I'm looking for anything similar enough in size or scope of gm_fork/gm_spoon. I love the size and variety of the map for large scale military battles with a high map ceiling for fighter jets to fly etc. Water is a bonus. Any ideas?
One spring night I went out with my camera gear on a mile long walk to good place to watch the stars. It was a long and wide trail I was very familiar with and walked that area without a flashlight often. I would like to not use a light because I had a higher chance of seeing a beautiful animal that would otherwise be startled away. I also love the darkness. Anyways, I arrive at the viewing location and set up my tripod and camera. I start taking some long exposure photos when I hear some rustling across the small body of water I was near. I am very familiar with the wildlife of that area and while there are a few bears and wolves the population was very small. It's an isolated island with more coyotes than anything. So hearing some noises in the woods didn't bother me at all but I tuned in to listen trying to figure out what it could be. Moments later whatever it was began to let out the most deep booming yells I've ever heard in my entire life. It sounded like both noises of distress and anger from what I can best describe. I have never felt unnerved out in the woods of that area at night but those noises made my blood run cold. It let out another series of yells and my body snapped from being frozen to scooping up my tripod and sprinting with it the mile back to my car. All the while I could hear that bone chilling yell although it was growing faint as I put distance between me and it. I will admit that the experience really shook me to my core and I haven't gone out for a night hike since then. My only explanation was it could have been a bear in pain or a really large badger (they can make some scary noises). Even though my logical brain knows it wasn't some giant unknown creature my inner feelings tells me it was something I had never experienced before.
The second story happened before the first so I was still in my night hike phase of my life. I was on a hike with my girlfriend at the time not far from the location in the first story. We were just going to walk down the straight path until we reached the end and then turn back. On our way in the forest was still and serene with deep blackness surrounding us in all sides. I can't fully explain why but we love this kind of stuff. We reached the turn around point and not too long into our return we notice this bright red glowing dot in a large tree. It was considerably bright and we definitely didn't notice it on our walk in. At first I thought it must be a light from building just beyond the forest. But as we approached we realized it was a coming from the center of a big oak tree. Almost like a reflector but much brighter and with no light sources around. I also have walked that trail at night with no flashlight many times and never noticed this. We kind of got creeped out and made our way back out. Not sure what that was but it was a bit eerie in the moment.
This last one has more to do with the first story but didn't necessarily happen out in the woods. I was out in the field behind my house that is surrounded by the forest. The same forest I had heard the noises my last night going out like that but on the opposite side of the woods. I was out with my tripod again photographing Orion when I heard these two loud thumps on the ground suddenly. Like the sound of someone purposely stomping their feet really hard to make as much noise as possible. I was kind of perplexed until a second later I heard, but could not see, those loud thumping steps coming quickly thundering in my direction across the field. I turned and ran with everything I could grab as fast as I could manage with heavy equipment. I was convinced I wouldn't make it from there to my back door. The entire run it felt like something was going to grab me from behind. I made it back and felt a strong sense of dread that night I couldn't really place.
I was always the most skeptical person in my group and had no fear of the dark forest etc. But after those few experiences I have a bit of a different perspective of the Northwoods. A respect for sure, but also a notable sense of fear.
The first series of strange things was when my buddy and I were hiking a trail in Southern Arizona. There was a series of small ridges surrounding the trail so we decided to hike up one to check out the views of the area. We were walking on top of the ridge when we stumbled across a tattered backpack filled to the brim with rusted out food cans. There was some other random garbage that definitely indicated someone was staying up on this ridge for a long while. We became a bit cautious but the stuff all looked like it had been left behind a while ago. We continue on our path towards the end of the ridge where we would climb back down. When we came to the top we found two more backpacks also filled completely with rusted cans. This time the scene was a bit different. In addition to the backpacks there was a mesh canopy (like the kind the US army would use in Afghanistan) setup covering a tarp with small smashed solar panels all over. Inside facing down into the valley were these big telescopic binoculars. I really don't know why but I picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction they were pointing. It was aimed straight at this fenced in property out in the desert and for some reason all of it kind of hit me at once that we gotta get out of their now. We got back to our car and put that area behind us. The only things I can really think of is some normal person living out there, some border agent lookout post, or some cartel lookout post. Whatever the case I wasn't interested in waiting around to find out.
This next one is more interesting to me than unsettling. On another hike on that same trip we were walking in an area south of Benson, Arizona. Along our walk we came across a sheltered body of water with trees growing around it. Kind of an oasis looking deal. Immediately we noticed the area had big smashed speakers in addition to a crazy amount of shotgun shells. There were small baggies and other garbage strewn about and it was clear someone had a desert rager and brought every shotgun they owned lol. Hated to see all of the garage but it was definitely a strange scene to stumble upon.
This last one was startling at first but ended up being kind of beautiful. Again, on the same trip we were doing some light bouldering and rock climbing. We got up the top of the formation we were climbing when we came face to face with a huge male mountain goat. Our eyes immediately locked onto its big horns as it stopped and locked it's eyes onto us. If it decided to charge us we could very well go right off of a small cliff (which would not be good). Moments later it began to hobble past us slowly. It's front left leg was injured and it clearly didn't want to fight us. We stood as still as possible as it made its way wherever it was headed. Although it wasn't a threat we were definitely tense until it was out of sight. Having worked with male goats they are known to be a bit territorial. It may not have been so chill if he hadn't been injured.
That's all. Thank you to those who made it this far!