71. The King’s Trail
Mind you this was not in a forest but surrounded by tall dead grass by cliffs over the ocean. I went backpacking on my home island in Hawaii; there’s this trail that goes all the way around the island called the King’s Trail that has been known to have a particular bloody past with many murders happening near it in one particular area.
The legend goes that if you see men walking along with clubs/torches, you are near death. I was off the beaten path about 12 miles from a highway and another 15 to any hospital. It was 2 am, I got up to take a leak about 10 feet from my tent; it was a nearly moonless night with a few clouds. I finish up, go back to my tent and just as I am getting inside, I hear rustling, then grunts…which sounded almost human.
I quickly grabbed a knife and a flashlight leaving the tent I quietly slinked into the tall grass opposite to where I heard the sound. I stand still, trying to pinpoint the location. 10 minutes go by, the sound picks up again, at this point I’m on my hands and knee’s circling around behind to where they were coming from; could have been no more than 20 feet.
I throw a large rock five feet from where I could perceive the sound coming from. As soon as the rock hit the ground, the largest boar I had ever seen bolts out of the long grass. I watched it run for a bit until it disappears from my view 200m away; in the moment I felt nothing, I felt ready. But as soon as the boar had left, panic set in, heavy breathing, sweating, the full nine yards.
I immediately packed all my stuff and moved right onto a beach where there was no grass or trees for 100 feet.