one? I'm lost.

• 35:14Cassandra Yahnian?

  I do.

• 35:15Danielle LaRock?

  Okay.

• 35:16Cassandra Yahnian?

  Mine is titled, "The Ghost of a Royal Park and a Bonus Story Where I Become the Source of Some Family Lore and It Involves a Serial Killer."

• 35:26Danielle LaRock?

  Okay.

• 35:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  Hey, ladies and the rest of the NPAD community. It's tradition to begin these trail tales with gushing about how loved you both are and how this is hands down the best podcast ever.

• 35:38Danielle LaRock?

  Come.

• 35:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  Thank you. I have binged through all your episodes to the point where I can only allow myself to listen while I'm at the gym, so I don't go through them too fast. It also encourages me to extend my workouts so I can keep listening longer. I find myself captivated by your storytelling and it's also really fun to hear all your side tangents. Thank you.

• 35:57Danielle LaRock?

  Hope you enjoyed that last one.

• 35:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. We have lots of them.

• 36:01Danielle LaRock?

  We're just giving the people what they want.

• 36:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  My trail tale begins in 2018. I was going to school in Seattle and it was the beginning of my senior year of college. I have always enjoyed hiking and camping growing up and I wanted to do more of it in my life, but for some reason felt stuck. At some point, I realized I could just go alone. I didn't need permission or an invitation from anyone else. So I made it a goal that for my remaining time in Seattle, I would make experiencing the incredible outdoor areas nearby a priority. I did my first solo hike in Snow Lake in the Mount Baker Snowqualamy National Forest, and I was absolutely elated. The next weekend, I was still riding the high as I set out to hike Raptor Ridge in a royal park in Bellingham, Washington.

• 36:45Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, my.

• 36:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  Another Bellington.

• 36:48Danielle LaRock?

  Another connection.

• 36:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  You guys know each other.

• 36:50Danielle LaRock?

  What am I doing?

• 36:52Cassandra Yahnian?

  There's themes in all of them.

• 36:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  There always is.

• 36:55Cassandra Yahnian?

  In every trail tales. Where the trail begins is relatively close to town and there are even some houses along some stretches of trail before it goes deeper into the forest. I was excited to get out again, but I soon came to realize the vibe was completely different this time. First, the driving directions I had gotten off all trails were incorrect and it had me driving up a gravel road that seemed more like a driveway and I began passing abandoned cars, scavenged RVs, and piles of junk that began to grow bigger and bigger as I drove. It was sketchy, so I turned around and pulled into a dark, eerily lit gas station to try and piece together some better directions. Soon, I was on my way and was pulling into the correct parking lot. As I got out of my car and got my gear together, I just had a weird feeling, like I wasn't supposed to be there.

• 37:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  At one point, another car pulled into the parking lot, parked a few minutes, then left. Also, keep in mind that it's probably close to 5:00 AM at this point, so the eerie feelings are exasperated by the fact that it was still dark. Alarm bells were going off in my head, and what did I tell myself? Eh, I drove all this way, I'm sure it's fine. And I set off on the trail. The bad feeling persisted. Every little noise startled me and I was on high alert. I would come around a corner and my headlamp would reflect off something and make me jump thinking it was a person or a monster. At one point, I heard a really loud banshee-like screech off in the distance, and what do you know? It came from the direction I was heading. I came to a junction in the trail. It was a wider, more open area. I went over to the sign to check my trail connection.

• 38:25Cassandra Yahnian?

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the silhouette of a human form just a few feet away from me. It was the figure of a woman, and from what I could tell, it seemed like an indigenous woman wearing a dress, and her outline was giving off a pale green light. By the time I had turned my head all the way towards her, she was gone and the forest was completely silent. At first, I wasn't sure what I had just seen, and then it slowly dawned on me. I had seen a ghost. Still, I hiked on, and in about thirty minutes or so, it was light enough to not need my headlamp anymore, and all my bad feelings had dissipated. I got to my destination and had the viewpoint all to myself. On my way back to the trailhead, I stopped by the spot I had my ghostly encounter to try and see if I could debunk what I had seen.

