You should embellish a little. Say they were Murder Hornets and that you barely made it out alive after fashioning a makeshift dagger out of the stinger of the first one you killed (with your bare hands, naturally).
I went 4WDing in sand dunes in the United Arab Emirates with a bunch of American expats.
On one of the dunes I was on the outside of the car standing on the foot treads holding on through an open window. Part way up the dune the car started to tip, so I jumped away and luckily missed getting squashed when the car rolled.
It was a really stupid thing to do, and I got really lucky. Good lesson for me to have now I have kids - I have a more healthy respect for risk.
Probably not the type of answer you’re looking for, but I’ve got a few that happened outdoors.
The first was when me, my brother, and some friends hiked up some train tracks to go to a ghost town at the top of a mountain near where we’d recently moved. About a 6 hour hike in. My brother was ahead of us, around 100 feet/30 meters ahead. He suddenly turns around, yells “TRAIN!” and the next thing we know, there’s a fuggin train coming around the bend. There’s only around 6-7 feet/2 meters of space between a rock wall and the tracks. We jump off the tracks and push up against the wall. With our packs on our backs (we were going to be camping for a week, so they were large packs), it felt like I could have stuck out my tongue and touched the train. The scariest part was that none of us saw if my brother had been hit. It happened too fast. The train took forever to pass, it felt like an eternity. I just knew my brother was dead, I was terrified. When the train finally passed, we rushed to where he’d been, and found that when he jumped off the tracks, he wasn’t against the wall, he was in a sort of spring/small pond, 10 feet/3 meters lower than the tracks, soaking wet. Terrified we’d been hit. First words out of his mouth were “cigarette. Now!” He was unharmed.
Next scariest thing was when me and some friends went driving in a national forest near us, and her car broke down. We walked up what we thought was the road, but turned out to be a trail. Someone started shooting at us. We ran like crazy and made it back to the car. Tbh, I don’t remember how we got her car home…
It was terrifying. Honestly one of the most scary moments of my life. I cried like a small child in front of a bunch of ex marines. Honestly, that whole trip was just cursed.
Thankfully! One of the ex marines thought it wasn’t important to bring a firestarter log (creosol log), “I ain’t no pussy.” Left it at the truck, without telling anyone. When we got there, it had snowed for so long, thick, wet snow, that we couldn’t get a fire started. He was an idiot. Same marine, once we finally got the fire started on day 3 was on night watch. While we all slept he pulled a tarp over top of where the fire was to “trap the heat.” Somehow, known only to God, it didn’t catch fire when he FELL ASLEEP ON GUARD, but it did trap the smoke enough that we all woke up coughing. Thankfully we didn’t all die of inhalation. The snow prevented us from making it to lost cove, and we ended up going home without seeing it. Horrible, cursed trip. Lol.
Woke up one morning at summer camp with a rattlesnake curled up on my sleeping bag. I did not move until late afternoon.
Turned around on a hiking trail to see a large tusked boar a few feet away staring me down and huffing at me. All the trees around me too small or too big to climb. I backed away reeeeeeally slow and it went the other way.
Got ejected from and then trapped underneath a 12-person whitewater raft that was also stuck on rocks in a shallow section between rapids. I don’t know how I ended up back in the raft, I just remember silently saying goodbye to the world and blacking out. Then went down the same river again the next day, cause apparently I killed some brain cells the first time.
This was before the modern age of cell phones, there was one pay phone for the whole camp. I was camped farther away from everyone else in my group and didn’t dare yell for anyone because it was on my stomach. I was barely breathing to not piss it off. It was a large group so my absence wasn’t noticed right away. Someone eventually came to see if I was sleeping in or sick, saw the snake and went running to find the nature lodge people, who saved me.
edit: should add that it took them a while to find the nature lodge people who were out and about (again, no phones.) And then it took more time for them to agree on the best way to come in, protect my face and get it into a bag. It felt like eternity.
Yeah I’m gonna plead the 5th on that one. First year camper, first time away from home, first time seeing a rattlesnake. Like that? Scared out of my mind. Just proud I didn’t have a heart attack.
Luckily I did bring my flashlight and batteries, otherwise I would have been screwed. I did not plan to stay up so late, but the ascent to the ridge hike took longer than anticipated, and of course, what was a sunny day in the morning progressed to clouds and rainstorm by the afternoon, which continued into the night.
I continued as best as I can. I was acutely aware of the danger of a trip and fall that might break an ankle and hypothermia - some parts of the hike still had snow, and anytime I stopped, I could feel the cold seeping in.
One time? I took my parent’s dachshund, tootsie: my parent’s dachshund Tootsie camping- this was when they first got her; she was maybe a few months old.
It was bear country in WI. Specifically, what’s called “primitive” camping where you can park at a state forest walk in and just set up camp.
Right by a beautiful trout stream. I was waiting for the sun to come up, enjoying some coffee, before going off to wet my line and get breakfast.
She was laying next to me, (an aggressive snuggler.) when this big ole bear comes up the stream.
When she saw it, she started trying to pick a fight. Barking.
Fortunately the bear was incredulous and possibly faintly amused. It looked at the puppy. Looked at me. Back at the puppy. It’s expression said “you realize you’re a snack, right?”
