I followed an unmarked trail, it led me to a town that’s…
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I followed an unmarked trail, it led me to a town that’s not on any maps.
As far as I can remember I’ve always loved being out in nature. I was never one of those “iPad babies” that parents would leave in front of the TV for hours while they did who-knows-what. We went on walks together on weekends, camping trips in the summer and even rented out canoes some years. My mom always blamed my father for it, she used to say working in construction made him “allergic to the inside air”. On his days off we went on little father-daughter trips at this city-owned park with a bunch of trails, and since he was friends with the workers they used to let us spend time after closing to stare at the stars.
Around my 19th birthday he left us in the middle of the night, probably still mad at mom for some fight they had earlier. He did answer a single call from me before blocking my number. He told me he’d never come back, to not tell my mom we talked. He also told me his favourite part of the month was our trips in that park.
It’s been about a year since then and that phrase still runs through my head from time to time. So this year I decided to honour those times I left behind and go back to the same park all by myself, and spend the night amongst the trails that brought us together. I had it all planned months ahead: I had a week off school in the middle of the semester and took a few days off work around the same time. I had arranged with the employees of the park to let me stay behind after close with my tent, as long as I didn’t stay too far off the trails to camp.
As soon as I got out the door the cold November air hit me in the face. I was told repeatedly to never drive with the heating on and windows down, but with my heart pounding with nostalgia and such nice weather I couldn’t listen one bit. It took about an hour to the get to the park, and as soon as I crossed the parking lot one of the older workers came up to me. He was talking about some 3 disappearances in the last few days, and that me spending the night was off. Unfortunately today was not the day the tell me to back out. I simply agreed to leave at closing time and headed on my favourite trail. It’s a looping trail reserved for experienced hikers that goes 5-ish miles up a light hill, then 2 miles east to go back down meet the other paths. I’d done it tens of times with my father, but somehow this time it felt slower. It’s not fatigue, I’d still been taking walks; I think it was taking it alone that made it seem harder to walk all that time. I walked with one earbud in, appreciating the wind and birds as much as my music. Then eventually, I got to the turn. One thing about this trail is that unlike lower ones, the area around the beaten path is completely clean: parents take their hyperactive kids on small walks here and they treat the forest like their personal playground, stepping on every branch or crunchy leaf for that satisfying crack, where as up here it was mostly older folks who just want calm away from civilization be it for a few hours. I’m telling you this to accentuate how weird it is that through bushes and branches there was a clear path, one obviously made by multiple people walking on leaves and dirt that hadn’t been touched by man, leading deeper and deeper in the forest.
I finished walking the trail with that opening in mind, and left in my car to park on the side of the road to wait until everyone left and the lights were off to go back in. I know, it counts as trespassing, but I did not beg my boss for time off for nothing. The woods are completely different at night, like nature is trying to reclaim the terrain humans took up all day and rebuild over it. In that serenity I turned on my flashlight, put my small tent on my backpack and headed back up the trail. I can’t lie I was hesitant when I got to the path, but I figured my dad wouldn’t have let me back down. The grass was clearly freshly flattened, as if it didn’t fully have time to raise after being stepped on, and same went for some of the branches that were likely snapped off and left in the mud.
I can’t tell exactly for how long I walked through that patch of forest but it must’ve been around midnight when I got to a wider path, cleared from trees as if I was back in the park. I looked town to see gravel all over the ground, realizing I was likely standing on an old road. After walking another few minutes I found myself at the entrance of an old town. I quickly noticed a sign informinng me I was entering Pelletsville, with the “population” sign half-hanging from a rusty chain and the numbers crossed off. As mu h as a part of me warned me to go back to the car before someone noticed I got back on the trails, I needed to see where this really led. Eventually I stumbled into a clearing with one of those stereotypical old towns with all wooden buildings, and for a moment I thought I had found an old attraction, like some vacation town with a farwest there. I started walking along the main road between all the buildings that were somehow still holding up despite the multiple years this place probably stayed hidden. It didn’t take long for me to feel watched, but I figured it was simply because I was alone in the middle of the night in an abandoned town and my brain was trying to be as alert as possible. I did visit what looked like just a normal house but ended up probably being a shop of some sort when there was people around. I also found old money and other things around inside, but I figured it would still be seen as stealing even if no one knew. I simply went back towards the edge of town and set up my tent and an alarm to have enough time to get to my car before anyone got to the park, laid my bags out and lit a fire to warm up before going to sleep.
When I awoke in the morning I instantly knew something was off. Unlike the previous day where you could hear crickets and other creatures in the trees, the area around my little camp was completely silent. I noticed my fire had been put out instead of burning out, and my bags weren’t exactly where I’d let them. It almost looked like someone rummaged through them but tried to place everything back where it was as to not arouse suspicions. I didn’t take any chances and packed up instantly, that wave of panic waking me up better than any dose of coffee could ever. I noticed the walk back to marked trails seemed shorter but it was likely only my state of mind pushing me faster. I’m right now sitting in my car in a parking lot far from the city but I still feel so confused. There’s bears in my area, can they open and go through bags? Has anyone else heard of Pelletsville?
