Trail Tales 82

Trail Tales 82 - Today’s stories include cemetery tales, childhood tubing trauma almost felonies and ghostly protectors. 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! Bellesa: EVERYONE who signs up wins a FREE WhisperVibe™ OR a FREE Rose toy with any Whisper™ order! https://www.bboutique.co/vibe/nationalparkafterdark-podcastJones Road Beauty: Use code [NPAD] at jonesroadbeauty.com to get a Free Cool Gloss with your first purchase! These sell out fast so get them while they last! #JonesRoadBeauty #adHollow Socks: For a limited time Hollow Socks is having a Buy 2, Get 2 Free Sale. Head to Hollowsocks.com today to check it out. #Hollow SockspodBBC History's Toughest Heroes: Listen to History’s Toughest Heroes at BBC.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. 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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• 0:32Speaker 01

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• 1:20Cassandra Yahnian?

  Hi, everyone. Welcome back to National Park After Dark. We're here today with another Trail Tales.

• 1:25Danielle LaRock?

  Yes, we are, and it's my almost birthday.

• 1:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  I know, so close. It's your birthday month.

• 1:30Danielle LaRock?

  It is my birthday month, and I got myself a little early birthday present. And I showed you. I texted you the link, but it's so much more beautiful in person.

• 1:39Cassandra Yahnian?

  I can't wait to see it.

• 1:40Danielle LaRock?

  I got my ring. I'm so excited. It's so beautiful. I got a circa 1830s Memento Mori morning, like, original Victorian morning ring. And it's black and gold, and it says "in memory of." And there's a little "forget me not" flower engraved on it. And there's someone's hair braided in the band, as the Victorians did. And it's just so beautiful. It sounds creepy. It's like black and gold and death.

• 2:09Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like slightly creepy, but in a really cool way.

• 2:12Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, and it's beautiful, and I'm wearing it. But obviously, the camera's not going to pick it up. Maybe I'll post it, but it's so nice.

• 2:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. Yeah, the picture you sent me, it was really cool. It's just really unique.

• 2:24Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, it is. It def- like the, the lettering is broken up. So it's like I N and then M E, M O, you know, like around instead of just all in one string of words. So yeah, I love it. And I figured I would treat myself for my thirty fifth birthday.

• 2:42Cassandra Yahnian?

  Big year.

• 2:43Danielle LaRock?

  Big year. Is it a big year?

• 2:45Cassandra Yahnian?

  I don't know. I feel like after twenty five, you kind of stop getting the fun perks because twenty five, you're like, yeah, I can rent a car. Before that, twenty one, you can drink. Eighteen, you're an adult.

• 2:56Danielle LaRock?

  Buy Lotto tickets.

• 2:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. Sixteen, you get your license. Thirteen, you're officially a teenager. And then I feel like they need to make some fun things when you get older too. Like thirty five, you get ten thousand dollars.

• 3:13Danielle LaRock?

  That would be fun. Yeah. Well, I'm not organizing any sort of party or any sort of thing for myself, but I am organizing a party for Chaska. And his birthday is in January, so it'll be a dual birthday party.

• 3:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  What are, what are you gonna do for him?

• 3:30Danielle LaRock?

  I told you a formal invite was coming, but I guess I'll tell you.

• 3:35Danielle LaRock?

  So I'm renting out, there's a website called Sniff Spot that you can look up, you know, different places for dogs. And there's a, listed on that was a facility, a training facility up in Concord. And it's a big like playroom training area that has a bunch of toys and play equipment. And because it's at the end of January, outdoor stuff is kind of next. So at first I was like, pool party. He loves the pool. He loves the water. And I've done that for him before, but just like with him or in blue together. And then I thought about it because I wanted to invite his friends.

• 4:15Danielle LaRock?

  And I feel like a pool party with five dogs would be chaos. So I decided against that. So yeah, I'm going to rent out that little spot. I'm going to bake him a homemade cake for him to share with everyone. I want everyone to bring him. Like, yeah, a little gift, but I would like them to also bring a gift out of um, a list I'm going to send out about a wish list for a local shelter. And what like they want. And I'm going to write everyone little thank you notes and stuff for being in his life and giving him love.

• 4:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  So cute.

• 4:47Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 4:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  Amber is going to be so excited.

• 4:51Danielle LaRock?

  I know. Yeah. So.

• 4:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  Invitation.

• 4:52Danielle LaRock?

  There's five, five dogs are allowed at this place at a time. So, um, I'm going to invite Amber, of course. So it'll be Amber, Chaska, Alyssa's dog Atticus.

• 5:06Danielle LaRock?

  Nataia's dog Beans.

• 5:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  Cute.

• 5:08Danielle LaRock?

  And it's tough because Ian's sister Courtney has two dogs, Bear and Boone. And Boone's a friggin psycho. And that would put it at six. So it's like, do you want to bring Bear or neither of them? And if that's true, then we're going to default to another dog. But anyway, the guest list.

• 5:29Cassandra Yahnian?

  I have a spare dog if you need one.

• 5:31Danielle LaRock?

  I know. I was like, oh, Tucker. But I know that like, he's also might just be over being around five crazy dogs.

• 5:41Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, he's low key. If you need a stand in, he's available, but he will also be totally fine not coming.

• 5:52Danielle LaRock?

  Okay. Yeah. Well, the guest list is incomplete, but I'll keep you updated. Anyway, that's enough about that. Let's talk about some trail tales.

• 6:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. Do you want to go first or do you want me to go first?

• 6:04Danielle LaRock?

  I'll go first. I'm already, I'm already fucking jabbing. So, all right, let's see. What is my first story? Okay, here we go. My first story is titled Third Man Syndrome with a Civil War Ghost. Hello ladies, my name is Zee and in 2013, I found myself in a bit of a pickle. I fell asleep behind the wheel and hit a tree at 80 miles an hour. What happened next was a broken memory of what transpired, only to be filled in from friends and family. While coming home from a job interview and a friend's birthday party, I stopped by a friend's grave. I stopped to talk to him about how much he would have liked the job in which I was applying to. He's buried on the edge of his family property off of a dirt road in the mountains.

• 6:47Danielle LaRock?

