The North Country Trail stretches from New York to North Dakota and gives hikers access to some of the most scenic views the northern tier of states have to offer including Michigan's Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore near Munising. It's near there that one hiker encountered an eerie 'dead zone' along the trail.

Reddit user Khelek41 shared this experience on the CampAndHikeMichigan subreddit,

So my boyfriend and I were backpacking on the North Country trail. We started at Au Train and hiked about 7 miles in. We stopped at a designated camp site next to a pond and it felt super eerie. There was no sign of life... At all. No birds chirping, no deer, no nothing. We went off the trail to go around the pond because there was supposedly a stream where we could get fresh water, but the further around the pond we went the more sense of dread we got. Neither of us talked about it until we left the next morning. It was so bad that we didn't even finish looking for fresh water. We did without. We made every excuse we could to go back to the site and forget the water. We hung our food like we were supposed to but had an energy bar that we forgot so we threw it a couple hundred yards down the trail. The next morning, it was still there. There was 0 sign of life.

What could account for this odd and very off-putting section of nature?

Northern Michigan, like many rural areas in America, have legends of Bigfoot and other cryptozoological creatures like the Dogman and Lake Superior monster. Whether it's the absence of life or unexplained sounds or feelings of unease and dread, the mysteries of the woods will likely always endure.

Not that this story should stop you from exploring the North Country Trail or any other spots around Michigan. Here's a video that will get you started exploring along the trail.

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