Creepy times on the high lead…

[rumblepants]

Hi fellow hikers. My partner and I had a odd and disconcerting experience while hiking down the High Lead from Ada 2 yesterday (9/6/24)

We had stopped for a brief rest on particularly steep part of the track when my partner heard noise behind us and looked up the hill. She saw a man in a camouflage top and blue shorts. This man quickly ducked in to the bush upon being seen and appeared to stay still as the bush on either side of the High Lead is very dense and we couldn't hear or see any movement. We found this to be strange behavior and it made us uncomfortable.

Stay safe out there

[Camminata]

That would of spooked me out.... there is mentally ill and crap people in this world.... its odd!

[ChrisJHC]

This is not unknown behaviour around marijuana plantations.

[Baeng72]

The only weird thing I noticed when I walked up and down the High Lead to Federal Crossing, then went strolling the section from the road to Federal crossing the next week with the family is the same tent at Ada 2 Mill campsite in the same spot. This was in May, so a only a few weeks ago.

[rumblepants]

The only weird thing I noticed when I walked up and down the High Lead to Federal Crossing, then went strolling the section from the road to Federal crossing the next week with the family is the same tent at Ada 2 Mill campsite in the same spot. This was in May, so a only a few weeks ago.

We saw a tent setup on one of the platforms at Ada that was weirdly still and quiet. It was navy blue with green markings.

We got in quite late and also slept in a bit I put it down to the occupants being asleep early and rose early to go on a trek leaving the tent as a basecamp. Seemed odd to me though.

What do other people do in these situations?

[Camminata]

The only weird thing I noticed when I walked up and down the High Lead to Federal Crossing, then went strolling the section from the road to Federal crossing the next week with the family is the same tent at Ada 2 Mill campsite in the same spot. This was in May, so a only a few weeks ago.

We saw a tent setup on one of the platforms at Ada that was weirdly still and quiet. It was navy blue with green markings.

We got in quite late and also slept in a bit I put it down to the occupants being asleep early and rose early to go on a trek leaving the tent as a basecamp. Seemed odd to me though.

What do other people do in these situations?

Could be living cost pressures forced to tap out of the civilised world or a serial killer......

[Baeng72]

My first thought was homeless/economically challenged.
The other possibilities, serial killer, drug crop minders, or worse, bushwalkers who carp on too much and want to talk to strangers (does that sound like me?), seemed less likely, but who knows?
You can just see the tent at 5:52, I cropped it because I thought a bit weird putting someone's shelter in the video for no good reason. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogohi-NxkQQ

[keithj]

I occasionally come across unusual behavior. Last year I was moving quickly along a track carrying nothing but folded walking poles, and surprised a guy in full cammo coming the other way. Most walkers give a cheery 'hi' & step aside, but this guy stared intently at my poles as if I was an agressor and took 3 steps back from the track while I was still 10m away. I assumed he was a prepper out training for the apocalypse.... I told him it was a 'GLORIOUS day' and continued.

Another trip found 2 pallets of water bottles, tinned food, pick & shovel, ropes, etc under a tarp, that could only have been walked in... more preppers ?

And a while ago, a group of us met a pair of guys - one of whom hid in the ditch thinking we hadn't noticed him, and the other started a very stilted conversation to distract us from his mate.

There are some unusual people out there, but mostly harmless.

[Baeng72]

There are some unusual people out there, but mostly harmless.

If only they knew the evil that lurks in the hearts of bushwalkers....

Another somewhat unusual thing we saw (family and I) was after we walked back to car at top of High-Lead, we drove past Starlings Gap en route to Ada Tree. About halfway between those places, there was a doe on the side of the road, with a patch of skin and flesh missing on the chest/rib area. You could see the ribs but flesh underneath seemed undisturbed. I thought maybe a hunter using a bow of something and had retrieved the arrow by cutting a chunk of skin off. It was just on side of road, like it had been dumped.

I've seen more than a few people in Camo in the Howitt/Cobbler region.
Hunters along the Howqua, heaps of them one day, but nice enough to talk to, which is good, because all porting long arms, and my only protection was the as yet not quite pungent body odour.
Saw another hunter in camo walking with rifle from Lake Cobbler track to Spec road. Again, very amiable.

[Biggles]

The description of the encounter speaks of somebody who may just be guarding something secret (a drug den or drop?), and intruders, however intentioned, would be watched, possibly even followed. He could also have been a hunter, though considerably under-dressed: shorts don't really fit the expected stereotype of full camou or gillies outfit and when encountered, an agreeable and chatty disposition, even with a 12g shotgun draped over the shoulder! I dunno. Often walking alone, if it was me, I would not be enthused to prolong my stay or stickybeak.

