NPS recollections.

 Hello there again. 

So. It's been a few days. Mostly delayed due to my hectic work schedules. I'm in early out late trying to balance personal freedoms, etc. Usual stuff. Before I turn this into a personal bitching blog you see out there. You're here for the intrigue. The mystique. Well. I have a little I think. 

I was recently talking to John the ranger I referred to in my last story. Now he has a really big imagination for the fantastical. Mothmen, Bigfoot, those weird gnomes people talk about I guess. All that stuff. So I decided to talk to him about his thoughts on weird circumstances in the forest. He said 

"I'd believe it man. The world as we know it is much much stranger than you or I could ever understand. The world is insane. Like that fish they found that was long extinct or whatever. Now if you ask me about...yknow Teddy's? I'd say maybe. Most of the time any SaR (search and rescue) situations come back with people seemingly drowned in the river down the cliff that way. But honestly. Some of the reports seem contradictory I guess. Like. I don't think being trapped in a river usually leads to pale eyes and people looking...wrong."

I asked what he meant and the files he spoke about because through my time here I have not seen those files. 

"Really? You've never gotten the SaR documents for some of those? I have to sign off before. Every single time the cause of death is listed as a concussion on slick rocks to the head. But. I don't know. How does that many people drop dead on the rocks? If I remember the scans we got in the files. A lot of the area has smooth walking ground past the cliffs. On top of that. Concussions don't take the color from your eyes. I'd know I was on the football team in college. So that's my two cents. If you can find them in the archive look for em they'd be listed around like 2020 to 2023 SaR reports."

And just like he said. I found the documents. Now I won't post much as they are private. But the cause of death is consistently blunt damage to the head. And based on Connors photos. I'd have to agree. The facts don't line up to the terrain. I asked Connor about it, and he said. 

"After the cliffs. Super smooth. There's a lot of birth between the river rocks and the land. Most of it was dry and easy to walk on." 

I then asked one of the older members of the service. I'll call him Jonah. Jonah has been around longer than anyone else. Most of us weren't even born by the time he started. He's a gruff but kind man who genuinely enjoys his time with us so it was easy to ask him. 

However when I asked. His usually calm demeanor turned to one of...worry? Trepidation? Not sure the best term honestly. He just seemed off put by it. 

"Look kid. I've been around awhile. You only stay around for awhile. If you know what to ask an not. I'd recommend not asking about those kinds of things. Cuz you never know what can be stirred up. All I'll say is. The woods need to be respected. Or else they won't respect you back. Do you good to remember that."

I decided not to push it. 

Everyone else I asked gave me basically a no for an answer regarding the supernatural or odd. 

Connor is still planning his trip. And I'm still telling him no. He's making. Odd claims now though. That something has been lurking around his apartment at night. That something has been making odd, inhuman noises. It's concerning. And I'm starting to think his paranoia is starting to get the better of him. I will report back with more when I have it. 

-Arbor