  I spilled the beans, shared a tear, and headed home. On a winding road I've been down 100 times before, I fell asleep and ultimately hit a tree. This tree is on a historic battlefield from the Civil War. It's part of the National Park Service. What follows is the broken part. I do not remember getting out of the car. I do remember following a Civil War soldier to a house a half a mile up the road from the crash site. A Civil War soldier that had no face, but an authentic Union uniform. A home that was a former Civil War hospital. I found this out after going to thank them for helping me after I was partially recovered. Turns out, the floor is still stained with the blood of soldiers.

• 7:29Danielle LaRock?

  The door I broke into the house hadn't been open since they had purchased the house in 1974. I met them at the top of the stairs with my hands up in full suit. They called their daughter, who was an ER triage nurse, and 911. They ultimately saved my life. I remember being in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Two soldiers with beards looked down on me a foot away from my face. No features, but I felt pure comfort. When I arrived at the hospital, I was immediately prepped for surgery. My parents came in and told, and I told them that I was sorry. My mom told me two years after the accident that I asked who the Civil War soldiers were that were standing in my room. I gave her a description that she was able to draw. Our drawings matched, blank face and all.

• 8:12Danielle LaRock?

  I woke up from surgery to a room of 19 people, friends and family, and it was an extremely humbling moment. I'm back to normal now, minus the scars and occasional pain. What happened to me that night can't be undone, but I think I had a few people looking after me. You know about the Civil War soldiers. However, The grave I went to was my best friend who was killed in Afghanistan. His mom woke up that night and called my mom and dad. She thought something was wrong and wanted to know if they had heard from me. My mom woke up and decided to take a drive to make sure everything was okay. Turns out, a mother's intuition is spot on. My dad ended up calling her back to the house soon after she left after learning I had been in an accident. I moved to States two years ago.

• 8:56Danielle LaRock?

  Last week, I passed by that battlefield, my friend's grave, and that tree. I said my piece and made the turn headed for my mom's 70th birthday. Sometimes, life gives you ghosts, a premonition, and a new lease on life in a short amount of time. I've learned to stress less and love more. Hope you both have a wonderful day. With love from North Carolina, Z.

• 9:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  Man, what a way to start this episode.

• 9:20Danielle LaRock?

  It has it all.

• 9:21Cassandra Yahnian?

  That is such a heart wrenching story, just with your friend and the car accident and then...

• 9:28Danielle LaRock?

  Third man syndrome, mother's intuition.

• 9:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, just everything.

• 9:32Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, it's heavy, but it's really, really interesting.

• 9:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  For sure. And just the fact that you walked to a house that used to be an old hospital, too.

• 9:42Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, it's like you're being escorted by the spirits of Civil War soldiers to a place that they knew would get you medical help. Or at least, in their version of... Well, I mean, it did. The people who lived there did get them to medical help, but yeah, crazy.

• 10:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  I'm so glad you're okay. That's so scary. Going 80 miles an hour and falling asleep is very scary. Yeah. We just got back from our trip to Hawaii with our group trip and we've been a little jet lagged. And I had to drive from Boston all the way to Vermont and it was over a three hour drive. And I actually started falling asleep while I was driving. And I had to pull over into a rest stop the other day. And I, I wasn't fully falling asleep, but I felt myself like nod. And I was like, oh no, I gotta, I gotta stop. So I went to, I stopped at a rest stop and I put the car in park. I tilted my seat back and I fell asleep within like seconds.

• 10:46Danielle LaRock?

  Real, is this after the bookstore we went to?

• 10:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 10:50Danielle LaRock?

  Wow.

• 10:50Cassandra Yahnian?

  I was so tired and I just, I fell asleep for like 25 minutes. I woke up, got a snack and a drink and I was like, okay, I'm much better now. I can, and then I had no issues going back, but I was just so tired.

• 11:06Danielle LaRock?

  Well, and driving especially in like that road is just kind of monotonous and you just, I felt like that a little bit when I would make the drive cross country in certain stretches where it's just like everything, everything looks the same and there's not really a lot of stimulus going on and.

• 11:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, I didn't even make it out of New Hampshire. I was still in New Hampshire.

• 11:29Danielle LaRock?

  Really? Okay.

• 11:32Danielle LaRock?

  I mean, you were pretty sleepy that day.

• 11:34Cassandra Yahnian?

  I was so sleepy. I looked in the mirror and I was like, oh my God, these dark circles are crazy.

• 11:45Danielle LaRock?

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• 12:28Danielle LaRock?

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• 13:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, my next story is also about a ghost. It is titled, Yes, I got haunted and unfortunately, it was a touchy feely kind of ghost. No, no.

• 13:24Cassandra Yahnian?

  Hello, girls. I have been wanting to write in for quite some time. I absolutely adore the podcast. I must confess, I am not an auditory person. I just can't comprehend what I'm hearing most of the time, but you two have nailed the perfect combo of cadence and pacing for me to be able to listen, comprehend, and not get overstimulated. Thank you.

• 13:43Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, thanks.

• 13:44Cassandra Yahnian?

  I appreciate that so much. I'm also not an auditory person, which is weird because I have a podcast, but I just have so much, I have such a hard time with noises and everything. So I can super appreciate that.

• 13:56Danielle LaRock?

  It's misoph- what is it called?

• 13:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  Misophonia. Yeah. I just, it means pure hatred of sound, which is, I'm self diagnosed, but I am very confident that I, that I have. It's been a lifelong journey for me. I've made huge, huge steps. I used to, fun fact, I used to fail my tests in college sometimes if I was seated next to a person who was heavy breathing or making any sort of repetitive movements or sounds. I literally would just get up and leave because I couldn't physically, like I would try and wait it out for them to finish, but my brain would like short circuit and I would just put, pass the test in and leave, even if I wasn't even half finished because I just couldn't.

• 14:42Danielle LaRock?

  You're hyper focused on that. I know. I mean, when this recording started, we haven't used our recording equipment in a few weeks. And Cassie, the first thing she says to me, I can hear you breathing. I'm like, oh, I could. Now I'm really cognizant of my breath. Gotta hold it. Okay.

• 15:00Cassandra Yahnian?

  No, usually I don't notice anything, but today I was like, is something wrong with your mic? I can hear every.

• 15:05Danielle LaRock?

  Or what were you just doing before you go?

• 15:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  Run a marathon and then sit down. Like, do you need a minute?

