Trail Tales 85

Today’s stories include prank fails, questionable evidence, bear saviors, damned girls trips, and mountain flavored Disneyworlds. Outsiders Only bonus stories available for Patreon and Apple Subscribers! For a full list of our sources, visit http://npadpodcast.com/episodesFor the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials at: Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdark Support 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! Ollie: Cozy up with your pup this season! Go to ollie.com/npad and use code npad to get 60% off your first box! Coyuchi: Get 15% off your first order when you visit Coyuchi.com/npad. Soul: For 30% off your order, head to GetSoul.com and use code NPAD. Fora Travel: Become a Fora Advisor today at foratravel.com/NPAD 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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• 0:31Speaker 01

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• 1:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  Hello, everyone. Welcome back to National Park After Dark. Happy New Year. It's our first Trail Tales episode of 2026, and we have a lot for you today.

• 1:29Danielle LaRock?

  That's false.

• 1:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  It is?

• 1:30Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 1:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  Was that... Oh, we had one January 1st.

• 1:34Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. That feels like it didn't exist or happen, so...

• 1:37Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 1:37Danielle LaRock?

  Totally understandable.

• 1:38Cassandra Yahnian?

  This is our first one we've recorded in 2026.

• 1:41Danielle LaRock?

  There it is. Yeah, that is true. I know behind me...

• 1:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's my first Trail Tales of 2026.

• 1:47Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, that's... Yeah, it feels that way. Behind me is where like my Christmas tree and stuff was, and I just took it down and I feel... I actually had it up longer than... I'm usually that person within a day or two of Christmas, like, "Let's get this out of here. You know, let's move on."

• 2:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 2:02Danielle LaRock?

  With our lives. But yeah, I had all my Christmas stuff up into the new year, well into the new year, but it had to go. And so now it just feels really sad and bare.

• 2:13Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like you're naked.

• 2:14Danielle LaRock?

  I know. It's like those reoccurring dreams I have when I'm naked. It's a stress dream.

• 2:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 2:20Danielle LaRock?

  Um, most of the time. Okay, so do you want to kick us off or would you want me to?

• 2:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  Sure, I'll go first because the title of mine is very interesting.

• 2:31Danielle LaRock?

  Okay.

• 2:32Cassandra Yahnian?

  Mine is titled prank fails, the time I accidentally killed my friend.

• 2:36Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, this is, I mean, I don't know how the story is going to go because I forget it's been a while, but the prank stories are coming back around.

• 2:43Cassandra Yahnian?

  I do like prank stories, but I hope you didn't really kill your friend. It feels like a very nonchalant title to actually have killed your friend.

• 2:53Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 2:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  Um, so, well, let's get into it. Hi Danielle and Cassie, I love the podcast. You two bring such a fun, positive energy to the world and anyone who listens is lucky to experience it. I am an avid hiker and have recently passed this joy to my wife and kids. The whole family made an epic trip to Badlands, awesome. Mount Rushmore, meh. Devil Towers, awesome. Butt Night Mosquitoes are no joke. Grand Tetons, favorite US one so far. And Yellowstone, amazing too. This past summer, my wife and I made it to Banff and I still can't believe that place is real. Based on the title of this, let me start by saying, this friend of mine is alive and well. Oh, thank God. Well, I learned my lesson quickly and I'm not really the worst

• 3:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  human out there. Okay, the title did feel, I knew it, the title felt a little nonchalant for it to, I'm glad they're alive. Okay. This podcast, this podcast, this podcast is brought to you by National Park After Dark. This took place around the summer of 1994. The timing is a little hazy because I was 13 or 14 at the time, but baseball practice was scheduled for that night. My friend, we'll call him John, called to invite me over, but I told him no because of said practice. Fast forward about 30 minutes and a thunderstorm rolled in with pretty intense lightning and thunder. Practice was canceled, so I called John back and told him, hey, I'm back if you want to hang

• 4:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  out. Practice was canceled and you're not going to believe it. Mark H. died. He got hit by lightning. I'm not proud of how deadpan I was in the moment. My friends all knew me as extremely sarcastic, but John did not catch the sarcasm. He told me he picked up a shift at work and had to leave shortly and we hung up. 10, 15 minutes later, my conscience got the best of me and I called John back, letting him know Mark H. was just fine. It did not get struck by lightning at practice. John laughed a little, commented on my sick sense of humor, and I asked him, did you tell anyone? Of course he did, but just one person, his next door neighbor who played on a baseball team in our league. Just to pause there and recap, this is the mid 90s. No social media, no cell phones, pagers weren't even around yet.

• 5:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  It was the best of times. Also, Mark H was the son of a prominent figure in our community, an elected judge. Also, we were on summer vacation, so Mark H couldn't just show up to quell the vicious rumor. Hmm. The moment where I really knew it was beyond out of control was after our next game. My stepmother and I were in the local grocery store immediately following. I was in my uniform and I see a mom and player from our rival team, we did not play that day, walking towards us. Time slowed down. The other mother stopped us. "We're so sorry to hear about Mark H, such a tragedy." You'd think I blushed and owned this, but no. My sick sense of humor had me biting my cheeks to keep me from bursting out into laughter.

• 5:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  The mom continued. "We had a moment of silence for him at our game today." Oh no. There may have been blood in my mouth. I walked away into a different aisle and could not hold my laughter in. What the fuck? All this took was 15 minutes. Lesson learned, but damn, if this isn't a bit hilarious now. You'd think this was as far as the rumor could have gone? No, of course not. Our tiny local newspaper had a story about it. Fast forward to practice early in the next week and I'm tossing baseball and talking to Mark H about the situation. He was laughing a little about it and mentioned aunts and uncles calling in tears. At this point, I caught the ball, looked at him and said, "This is all my fault," and owned the situation.

• 6:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  He burst out laughing after hearing how it spread and we both agreed, "No telling our parents or anyone outside our friend circle." This mostly holds true. I did tell my parents two years ago when I was 42. My stepmother laughed. Finally. I have to clean the air. It's been 30 years or however long. It's really been weighing on me. I can finally own up to it. I learned my lesson for all future pranks and sarcasm. No death. I will add, I have many successful lighthearted pranks. I've changed the names of those involved to protect their identities, but if they hear it, they will know and hopefully chuckle like I still do. Enjoy the view, but watch your sarcasm, it can kill. S.