• 39:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  I looked for clues, anything that could have caught my headlamp light, anything that could have cast a weird shadow. There was nothing. I can't explain or reason it away, so I'm sticking to my conclusion that I saw a fucking ghost. Then things got a little weird again. I was back in the part of the park where there was a neighborhood around me, and it was supposed to be an easy walk back to my car, but I kept getting lost. I somehow got stuck on a loop, walking in circles back to that same spot over and over. No matter which path I chose, it wasn't leading me back to my car. I confirmed each time I was back at the place, which trail I was supposed to take, and each time it kept me circling. I started the day with the forest telling me to leave, and now it wouldn't let me go. Eventually, I took some shortcuts that I probably wasn't supposed to.

• 39:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  I know I'm a big leave no trace person, and I didn't like it, but I was desperate to get home. I found my way back to the car and drove home. Now I had this paranormal encounter that I didn't know how to process or make sense of, but hey, it's a good story. I definitely got haunted. That's the end of my trail tale, but I also wanted to throw in a little family lore story per your recent request. I don't even know how to ease into the story, so I'm just gonna raw dog it. Great. Great. The night I was born, the midwife named Martha that delivered me had stayed a little later after her normal shift to finish things up with me in the hospital. She had also delivered my brother a few years earlier, so my family was familiar with her, and we all had a really good rapport. When she finally left to drive home,

• 40:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  she became the victim of the serial killer known as Caesar Barron. He shot at her car, running her off the side of the road, moved her into his car, and then drove further down the road where he attempted to sexually assault her, then shot her in the head and dumped her in the road. Holy shit. That's awful. He had multiple victims from his adolescence, and then a handful more victims from the Pacific Northwest. It was brutal, and I knew about the incident from a much too young of an age. That motherfucker got the death penalty, but died of bone cancer while he was on death row. He was given one last chance to talk to detectives about his crimes and give any sense of closure. He didn't give them anything. The hospital has a statue of her outside as a memorial. I went and saw it on my birthday a few years ago to tell Martha,

• 41:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  "Thank you for sticking it out with me," and then I hope she would be proud of me and all the other people she had helped bring into the world throughout her career. This shit is definitely family lore origin worthy. The story goes further, though. When I was newly dating my partner, I had told her this story and she said, wait, I know about this. My partner's mom was a nurse and worked in the same hospital, so she knew Martha. After the murder, she had told my partner, who was still little, that something bad had happened to one of her coworkers and that she hoped the little girl would grow up and not feel burdened by her connection to that tragedy. My partner's mom had been praying for me my entire life, not knowing who I was, and then having me come into her life as her daughter's girlfriend. Anyways, that's all I have for you. Thanks

• 42:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  for reading this and thank you for all that you do. I hope I run into you someday on the trail and maybe a ghost at the same time, so we can all get haunted together. All the love, Sarah.

• 42:12Danielle LaRock?

  Wow. I loved both of those stories. Love the raw dog transition. Sometimes there is no natural segue, but thank you for sharing both of them because they were both so interesting. I mean, the second one is

• 42:25Cassandra Yahnian?

  horrific.

• 42:26Danielle LaRock?

  awful.

• 42:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's awful.

• 42:28Danielle LaRock?

  I don't know if I was prepared for that.

• 42:29Cassandra Yahnian?

  Weird connection. It, life is funny, though, to find that connection later in life to something like that. And then to have that weird ghost encounter and glad to hear you're out on the trails. I will have to pass on getting haunted together, but I would love to see you on the trail.

• 42:48Danielle LaRock?

  Let's leave the haunting out of it.

• 42:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 42:58Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, my last one is a little lengthy, but if I included it, I meant to, and it's worth it. Okay. It is titled, My Star-Crossed Lover Is Trolling Me From The Afterlife As A Blue Butterfly. Hi, ladies. This is a trail tale that spans decades, multiple states, national parks, the material and spiritual worlds. It's long, but I promise I'll land the plane eventually. Grant was my man, that's not my man. We met when we were in our early teens at Sleep Awake Summer Camp in the foothills of the Berkshires and instantly became inseparable. Camp is where both of our love for the great outdoors started. After camp ended that first summer, we stayed up for hours at night talking on the phone. We only lived about 15 minutes away

• 43:41Danielle LaRock?