• 15:13Cassandra Yahnian?

  Anyway, sorry. I have lots of stories, most of which are spooky in some way, but today I want to share the number one. Ever since I was young, I have been a little obsessed with the spiritual world. Every time I went to the school library to pick out a new book, it was either about ghosts or horses.

• 15:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  Me memorizing every single horse in second grade. I had run ins with spirits before, but nothing would prepare me for the haunting that took place in our new to us home. My husband and I just got married. We found a newer double wide to rent while we were just starting out. Seriously, this was the last place I would have ever expected a ghost to reside. I have tried to figure out how the spirit ended up taking up residence there, but honestly, I have no idea. My son, who was eight at the time, had a noisemaker. It was one of those little sphere shaped things that had a globe on the top that emitted light in the shape of stars. It also made an array of different noises to help you fall asleep. The noises ranged from crickets to the sound of ocean waves to lullabies.

• 16:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  One day, I'm not sure how long we had lived there, but I'm thinking it was a couple of months. This noisemaker just started playing on its own. I couldn't quite figure out what I was hearing. It sounded like waves crashing. I finally discovered it was coming from the back of my house in my son's room. And lo and behold, it was his noisemaker just playing on its own in the middle of the day. Hmm, that's weird, I thought. I turned it off and went about my day. It started happening more and more. So much, in fact, that we had to remove the batteries until it was bedtime because it would just play all the time. Perhaps it was defective or had a short in it. We made those kinds of excuses and had no idea of the things that would follow. The next incident was in the kitchen some weeks later.

• 17:02Cassandra Yahnian?

  The living room and kitchen had an open concept and were essentially in the same space. We were in the living room on the couch watching a movie when we heard a thud in the kitchen. I walked over trying to figure out what happened. There was a coffee travel mug lid that was sitting on the counter now on the floor about three feet away. Like someone had just slapped it and flung it on the floor. That's when I made the connection. Oh my gosh, we are being haunted. Over the next couple of weeks, this ghost started setting off the timer on our toaster oven. Ding! This happened randomly throughout the day. Once again, I had to unplug it to make it stop. It didn't take long for things to escalate. My husband and I started hearing things in the middle of the night. Our bathroom was connected to the bedroom by a large doorway, but no door.

• 17:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  We would hear what sounded like someone being dragged around the tile floor in the bathroom. Something heavy like a body. We would totally freak ourselves out and turn on the light. And luckily, we never saw the things that would go through our minds. From there, it just got worse. It started touching us at night. Oh, there it is. There it is. No, please, please, no. You know the feeling of having a dog on your bed, walking on top of the covers on your legs? Yeah, that happened, except our dogs sleep in their crates at night. And there was nothing there when we would turn on the light. One night, it grabbed my husband's shoulder to wake him up. Things were getting out of hand with this ghost. We were afraid to see what it would do next.

• 18:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, no, no, thank you. Out of desperation, I decided to do some research. Maybe this ghost wanted something from us. It didn't seem malicious, and I didn't get a bad feeling from it. I wanted to help it, maybe find some peace or something. After doing some Googling, I read that most spirits were lonely and would often do things to get attention from the living. They wanted to be acknowledged, so I started talking to it. I named it Bob. It just felt like a male presence to me. I would come home to an empty house and say, hey, Bob, I'm home. I would talk to him. I would tell him about my day and just make conversation. I also made it very clear that we acknowledged him and were happy to have him around.

• 19:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  But I set some boundaries and told him we did not feel comfortable with him touching us. Pretty soon, he became quiet. The touching at night stopped. The noises stopped. I talked to him daily, and that seemed to be what he was looking for. All was going well. We lived there about 10 months before buying a house of our own. I wondered what would happen to Bob. Hopefully, he wouldn't follow us. Could he follow us? We had packed our things, and a moving day was tomorrow. I had a feeling Bob would not be happy we were leaving him. We had a large pile of boxes in the living room. It was arranged much like a pyramid with large boxes on the bottom and the smaller lighter boxes on top, but arranged in a fashion that the boxes on top would not tumble out over or fall off. My husband and I were in bed.

• 19:55Cassandra Yahnian?

  The bedside lamp was on, and we hadn't gone to sleep yet. We were sitting there when we heard a loud crash. We jumped out of bed and rushed into the living room. We flipped on the light to see that one of the boxes on top had been knocked off and tumbled all the way down the pyramid and lay upside down on the floor. Whatever was inside was broken. Bob had made his point. He was not happy we were leaving. We moved the next day. We were a little nervous in the new house at first, but after some time, we relaxed, knowing that Bob did not follow us. And that is the story of Bob. I still think about him often. I wonder if he ever found peace, or if the people who lived there now acknowledge him the way we did.

• 20:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  It really is a crazy haunting tale, and I think most people would probably think I'm making it up. But it was very real. There were times when other people were over to witness some of the mischief. Enjoy the view, but watch your back. There just might be a ghost getting ready to grab your shoulder. Ashley.

• 20:52Danielle LaRock?

  It kind of makes me a little sad.

• 20:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  I know. Poor Bob.

• 20:55Danielle LaRock?

  Left behind.

• 20:57Cassandra Yahnian?

  I know. Why didn't you take him with you?

• 20:59Danielle LaRock?

  He did seem like a little bit of an inconvenience, but just like a doing small, annoying things.

• 21:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, but it sounds like once you gave him some attention, he kind of stopped.

• 21:09Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 21:10Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's kind of me.

• 21:13Danielle LaRock?

  To be honest.

• 21:16Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, yeah. Like, oh, the box thing reminds me of a cat. Like when they just sit and like, kind of slowly push something off of a counter.

• 21:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  Or they're just sitting there and like you just see their eyes. They're like gonna do something bad and then they're just like.

• 21:34Danielle LaRock?

  Looking dead in the face while they swipe a vase off the counter or something. I don't know. We've had, a lot of our trips, we have cats like kind of following us around or different animals and in, I almost said in Maine, in Hawaii, we had, what was his name? Kiko or Kio? Kio?

• 21:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  Oh, I just called him kitty.

• 21:56Danielle LaRock?

  Oh, yeah. He had a name.

• 21:59Danielle LaRock?