• 7:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  Why would you joke? It's just so funny. Why did that joke like practice is canceled? Mark got struck by lightning. Like, oh, okay.

• 7:26Danielle LaRock?

  Okay. Immediately, I'm gonna tell everyone I own.

• 7:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  The fact that the mom was like, we had a moment of silence at our baseball practice for him today. You just know there was like this solemn moment and everyone was like.

• 7:40Danielle LaRock?

  Pour one out for Mark H.

• 7:42Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 7:43Danielle LaRock?

  Not Mark.

• 7:44Cassandra Yahnian?

  Not Mark. Mark was such a good player.

• 7:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  Even though he was on a rival team, we could tell he was such a good sport.

• 7:51Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, that is so good. And I also love the little mention of being like, I finally told my parents decades later. Because I just saw a TikTok about that, like over the holidays, somebody was like, I finally got to tell my parents like the bad thing I did. As an adult, because now I can't be punished.

• 8:13Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 8:13Danielle LaRock?

  And I feel like we all have those things. It's like, God, I'm just dying to tell you this, but I would have never told you. Before, when you had power over me and my life.

• 8:24Cassandra Yahnian?

  Have you confessed to anything to your, to your parents after?

• 8:28Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, yeah. One thing.

• 8:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  What was it?

• 8:31Danielle LaRock?

  Actually, have I? I don't know if I directly did this, but the person I was involved with told her mom, who is my aunt. I feel like I've told this on this show before, at least to you. I don't know. Once again, my memory is bad. But when I was in high school, there is my cousin Molly and I, who basically grew up together, were six months apart. She lived in Massachusetts, but for most of the summers, growing up, we would spend significant amounts of time either in Massachusetts, at her family's house, or up here in New Hampshire. With mine and in high school, I think it was this, I had my license because I had a car.

• 9:10Danielle LaRock?

  So it was either, I was either sixteen or seventeen and we had this plan to go to Hampton Beach for a week and with a bunch of girlfriends.

• 9:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  You have mentioned this before, but say it again.

• 9:20Danielle LaRock?

  Okay. I do remember it. Yeah, we had a plan to go to Hampton Beach with a bunch of girlfriends for a week. And for whatever reason, we, we literally went there. We had all of our stuff packed in my car. Like, we were ready to go for the week and something fell through with the hotel or whatever we were staying at. So we were turned away and we're like, well, what do we do now? And all the other girls that we were with, we're like, oh, well, let's call it like, just go home. And me and Molly looked at each other and we're like, ah, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. We, our parents think that- We can do whatever we want. Our parents think we're gone. Yeah. And again, it's like, we had cell phones and stuff. I mean, this was 2000. But Find My Friends wasn't part of it. They couldn't see your location.

• 10:05Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, yeah, no, this is like, I had a, there was no GPS situation going on. This was probably 2007. Um, but yeah, so we took the opportunity for the week to go. We went back to my town, but we just went from party to party, house to house. We had a huge, we bought a tent, an eight person tent at Walmart and just literally camped out in people's yards going from like rager to rager. For a week, living out of the car, living out of the tent, whatever. And it was so scary because we were driving around my town. We could have easily- My mom could see me at any moment. Yeah. It's like going to get gas, super scary. Yeah.

• 10:46Danielle LaRock?

  Center of town. But, um, yeah, we never said anything and we sold the lie for, because of course they're gonna ask, oh, how was Hampton? You know, so- It was great. It was warm. The beach was great. Yeah, we like made up things or whatever and we dared not say anything. Not that we were doing anything super wrong, other than underage drinking and lying. And partying and- And partying. Yeah. Yeah. Et cetera. I mean, it is a little wrong. But it's like, would we be doing that in Hampton too? Yeah, totally. Perhaps, you know, so it's just kind of like, whatever. But anyway, yeah, so it was years before either of us said any, I'm pretty sure Molly said something to her mom first and then she cracked first. My mom. Ah, yeah.

• 11:31Danielle LaRock?

  But anyway, yeah, so that was like the biggest thing I think that I've held on to for a significant amount of time.

• 11:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  Mine, I mean, I think I'm still holding on to some things. Not that I wouldn't say them, it just feels like unnecessary at this point. But one of the things that I felt bad about confessing to my mom was I used to sneak out of my house a lot in high school, like multiple times a week, a lot. And my mom genuinely had no idea. And I told her eventually, and she was like, a little upset that she didn't know that her daughter was like off gallivanting. I mean, I wouldn't come back until like, she would wake up around six a.m., six thirty in the morning every day. So I would make sure I was home by six and like in bed.

• 12:21Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 12:21Cassandra Yahnian?

  And.

• 12:22Danielle LaRock?

  See, I never did that. I was too, I probably just didn't want to go anywhere, honestly. But I just, I never, I was the person when I was in Massachusetts with Molly, she lived on the second floor and she would jump out of her window. And I would hold down the floor. I'm like, I'm not going. You know, I'm, I'm good here, you know. And so I would stay behind, but she would do the same thing. She would go out and then I would have to let her in. I would be there to let her in. We'd set a predetermined time.

• 12:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's nice.

• 12:54Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. So, and of course, like, I would have to cover for her if my aunt or uncle wanted to talk to her for some reason.

• 13:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  See, I would always leave after bed. And I had a doll that had the same color hair as me. And I would stuff pillows in the doll under my blanket. I would face my hair to the wall. So if my mom ever came in, it looked like I was in bed sleeping.

• 13:16Danielle LaRock?

  You had a life-size doll with a head?

• 13:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  My mom bought me, it wasn't life-size, but it was pretty big. It was probably like three feet tall.

• 13:25Danielle LaRock?

  Okay.

• 13:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  This doll. And it was, it wasn't, it was like a stuffed doll. It wasn't like a plastic one.

• 13:30Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 13:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  And I would put pillows to make it look a little bigger underneath. And I would just stick my hair out the back. So she came in, it just looked like I was sleeping facing the wall.

• 13:39Danielle LaRock?

  The old Ferris Bueller.

• 13:41Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 13:42Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. Well, sorry to both our families.

• 13:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  We apologize if you're re-listening to this and re-upset. But I did confess eventually.

• 13:56Danielle LaRock?

