Okay, so I lied...

....THIS is actually going to be the last exploration/ghost post. I thought about skipping this story for a number of reasons. One, this was after my camera went out of commission, so there's no lovely photos to go with the story. Two, I started this series keeping the content mostly focused on the photos/exploration, and not on the ghost aspect as I didn't want this to become full blown /x/. This post, due to the content, and the fact that I have no photos throws that out the window. And lastly, I value all the anonymity as I can get.While I could still edit it, the place we went to is right next to my school. As I already let the name slip in a comment, then that no longer matters.

Okay, I suppose I should start with some history....During finals week last year, me and a couple friends were, like all good college students,  blowing off studying in lue of planning some good ol' B&E. (Okay, really, we were looking for a way to get legitimate permission to explore the ruins of Old Bryce Mental Institute......But we were also trying to find out when the cops patrol the land.) In our search, we found THIS page.

5) Dump Road, Jacksonville: In The Event of a Hanging

The Dump Road is the unofficial name given to the Old Chief Ladiga Indian Trail. In the early 1800s the settlers traveled this trail many a-time. The Brownwood's Estate is located nearby and supposedly the contractor for the subdivision quit mid-product because he had an eerie experience on the road. During the day horses and wagons have often been seen on the trail. Many have also claimed to see an African American hanging from a clay embankment where there is now an illegal shooting range. Supposedly, an old slave house is located up in the mountains and may be a cause of some of the disturbances. People who have been brave enough to camp in the area have awoken to blood curdling screams in the forest and a feeling of intense heaviness. Torches and lights have also been seen traveling along the trail. Many people believe it to be the event of the hanging. Also seen is a man walking into the forest towards the mountain.

*Note* Writing this post, is the first time I've looked at this article since first finding it. Re-reading it has creeped me out a bit for reasons that will soon be evident. At the same time, however, it also makes my account sound a bit more suspicious if you already don't believe it.  As with my previous posts, take from it what you will. I don't expect to make believers out of anyone. If anything, I congratulate you on keeping a skeptical mind.

So the three of us found this article, and immediately saw, "Jacksonville, AL" Which is where we go to college. So we find the coordinates, grab a GPS, and set off to find Dump Road. As it turns out, it's at the very end of a subdivision about a mile away from the campus. The road turns a corner, starts going up a mountain, leaving all the houses behind, and dead ends in the woods. According to local  lore, they were supposed to add on to the subdivision, but "mysterious things" kept stalling them. (I'm sure it was nothing like running out of money when they closed the army base nearby.) In any case, you can see where they started clearing a road. This has essentially become a dirt bike trail.

We pulled out our flashlights, and started on the trail. It went through the woods for a bit, and then opened up on a grassy clearing on the side of the mountain. While the clearing went up the mountain for quite a distance, it only went across for about 500 feet. At that point, the trail went through a little "entrance way" back into the forest. This "entrance way" was  a few fallen trees and thick brush. We'll come back to this.

We continued to follow the trail entering the woods again. Pretty soon, there were a couple dried creek beds that the trail dipped down into. While we were coming up the far side of the second creek bed, me and one of the other guys heard the *very* distinct sound of a step/slip on a gravel incline directly behind us. The two of us instantly whipped around, (The third guy had gone ahead, but was within eyesight.) and looked around for any sign of life. After many minutes of looking, we came up with nothing. While it would be improbable for someone to follow us that far without our knowledge, it was downright impossible for someone to have made that sound, and then run off in the woods without making any more noise. We were now at a clearing, where they had bulldozed into the mountain. All we had left to do was follow the trail up to the top of the mountain, where there was a fire pit and a beautiful view of the city. So, we finally decided to carry on. We take no more than 3-4 step when we hear the exact same sound coming from the exact same spot. Again, we whip around, and search for any sign of life. No luck.

Again, we decide to trek on. We reach the top, do some oooohing and aaaaahing, then start walking back. We didn't hear any more noises, but when we walked through the grassy clearing, I felt like we were being watched. Now this is something that NEVER happens to me. As I have said, I'm on these explorations, mostly just for that. Exploration. Even when I go full on ZOMG GHOSTS! I never get any kind of feelings. Despite this, I felt the bottom of my stomach free fall, and then got the feeling someone was watching us. I turned around, and back at that "entrance way", I saw a black figure standing there. He stared at me/us for a second, then turned to his left (Which was towards the mountain, corresponding with the article above.) and walked into the wall of fallen trees and brush. I let out some expletives, and ran over to where I saw it standing. At this point, the other two guys had turned around, and were chasing after me. I told them what I saw, and we looked for any spot that someone could have slipped through. We saw no spot (on either side) that someone could have easily crawled over/through, much less done so silently.

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In other news, one of my friends won two tickets to the Eluveitie (Swiss folk metal) show at the Masquerade is Atlanta, and is giving me one. So I think the next few posts will be about music.....After that, who knows?