Fortunately, it moved off down the stream.
Yeah, she’s a dachshund to her core- sass, class and won’t hesitate to pick a fight with anything and then run behind you when it starts.
Mine doesn't involve nature, so much as just unfortunate timing and bad luck. But it was outdoors and one of the only times I thought I was actually going to die, so maybe that counts?
I was probably 15 or 16 when this happened. My family went to visit some other family members in Denver. While we were there, we took a day to go up into the Rockies with a bunch of ATVs and go riding around some trails along the mountains.
We end up finding this trail that runs along a really steep cliff. It wasn't so steep that you'd have gone into freefall if you went over the edge, but it was steep enough that you would absolutely roll uncontrollably downhill, hitting every tree along the way for what looked like a hundred feet or so. But the trail was wide enough and had enough of a buffer along the edge that you had plenty of space to not have to worry about sliding off. You would have needed to try to fall off the edge, so I wasn't really worried about that.
I was at the back of the line in our group, and was letting them get a bit of a head start, as I wanted to speed up a bit along the straightaways. As I begin catching up with the rest of my family, they're all going along this really wide curve. And as my brother ahead of me goes over this slightly loose patch of ground, a mini landslide happens and just wipes out the trail right in front of me, going straight into that steep drop.
I slam on the brakes as soon as I realize what just happened, but the front wheels end up going just over the edge where the earth just fell apart. So now I'm stuck on this ATV, leaning downwards at a nearly 45-degree angle, trying desperately to reverse back up the hill, but I'm getting no traction on the fresh soil that got torn up, so the wheels are just spinning in place. Nobody ahead of me even realized that the earth just got swallowed up behind them, and since they thought I was giving them a long head start, they didn't think to look behind them for some time.
Meanwhile, I get off the ATV and try to push it back onto solid ground, but it weighs a ton and I'm just a wimpy teenager at the time, so I don't make much happen there. I'm trying really hard not to let the ATV go over because it's expensive and I was already in hot water for wanting to speed around on it in the first place and had to beg for my uncle's trust to do it, and because we were miles into this trail by this point, and I had no clue how to even make it back to where we were parked. And this was just before everybody had cell phones, so I was completely out of contact. So I was really doing my best to get this ATV back into gear so that I could at least make it back before it got dark out.
Trying to save the ATV was a bad idea, because in attempting to reverse it back onto solid ground, I loosened up so much dirt that it began sliding back down, knocking me over onto my ass, nearly rolling right over top of me. Luckily, I slid just a couple feet into a small tree, and I was able to climb back up. But the ATV was long gone.
Just a few scrapes and bruises, nothing sprained or broken, so I'm good to walk back. It took me a couple hours, and the sun was setting just as I made it back to our cars. Nobody was there yet, so I figured I'd just climb into the car and lay down until they got back. Turns out, they eventually did realize I wasn't behind them, sent my brother back to look for me, he saw the landslide and the ATV flipped at the bottom of the hill, turned back and told the rest of my family who freaked out and assumed I was dead or dying. They end up making it back to the cars after a while, but not after my uncle climbed down and then back up that hill to see if I was down there.
All was well, I didn't need any medical attention, and my uncle ended up going back out the next day to recover the ATV. Somehow, aside from having most of the body dented to all hell and snapped apart in several places, it was completely functional.
I was a young Boy Scout (yes I know) camping in a mountain range known for its beautiful scenery, amazing fishing, and unpredictable weather. On the third day, we decided to hike about 4 miles to a different lake. We started the hike, and all was well. About 3/4 of the way through the hike, we saw some intense dark clouds closing in on our position. We continued to press on regardless. By the time we reached our destination, the storm system had rolled in and we were dealing with a light drizzle. No big deal! That’s great fishing weather.
Within 20 minutes the rain went from a light drizzle to pouring rain. We knew we had to go back to camp. We moved as quickly as we could as the storm intensified. It got to the point where the wind was so strong, and the rain was so intense that I could barely breathe. We finally made it back to the pasture our camp was in, about a mile away from our camp. At this point the storm was so intense that two of the strongest leaders decided to run ahead and bring the truck to us.
We make it about another half mile before they come back with the truck. The storm has only intensified in the meantime. But, there was another problem. There wasn’t enough room in the truck for everyone (including the bed). Three people had to walk the rest of the way. I was dumb enough to volunteer.
The truck departs and the three of us start running towards camp, as the storm continues to intensify. Then, as we’re running through the pasture, lightning strikes within 100 feet of us. So close you could feel the shockwave, and the sound was deafening. One dumbass leader suggested we take cover under a tree and pray, and I just respond with “are you actually that stupid?” And continued to run towards camp.
By the time I got back to camp, I had severe hypothermia. And to top it all off, one of my tent mates left our tent door open. So all of our clothes and sleeping bags were soaked. I had to borrow thermals and sit way too close to the fire to eventually warm up.
For real. I’ve done a lot of camping/backpacking in my life, and I’ve never seen anything like that before or since. And I really hope I never do again 😂
I was visiting some family in Transylvania, Romania and in the afternoon we decided to go for a small hike, in the mountainous woods. It was my wife and I, her local cousin and a dog. We head off into the woods on a path leading up a mountain.