  All right, you're next. Yeah, I mean, okay, all right. Yeah, we'll move on before anything else comes out.

• 14:10Danielle LaRock?

  Mine is titled Glacier Grizzly Fight. Oh. Hi, ladies, love you both. I live in Montana and have for the past five years or so, but just recently took my first trip to Glacier National Park in August of 2025. It was a quick two night backpacking trip to Otakomi Lake with my boyfriend, two of his friends and one of their girlfriends and one of their moms. So six of us total. We entered the lottery for permits in 2024 and were so lucky that two of us got them. We departed the trailhead around 10 a.m. And after two and a half hours, we all made it safely to camp. It was incredibly windy and the weather started to take a turn for the worst. So we spent a majority of the time napping in our tents. The following day, half of the group was determined to summit nearby Goat Mountain.

• 14:54Danielle LaRock?

  That's not really my vibe, so I opted to hang back with my boyfriend. I decided to nap again. The weather was bad, so please don't judge me. And my boyfriend rushed back to wake me up to tell me there was a grizzly about 100 yards away from our camp. By the time I got there, the bear was gone and the day hikers had said they watched it wander off into the woods, heading right towards our camp kitchen. We were a little apprehensive, but wandered around camp with our bear spray while yelling to try and deter the bear from coming into our camp. We didn't know it at the time, but our friends who were summoning Goat Mountain were caught in a nasty storm. Three of them decided to stay a little further down on a lower ledge while our brave friend ventured up to the peak. When he was out of sight of the others, a mother grizzly and two cubs

• 15:38Danielle LaRock?

  appeared out of the fog and rain dangerously close to him. He reached for his bear spray only to discover he had left it in his pack, which was down with the others. He had nothing. At this point, he said his mind is running through every scenario, including what we would do if he didn't make it and we didn't know where he was. Then, right as the mother is inching her way closer to him, a grizzly boar emerges from the fog and charged directly at the sow and cubs. All four grizzlies ran off and he stood still for three or so minutes before sprinting down the mountain. The weather continued to be incredibly rainy with harsh winds and we all eventually decided to pack up and head out one day early. We made it back to

• 16:21Danielle LaRock?

  the trailhead around 15 minutes after dark, drove back to my friend's seasonal housing and ate jalapeno cheese, brought worsts at midnight before heading to sleep in our cars. Definitely an eventful trip and an awesome experience for my first time in Glacier. Although I would rather see no grizzlies at all than see them that close. And to top it off, I started my period on the first morning and had no period products with me, so you can imagine my discomfort. My boyfriend's response when I told him was, "Well, that's not very bear aware of you." He was joking, of course. I love him. Lesson learned on that one. Thanks for being my favorite podcasters, Sarah.

• 16:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  Wow. What a cool experience to see that. It feels like that grizzly just came out and protected you. The male one.

• 17:07Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 17:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  Like you're between the

• 17:09Danielle LaRock?

  It's inching closer to you. You have nothing. You're just standing there frozen. She has cubs. You don't know what's about to happen to you.

• 17:15Cassandra Yahnian?

  He's not my human.

• 17:17Danielle LaRock?

  And this other one just comes and fucking, yeah. I mean,

• 17:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  It feels very Jurassic Park.

• 17:23Danielle LaRock?

  It does. And the fog adds to it.

• 17:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 17:27Danielle LaRock?

  You know, it's like just comes out.

• 17:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  Less visibility.

• 17:29Danielle LaRock?

  There's music playing. A hero.

• 17:32Cassandra Yahnian?

  There goes my hero.

• 17:36Danielle LaRock?

  Oh.

• 17:37Cassandra Yahnian?

  Different songs.

• 17:38Danielle LaRock?

  It's okay. What was I singing? I think it's Mariah Carey. "A Hero Comes Along," "A Hero Lies in You," or something like that.

• 17:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  Feels like Mulan.

• 17:51Danielle LaRock?

  No. What is it? It is Mariah Carey, that's for sure. Yeah. Like a book you don't know the end and it scares you what life does to it. That's how it starts. Okay, anyway. Well, thanks for that, grizzly.

• 18:16Danielle LaRock?

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• 18:58Danielle LaRock?

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• 19:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, my next story is titled Gettysburg Trail Tale. Hello, ladies. First of all, I just want to say that I love your podcast. I have pretty bad ADHD, so listening to podcasts can be a struggle, but your stories and personalities keep me captivated and coming back each week to listen to new episodes. I used to have a 45-minute commute and listening to NPAD kept me sane and awake during my long car trips. I even got my son hooked and we listen every time we are in the car together. Love that. I've been wanting to write in for a while, and since I'm on a winter break, I figured it was finally time to sit down and share my tale. Back in 2017, my aunt, uncle, and two cousins, Michael and Brett, decided to come to Pennsylvania for a visit. They really wanted to take a trip to Gettysburg since they had never been before

• 20:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  and particularly wanted to go on a ghost tour. Being only half an hour away, I am a frequent visitor to Gettysburg. My grandparents would take my brother and I camping there every summer. We loved visiting the unique shops downtown and learning about the history of the battlegrounds. When my family arrived, I had planned our visit to Gettysburg into two parts. One during the day with my two oldest children, who at the time were about seven and five, and one in the evening where my mom would watch the kids so we could do a proper ghost tour. It was a chilly October day when my family and I drove to Gettysburg. The city was extremely busy and gets a lot of tourists in the fall, so being able to park at the monument was tricky. We started out the day by heading to Gettysburg Military Park and Museum Visitor Centers,

• 20:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  where we went to the Cyclorama, a 360-degree mural rendition of Pickett's Charge, a battle on July 3rd that became a pivotal turning point of the war with General Lee's retreat. Afterwards, we drove all over from Devil's Den to Peach Orchard. As much as I love talking about the different areas, my story really begins on our night adventure, so we're going to jump right into it. Gettysburg has many ghost tours. I have been on a few walking tours around town that show you different places where hauntings have occurred. Since my family was visiting, I wanted to try something different. I ordered tickets for a nighttime ghost tour where two guides would take us to two different locations and quote "hunt for ghosts." The tour started at 11:00 PM, so we had a late dinner at the Dobbin House, my favorite restaurant.

• 21:38Cassandra Yahnian?

