walkhighlands

This forum is for general discussion about walking and scrambling... If writing a report or sharing your experiences from a route, please use the other boards.

Big grey man and other weird happenings

Big grey man and other weird happenings


Postby Mantog » Mon Mar 27, 2017 10:11 pm

Hi

I had a strange incident a few years ago whilst fly fishing a remote hill loch near Suilven.
http://www.yorkshireflyfishing.org.uk/2017/03/the-big-grey-man-of-ben-macdhui/
Feelings of dread, footsteps following me etc, same sort of thing that some people experience on Ben Macdui. I have just read Affleck Gray's book The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui and now I'm really intrigued about this sort of phenomena! Anyone else had similar experiences out on the hills?
Mantog
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 89
Munros:45   Corbetts:1
Fionas:5   Donalds:1
Hewitts:16
Wainwrights:21   
Joined: Mar 17, 2013

Re: Big grey man and other weird happenings

Postby NickyRannoch » Tue Mar 28, 2017 12:27 am

Happened to me a few times. Once on Mullach Clach a' Bhlair and another on Beinn Mheadhoin that i remember particularly.

Both times at the end of hot sunny days after sunset as cloud came over. I put it down to suddenly being overcast, drop in temperature plus maybe mild dehydration creating a sense of unease.

I think there was also something about being somewhere you shouldn't really be after sunset too, something was telling my 21st century mind it wasn't safe.
User avatar
NickyRannoch
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1739
Munros:224   Corbetts:3
Fionas:4   Donalds:1
Sub 2000:9   
Islands:17
Joined: Aug 21, 2009
Location: Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire

Re: Big grey man and other weird happenings

Postby willsdad » Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:56 am

Maol Bhuidhe bothy!

Spent a night on my own in May last year. Not sure if I dreamt it all but I was woken by the sound of boots coming down the stairs and opened my eyes to what I could only call an apparition leaning over me. I jumped a mile! Turned on my head torch to an empty room. Then noticed it was absolutely freezing.
Spent the rest of the night with my head torch on so I could see when I opened my eyes.

I was on the CWT and spent a few nights in bothies on my own. That's the only place that give me the heebie jeebies though :shock:

I'd have to be pretty desperate to stay there on my own again!
User avatar
willsdad
Backpacker
 
Posts: 150
Munros:13   Corbetts:1
Fionas:3   
Sub 2000:1   Hewitts:6
Joined: Aug 14, 2015
Location: Co.Durham

Re: Big grey man and other weird happenings

Postby GillSte » Tue Mar 28, 2017 7:27 pm

Camping out by Loch Avon. :shock: Very, very spooky. Never experienced anything like it before or since when camped out on the hills. And of course Loch Avon is prime Big Grey Man country.
User avatar
GillSte
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 187
Munros:282   Corbetts:222
Fionas:219   Donalds:39
Sub 2000:559   Hewitts:221
Wainwrights:107   Islands:69
Joined: Jan 30, 2016

Re: Big grey man and other weird happenings

Postby Kevin29035 » Tue Mar 28, 2017 8:40 pm

To the contrary, nothing myself in possibly triple-figures nights out in the hills and many evenings in remote places. I have had plenty of feels of unease and occasionally loneliness, but no experiences I can attribute to nothing other than paranormal.

Never say it's too late though!

Given the recent good weather, I was thinking to myself just yesterday how (particularly) hazy flat afternoon light of a high pressure consistently gives me feelings of desolation. Never any other kind of weather, but curious it comes on in those conditions given how settled, sunny and nice it is.

As for feelings of being followed or being watching, nothing like that.
User avatar
Kevin29035
 
Posts: 1221
Munros:173   Corbetts:173
Fionas:73   Donalds:17
Sub 2000:92   Hewitts:8
Joined: Sep 13, 2008
Location: Glasgow

Re: Big grey man and other weird happenings

Postby jupe1407 » Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:58 pm

NickyRannoch wrote:
I think there was also something about being somewhere you shouldn't really be after sunset too, something was telling my 21st century mind it wasn't safe.


There's definitely something to this. No matter how well prepared I am, I always have a weird sense of something not being right on the rare occasions I've wild camped or been late off a hill. I felt it briefly on Sgurr na Stri on Sunday night while taking a few night photos from the summit, probably down to feeling quite vulnerable when you're at least 3 miles from the nearest other human, on top of a hill with a near vertical drop not far from your tent :lol:
User avatar
jupe1407
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1501
Munros:269   Corbetts:52
Fionas:12   
Sub 2000:7   
Islands:6
Joined: May 15, 2012
Location: Forfar

Re: Big grey man and other weird happenings

Postby Mantog » Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:00 pm

Thanks all, these are fascinating and hopefully more to come. My experience has so far been a one off despite spending lots of time over several years up in the hills. I've had other occasions where I've heard weird noises whilst wild camping or just been edgy in the middle of the night, thinking how isolated I am etc. But these have always felt like 'natural', expected feelings. What happened on Na Tri Lochan was something very different!
Mantog
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 89
Munros:45   Corbetts:1
Fionas:5   Donalds:1
Hewitts:16
Wainwrights:21   
Joined: Mar 17, 2013

Re: Big grey man and other weird happenings

Postby Caberfeidh » Wed Mar 29, 2017 12:59 pm

I have been hill walking, camping and fishing for years; in many cases the areas are renowned for ancient battles, massacres, etc. Glen Coe, Harta Corrie with the legendary Bloody Stone, Duntulm Castle, the clearance villages of the Isle of Raasay. I've even slept in graveyards. I was not spooked in any of these places but in the Galloway Hills with their wide-open spaces, windswept moors and high rocky hills and open lochs I have been so overcome by a feeling of something/someone right behind me that I was staggering around trying to see behind myself. I found it so oppressive that I stopped going there. I met a bloke in a bothy in the Cairngorms who agreed with me; he had felt the same dread in Galloway but not in any other region.

Eldritch Celtic Cross.jpg
User avatar
Caberfeidh
Stravaiging
 
Posts: 8367
Joined: Feb 5, 2009

Re: Big grey man and other weird happenings

Postby basscadet » Wed Mar 29, 2017 2:58 pm

I find it strange that so many people think being out after dark is an odd thing to do - we have often done a walk in along a track after arriving somewhere after the 4 hour drive after work on a Friday night. I've always loved it with no uneasy feelings at all. The sun has gone away, and there are different animals about for sure, but there is no danger to fear.

I had an experience in Ben Alder Cottage - the 'usual' clattering about from the other room, with no sign of anyone on inspection. Couldn't get a fire going that night either which is unusual. The BAC ghost is well known for being harmless though and I got a good nights sleep.

Scariest night was at the bealach between Beinn a chroinn and Cruach ardrain near Crianlarich. Woke up in the morning to find a sheep carcass just a few metres from the tent - freshly picked clean of almost all flesh. :shock: Could only have a supernatural explanation surely (Or slightly more likely - one of the fabled big cats) :lol: A near escape anyway :wink:
User avatar
basscadet
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 2778
Munros:84   Corbetts:52
Fionas:18   Donalds:8
Sub 2000:34   Hewitts:13
Wainwrights:17   Islands:21
Joined: Dec 1, 2011
Location: Edinburgh




Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to General discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: ChrisButch, Scraggygoat and 15 guests