  from each other, so once we could drive, we also started hanging out outside of camp. We continued to get closer throughout our teenage years and eventually transitioned from campers to counselors together. We remained extremely close, spending our days off together, always fielding questions from those around us on whether we were together like that. We were being shipped long before that was a word. Our life paths started to diverge, me going off to college in Maryland, him staying in Connecticut and trying to put himself through college. Eventually, he dropped out due to financial reasons and began a more nomadic lifestyle. He started organic farming in mountain towns in exchange for room and board, so he could spend his free time in the mountains, and he kept getting called back to the areas

• 44:23Danielle LaRock?

  surrounding Glacier National Park. He eventually settled in Whitefish, Montana, and became deeply rooted in the mountaineering and organic farming community there. Over the years, we remained close, catching up through texts, phone calls, Instagram DMs. He'd visit me in Maryland when he'd make his way back east, or we'd try to see each other when we were home for the holidays. One of us was usually in a relationship, so nothing ever came out of it romantically. On one of these visits, when I'd had more than enough to drink, I proclaimed my love for him while we were stargazing. I don't recall much, other than him just having a big ass grin on his face and saying he loved me too. But still, neither of us crossed that line to more than friends. Years later, I went out to visit him while he was spending the farming offseason in Utah. We took an eight-hour round trip to Bryce Canyon to hike,

• 45:09Danielle LaRock?

  and during that drive, he said, "Mm, remember that night you told me you loved me?" I groaned and said something like, "Please don't embarrass me." He gave me his smile that basically sparkled and proceeded to tell me that night was the best night of his life. He went on to say that while he loved Montana, farming, and his lifestyle so much, if there was one person he would give it up all for, it would be me. I was stunned, speechless. I was recently Out of a serious and toxic relationship, had just moved to Boston and was in the early stages of dating someone new. What he said scared the shit out of me. I loved him so much, but I couldn't fathom ripping him away from the things and places he loved so much. But I still always thought we'd find our way back to each other romantically. The last few years, things carried on in our usual cadence.

• 45:52Danielle LaRock?

  Remaining close but never crossing the friend line, I thought we had more time. Spoiler alert, we did not. On Sunday, August eighteenth, two thousand and twenty-four, Grant blissfully woke up in the back country of Glacier National Park after a night spent cowboy camping in the mountains with a friend. They went on to summit Heaven's Peak together. Grant then went on to climb McPartland Peak solo. He and his friend made a plan to meet back later that day, but Grant never showed. That evening, his friend alerted park rangers that he never made it to their rendezvous spot. What ensued was an all-hands-on-deck attempt to try and locate him by foot and by air. The area he was last seen in was super technical terrain, so only highly skilled personnel were allowed to join the search party.

• 46:33Danielle LaRock?

  Before we go further, let me say Grant was a highly skilled hiker, climber, and mountaineer. He was thirty-two years old and had completed over one hundred and ninety-seven ascents, at least ninety of which were in Glacier. He had also hiked and climbed in the Himalayas. He had an extensive list of outdoor achievements. This was his passion and how he decided to invest his time when he wasn't busting his butt on a farm. He was also described by friends in the Glacier mountaineering community as having no ego and all kindness. Sure, he had a higher risk tolerance than the average person, but he understood the risks he was taking, was prepared, and knew when to call it. On Sunday, August twenty-fifth, two thousand and twenty-four, a week after he was last seen heading up McPartland,

• 47:15Danielle LaRock?

  two bare air spotted his body one-third of a mile east of McPartland Peak, below the ridge line between Heaven's Peak and McPartland Peak. His injuries indicated he sustained a deadly fall, a tragic accident. It gutted me and turned my world upside down. It made me rethink everything, why I lived where I did, what I was prioritizing in life, etc. His passing has been really difficult for obvious reasons. Losing someone you're close to is heartbreaking, but it's also been gut-wrenching for a much less obvious reason to those around me. I'm forced to grieve what could have been with him, that we didn't have more time to find out our way romantically. And I'm forced to sit with the what ifs that will never be in this lifetime. I'm hopeful about the next lifetime, though.

• 47:59Danielle LaRock?

  He was truly an amazing human. He was a goof. He was the type of guy who'd come visit you across the country and whip out a cabbage and carrot from his backpack so he could make you coleslaw with the produce he grew. He was always up for an adventure. He gave the best bear hugs. He was kind, but not so kind that he wouldn't ruthlessly roast you for your double chin in a photo. He flew by the seat of his pants and was completely unfazed by even the craziest circumstances. He always had a ridiculous story to which you'd reply, "You did what?" He was everyone's biggest cheerleader and supporter, always ready with words of encouragement. He was humble beyond belief and so dang curious. He believed there was something to learn from everyone he met, and he lived a life he loved.