  It is haunted and was used as part of the Underground Railroad, but that's a story for another time. After dinner, we decided to go on a walk on the battlefields at night to see if we could see anything while we waited for our tour. It was dark and I picked a place at random to park. The battlefield is open until 10:00 PM and we got there at about 9:45 PM. We all scrambled out of the dark and crossed the road to a wooded area. This particular spot was where General Reynolds was shot in the back of the head in the Battle of Gettysburg initial phase. We started walking up to Reynolds Monument when out of nowhere, a cannon went off in the distance. I had heard about people hearing cannons and guns going off in Gettysburg,

• 22:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  but I never thought I would be one of them. As the cannon went off, I felt myself jump into air in shock. I looked into the darkness at my cousin Brett standing next to me. He heard it. Everyone heard it. A ghost cannon fire into the night. We continued to walk to the monument and my cousin took a photo. There, in the middle of the picture, standing in front of the memorial is an image of a man. When we look very closely and maximize the photo, we could see the man's features, even his long beard. We pulled up a photo of General Reynolds and the figure standing in the photo matched exactly. My cousin sent me the photo many times and every time it would get lost on my phone.

• 22:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  I cannot find the very detailed photo, but I have included another photo we took of what we believe is General Reynolds standing in front of his own monument. Please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy the view, but watch your back because you never know when a ghost cannon will go off in the dark.

• 23:15Danielle LaRock?

  Oh my God, I wish that photo freaking existed. I'm sending you this one.

• 23:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, there is one.

• 23:20Danielle LaRock?

  Cause I have it.

• 23:21Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay.

• 23:21Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. So not the, obviously the one that got deleted all the time. But so I just sent you the one that they attached to the email, which we'll post on socials too. And I, I want to know your thoughts because I feel like I can see it, but I don't know if I'm seeing it because it was described to me, like what I should be seeing.

• 23:42Cassandra Yahnian?

  I don't see anything.

• 23:44Danielle LaRock?

  Okay. Zoom in and on the right sitting, like it looks like somebody's sitting against the monument and leaning back like, and there's like a person with like a hat on, but he looks so small. Like, I don't know how big that monument is.

• 23:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  I literally don't see a single thing.

• 24:01Danielle LaRock?

  What? Really?

• 24:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  Are we looking at the same photo? Maybe my phone doesn't accept apparitions because there is nothing in this photo.

• 24:13Cassandra Yahnian?

  There's literally nothing in this photo.

• 24:15Danielle LaRock?

  No, I feel like I see it.

• 24:16Cassandra Yahnian?

  Looks like a nighttime photo of a monument.

• 24:19Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, but okay, zoom in on the monument. The bottom right hand corner, you don't think you see somebody sitting against it?

• 24:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  Uh, no.

• 24:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  I don't see anything.

• 24:31Danielle LaRock?

  I feel like I see, I feel like I want to see something.

• 24:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  See like a slightly darker area in the right hand corner, but it looks like it's part of the monument and then a patch of grass that's slightly darker.

• 24:45Danielle LaRock?

  I know.

• 24:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  There's nothing there. That's my opinion. I'm sorry.

• 24:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  I would love to see the other photo because if you're, if you got a photo and you can match it up directly with and see that it was him, I think that that's really cool, but this.

• 25:01Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, first of all.

• 25:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  This would never fly on ghost hunters, ever.

• 25:09Danielle LaRock?

  I just feel like Barbara, I want to believe you so bad. You know what I mean?

• 25:14Cassandra Yahnian?

  I believe you Barbara. I just don't believe this photo.

• 25:18Danielle LaRock?

  It's like I can, I can see a little bit of what they're saying, but this person is, if this is a thing, it's so tiny. It's like a little leprechaun.

• 25:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  I still don't see a person. I just see a slightly darker patch and like a chip in the monument.

• 25:35Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, you guys will have to, we'll post it and you can argue amongst one another about it.

• 25:43Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 25:43Danielle LaRock?

  It's definitely a stretch. It's certainly a stretch. I'll say that. Like if I was trying to convince someone of the existence of the paranormal, I would never show them this photo.

• 25:55Cassandra Yahnian?

  No.

• 25:56Danielle LaRock?

  You know what I mean? But I just, I want it to be real.

• 25:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  I can't even keep looking at this photo because it's, there's nothing in it.

• 26:04Danielle LaRock?

  You're upsetting Barbara, okay?

• 26:07Cassandra Yahnian?

  I believe Barbara. I think that the other, I believe Barbara. I think that they definitely had an experience and I believe that having a photo that gets lost on your phone is a very paranormal activity. I just think

• 26:21Danielle LaRock?

  That sucks.

• 26:21Cassandra Yahnian?

  That the photo that you have sent us doesn't have anything in it.

• 26:26Danielle LaRock?

  Okay. Okay, let's move on.

• 26:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  Sorry Barbara.

• 26:31Danielle LaRock?

  Basin of the damned. Yeah. Believe Barbara, okay?

• 26:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  I do believe Barbara.

• 26:36Danielle LaRock?

  It's fine.

• 26:42Danielle LaRock?

  It's January and that time has come again, the infamous dry January. Everyone is on the no alcohol kick and I'm just saying I've been on that for a while and have not felt better. Instead of pouring a cocktail or a glass of wine, I've been reaching for the Soul's out of office drinks. I still have a fun little drink in my hand. They give me that same relaxing vibe I'm looking for and I can unwind without the alcohol and more importantly, especially for me, no hangover because they take me out of this planet. And I still wake up feeling like a functional adult, which is important because the list of to do's is endless. Soul makes feeling good, simple. They make delicious hemp derived CBD and THC products

• 27:24Danielle LaRock?

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• 28:08Danielle LaRock?

  Go to getsoul.com and use the code NPAD. That's getsoul.com promo code NPAD for 30% off.

• 28:22Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, Basin of the Damned. Danielle and Cassie, I am not the first and surely won't be the last to say how much I appreciate your thoughtful take on three of my favorite topics. History, the outdoors and true crime. Thank you for all you do.

• 28:36Danielle LaRock?

  Did you just say same?

• 28:37Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 28:38Danielle LaRock?

  I also appreciate my take on history, the outdoors and true crime.

• 28:42Cassandra Yahnian?

  No, I meant same. Those are my favorite topics.