  And I think it was Kio. And he was so sweet. He was like, that is the type of cat I would want, just so personable, kind of reminded me of a dog in his mannerisms and the way that he behaved.

• 22:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 22:12Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, he was a good kitty.

• 22:13Cassandra Yahnian?

  He was a good kitty.

• 22:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  Last Christmas, Al bought me a record player and since then I've gotten really into collecting records, but I also wanted the whole setup to look beautiful in our home. So when I saw the Jocuna Vinyl Media Unit from Article, I knew exactly where it was going. And when it arrived, I was really impressed with the quality. And it's one of those pieces that's just as functional as it is nice to look at. That's really what Article does so well. They make it easy to create a stylish home with high-quality furniture at a really great price. Their collection includes everything from sofas and sectionals to dining tables, chairs, bedroom furniture, storage, outdoor pieces, and decor with a lot of mid-century modern coastal and Scandi-inspired designs. And everything is curated to work together, so you can mix and match pieces without feeling

• 23:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  like you need to be an interior designer to make your home feel cohesive. If you do want some help, Article even offers free interior design services and their customer care team is available seven days a week. They also offer fast, affordable shipping across the US and Canada, professional assembly options, and a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, so you can feel confident ordering furniture online. Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit article.com/NPAD and the discount will automatically be applied at checkout. That's article.com/NPAD for $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more.

• 23:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay, my second story is titled "Point of Graves." Danielle, okay, you're not involved.

• 23:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's okay. It's about graves. It feels like it should be pointed at you.

• 23:59Cassandra Yahnian?

  I didn't even notice that. Speaking directly to me, thanks for responding on Instagram. Oh, did I? You're welcome. This story is a personal antidote, so there aren't any historical facts, except for the fact that I was able to verify some things through ancestry.com. In 2015, I went on a Portsmouth ghost tour via Lady Pickwicks with my then-girlfriend. The tour guide is also a medium who is able to connect to spirits through a particular spirit named Mary March. I'm neither a believer nor a non-believer, but I never rule anything out, so I went into this experience with an open mind. When we went to the final spot on the tour, which was the Point of Graves...

• 24:41Danielle LaRock?

  The tour guide slash medium had us in a circle around several prominent graves towards the eastern, far left from the entrance, side of the graveyard. She then proceeded to inform us that Mary March was with us and that she would be able to use her to communicate with other spirits. She asked the crowd if any of us had any questions, and I reluctantly raised my hand to ask one. Since I grew up an exeter and my family traces back to the area in the early 1600s, I asked if I had any relatives buried in the graveyard. As soon as I asked, her copper spirit rods pointed directly at a gravestone that I was unable to read due to the darkness. She moved closer to the grave and had me move with her. To my absolute disbelief,

• 25:24Danielle LaRock?

  the gravestone was marked with the name Sarah Sargent, the same last name as mine. Next to the gravestone, her sister laid Mary March, the same spirit the medium was able to connect through. After the tour was over, we spent two hours together, free of charge, where I was able to connect with multiple deceased family members, asking questions that I was able to verify through known family history, including my father's mother who passed away when I was 18 years old. Even the medium was shocked about how vivid the experience absolutely was for us, and it made me a believer in some sort of spiritual or paranormal phenomenon. I often visit the grave to say hello, so I really appreciate your interest in graveyards, cemeteries, and the afterlife,

• 26:07Danielle LaRock?

  as they tend to be forgotten members who, without them, we wouldn't be here. Thank you, Troy. Troy, so cool. First of all, Cassie, you may, I feel like you can speak about this, even though.

• 26:23Danielle LaRock?

  It's like a conversation of me and Troy.

• 26:24Cassandra Yahnian?

  This isn't about, this story wasn't for me.

• 26:31Danielle LaRock?

  Well, there's a couple of things going on here. I know it's a couple of months after the fact, but I did during the, I almost said holiday season. It is kind of the holiday season, spooky season. I was talking about how I was going to different cemeteries, and I went to a Portsmouth.

• 26:50Danielle LaRock?

  Cemetery tour in the Point of Graves Cemetery.

• 26:54Cassandra Yahnian?

  Mm hmm.

• 26:55Danielle LaRock?

  And I guess, sorry Troy, that I don't remember. But I guess I responded to Troy about maybe his experience there and probably requested him write it in. That's what I'm surmising, but that's a really cool experience to have, to have no knowledge that you have distant relatives buried somewhere. And you're just like, well, I guess I'm going to ask this medium who is allegedly communicating with somebody. And then, and they do.

• 27:21Cassandra Yahnian?

  For it to be real.

• 27:22Danielle LaRock?

  They do take place like at night and it is super dark and those graves are super worn. Like, there's no way that you would have been able to read that from afar to be like, oh yeah. And that lady probably has no idea what your last name is. You're just a guy on a tour.

• 27:38Cassandra Yahnian?

  Totally.

• 27:39Danielle LaRock?

  You know?

• 27:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  Like, she has no way of knowing any of that information.

• 27:43Danielle LaRock?

  And then you get home and you go on ancestry.com and you're like, oh my God, this is all real.

• 27:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  Ancestry.com is a wild place. People are learning so much. I am, I'm, my, my family's been having some, some stuff happening recently, so.

• 27:58Danielle LaRock?

  Drama.

• 27:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's drama.

• 28:00Danielle LaRock?

  Ancestry drama. Yeah.

• 28:03Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 28:04Danielle LaRock?

  Wow. I love that. I, I don't think I have any, I would have to see where, I wonder where my distant relatives are. I mean, Vermont for sure. And I don't know where else they would be. I don't really have a huge connection to my dad's side of the family. So maybe New York, Connecticut area.

• 28:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  Have you done ancestry.com?

• 28:30Danielle LaRock?

  I have to some extent. My mom did before ancestry.com was a thing. She has, she was a scrapbooker, like she has a scrapbook for every person in my family and also different chapters of each of our lives, like in interests and events and things like that. We have a whole shelf of a ton, dozens of scrapbooks. But for several years, when I was a pre-teen teenager, she dove deep into her side of the family's heritage. I mean, she like went to Ellis Island and like was communicating back and forth through.

• 29:11Danielle LaRock?

  Another family member who knows both Italian and English to our Italian relatives that do not know any English to like get family history through them. And we have like four volumes of that side of the family's heritage from in Italy.