#entertainment
source
As far as I can remember I’ve always loved being out in nature. I was never one of those “iPad babies” that parents would leave in front of the TV for hours while they did who-knows-what. We went on walks together on weekends, camping trips in the summer and even rented out canoes some years. My mom always blamed my father for it, she used to say working in construction made him “allergic to the inside air”. On his days off we went on little father-daughter trips at this city-owned park with a bunch of trails, and since he was friends with the workers they used to let us spend time after closing to stare at the stars.
Around my 19th birthday he left us in the middle of the night, probably still mad at mom for some fight they had earlier. He did answer a single call from me before blocking my number. He told me he’d never come back, to not tell my mom we talked. He also told me his favourite part of the month was our trips in that park.
It’s been about a year since then and that phrase still runs through my head from time to time. So this year I decided to honour those times I left behind and go back to the same park all by myself, and spend the night amongst the trails that brought us together. I had it all planned months ahead: I had a week off school in the middle of the semester and took a few days off work around the same time. I had arranged with the employees of the park to let me stay behind after close with my tent, as long as I didn’t stay too far off the trails to camp.
As soon as I got out the door the cold November air hit me in the face. I was told repeatedly to never drive with the heating on and windows down, but with my heart pounding with nostalgia and such nice weather I couldn’t listen one bit. It took about an hour to the get to the park, and as soon as I crossed the parking lot one of the older workers came up to me. He was talking about some 3 disappearances in the last few days, and that me spending the night was off. Unfortunately today was not the day the tell me to back out. I simply agreed to leave at closing time and headed on my favourite trail. It’s a looping trail reserved for experienced hikers that goes 5-ish miles up a light hill, then 2 miles east to go back down meet the other paths. I’d done it tens of times with my father, but somehow this time it felt slower. It’s not fatigue, I’d still been taking walks; I think it was taking it alone that made it seem harder to walk all that time. I walked with one earbud in, appreciating the wind and birds as much as my music. Then eventually, I got to the turn. One thing about this trail is that unlike lower ones, the area around the beaten path is completely clean: parents take their hyperactive kids on small walks here and they treat the forest like their personal playground, stepping on every branch or crunchy leaf for that satisfying crack, where as up here it was mostly older folks who just want calm away from civilization be it for a few hours. I’m telling you this to accentuate how weird it is that through bushes and branches there was a clear path, one obviously made by multiple people walking on leaves and dirt that hadn’t been touched by man, leading deeper and deeper in the forest.
I finished walking the trail with that opening in mind, and left in my car to park on the side of the road to wait until everyone left and the lights were off to go back in. I know, it counts as trespassing, but I did not beg my boss for time off for nothing. The woods are completely different at night, like nature is trying to reclaim the terrain humans took up all day and rebuild over it. In that serenity I turned on my flashlight, put my small tent on my backpack and headed back up the trail. I can’t lie I was hesitant when I got to the path, but I figured my dad wouldn’t have let me back down. The grass was clearly freshly flattened, as if it didn’t fully have time to raise after being stepped on, and same went for some of the branches that were likely snapped off and left in the mud.
I can’t tell exactly for how long I walked through that patch of forest but it must’ve been around midnight when I got to a wider path, cleared from trees as if I was back in the park. I looked town to see gravel all over the ground, realizing I was likely standing on an old road. After walking another few minutes I found myself at the entrance of an old town. I quickly noticed a sign informinng me I was entering Pelletsville, with the “population” sign half-hanging from a rusty chain and the numbers crossed off. As mu h as a part of me warned me to go back to the car before someone noticed I got back on the trails, I needed to see where this really led. Eventually I stumbled into a clearing with one of those stereotypical old towns with all wooden buildings, and for a moment I thought I had found an old attraction, like some vacation town with a farwest there. I started walking along the main road between all the buildings that were somehow still holding up despite the multiple years this place probably stayed hidden. It didn’t take long for me to feel watched, but I figured it was simply because I was alone in the middle of the night in an abandoned town and my brain was trying to be as alert as possible. I did visit what looked like just a normal house but ended up probably being a shop of some sort when there was people around. I also found old money and other things around inside, but I figured it would still be seen as stealing even if no one knew. I simply went back towards the edge of town and set up my tent and an alarm to have enough time to get to my car before anyone got to the park, laid my bags out and lit a fire to warm up before going to sleep.
When I awoke in the morning I instantly knew something was off. Unlike the previous day where you could hear crickets and other creatures in the trees, the area around my little camp was completely silent. I noticed my fire had been put out instead of burning out, and my bags weren’t exactly where I’d let them. It almost looked like someone rummaged through them but tried to place everything back where it was as to not arouse suspicions. I didn’t take any chances and packed up instantly, that wave of panic waking me up better than any dose of coffee could ever. I noticed the walk back to marked trails seemed shorter but it was likely only my state of mind pushing me faster. I’m right now sitting in my car in a parking lot far from the city but I still feel so confused. There’s bears in my area, can they open and go through bags? Has anyone else heard of Pelletsville?
#entertainment
source
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