• 28:45Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, okay. Thank you for all that you do to give us these weekly listens. I feel like the Snoop Dogg thing where it's like, first of all, I want to thank me. You know?

• 28:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  I am fantastic.

• 28:57Danielle LaRock?

  I am fortunate enough to have my own real life Danielle and Cassie in the form of two of my very best friends who also enjoy a good time in the outdoors. We've been friends for nearly two decades now as we've seen each other go through those over partying twenties, finally growing thirties, and now approaching our who gives a fuck forties. Is that a thing? Well, it should be. Anyway, life gets hectic, but we try to get together for an outing adventure once a year. Can't recommend this enough. Whether backpacking or campground hopping to explore new parks across the country. Pro tip, spend that last night in a bougie Airbnb, if only to wash some clothes and get a nice shower before the flight home. We've been saying that this whole time. Yeah, we've done our time of especially group trips of being like

• 29:42Danielle LaRock?

  you're camping day one, all the way out until two hours before your flight, and we're really sorry.

• 29:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  For everyone sitting next to you on the plane and discomfort.

• 29:51Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, but we're trying to change that. Okay, our most recent adventure took us southwest to Santa Fe, Mesa Verde, and then up to Colorado. We couldn't wait to hop aboard the Old Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and head up into the San Juan Mountains via the Chicago Basin, hereby known as Basin of the Damned. I do believe I've heard a trail tale or two about this area, pee licking goats, but essentially the train drops off backpackers into the wilderness once a day to hike up a few miles and a few thousand feet in elevation to the Chicago Basin. People generally go on to tackle one or more of the fourteeners available from this area. This area is absolutely stunning. This is part of the trip I organized for my parents.

• 30:33Danielle LaRock?

  Their first day or second day was a trip on this railroad up through the mountains. A few important things to note, we live in the Midwest, like painfully flat cornfield Midwest. While we hop around the country on all of our trips and are certainly not newbies when it comes to the outdoors, the fact that my BFF's house is exactly 420 feet above sea level should tell you our quick trip. To some Colorado fourteeners would be an endeavor to say the least. Knowing this is more of a challenging hike than our local trails afford, we split the gear between the three of us, avoiding redundancies and wait where we could. One jet boil, one bear canister, one filtration system, etc.

• 31:16Danielle LaRock?

  The one redundancy I wish in hindsight we would have shared was a tent, but instead, each packed an ultralight one person for our own little space. Grown women and all. Also worth noting, when you're dropped off from the train, it's kind of like a point of no return. There's really no camping until you've reached the basin and the train only stops once a day. So begins the basin of the damned. Everything that could go wrong felt like it did. From the blazing hot, hot sun to pouring rain to hail to early signs of elevation sickness, all within the first thousand feet of elevation, this was setting up to be a challenge. Knowing the train would not be back and nowhere really to go but up, we made the questionable

• 31:58Danielle LaRock?

  decision to carry on, splitting up at several points as we'd all reach the exact same destination on this well-marked trail. Not really a best practice, but not our first trip together either. I reached the basin and grabbed the very first backcountry spot, right at the beginning of the basin. While this area is a relatively popular destination, it's nice insofar as you can still feel relatively wild and alone, with no other campsites within eyesight. I got set up, one friend followed, and then the next before sundown, and our cozy little tents formed a triangle of seclusion with doors opening inward, primed for group hangs and conversation. Cold and wet, we reached for the bear canister to get dinner going and refill our spirits.

• 32:40Danielle LaRock?

  Naturally, our jet boil did not work and our exhaustive selves stared at each other feeling hopeless, until maybe forcing the most sociable introvert among us to find another camp to borrow a lighter. It's like, yeah, you go do it. No, you go do it. I don't want to ask. I don't want to fucking ask anybody. How did we forget a lighter or not think to bring a backup solution? We lucked out and found someone headed home in the morning, offering to part with their lighter. We ate, we crashed. My friends made it known they would not be moving on up to the 14ers the next day. In fact, would not be leaving their tents at all. Sometimes elevation is a bitch for us flatlanders.

• 33:19Danielle LaRock?

  Elevation sickness is no joke and I feel like I never really got a taste of it. Just because I had lived at elevation for so long and I traveled to elevation places all the time. But man, in Peru, that hike I was like reminded of the other day. That was tough and I felt not only exhausted because it was a tough hike, but like I feel like the altitude had a lot to do with that. And just feeling so wiped. I was first up with hopes of a nice hike, some wildlife, maybe even the easiest peak. At this Alpine elevation, I knew enough to know I needed an early start before the afternoon thunderstorms rolled in. While I don't love hiking alone, my sense of direction sucks.

• 34:03Danielle LaRock?

  I didn't come all this way to not give it a go. All I needed was a little coffee and breakfast, at least coffee, and I'd be on my way. The bear can would not give. After rolling it between the three of us to each attempt to crack it for what seemed like hours, but was maybe only one hour. My friend got it open after breaking a knife, maybe a tent stake and permanently bending the lid.

• 34:27Danielle LaRock?

  Like, please, oh, like, I'm desperate.

• 34:33Danielle LaRock?

  But it was too late to wait around to heat anything up. I knew a summit was out, but I still wanted time to explore. I hike out and don't see another soul for a while. The diehards are already up before dawn, trying to bag a couple peaks before the storms hit. I'm lucky to see a bunch of marmots, deer, some questionably aggressive mountain goats, and overall had a good time. And then the diarrhea strikes.

• 34:57Danielle LaRock?

  God.

• 34:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  I didn't know if this was a poop story.

• 35:00Danielle LaRock?

  Me neither. She buried the lead. Oh, God. In a relatively open area, I make the choice to run back the extra 1,500 feet elevation for a little privacy. Something about the risk of being caught so vulnerable by those summiters on their way back down was just enough to get me back to the relative privacy of our camp. And oh, what fun.

• 35:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  Running when you know you have diarrhea is also at risk.

• 35:28Danielle LaRock?

  That is true. Also, what fun in a pack out or bury your waste situation. Did I mention I was also on my period? The hits just keep coming. Basin of the damned. So, three sick women spend the afternoon in their tents before somehow rallying for a nice late afternoon slash evening hang together. Writing our attitudes, we're back to making the most of our trip, telling great stories, laughing about our situation, headed down to the crystal clear stream, enjoyed beautiful views, you know, the kind of stuff us type two fun people live for. It's at this point in time, do we see a few people? Some stragglers up from the train looking for camp sites, some folks from camps further up exploring, not a lot, maybe a dozen over the span of hours.