• 29:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  Very cool.

• 29:28Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, cuz I'm from the Sicily area and then like Palermo area.

• 29:34Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay.

• 29:34Danielle LaRock?

  So between my mom and my dad's side, but yeah, she put together, I know everything pretty much about my mom's side of the family, but my dad's side of the family is a little bit of a murkier water. Yeah.

• 29:47Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. It's funny, a lot, both sides of my family are a little murky, but my mom's side, my grandmother was adopted. So that makes it a little bit more murky over there.

• 29:58Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah.

• 29:58Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 30:04Speaker 01

  The award-winning American Airlines Advantage program rewards more than travel. It takes your whole life to new heights. Earn miles when you fly, as well as with thousands of your favorite brands, and then redeem those miles for flights, upgrades, and experiences worldwide. Advantage members also enjoy earlier boarding and free high-speed Wi-Fi in flight. Join for free and start earning towards your next adventure at aa.com/spotify.

• 30:37Cassandra Yahnian?

  Cool. Well, I have my next story. Mine is titled Childhood to Being Trauma. Hey, ladies, my name is Paige. I have to start by saying that NPAD is the first podcast I really got hooked on and is my favorite by far. Thank you.

• 30:51Danielle LaRock?

  Thanks.

• 30:51Cassandra Yahnian?

  I recently got my first NPAD merch, a greenish-blue baseball cap that I love so much. Thank you all for the interesting stories and for inspiring me to find the motivation to get back out in nature. As a mom of two toddlers, it's been quite a busy season, but nature is definitely how I recharge. A bucket list item for me is to go on one of your trips someday and I cannot wait. I also have to say that you are both wonderful humans and in my head, we are very dear friends. Thank you. I have been wanting to send a trail tale in ever since I started listening to your podcast a few years ago, but could never think of anything worthy to share until one trail tale mentioned Lake Powell and it reminded me of the experience I'm about to share.

• 31:31Cassandra Yahnian?

  For context, I grew up in Southern Oregon and have fond memories of boating and being on the water every summer growing up as a kid. As a kid, there is nothing more thrilling than clinging on for dear life as you're whipped around on the lake on a tube.

• 31:45Danielle LaRock?

  And that is true. Yes.

• 31:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  The summer of my story, I was about 14 and my mom's side of the family rented a houseboat for the week on Lake Powell. Located on the Utah and Arizona border, Lake Powell is one of the most magical and unique places you can ever visit. Made up of red and orange clay canyons contrasting against the deep blue lake, the views are spectacular and the sky at night is the only time I've seen the Milky Way to date. I have so many wonderful memories of this place and can't wait to take my girls there someday. But on this day, we went out on the ski boat for some tubing. As the oldest cousin, I let everyone else get their turn on the tube first. By the time it was my turn on the tube, the sky was getting dark and there was a strong breeze. I don't think anyone thought it was a big deal at the time, but it sure changed quickly

• 32:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  once I started getting pulled around on the water. After a couple of minutes on the tube, the waves were the biggest I have ever seen. It seemed like crazy high wakes, but I'd guess around four to five feet. The large wakes and increasing wind combined with being pulled on a tube hitting the wakes hard was unlike any other tubing ride. My body clung on the tube for literal dear life. I was fearful that if I fell off the tube or let go, the waves combined with the wind would cause me to drown even with a life jacket on. The wind continued to pick up and I motioned my hand straight across my neck. The boating sign that I was done and ready to go on the boat. I did this motion over and over, but no one in the boat was paying any attention to me.

• 33:16Danielle LaRock?

  That's the worst. It's like you have one job.

• 33:20Cassandra Yahnian?

  Like, stop. Like, I know you're driving and having fun over there, but I'm still back here. Side note, I'm pretty sure it's a boating law, but also just freaking common sense that when a person is being pulled or is outside of the boat, at least one person in the boat must be watching the person outside of the boat in case they fall off or are ready to call it quits. You're probably right. So, a few more minutes had passed and I'm crying. Each time I collide with a wave, it's painful and getting harder to hold on. Still, no one in the boat seemed to notice that I'm clearly not having fun anymore. And at this point, it did not feel safe for me to be out on the water. After what seemed like forever in my mind, I was pulled into the boat and we headed back to our houseboat.

• 34:01Cassandra Yahnian?

  Fast forward an hour or two later, I'm in dry clothes and safe inside. In the neighboring cove, my family noticed helicopters circling above and a sheriff's boat surrounding another houseboat. These summer storms are nothing new as my family went to Lake Powell every other summer for the past decade. But this year was bad. We later found out that a young girl, only a few years older than me, had disappeared in the lake during the storm. With my own personal experience on the lake, I couldn't help think that it could have been me they were searching for and me losing my life in that storm. This was very sad and sobering that I distinctly remembered. We love coming here and spending time as a family, but it was a powerful reminder that life is so fragile and can be taken in an instant.

• 34:46Cassandra Yahnian?

  To this day, we don't know what happened to the girl that drowned that night. Was she drinking and/or did she have a life jacket on? Did the carbon monoxide from the engine cause her to pass out? There's so many things that could have gone wrong. I left that trip with a new respect for Mother Nature and bodies of water. It's a night I'll never forget and a terrible tragedy that happened in such a beautiful place. Please remember that boating rules are meant to keep you safe and alive. Enjoy the view, but watch your back, the person getting pulled behind the boat, and please wear a damn life jacket.

• 35:18Danielle LaRock?

  Yep, that is really sad. The moments of like, I was in a very similar situation and it could have been me, those are, those will shake you for sure.

• 35:27Cassandra Yahnian?

  For sure.

• 35:28Danielle LaRock?

  But yeah, memories of tubing as a child. I've never been to Lake Powell, so I've never had experience there, but my cousin, who I, I pretty much grew up with when my parents were going through a divorce when I was a child. Her parent, my, so my aunt and uncle had a boat and they lived um on the shores, um, Duxbury, Massachusetts. And I just vividly remember going out and getting absolutely

• 35:57Cassandra Yahnian?

  annihilated.

• 35:59Danielle LaRock?

  Wrecked.

• 36:00Cassandra Yahnian?

  The adults love to do it to get so.

• 36:02Danielle LaRock?

  It's like whipping that thing around.

