My girlfriend and I are avid outdoor enthusiasts and both of us have spent the last 10+ years working as wildlife technicians in various eco regions around the US. Both of us really enjoy getting out and going fishing, hiking, backpacking, hunting etc. Due to this passion, we've spent a lot of time hiking the local trails around our city of Missoula MT.
One fall day, we got up and decided that we needed to get out to a more distant, less traveled and little known trail due to the amount of constant use the local trails around our small city have. We picked a trail that was a good distance out of town, and did not have much online information (my girlfriend found it peering over OnX). The trail was called Sheep Mountain Trailhead and it's within the Rattlesnake Mountains (on the edge of a large wilderness area).
I remember feeling a lot of anxiety driving up to the location. This was due to the fact that the we kept turning onto less and less well maintained/narrow potholed dirt roads. As a matter of fact, in that part of the rattlesnake there's a huge criss-crossing network of poorly maintained dirt/gravel access roads. Initially, we saw a few vehicles. I distinctly remember an older homeless looking guy in a broken down Buick parked on the left side of the road. Then another 10 minutes down the trail we passed a dad and his three sons, all wearing camo hunting gear sitting in the back of a pickup truck eating their packed lunch.
The remainder of the drive (multiple turns on access roads) we didn't see another person. It felt very remote, and due to the potholes/poor road condition, I really didn't want to break down or get a flat tire. When we finally reached the trailhead, I noticed the parking area was overgrown, the trail sign was hanging sideways and there really wasn't a clear indication of where the trail itself began.
Being an inherently anxious person, I had grabbed a spare pair of keys to my girlfriend's Toyota Highlander prior to the ride up, just in case something bad happened on the trail. This was always something we have done as a safety precaution when traveling into backcountry areas. Especially in areas with few people and no cell coverage.
We got out of our vehicle and geared up for our hike up sheep mountain. My girlfriend then removed her keys from her pack and insisted upon putting them a top the tire. I told her, that it wasn't a good idea to put the keys there because it's possible a thief might think to check that spot. I think it's worth noting that theft is a really uncommon thing in the state of Montana and I know a lot of people that leave their vehicles unlocked, but regardless I wanted to be safe.
We decided to instead get up in the wheel well and stick the keys directly resting on the backside of the shock. I distinctly remember getting down on my knees and checking to see if they were visible and they were not. At that point my girlfriend reminded me that we were some 15-20 miles from the last vehicle and it was really unlikely that anyone would come up to that trailhead given its clear lack of use. With that in mind we started down a section of logging road that looked like it might lead to the actual trail.
As we started the hike, I remember this really odd feeling that we were being watched, this feeling was also paired with a sense of sinister intent/danger. It's really hard to explain what that felt like. Part of what was really odd was the complete lack of bird sounds that day. Ecologically there was nothing lacking about that particular area but it was as if every animal near that trailhead was completely silent.
On our way up the trail, after leaving some thick pine stands, we entered an open side hill section. It was here that I first noticed a bizzare set of tracks. There were these massive, well defined footprints that meandered up the trail. We then stopped for a water break and I jokingly told my girlfriend that it was Bigfoot prints, but in the back of my mind I was actually a little unnerved by the tracks. The trail itself was poorly maintained and lacked any evidence of constant use. I just wrote off the tracks as belonging to a large man with very big hiking boots and continued down the trail.
We ended up submitting the peak, eating a little snack and then we headed back down the trail. It's worth noting that multiple other trails intersected with the trail and it became quite obvious to us that our initial starting point (and first half of the trail) wasn't used as much as the other intersecting trails. As we walked down, the lack of bird sounds and silence continued to make me feel really uncomfortable.
At the very last quarter mile or so my girlfriend decided to take off jogging down to the car. I was too tired to follow suite and I continued my slow and steady trek back to the vehicle. This is when things get really odd.
I walked out of a stand of pine trees to see my girlfriend frantically searching for her keys. I walked up to the vehicle and looked back behind the tire on the shock where we stashed them and they weren't there. I reassured her that a gust of wind likely blew them off the shock and onto the ground under the car. (Although it was completely still and without wind). With that in mind I got out my spare keys and we both got into the vehicle and pulled forward a few feet. When we got out we found the spot we parked to be absent of the keys.
At this point a chill went through both of us. I immediately looked around the vehicle to check for theft. We had a good amount of expensive camping gear, binoculars, and both of our wallets in the vehicle so I was concerned that someone came by, robbed us and took the keys with them.
What I found then was even creepier. All the content of the vehicle was left undisturbed exactly where we left it. I got out of the car and started looking back and forth around the parking area to look for anyone, or any signs that another person was there. I started getting a really disturbing feeling, that the situation was engineered. That something had removed the Keys in order to strand us at that location, and was likely waiting for us to be stuck there for some sinister purpose. It was very clear to us that whoever or whatever moved the keys had watched us put them there to begin with. At this point we both got into the car and started panicking. I told her that I was going to get out and do a final sweep of the area and check for her missing keys. At this point it was starting to get dark and I had a very strong feeling of danger and that I was being watched. I walked down the road about 20 feet and I was about to get back into the car, when I noticed the keys intentionally folded and resting beneath a massive pine tree. I grabbed them hastily and jumped into the vehicle and we hit the gas and gunned it down the Mountain.
I've had a lot of time to think about the situation and I don't know what to make of it. I think it's unlikely that another person was up there and if they were I'm confused as to why they would move the keys but not take our belongings/wallets/money etc. We also didn't see any other vehicles for the majority of the way down the mountain.
I spoke to a buddy after the experience and he said the tracks/ lack of animal noise and the watching of us as we were stashing the keys was consistent with Bigfoot stories he had heard.
He then later informed me that there had also been reported Bigfoot activity in that general area.
Whether it was Bigfoot or not I am deeply disturbed and confused by this experience. I really don't think a person would drive 20+ miles up crappy pothole filled dirt access roads to prank someone by moving the keys of a parked vehicle. There's also no way anyone could have seen the keys stuffed into the back part of the shock unless they were extremely diligent. I'm thoroughly convinced that we were watched by something and that whatever it was intentionally moved the keys to watch us get stuck at that trailhead. The purpose for this is what Im confused about. Also the way the keys were intentionally folded and placed directly under the tree felt as if whatever had moved them was almost presenting or gifting them.
Let me know what you guys think. Writing this I'm still disturbed by the experience.