• 36:13Danielle LaRock?

  As the first camp within the basin, we did feel a little vulnerable, much like we often do as women alone in the great outdoors. It felt like everyone noticed us as they were looking to see if they'd actually ended their climb and reached the basin. While eating dinner, there was a man who we presumed was from the closest site, just kind of looking our way. Not close enough to talk to, not far enough to not notice a bit of a stare for longer than we would have liked. Enough for more than one of us to comment that it was a little uncomfortable at separate occasions. But maybe we were too loud, having so much fun in our little closed off triangle of tents with our cute little lights. After a few minutes, we saw him walk off back to where

• 36:54Danielle LaRock?

  we assumed the next group site lay. Cool. Not too much later, getting dark now, we see a lone dude with his headlamp bouncing along the trail back down toward the basin entrance, passing us along the way. Strange, because nowhere to go, we were the first sight. No way someone is hiking back down the trail in the pitch dark with no train or campsites waiting at the bottom, right? We were up for a while yet, but never saw that light bounce back. Also strange. We finally head to bed. I read for a while before clicking off my light and bundling up. But before too long, I heard something. Now, the previous night, some animal had been nuzzling at the edge of my tent, no doubt looking to lick my sweaty

• 37:34Danielle LaRock?

  bag or socks, and I assumed as much tonight. But it didn't sound like an animal. Footsteps sounded larger, distinct steps. That's when, through my nearly translucent backpacking tent, I saw a red light floating. Hello? Who's there? Hello? While calling my friends' names to see if they had stepped out to pee, the light went from static to flashing, as if someone was quickly trying to turn off their headlamp, while I heard steps recede. Just then, I yelled to one of my friends to wake up. There was somebody outside of our tent. Grogly, she responded in a confused manner, said she didn't get up or see anything, unzipped the tent to look out, and then just went back to bed. One thing about my friends,

• 38:15Danielle LaRock?

  they can sleep. I did not sleep, but kept my ears sharp and occasionally stated in a meek but trying to sound tough voice, "I have a knife." Every once in a while, just intermittently, "I have a knife."

• 38:32Danielle LaRock?

  As dawn approached, I could see a few white headlamps in the distance, those diehards, and felt safe enough to get an hour or two of sleep. That morning, had my mind been a little more rested, I would have thought to look for footprints or any additional towels around our campsite for a potential visit. Instead, you've never seen a girl pack up and rally friends to head down a ma- a mountain so fast. I've tried to rationalize it in a few different ways, overtired mind with the strange man discussion before bed, eyes searching for light in the pitch dark, just seeing a reddish color, but I'm fairly certain someone visited our campsite. Someone being some person. As always, manor bear comes to mind, while nothing more came of it, and my love for these trips remains, enjoy the view but watch your back has never felt so apt.

• 39:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, I'm glad you're okay. And I think that's always unnerving to have that. And I think as women in the outdoors, a lot of times we're on edge. And I think just knowing that there was a weird guy walking around and that maybe he was in your campsite, I would have. I totally get.

• 39:32Danielle LaRock?

  Well, and like, I can totally envision, you know, like, when you have a headlamp on.

• 39:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  Trying to turn your headlamp off really quick.

• 39:39Danielle LaRock?

  And it's on the red, like, just the lowest little red setting, and then having to click it through to turn off.

• 39:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 39:46Danielle LaRock?

  I mean, what else could that have been?

• 39:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, it sounds like it was. It's so funny. I am your friends, though, I have to admit. I'm the nonchalant friend. I had an experience kind of similar to this when I was camping in the Tetons with a friend and they woke me up because there were footsteps outside our tent and she thought it was a person. And I thought she was telling me there was a bear outside. And when I noticed that the footsteps were a lot lighter than a bear, I was like, it's not a bear. And I rolled over and went back to bed and she just laid there all night because she thought there was a man walking around our tent, but she was like, oh, okay, she doesn't care.

• 40:24Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, just stressed all night.

• 40:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  So she laid awake all night, stressed, like, on the defense, so we weren't gonna get murdered. And I was just like, I don't even think I said, it's not a bear. I think I just was like, oh, it's fine. And I rolled over and went back to bed. And she was just like, what?

• 40:40Danielle LaRock?

  You're such an enigma, honestly, because for how wary you are. I don't know. I feel like it's kind of opposite for us. So you're just always head on a swivel, always like, what's going on with that situation? That feels weird. Why is that person doing that? Like, this is creeping me out. That comment made me, like, wary, just always really observant.

• 41:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  I noticed that, yeah.

• 41:04Danielle LaRock?

  Yes, super, always. But then when it comes to something like that, you're like, whatever. I gotta go, I gotta go into the dream world. And it's like, okay, this is.

• 41:15Cassandra Yahnian?

  Beauty sleep.

• 41:16Danielle LaRock?

  Actually, that can't be misconstrued. Like, I feel like something's happening outside of the tent that could potentially put us in immediate danger, not just, oh, that vibe fell off in that conversation, you know? But for me, I feel, not that, like, I'm not observant, but I just, I give things more of a benefit of the doubt than you do of like, oh, whatever. But I would be the person being like, I have a knife. Well, your earplugs in, um, eye thing over your face.

• 41:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  You need both. You need both. Just like in the story. You need, you need both. You need someone who's gonna be like protecting and you need someone who's gonna be chill and you need an observant one and a non-observant. It's just like, it's a balance. It's a balance.

• 42:02Danielle LaRock?

  And that's what makes the world go around. So, yeah.

• 42:05Cassandra Yahnian?

  And that's what being a girl is all about.

• 42:09Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's why we need girlfriends.

• 42:17Danielle LaRock?

  There is always that one person in the friend group that is planning the entire group trip. They've got the Excel spreadsheets. They've organized the Google forums. They've got everyone on a group chat. There's color coding involved. They've organized activities. You know what I mean? If that sounds familiar, if that's you and you already think like a travel advisor, why not just be one? Introducing Fora, a modern travel agency built for people who love to plan travel and help others travel well. Their tech platform, training, and community give you everything you need to turn a passion for travel planning into a flexible, meaningful stream of income. As a Fora advisor, you get best-in-class training, powerful booking tech, and a vibrant global community of experts and fellow advisors

• 43:01Danielle LaRock?