• 36:04Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's like, we're taking out every anger we've ever had on you right now in this boat. Get on the tube. You're gonna love it.

• 36:12Danielle LaRock?

  Vividly remember them just cackling as we're holding on for dear life and just trying to get us off, whipping us off. And to me, it felt like they were taking their time circling around and getting us. But the two, the two things I really remember about those moments are number one, being terrified. I was really afraid of sharks because we were tubing in the ocean near the Cape. So I was afraid of sharks. And the other thing was, once they finally got around, we, like, our arms were little noodles because you're so tired from holding on for so long.

• 36:51Danielle LaRock?

  I could barely get myself up onto the tube from the water. And me and my cousin, actually, we had a pact. We would always go together. We never did the tube by ourselves. We would always do it together. And we would always bail out the second the other one fell off. So we never had to be in the water alone.

• 37:12Cassandra Yahnian?

  Wow, that's really nice. That was not my experience. I mean, once you were in the tube, that was my goal. And I was really good at it. I have like a death grip on things is that I am staying on that tube. I will push, not push you off, but I'm not gonna help you stay on. And I will be holding on for dear life. And also tubing on the ocean is a whole other. I've never went tubing in the ocean. We would do Lake Winnipesaukee, which was, which was choppy waters. But I remember holding on for dear life and I would be like, I'd be holding on with my toes, my hands. And other people, they, they fell off. They were on their own.

• 37:50Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, you weren't gonna, yeah, that's not your problem.

• 37:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  No, I was competitive when it came to that. I was like, you will not get me off of this thing. And I was pretty good at it. I mean, sometimes I totally got thrown off and face planted in the water and it hurt.

• 38:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  I tried. I tried my hardest.

• 38:08Danielle LaRock?

  Ocean tubing. That's why I'm so tough.

• 38:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  I mean, that is some trauma that will stick with you for life.

• 38:15Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah. Builds character.

• 38:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  That's for sure.

• 38:24Speaker 01

  The award-winning American Airlines Advantage program rewards more than travel. It takes your whole life to new heights. Earn miles when you fly, as well as with thousands of your favorite brands, and then redeem those miles for flights, upgrades, and experiences worldwide. Advantage members also enjoy earlier boarding and free high-speed Wi-Fi in flight. Join for free and start earning towards your next adventure at aa.com/spotify.

• 38:56Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, my last tale is titled Cemetery Tales. Hi, ladies. I just finished listening to Danielle's cemetery episode, and it really moved me. For a long time, I only went to cemeteries on the occasional historic tour like New Orleans. However, just over 10 years, I found myself conducting a research project in college that brought me to Burr Oak, a historic cemetery just south of Chicago in the town of Alcep. Alcep? This isn't technically a trail tale, nor is it my personal story, just information I learned from sources and from interviewing people for my project, so I understand if it isn't really podcast material. However, I think that the history of this cemetery is extremely important, so I wanted to share it.

• 39:40Danielle LaRock?

  Trigger warning: This includes racism and grave desecration. Burr Oak Cemetery was established in 1927 as an African-American cemetery. As you already know, segregation was in full swing at this time. Members of the African-American community were excluded from white cemeteries and were forced to find burial locations that could accommodate them. When Burr Oak was due to receive its first burial in order to be legally dedicated as a cemetery, neighbors and police from predominantly white Alcep Actually chased the burial party away. Only with the assistance from a deputy sheriff from a different department could they safely return and complete the burial. One of the things Burr Oak Cemetery is known for is being the resting place of Emmett Till

• 40:24Danielle LaRock?

  and his mother Mamie Till Mobley. Just as a quick refresher, Emmett Till was born in Chicago and was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 at the age of 14. He was lynched by at least two white men who took offense to Emmett Till allegedly whistling in the direction of a white woman. Emmett Till's mother bravely insisted on having an open casket as his funeral so that the world would be forced to witness his mutilated body and face the reality of ongoing racism in the United States. It should be noted that his body was not examined post-mortem prior to his funeral. This becomes important later. His accused murderers, both white men, were acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury.

• 41:06Danielle LaRock?

  Women and African-Americans had not been allowed to be jurors. One of the arguments presented by the defense was that the body was so badly mutilated that it could not be positively identified as Emmett Till. And since there was no autopsy completed, the identification of the body rested on the testimony of Emmett Till's mother and whether or not jury members cared to believe her. Needless to say, this aspect and many others meant the trial was horrifically skewed in favor of the defendants. After being acquitted, the men even admitted to the crime, but could not be retried due to double jeopardy. Now, back to Burr Oak Cemetery and the rest of the story that many people don't know about. In 2004, the FBI reopened Emmett Till's case in order to determine if there were any other

• 41:51Danielle LaRock?

  men who participated in his murder who could potentially be charged. In 2005, Emmett Till's body was exhumed for an official autopsy. After the autopsy, Emmett Till's body was reburied in a temporary coffin, as it was expected for it to once again be reburied in the cemetery's yet-to-be-built Emmett Till Historical Museum. However, this reburial and the establishment of the museum never took place. In 2009, it was revealed that there had been rampant mismanagement of Burr Oak Cemetery. While Emmett Till's burial site is not believed to have been disturbed, apart from his previous exhumation, investigators discovered that more than 200 grave sites had been dug up

• 42:33Danielle LaRock?

  With their remains being dumped into unmarked mass graves in the back of the property. These emptied plots were then resold to other families. The reburied bodies had been covered up hastily, and in some areas, human bones were found protruding from piles of dirt. That's awful. Yeah, this whole thing is so upsetting. Upsettingly, a fair number of these desecrated graves belonged to children from a portion of the cemetery known as Baby Land. Additionally, the historic casket that Emmett Till had been waked and buried in was found in a storage shed with a family of possums living inside of it. Years later, it was restored and is now on display at the National Museum of African American History in Washington DC.

• 43:15Danielle LaRock?