At some point we passed a smallish stream and when we later returned to go back it had flooded and we couldn’t cross so had to take a detour. No phones/gps but the cousin claimed both he and the dog knew the way, so we followed them. Not long after we were in the middle of the forest in pitch black darkness as the sun went down fast, no longer following a path, but climbing up steep slopes on our hands and knees. At one point my wife put her hand down and touched something she claims was a mouse, she nearly started crying at that point. I was more worried about bears, but hoped the dog could scare them away if we met one.
Took us a few hours, but eventually we found a road and was able to follow it back. Though with Romanian traffic, I’m not sure if being lost in the woods wasn’t safer than walking a busy road at night with no lights.
Road tripping as a youth during summer, saving money by sleeping outside as often as possible. Staying in a beach town, sleeping near the beach in a grassy kinda public area. In the middle of the night I wake up to some voices of aggressive sounding men talking about “fucking these kids up etc”. They start hitting my friend or something else physical (it was only two of us), and in the moment, as I’m still literally waking up having not even opened my eyes, I realise this shit is real. My reflex was to get up to my knees and yell at the men “Fuck off Motherfucker”. On my knees, feet still in the sleeping bag, being the skinny kid I was/am, I realise that some chunky looking bikie is in front of me and pretty keen to get violent and that I’m in pretty bad trouble. I was genuinely scared for my life then.
The ending to that one is that there were two bikies, and the second was actually behind me somehow. He kicked me in the head, I fell to the floor unconscious for half a minute and they apparently just walked away having got their fill of violence and luckily not too keen on anything extreme.
This one kinda doesn’t count, but it felt scary at the time, also Content warning tragic loss of life involved … driving late at night in the suburbs, waiting at the lights to turn into a major street, I hear loud and strange sounds I’d never heard before. My brain’s best guess is that they’re gun shots (which I’ve never heard in real life before). Lights go green and I turn into the street looking around for the source of the sound. Ahead I see a car turned on its side, stuff all over the road, and some people lying on the road and scrambling on the side of the street. I’m thinking that this is a shootout or something and have no idea what to do.
Turns out it was actually worse, but not for me. It was a car accident which had resulted in the car spinning, which, if you don’t know, is awful and bad things happened. What’s worse is that it was a drunken joy ride by a bunch of teenagers packed into the car.
Young and enthusiastic motorcyclist on a ride with my motorcycle friends. We’ve picked a road that’s the most challenging we’ve ever done. Up in the hills, nice and windy with cliffs on the sides. I occasionally get dizziness (it’s a thing) and got it in the middle of this ride, but was determined to power through. It’s getting harder to keep up with the road though, and I’m making mistakes and relying on my breaks in the middle of turns. very very dumb stuff for any new motocyclists … I should have just pulled over and reassessed the ride. Before I know it, in the middle of a turn, my bike wobbles, slips out from underneath me and I’m sliding along the road. Luckily I’ve got all the right gear on. But you don’t know what it’s like to slide helplessly along the road at >60km/hr speed, especially in relatively wild mountainous terrain. I still have the image burnt into my brain of seeing the road flying by the front of my helmet at that speed, relying entirely on my leather jacket, boots, and of course helmet to protect me until I stop and hopefully don’t go flying off the cliff.
Luckily I stopped just off of the road and was fine apart from a sprained finger. The motorbike was mostly fine too! My friend riding behind me, however, probably got more scared than I, turning around the corner to see my bike on the road and me lying still and facedown on the side.
Lesson: apart from taking of yourself and not pushing yourself … always wear the gear … all of the gear!
Years ago, I was into Geocaching. For the uninitiated, users hide small caches around the world, and the cache usually includes at least a log where people who find the cache can mark their visit. The coordinates of the cache are marked on the Geocaching website and people use GPS to locate it.
I thought it was finally time I’d put one of my own caches out for people to find, so I went to scout out possible locations for it. It was late autumn and was still light out. I knew that I wanted to put it on a nature trail I liked to walk so I went there.
One thing to know about late autumn up here in the Nordics is that it gets really dark really fast, meaning I was enveloped by a dark forest pretty quickly after making it to the trail. No matter, I thought, I had my phone and it had a flashlight, so I kept going, despite it having low battery (which, in hindsight, was a mistake).
I found a spot for the cache at about the halfway point of the trail and made a mental note of it, planning to come put it there during the limited daylight hours.
And soon after… Lights out. Phone was dead and I was in total darkness. Ambient light was close to non-existent due to how cloudy it was. I felt a bit panicked about the situation but kept going, feeling around with my feet to make sure I wouldn’t walk off the trail.
Lucky for me, I was quite familiar with the trail and eventually managed to come out the other end on a gravel road that was also unlit but at least easier to traverse and eventually got back home.
Not the scariest possible experience, but you can imagine how it feels to walk through a silent, damp forest in pitch black darkness while trying to feel your way out. Not sure I would have fared this well if the trail was unfamiliar.
I did get the Geocache out there the next day, and it remained there until I moved out of the area.
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