• 48:42Danielle LaRock?

  The day they announced they found his body in a press release, August 26, 2024. What in the...

• 48:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's today we're recording it, one year to the date of that.

• 48:53Danielle LaRock?

  Damn. One of my close friends, Paige, went to yoga. She had never met Grant, but knew how important he was to me and had been supporting me during the time he was missing. She is more woo woo spiritual than I am, so during a meditation, she asked for a sign. "Grant, if you can hear me, show me a blue butterfly." A few days later, I was off from work and wanted to go on a hike to honor Grant. It is what he loved to do, and more importantly, something we love to do together. I was living in Boston at the time, so I picked out a trail in the White Mountains. I told Paige my plan, and like the amazing friend she is, she insisted I not go alone and that she'd take the day off to join me. We went on our hike and had a great time. It was a beautiful, late-August New England day, and it was exactly what I needed to ground myself

• 49:37Danielle LaRock?

  after my world was so rocked. Paige and I were closing in on the end of our seven-mile hike, and we're only about 800 meters from the trailhead when a blue butterfly came and landed on my arm and just stayed there. Paige and I burst into hysterical tears and laughs. The blue butterfly then flew to some of the nearby brush on the side of the trail and hung out there, letting us take photos and videos of it. And ever since, Grant sends me blue butterflies. Sometimes they're like a "Hey, what's up, hello?" Please read in the Fetty Wap voice. I hope I did that justice. Like a gymnast competing in the Olympics dressed as a blue butterfly or a blue butterfly painted on a city mural. Sometimes he's trolling me or flirting with me like with an Instagram ad for a bra with

• 50:22Danielle LaRock?

  blue butterfly nipple covers. Get your head out of the gutter, my man. And most often, I see them on almost every trail run and hike in the Wasatch Mountains, near my home in the state of Utah, and all over recent trips to the Grand Teton National Park and Sawtooth National Forest. He has a way of sending them to me when I need them most. A lot of times, it's when I need a little motivation or encouragement, someone to tell me, you got this, or keep on going. On a hard route, other times, it's more dramatic. On a recent summit of Lone Pike in the Wasatch, a challenging 16.5 mile trail run with 5,700 feet of vert on a 100-degree day, I accidentally took a wrong turn on my descent. My watch beeped, and since I had a sun hoodie covering it, I just assumed it was a mile

• 51:07Danielle LaRock?

  marker. But as I looked down, I saw there was a blue butterfly at my feet that wouldn't leave. So I stopped to say hi and ask Grant why he was so obsessed with me. The butterfly then started going in the direction I had come from. I quickly checked my watch, and sure enough, my watch had beeped because I had gone off my route, and the butterfly led me back to the right turnoff. It was towards the end of a pretty long, hot day, and I was almost out of water. There he was, looking out for me. Then, on a recent backpacking trip to the Sawtooth in Idaho, I got myself into a little bit of a pickle. The last day, we were supposed to hike six to seven miles out, which involved a few river crossings. It was pretty early and still pretty crisp, so I didn't particularly feel like waiting in an ice cold river with my heavy pack and being wet and potentially cold for the drive home.

• 51:52Danielle LaRock?

  I looked at the map and saw that I should be able to bypass the river crossings by just staying on the side of the river we were already on. There were trails marked for two of the bypasses, and one of them, it wasn't marked, but I thought, how bad could it be? I somehow roped a new friend into this adventure with me, and we set off to bypass that dang river. Initially, there was a bit of a trail. Then, the trail became a little more sparse, so we started bushwhacking, and I followed the map to try and connect us to the trail after the river crossings. I'm looking at the map, and we're getting so close, but we started running into some pretty big rock formations, and I'm like, hmm. I wonder where this trail is. I continue on a little farther and look down to see the trail hundreds of feet below us, essentially down a cliff. I forgot about those silly little

• 52:37Danielle LaRock?