The tent in the video posted by @Baeng72... well, tents can be found in any sort of place, and deep in a rainforested situation like this isn't really unusual to me (I do the same thing!), but I am inclined to make the scene, as I do, look civilised and occupied, rather than invite speculation and stickybeaking. There are no tables, chairs, lanterns, lights or any other sign of occupation; just like one sees around here — single tents occupied by itinerants, prospectors, bushwalkers, cyclists and homeless.

[Baeng72]

The tent is on a camping platform in a designated campsite (Ada No 2). No issues there.
It didn't seem strange when I came across it.
But when I saw it in the same spot, looking as best I could tell that same a week later and I think matches the one seen by rumblepants some after does make you think.
Like I said, my thoughts were someone without a permanent roof over their head.
Anyway, idle speculation, I'm not heading back to that leech infested area to 'knock' on the tent door if it's still there.

[Biggles]

The tent is on a camping platform in a designated campsite (Ada No 2). No issues there.
It didn't seem strange when I came across it.
But when I saw it in the same spot, looking as best I could tell that same a week later and I think matches the one seen by rumblepants some after does make you think.
Like I said, my thoughts were someone without a permanent roof over their head.
Anyway, idle speculation, I'm not heading back to that leech infested area to 'knock' on the tent door if it's still there.

Yeah, 'tis idle speculation. Tents are in the bush around me here; prospectors and artists, photographers etc.
Leeches are OK.
Really, they are fascinating little creatures to watch. I always allow one to have a nibble on my arm, a nibble that turns into a feast, that soon turns mini-leech into a beast and the need to give him/her/them the flick (with a match...). Easy to patch up the bite on the arm, but not so easy for the legs, so they are well and truly protected.

[rumblepants]

My first thought was homeless/economically challenged.
You can just see the tent at 5:52, I cropped it because I thought a bit weird putting someone's shelter in the video for no good reason. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogohi-NxkQQ

Its the same tent. In the same spot.

[Baeng72]

Intriguing. The simplest explanations are usually most likely, probably something BIggles suggested, or abandoned tent, someone carked it doing an overnighter, etc. Anybody game to do a welfare check?

[Baeng72]

The tent is on a camping platform in a designated campsite (Ada No 2). No issues there.
It didn't seem strange when I came across it.
But when I saw it in the same spot, looking as best I could tell that same a week later and I think matches the one seen by rumblepants some after does make you think.
Like I said, my thoughts were someone without a permanent roof over their head.
Anyway, idle speculation, I'm not heading back to that leech infested area to 'knock' on the tent door if it's still there.

Yeah, 'tis idle speculation. Tents are in the bush around me here; prospectors and artists, photographers etc.
Leeches are OK.
Really, they are fascinating little creatures to watch. I always allow one to have a nibble on my arm, a nibble that turns into a feast, that soon turns mini-leech into a beast and the need to give him/her/them the flick (with a match...). Easy to patch up the bite on the arm, but not so easy for the legs, so they are well and truly protected.

I don't mind leeches when they're having a slurp, just flick them off. But the scab/wound itches like buggery a few day later.

[Biggles]

The tent is on a camping platform in a designated campsite (Ada No 2). No issues there.
It didn't seem strange when I came across it.
But when I saw it in the same spot, looking as best I could tell that same a week later and I think matches the one seen by rumblepants some after does make you think.
Like I said, my thoughts were someone without a permanent roof over their head.
Anyway, idle speculation, I'm not heading back to that leech infested area to 'knock' on the tent door if it's still there.

Yeah, 'tis idle speculation. Tents are in the bush around me here; prospectors and artists, photographers etc.
Leeches are OK.
Really, they are fascinating little creatures to watch. I always allow one to have a nibble on my arm, a nibble that turns into a feast, that soon turns mini-leech into a beast and the need to give him/her/them the flick (with a match...). Easy to patch up the bite on the arm, but not so easy for the legs, so they are well and truly protected.

I don't mind leeches when they're having a slurp, just flick them off. But the scab/wound itches like buggery a few day later.

Treatment for annoying scabs is simple: apply vaseline and cover e.g. with a tegaderm clear dressing. Without vaseline, the scab shrinks, pulling the surrounding skin in. Very itchy I agree, and adding a dressing also prevents the scab being knocked off before it is due, resulting in bleeding!

[Vommo]

I once spotted a black PVC cylinder tied by rope hi in a tree in a creepy pine forest. I noticed the rope first and followed it up with my eyes. I thought about it being a drug drop off point, some kind of witchcraft, some depraved goings on so I left it.

But curiosity got the better of me - it was a gel cache with a note, fake plastic jewellery and a plastic dragon. The was relieved but kinda disappointed lol

[phATty]

I once spotted a black PVC cylinder tied by rope hi in a tree in a creepy pine forest. I noticed the rope first and followed it up with my eyes. I thought about it being a drug drop off point, some kind of witchcraft, some depraved goings on so I left it.

But curiosity got the better of me - it was a gel cache with a note, fake plastic jewellery and a plastic dragon. The was relieved but kinda disappointed lol

My first thought would've been food drop.