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• 43:46Danielle LaRock?

  for travel into a fulfilling business with Fora. Become a Fora advisor today at foratravel.com/npad. That's F-O-R-A travel.com/npad. And make sure you tell them that we sent you. Foratravel.com/npad.

• 44:09Cassandra Yahnian?

  All right. My next story is titled, "Help, The Bears Got Kevin."

• 44:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  Not Kevin. Not Kevin. Please. Mark A.J. Kevin.

• 44:24Cassandra Yahnian?

  Hey ladies, my name is Anna and I just discovered NPAD this year, 2025, and I am hooked. Welcome. I commute an hour each way for work and your podcast has kept me entertained each and every week. I've been debating sharing this story since it happened in August of this year, but when Danielle asked for pranks gone wrong during the last Trail Tales episode, I knew it was finally my moment. It's happening. It's happening. Thank you. The pranks are coming in. I volunteer with my church youth group and each summer we take the kids on a pretty intense backpacking canoe trip. Think 50 kilometer paddling days, running rapids, and several portages over a mile long. This past August, our trip was to an area in northern Ontario, Canada called Timagami. Timagami?

• 45:09Cassandra Yahnian?

  The name means "deep water" in Ojibwe. It is an absolute beautiful area with lots of large lakes and rivers, moose, black bears, beavers, and so many other wildlife. If you ever find yourself in Canada, I highly recommend you take a canoe trip here. Me and the other leaders of this canoe trip are known for pranking the kids each year, and each year has gotten better and more elaborate than the last, so we know our prank this year was going to have to be outrageous. We were on our final night of the canoe trip and camped at an amazing site with space for cliff jumping, stargazing, and swimming. Uh, camp pranks on kids. Never gets old. That's peak. It is peak thriving. I always remember one that someone, uh, when we did outdoor education,

• 45:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  we would do a tracking class and we would track like tracks and scat and see like, oh, what was here? And one time we made brownies and rolled them up into like little poop looking things and threw it on the ground and gathered the kids around and it was like, "So what do you think? Like, what could this be?" And all the kids are like, saying their guesses of what this poop could be. And you're like, "Well, you know, the only way to know is to taste it." And grab it and throw it in your mouth.

• 46:23Danielle LaRock?

  That's good. Yeah, that's good. Oh, that's like a pretty immediate, though, like it's shock for like, there's a moment there.

• 46:32Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like, oh, ew, what?

• 46:35Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 46:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  But then very quickly, yeah.

• 46:38Danielle LaRock?

  Unless you sell it.

• 46:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  It sounds like it's gonna go a little more serious. The bear has Kevin.

• 46:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  I had been on the kids all week about bear safety and lecturing them about not leaving snacks in their tents overnight and making sure to clean up cooking the cooking area before going to bed each night. So we figured the idea of a bear sighting would be on the kids' minds. So before the kids went to bed that night, I did what I always did and asked them all to double and triple check that there were no snacks in their tents or bags. Of course, they all rolled their eyes at me and said they obviously had no snacks left out. For good measure, one of the leaders named Jason told them a story of his friend who, while tree planting several years ago, had a bear bite a hole through his tent to get at his sandwich. Again, the kids rolled their eyes.

• 47:25Cassandra Yahnian?

  At this point, it was around 11:00 PM and we sent all the kids to their tents with the reminder that they had a really long day of paddling ahead of us the next day, and they needed a rest. All of the leaders acted as though they were sleeping too, but we were waiting to strike at midnight. Oh, the sleep they need and you're striking at midnight.

• 47:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  Keep in mind, this was just our decoy prank, so we weren't taking it nearly as seriously as we were planning for our real prank.

• 47:54Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, we're in prank within a prank. We're in prank inception.

• 47:57Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, I like it. Midnight hit and Jason headed off for a poop in the woods. Within two minutes, we hear him yelling, "Hey, bear!" loudly and repeatedly. This was the signal to another leader, Spencer and I, to go to the kids' tents and alert them that we had seen a bear, but to stay in their tents. I headed over to the girls' tent and heard them awake already, asking me what was going on. I calmly explained to them through the tent wall that Jason had seen a bear, and it didn't seem to be backing down, but they needed to stay in their tents while the rest of the leaders went to help Jason scare it off. Immediately, they started confessing to still having snacks in their tents. I knew it. Because, but because I was a super nice leader, I took their snacks and put them in our bear barrels

• 48:42Cassandra Yahnian?

  and told them not to worry and that the leaders were going to scare the bear away. Once Spencer and I had alerted the kids to stay in their tents, we met up in the woods about 200 feet from the tents where the rest of the leaders were getting ready to quote, "fight the bear." This was going to be a relatively simple prank. Just make a lot of noise, pretend we scare the bear off, and then head back to the tents and confess that it was all a prank. However, one of the other leaders, Kevin, went rogue. Oh. After about five minutes of yelling, banging canoe paddles and attempting to scare off the bear, Kevin, who for context is six feet tall and gives off major lumberjack outdoorsman vibes, drops to the ground and starts rolling around and screaming, "Help! The bear's got me! Help!"

• 49:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  At this point, none of the leaders can hold their composure anymore, and we all burst out laughing and headed back towards the tents. To our surprise, when we got back to the tents, the tent area, nearly all of the kids were out of their tents. They are completely dressed, their packs are on, and they're getting ready to jump in the canoes and flee the bear. Kids were crying, panicking, and some were praying. It was a church youth group after all. Turns out that they had,

• 49:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  turns out that they had heard Kevin get attacked, but what they didn't hear was all six of us leaders laughing directly after. These kids were fully convinced that their favorite youth group leader had just been mauled by a bear. The praying.