  elevation lines on the map. We started looking for routes down and every time I was like, uh, maybe we remember we have these big packs with our backpacking gear. After quite some time trying and failing to scope out a safe route down, I suggested we take a break to regroup. I was starting to panic. We didn't really have time to bushwhack back to the river crossing. Our group was going to be worried about us if we didn't show up by a certain time, but I also didn't see a way down. As soon as I found a safe place to sit, a blue butterfly came and sat right next to me, long enough for me to tell my new friend about Grant and how he sends me blue butterflies, which as you can probably tell by now, isn't a quick story. Once the butterfly left, I took a deep breath, stood up, and pretty

• 53:20Danielle LaRock?

  much immediately found a safe route down. Forever my cheerleader and forever the mountain goat, Grant was just letting me know that I was capable and would get down safe and would get down safely. I love my blue butterfly sightings so much, I got a small blue butterfly tattooed on the arm that he first landed on in the White Mountains. A little nod to live more like he did, experience what you can while you're alive, and learn and grow from everything and everyone around you. Grant was always asking me to come to Glacier into Montana, the place he kept getting called back to and eventually made his home. I never made it while he was on this side of heaven, but I'm going this August to commemorate his one-year anniversary, and I know he'll be happy that I made it at all. We don't

• 54:03Danielle LaRock?

  get to choose when our loved ones go. I wish we got so much, much more time, and I would do anything to hear his laugh again or see him grin so wide and shake his head at me because apparently I'm the ridiculous one. But until then, I can't wait to see the mountains he loved so much, he decided to stay in them forever. To breathe the mountain air he adored, to feel his embrace from the sun shining down. And to catch his laugh in the breeze. And I know he's always with me wherever I go. Well, that's my trail tale. Thank you for taking the time to read Grant's and my story and for creating such an amazing community. Enjoy the view, be safe out there and tell your people you love them, even if they're now just a blue butterfly stalking you on your trail run. XOXO Emily.

• 54:46Danielle LaRock?

  And she attached a picture that I will post that we have permission to post of Grant taking in the views in Glacier National Park, just looking like he's absolutely thriving. And just living, you know, heaven on earth in that time. So thank you for sharing a bit about him because like, I feel like I know him a little bit, you know?

• 55:10Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, it was really, really beautifully written. And based on what you said is that you would be going to Glacier National Park for the one year anniversary, which is actually right now when we're recording. So we hope that you're having a really beautiful time and you're seeing the places that he loves so much. And, and we're

• 55:30Danielle LaRock?

  Hopefully you're surrounded by blue butterflies.

• 55:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, we hope you're surrounded by blue butterflies and enjoying all the wildlife and incredible views there are out there.

• 55:39Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. So it's like, kind of a like sad, sweet one to end on. But I guess if you are an outsider, I'm taking my next, my last story that we share, like on those subscriber platforms is, um, I probably did this intentionally. It's titled, "I'm Not Interesting Enough To Be Abducted By Aliens."

• 56:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  So we're speaking straight to your heart.

• 56:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  And mine is Kaibab Plateau Cryptid or Something More Elusive.

• 56:10Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, so

• 56:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  We're on a cryptid theme if you're an outsider.

• 56:14Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, cool. Well, thank you, everyone for writing in your stories. We kind of got right into it in the beginning of this. But, um, yeah, if you have your own to share about anything and everything, outdoor related is like, kind of preferred, but not necessary. You can send them in, what?

• 56:32Cassandra Yahnian?

  I said, we just want to know your stories.

• 56:33Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, we're nosy.

• 56:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 56:35Danielle LaRock?

  We know, we want to know it all.

• 56:37Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yes.

• 56:37Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, we have a form on our website at npadpodcast.com. You can submit a tale there. It'll come into our inbox and we'll go through it. And, uh, yeah, thanks for being here.

• 56:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. Until next time, enjoy the view.

• 56:51Danielle LaRock?

  But watch your back.

• 56:52Cassandra Yahnian?

  Bye, everyone.

• 56:52Danielle LaRock?

  Bye. Thank you for joining us again this week. If you have a trail tale of your own you'd like to share, you can write to us at [email protected] or visit our website at npadpodcast.com. Bonus trail tales and content are available to Patreon members and Apple subscribers. Follow the show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X at National Park After Dark. And if you prefer to watch our episodes, you can find us on YouTube at National Park After Dark. And as always, if you enjoy the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

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