SC EP:1089 They Were All Around Us

Lacey writes "Hey Wes! I started listening to your show after my encounter that happened in the fall of 2020 in Willow Creek, CA. Since then I have tried to make sense of what happened and your show has given me insight and validation, but has also left me with more questions than answers.
Takes a lot for me to do this but here it goes..
During the fall of 2020 I was trimming for a medical marijuana farm and staying with friends in willow creek, ca. I currently live in my home state in the Midwest but lived in Humboldt County for 7 years during my twenties. So when the pandemic started, I lost my job as a massage therapist. Being that is was an awkward time to do my job anyway, I figured why not see my friends and make some money while in waiting to see what would become of my career.
By the time my encounter happened it was October and I had been working out west since July. Autumn in that area is typically busy with travelers, so I thought it would be cool to meet a guy on a dating site while visiting to help pass the time. Right away I hit it off with a fellow farm worker who happened to be right down the road. We went out for dinner and decided to continue the night by laying under the stars at a local campground called camp Kimtu right outside of Willow Creek on the trinity river. The campsites were further down the road but we decided to pull of on the beach by the water. Since I had been living do on the road, my car was full of camping gear. We took my sleeping bag with blankets down a path to the water not far from my vehicle. For the record we did have a 12 pack of steelhead ale(my fav local beer) but each of us had only had two beers. One at the restaurant and one on the river bank. It wasn’t long after laying there that it started to rain so we ended up getting into my car to wait out the rain. The rain lasted about an hour(which to my knowledge it was the first rain of the season) and during that time we stayed inside until it stopped. Eventually we made it back out but decided to just sleep there and continue hanging out. I have a rav4 so we put the back seats down and made a bed. While doing so I took out my camping tote which had some really valuable gear inside as well as his backpack and guitar (This is a key part of the story bc it just doesn’t make sense that if it was a hoax then why didn’t “they” steal our stuff?).
At this point it around 11:45. The bed was made so we sat in the back of the car with the hatch door open(which was facing the river) to smoke a joint. I was wrapped in a blanket and he in his boxers snuggled up to me. A few mins into conversation we started hearing a low guttural growl coming from the rocky beach down towards the water. Take in mind it was super foggy out and there was no street lights around. So we never actually saw what was making the sound but oh did we hear them.
The sound went on for about 30 secs or so. It almost sounded like a didgeridoo at first but you could tell it was a voice. Kind of like a growl/gargling sound. It radiated around us in a way I have never heard before. What was also really weird, we both immediately became emotional and struck with fear. It was like my body became immediately paralyzed. Tears started streaming down my cheeks as we grabbed each other and I said “that’s not human” it was like my nervous system instantly knew something was off. He then yelled really loud “Hey, what are you doing down there!?” (This is when it gets absolutely terrifying and I mean seriously the most afraid I have ever been in my life. I still to this day have ptsd from this experience. It’s gotten easier to tell this story but it continues to haunt me. I dream about it and think about it constantly.) The sound abruptly stopped when he did that but only for a second and then proceeded to SCREAM the most ungodly, otherworldly sound I never in a million years would imagine to hear. We instinctively shut the back door and laid down shaking. At this point it was pure terror and somewhat surreal. Almost as if time stood still but it all happened pretty fast. As we lay there trembling and not knowing what to do next, the sounds began to get louder and more intense. It started to sound like multiple high and low pitched voices that were howling, yelling and at some points it sounded like they were laughing. Almost like a gorilla/hyena hybrid. That sound will forever be burned into my mind. We both became hysterical. He also started to cry and kept asking me what do we do?? I told him to lay still and be quiet. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Then, they surrounded my car. It literally sounded like they were all around us. It truly felt like they were taunting us but in the most horrible way and trust me it worked. The cackling and howling with talking btw, they seriously have a language. We could hear them bantering back and forth. It was like nothing I’ve ever heard, until someone played for me the Sierra sounds. It’s absolutely unnerving how similar that recording is to what we experienced. Also at some point during this they began making really loud thud noises but not sure how. This went on for what seemed like forever but in reality it was only 15 mins or so until one of them was so close to my back passenger window that we both screamed uncontrollably and the guy told me to drive! I frantically found my keys in the mess of blankets and jumped in the driver seat. I just remember shaking so bad I could barely push my foot on the peddle. The lights turned on but we never saw a thing. All I could do was put my car in drive and get tf out of there. Looking back on it I really wish one of us would’ve had our phones out to record but it all happened so fast, that honestly was the last thing on mind.
We ended up parked outside of my friends house and laid there in shock until the sun came up. We went over the whole thing numerous times. Did they want to hurt us? If so, why didn’t they? Was it a prank? At times it felt like trickery but the sound was so out of this world that if it was they must’ve had some kind of equipment. Plus these beings had a presence, a very strong one at that. He even thought we should call the police and report it, we were that scared.
Once morning with no sleep and completely hung over from the adrenaline we drove back to get our things. Truly thinking everything would be gone, to our surprise nothing had been touched. Not the beer, nor the cooler with some food, or our valuables. We walked around and looked for tracks but didn’t see a thing. I still don’t know what to think of it and didn’t begin the Bigfoot rabbit hole until after that night. As cliche as it is, that area is highly known for encounters so we just assumed if it wasn’t people or an animal then it must be real after all. Him and I don’t really talk but the occasional text to remind each other that we survived some truly crazy stuff together. Maybe someday I’ll get him to go on a podcast with me or something. I’m just glad to have had a witness bc it truly is unbelievable until it happens to you. And I’m grateful for my vehicle bc I’m not sure if I’d be here to tell the tale if we would’ve been in my tent. I don’t really know if they would have hurt us, nor do I ever want to chance that again. Let’s just say the woods will never be the same."