  One of the sources I spoke to for my research project, Edward Boone, has numerous family members buried in the cemetery. He told me that he had been trying to raise the alarm on poor conditions at the cemetery for years, but was routinely ignored by both cemetery management and local politicians. Additionally, one of the reasons he believes cemetery management was able to get away with their crimes for so long is that a lot of the graves in the cemetery lack markers. Over history, many of the families who buried loved ones there lacked the funds to erect proper headstones. Even then, some graves that had headstones were still disturbed, their headstones thrown away, which made it difficult for loved ones to locate burial sites later on. Ultimately, the manager of the cemetery at the time, Carolyn Towns,

• 44:01Danielle LaRock?

  pleaded guilty to dismembering bodies and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Other employees who participated in the crimes were convicted and received lesser amounts of jail time. I know that this is all really heavy and depressing information. However, speaking to Edward Boone was such an honor and restored my sense of hope. He is currently the chair of a group called Friends of Burr Oak Cemetery and continues to work to restore dignity to those buried there. He organizes cleanup projects and works with affected families to provide updated burial location information for their loved ones. In May of 2025, his organization commemorated a memorial inside of the cemetery where remains that were recovered but unidentified were reburied. The memorial location is called the Circle of Rest.

• 44:46Danielle LaRock?

  Another amazing person I came across while researching my project was Dr. Jeremy Crock. Jeremy is an avid baseball fan. However, he told me that as a white man, he had never been taught about the Negro leagues while growing up. No, I understand this term is not used anymore, but is that it is the historical term that was used at the time. In his own time, Jeremy started doing extensive research into Negro League baseball, which featured African American players unable to join Major League Baseball in the early 20th century due to segregation. This research brought Jeremy to Burr Oak Cemetery, where many Negro League baseball players are buried. However, Jeremy noticed that many of them either lacked grave markers, or their headstones were in

• 45:28Danielle LaRock?

  deplorable conditions. He took it upon himself to regularly volunteer to clean and beautify the grave sites. He told me what motivated him was how these amazingly talented baseball players were disrespected in life, subjected to horrendous racism. His belief is that these men should be given the credit and respect they always deserved in life. He created the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project, which has paid for headstones for more than 50 players at Burr Oak and other cemeteries. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read this rather long story. My hope is that with the work being done by dedicated people like Edward and Jeremy, Burr Oak Cemetery can be restored to a place of peace where the history of and care of its occupants isn't overshadowed by

• 46:12Danielle LaRock?

  the crimes and controversies that had taken place there. I'm attaching a picture I took of Emmett Till's gravesite back when I visited the cemetery for my research project. Best regards, Naomi. So, I love that story because, I mean, as I briefly mentioned in my cemetery episode that we did back in October, I think, you know, segregation in when we have discussions about cemeteries and how spooky and cool and creepy they are and like, we often don't talk about how Glaringly horrific that is, and this story was is a really good example of

• 46:53Danielle LaRock?

  the ongoing issues that are still persisting when it comes to that subject. And the book I recommended, Over My Dead Body, goes into great detail about that. But I did want to mention, just really briefly, because Naomi spoke a lot about Emmett Till, two things, a personal anecdote. That movie absolutely wrecked me. Have you seen it?

• 47:17Cassandra Yahnian?

  What is it called?

• 47:18Danielle LaRock?

  It's called, I believe it's called Till. Hold on, let me make, let me.

• 47:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  I know I saw a documentary. It was a documentary.

• 47:26Danielle LaRock?

  It's called Till. The movie is called Till.

• 47:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay. Is it, is it a documentary or is it a movie?

• 47:32Danielle LaRock?

  It's a movie.

• 47:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  Okay. I don't know if I've seen that, but I've seen the documentary about his story.

• 47:37Danielle LaRock?

  Okay, I, and vice versa for me. I haven't seen the documentary, but I watched the movie. It was on one of our flights. I wasn't with you, but it was to or from one of our trips that we've

• 47:48Cassandra Yahnian?

  Gotcha.

• 47:49Danielle LaRock?

  And I had known a little bit about the story, for sure, but not the details. And that was one of the, I know people joke around that, like, airplane movies hit harder. Like, for some reason, you're just more emotional and maybe because there's no distractions and you're just really.

• 48:06Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, you can't be like on your phone or anything. You're just actually watching.

• 48:10Danielle LaRock?

  I, I was almost like hyperventilating crying during that movie. It was so moving and so upsetting and so deeply troubling.

• 48:19Cassandra Yahnian?

  Well, he was a child.

• 48:20Danielle LaRock?

  Think about that and just the treatment. Oh, my God, it was just awful. So that was number one. But number two, I did want to mention that there is a national historic monument called the Emmett Till and Mamie Till Mobley National Monument. So it is a national park tie-in, believe it or not.

• 48:40Cassandra Yahnian?

  Where is it?

• 48:41Danielle LaRock?

  So I wrote a little blurb here. In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till traveled to Money, Mississippi to visit relatives. He was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered after reportedly whistling at a white woman. His mother, Mamie Till Mobley, insisted on an open casket funeral near their hometown of Chicago. Her brave decision to let the world see the racist violence inflicted upon her son and set the civil rights movement into motion. The monument was established in July of 2023 and is comprised of multiple sites in Sumner and. Glendora, Mississippi and Chicago, Illinois. So maybe one day when I'm feeling brave enough to hopefully do that story justice, we can cover it in detail.

• 49:25Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah, that one's a really tough one.

• 49:27Danielle LaRock?

  But thank you, Naomi, for writing that in and sharing a bit about your project because that was really an important one. And I'm glad you shared a little bit of it with us in the audience.

• 49:38Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. Well, moving on to my last story, before we get into our bonus ones on Patreon and Apple subscriptions, mine is titled Fort George Island Cultural State Park Fail. Hello, my name is Robbie. I'm a woman. My name can be a bit deceiving. Ha, ha, ha. First off, I'd like to say that I absolutely love your show and have become inspired to visit every national park in the USA because of you guys. Secondly, my boyfriend Kenny and I had an interesting experience at Fort George Island Cultural State Park in Jacksonville, Florida, that I thought you guys might find interesting as well and can share this story so others can learn from our mistakes.

• 50:17Danielle LaRock?

  I love when people describe something as interesting because that could be

• 50:21Cassandra Yahnian?

  So many directions.

• 50:25Danielle LaRock?

  Like when I'm trying to describe something that I just don't quite have words for that I don't really want to drag, but I just say, it was interesting.

• 50:35Cassandra Yahnian?

  It's never good. It's never good. Interesting is never good.

• 50:39Danielle LaRock?

  Just the level of bad differs.

