43. Party Goer
This was not hiking, but it was in a remote place in the woods. My uncle built a house out on some acreage he has that is pretty far out there. There is not another house within two miles of his at least, and most of that is woods and cow pastures. But, his place is beautiful. He built it all by hand and has a wonderful wraparound deck, perfect for family get-togethers.
We were all out there, probably 20 adults and five or six kids, for a party one day. It was one of those summer times when it is blazing hot but the light breeze is cool enough that you don’t notice it after a while. I had been there hanging out all day when I was asked to run into town and grab some more groceries.
So, I packed up and headed out. Got the groceries and everything was fine. As I drove back, it was starting to get dark and it was at a time of year when dark comes fast. It was pitch black out there when I finally arrived. So at first, I couldn’t see what had gone horribly wrong. As I pull up, I notice something is sitting in front of my car, facing the house.
It was not disturbed by my headlights, but it does glance back at me once. It is a freaking panther. Just chilling there, watching the party. And, as I sit there for a second, watching it, I notice that it has specifically placed itself near the edge where all the kids are running around. After I have my headlights on it for a minute or so, it kind of looked back at me again as if to say, “Ok, I was caught. Oh well.”
And then it gave the most human-looking sigh and just walked off into the woods. I sat there for a bit before building myself up to getting out of my car and going to the party and telling everyone.