• 50:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  So sweet. So sweet and sad. As soon as we saw the pandemonium on our campsite, we confessed that it was all a prank. Instead of laughing along with us like we expected they would, again, these kids are more than used to us pranking them. They were mad. They started yelling at us, some went to sleep without speaking to us, and the long paddle the next day was very, very quiet, as no teenager wanted to speak to their leaders. Safe to say, we did not care. Carry out our second prank and now every kid who was on that trip denies ever being scared in the first place. The plus side was that it was a great reminder of how important bear safety is and I got to educate them on the differences between grizzly bears and black

• 51:00Cassandra Yahnian?

  bears and the fact that grizzly bears do not live in the area we were canoeing in. Anyways, hope you ladies enjoyed the story. As always, enjoy the view, but watch your back because your youth leaders will almost always find a way to prank you.

• 51:13Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, that's also a great way to discover that no one is gonna help you.

• 51:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  All, every single one of those kids was off running.

• 51:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  I also love that they're like, there's a bear and everyone's like, they're like, I have snacks. I have snacks.

• 51:32Cassandra Yahnian?

  I killed Kevin.

• 51:36Danielle LaRock?

  Oh my God, that's a good, that's a good one.

• 51:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  You know, they're never gonna forget that and I bet they don't, I bet they don't um, leave snacks in their bag anymore. But also, you know, kids need a little bit of trauma in their life to become funny later, so.

• 51:53Danielle LaRock?

  We say it all the time, you know?

• 51:55Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 51:56Danielle LaRock?

  God, that was a good one.

• 51:57Cassandra Yahnian?

  Nothing wrong with a little good old fashioned trauma.

• 52:03Danielle LaRock?

  Just the pandemonium, people are crying, praying to God, fleeing.

• 52:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  Jumping in canoes, fleeing.

• 52:11Danielle LaRock?

  Not one person, everyone's like, just leave Kevin. Peace toast. Just say goodbye.

• 52:16Cassandra Yahnian?

  I love though, the leaving in the canoes. Like, were your leaders also in those canoes? Were you just leaving your leaders behind?

• 52:23Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. They didn't give a fuck about any of the leaders. They're like, let's pray for them, but we're not gonna help them. Talk of prayers. Thoughts and prayers.

• 52:35Danielle LaRock?

  Okay. All right. My last story is titled, My Experience with Diana of the Dunes.

• 52:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  Cool.

• 52:41Danielle LaRock?

  Hello, Cassie and Danielle. I love your show so much. It has fueled the fire of my love for the outdoors and national parks. I've decided in the last year that I want to visit all 63 by the time I'm 63 years old. I'm currently 31. You can do that. Easy.

• 52:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  You got this.

• 52:59Danielle LaRock?

  Money. Well, American Samoa might be hard, but.

• 53:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  You got this.

• 53:02Danielle LaRock?

  Anyway, this summer I went on a family vacation to Michigan with my in-laws. On this trip was me, my husband Josh, my mother-in-law Mary Kay, and my father-in-law Craig, my brother-in-law Chris, my sister-in-law Danielle, my niece Macy, and my nephew Cyrus. I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not going to remember that, but thank you for the information. Hi, y'all. We went several places in Michigan, including and chief among them, Mackinac Island. In planning our trek, we were looking for somewhere to stop to stretch our legs and eat some lunch. I was quick to jump in with the recommendation of visiting Indiana Dunes National Park. Lucky for me, my in-laws love the outdoors as much as I do, so it was set. We'd be making a pit stop at Indiana Dunes National Park.

• 53:46Danielle LaRock?

  I was so excited, I was doing happy dances for months. I immediately re-listened to y'all's episode on Alice Mabel Gray and promptly ordered the book y'all mentioned in the episode to read in preparation for our trip.

• 53:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  Cool.

• 53:59Danielle LaRock?

  My in-laws tasked me with planning which shelter we'd stop to to eat at and what trail we would take. Of course, I decided we'd hike the Dune Succession Trail, which chronicles Alice's journey in the dunes. Little did I know that the day of our hike, it would feel like 106 degrees outside, and we'd all actively feel like we were dying at the end of the hike, but boy, howdy, was it worth it? After our hike, we went to the visitor center so my niece, nephew, and I could collect our Diana's Dare stickers. While on our hike, I could feel Alice's presence with us in every step we took. It was so powerful to walk in her footsteps and to get to share her story with my in-laws. I guess for my nephew, it was impactful enough that while on another hike we were on later in our trip,

• 54:42Danielle LaRock?

  he proudly declared that he was going to protect nature and the world, just like Diana of the dunes. This made my aunt and nature lover's heart smile so big. Enjoy the view, but watch your back and protect like Diana. All my love, Erin.

• 54:57Cassandra Yahnian?

  I love that.

• 54:58Danielle LaRock?

  So sweet.

• 54:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  That is really sweet. And I love that you were able to share the story with your family because you heard on the podcast, but then you also read the book and it's just, it does make your experience so much more rich when you know the history behind where you are and the people who helped shape it. So it's really cool.

• 55:18Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, it's like such a big compliment to us.

• 55:20Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, it is truly.

• 55:21Danielle LaRock?

  So.

• 55:22Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like why we do this whole show.

• 55:24Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 55:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, thank you everyone for hanging out. Yeah, that was the last one unless you are a Patreon member or outsider's subscription on Apple, then we have two more and you can come hang out with us there. Let's see, mine is titled "Blindsided by Gatlinburg."

• 55:44Danielle LaRock?

  And mine is "My Only Memory of Yellowstone."

• 55:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  All right. Well, we'll see you guys over there. In the meantime, enjoy the view.

• 55:52Danielle LaRock?

  But watch your back.

• 55:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  Bye, everyone.

• 55:53Danielle LaRock?

  See ya. 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.

• 56:43Speaker 04

  Everyone talks about how challenging it is to raise kids, but what about protecting them? Outlet covers, kitchen cabinet locks, baby gates, where do you even start? Well, protecting your home and auto is a great place to start. Progressive offers customized coverage options, so you can be sure you have the right coverage. They're basically the baby gates of insurance. Get a quote at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers. Not available in all states.

• 57:13Speaker 05

  Whenever fall comes back around, it always feels like a fresh start. This year, I've been layering in some styles from the new Lululemon fall drop because the weather is shifting and I find I have to be ready for the entire day and not just one part of it. Lululemon's fall line has some really versatile transitional pieces, so I can just wake up, throw on a matching set, add a jacket or a fleece, and head out, knowing that I'll feel comfortable enough to go wherever the day takes me. Check out the new fall arrivals in store and online now at lululemon.com.