• 50:44Cassandra Yahnian?

  Kenny and I love to kayak and the park has tidal waves, tidal waves, tidal waters that you can explore. At first, everything was going great. We launched at around 10 a.m. and the wildlife was beautiful. Shrimp would literally jump right into our kayaks, which was terrifying at first, but then became pretty comical because why in the world were shrimp jumping into our boats? As we got deeper into the waters, we passed a man fishing in another kayak. Through casual conversation, he informed us that the tides get pretty low and to keep an eye out. We didn't really think much of it, which would turn out to be such a huge mistake on our part. Always listen to the Florida natives. Well, we stopped at a small island and got out to explore a little.

• 51:26Cassandra Yahnian?

  We climbed a tree to see the beautiful views and while we were on it, we noticed that it was covered in little crabs. It was spooky at first, but they honestly had no interest in us and it was fun to watch them. When we were done exploring the island, we got back into our kayaks and realized right away that in just the short thirty minutes we were out of the water, the tide had gone in quite a lot. We took that as our cue to head back, but the problem was we had gone out pretty far. As we kayaked back, it was pretty hard not to notice that the waters were going down at an alarming rate. And it wasn't too long until our kayaks were stuck in the mud. And by mud, I mean thigh-deep mud filled with dangerously sharp oyster beds.

• 52:08Cassandra Yahnian?

  At first, we tried to push our way through with our feet while our bodies stayed in the kayaks, but that failed. At that point, the water was gone. So we had to trudge through the mud, or should I say, the near equivalent to quicksand. Luckily, the oyster beds weren't that bad yet, and we were able to use them to our advantage and step on them. We wore shoes, thank God. Exhausted from dragging our kayaks and constantly pulling our legs out of the mud, we stopped at a small island where on the other side of it was some water and then shore. In order to get to the other side, we had to trudge through more deep mud, and the worst part was that the oyster beds were much worse here. When I went to stand, I somehow lost my balance and fell back onto my butt,

• 52:53Cassandra Yahnian?

  right onto an incredibly sharp bed of oysters. It might be a good time to mention that I only had on a bathing suit. The back of my upper thigh and my hand was sliced open, and my sweet boyfriend ripped a piece of a shirt to tie off my hand because it wouldn't stop bleeding. At that point, I was full-blown panicking. I will admit it. Kenny had to pull the kayaks to shore and then come back for me, and while I tried to step where he was, I somehow managed to step in a deep hole that was filled with more oyster beds. So not only was I stuck, I was also being sliced open as well. At this point, I'm sobbing and Kenny had to pull me out, all while the oysters are wreaking havoc on my poor legs.

• 53:36Cassandra Yahnian?

  Once at shore, we had to take two trips to carry the kayak back. We had no idea where we were and where we parked. We climbed a hill and came to what appeared to be a ruin of a very old house. We left the first kayak there and then went back for the second one. When we got back to the ruin, a park ranger stopped us in her truck. We must have looked and on sight, bleeding and covered in mud. She informed us that we were trespassing on the Munceia Mungundo House, which was a structure built in the 1800s. Apparently, it was a felony to walk on it. Luckily, once we explained our situation and that we had no idea, she was nice enough to let us go. I'm sure our appearance was a great alibi. So after that-

• 54:21Danielle LaRock?

  I swear to God.

• 54:23Cassandra Yahnian?

  I don't know where I am. I'm bleeding. I'm covered in mud. Arrest me. Just take me out of here.

• 54:29Danielle LaRock?

  I'll take the, I'll take the L.

• 54:30Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah. So after that, we were good, right? Wrong. After the ranger left, a police officer came. This lady wasn't so nice. She told us we were committing a felony, and when I tried to tell her that the ranger already let us go, she informed me that she was the law, not the ranger. She also told us to follow her to her car. I thought that was it for us. We were going to prison. But luckily, after explaining, she let us go with a warning. We sped out of there before she could change her mind. Moral of the story is to always check the tides when you go out kayaking. We should have listened to that fisherman when we had the chance. However, I'm glad we went and experienced

• 55:11Cassandra Yahnian?

  the beauty of the park. It's 100% a story Kenny and I will be telling our kids one day.

• 55:16Danielle LaRock?

  What park was this again?

• 55:18Cassandra Yahnian?

  It was one in Florida. It, Fort George Island Cultural State Park.

• 55:25Danielle LaRock?

  They don't mess around down there. Felony. Immediately.

• 55:28Cassandra Yahnian?

  Yeah.

• 55:29Danielle LaRock?

  Is it a felony to trespass on? I guess it's government property.

• 55:33Cassandra Yahnian?

  Because it was government property and it was, sounds like it was kind of historic or it was in ruins, an old house. They probably had some like crazy underground bunker there that they were like so close to discovering. It's like where they keep the aliens. They're like, get out of here. It's a felony.

• 55:47Danielle LaRock?

  Yeah, this is restricted.

• 55:49Cassandra Yahnian?

  I'm just trying to, I'm injured, probably cold. I'm clearly bleeding. Yeah. Help me. I love how the first ranger also was like, yeah, you can go and then just left them there. Still bleeding and covered in mud, didn't offer them a ride, nothing was just like, all right, whatever. Figure it out. Bye. Yeah. See ya. The audacity of the second one, though, like I'm the law, park rangers aren't. Yeah, rude. Okay, first of all, fresh. Um, okay, well, that's, that's that. That's that on that unless you're on Patreon or you're on our Apple subscriptions. We have some bonus stories and mine is titled River Rapids and Parental Justice and Green River Gorge.

• 56:34Cassandra Yahnian?

  And mine is titled, She's Here and Always Has Been. All right, well, thank you, everyone, for joining us. Enjoy the view. But watch your back. Bye, everyone. See ya.

• 56:44Danielle LaRock?

  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.

• 57:32Speaker 06

  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.

• 58:03Speaker 07

  What's the secret to being a great host this season? Keeping things deliciously simple. Like mixing Simply Cranberry into a festive drink as guests arrive. Or serving up a warm mug of Simply Apple on a chilly night. That means less time behind the scenes and more time in the moment with everyone. Crafted with real fruit, Simply juices and fruit drinks make any holiday drink effortless, inviting, and completely delicious. Simply. Say yes to simple.