I was hiking in Pennsylvania off the established trail and following a “bushwhacking” guides trail with a friend. We stopped to set up camp for the night as it was going to be dark soon and when we were heating up food I noticed a pair of eyes off in the near distance around some bushes. I kept an eye out while we ate and didn’t notice it come closer but we started hearing more noises around us so we decided to grab our hatchets and just go lay down in our hammocks for the night hoping to keep out of sight.

Whatever it was came into our camp and was snooping around, I think there were a bunch of them because it sounded like more than one set of “footsteps.” We heard a bunch of howling in the distance that night but I’m not sure if it was related to what was in our camp. I’ve never been more afraid in my life except maybe for the much less interesting time when I had a panic attack so severe I thought I was dying and actually passed out for a few seconds lol I’ve had plenty of severe panic attacks but that one was miles worse.