I believe a ghost saved my life

In the 80's I lived in Anchorage Alaska. You could go anywhere and catch salmon till your arms fell off. I would drive for hours to fish in completely desolate (of people) lakes. There were several lakes that were so clear you could see the trout swimming two hundred feet down (they were 8 to 28 inches long) you could see the bottom of every lake just by peering over the edge of the boat. After several years of catching these trout that were as long as your arm, I checked the map for new and more challenging lakes. I found a lake Southwest of Wasilla that had "fingers" cut into one side of it. Each one was 50 by 2,000 foot long, obviously man made. I didn't bring my boat and planed to fish these "fingers" from the bank.

I arrived at the lake before noon and toted my gear- two poles, my tackle box and the famed single handle "Igloo" beer cooler. I had walked about 300 yards in my hip waders alongside a "finger" when a Bumble Bee (almost the size of a golf ball) chased me for a hundred yards. It was like a guided missile, when I turned sharp and then hid, it followed and attacked! I had a pole in each hand (along with the cooler and tackle box in each hand) to sword fight it, until I would give up and run again. After 10 minuets of this scenario, it finally gave up on it's mission, being hell bent to get me. (was that my warning?)

I had snapped my Fly pole running through the trees and was tired from all the the frantic running. I rigged up my Casting pole and walked out to where the water was just above my knees, between two trees 20 feet apart. 15 min went by and I figured I better change lure. My right foot had sunk past my ankle in the silt and I pulled hard to get unstuck. My left foot sunk deeper. I had been in this situation before and kept working to get at least one foot unstuck.

Almost an hour went by and the water was to my waist, I had mud to my calves and the waders were like a second skin. I couldn't move, I tried everything. By now the water was up to my armpits. I saw my cooler float by and then my tackle box (and needless to say, my life too) That's when I started yelling help. There was no body on these lakes and I knew it. I went under water and tried to dig my legs free, only to run out of air! I came up yelling help. I yelled only to hear my echos of help, I had a wife and two daughters to live for. I was done.

That's when I heard a calm voice say "catch this knife" I looked over and it was an old man in his 80's. I told him I was stuck real bad- he said, "I know, cut em off" and tossed me a knife- It was a perfect ten foot toss and I caught it! I went under water and sliced my waders from the hip to the thigh (240 bucks worth)- when I came up again he was reaching out his walking stick to pull me out. It was 5 feet too short. I yelled at him to come closer, "just grab hold of the tree branch there and I could reach it" He shook his head and said again "cut em off" and then he walked away behind the trees.

The knife was a small "Old Timer" fold out knife, and I cut each side of my waders down to the knee (below the mud level) I came back up and yelled for him a couple times (the water was at my shoulders now) He came back and asked if I had cut em off. I told him I couldn't cut any farther than my calf area. He replied in a calm voice "you ain't the first one to get caught in this rising tide" The water was easily to my neck now and I asked him "what else should I do?" He shoved a long branch he had came back with towards me as he held on to a tree trunk, (3 or 4 feet away from the waterline, I was getting mad at this situation, as the old guy seemed to refuse to get into the water to save me) and then he said the last word I can remember at that point "live"

I had to lean backwards to grab the branch and holding on to it, I went underwater as I was pulled to safety. It wasn't 10 seconds before my legs were free, and my head came to the waters edge. By the time I had caught my breath, while watching him walk away only to vanish within 15 feet. I blinked my eyes as I heard his voice calmly say "It happened to me some years back."

I called out again, but he was out of sight. I was to exhausted to even stand.

To this day I don't know if he was a ghost, or just a kind super strong old man.

There weren't any cabins around there. I knew I could track him, so when I caught my breath, I got up and went to find him. There were no foot prints. I had put his knife in my left pocket and pulled it out as I walked to return it to him. That's how I know it was an "Old Timer" I walked for quite a while calling out that I still had his knife, but no luck. I cut my waders down to the boots and walked back to the truck. I decided to let the Wasilla police department return the knife and hopefully be able to thank the old man sometime soon. When I got back to the truck and pulled on the handle, then realized the old man's pocket knife (that I never let go of, was gone)

I went round and round with the Wasilla police department for two years regarding this old man, and they insisted he was just another fisherman. Well, I highly doubt that for many reasons. An 80 year old man with the strength of a horse.

I believe a ghost saved my life.

Well written story! Classic style ending for a ghost story, too.

While I believe there might be a wealth of rational and skeptical explanations for this, I found it quite a nice read. For a hallucination or some such it seems very in depth. Was there anything else odd you remember about him? Perhaps how he was dressed or some such?

Wow! Very interesting experience you have there man!
I definitely believe you, that's really something.
What was he wearing? Did he talk in a 'weird' way compared to how people talked in the time? At the time of speaking with him or seeing him did he have any sort of weird feeling to him?

Originally posted by Pinke
Well written story! Classic style ending for a ghost story, too.

While I believe there might be a wealth of rational and skeptical explanations for this, I found it quite a nice read. For a hallucination or some such it seems very in depth. Was there anything else odd you remember about him? Perhaps how he was dressed or some such?

I had not drank any beer or smoked in the 20 hours leading up to this.
My feet were planted away from the "shore" so when I first looked back at him I glanced while turning. He had a white shirt, plaid over shirt- light gray-blue-black. dark blue pants. didn't see the shoes. No hat and a leathery mans face, like my grandpa time two. (so I figured he was older than 68.) He didn't want to touch the water- that is a certainty. His voice was so calm in the face of my plight, It was puzzling maddening and eerie- in the sense that he had been there/done that. I could tell in another 10 min that I would be underwater- between the rising water and the sinking into the silt

Originally posted by GraveDigger
Wow! Very interesting experience you have there man!
I definitely believe you, that's really something.
What was he wearing? Did he talk in a 'weird' way compared to how people talked in the time? At the time of speaking with him or seeing him did he have any sort of weird feeling to him?

He was like an old pro. Calm and knowing. He spoke as if I was a clerk at a hardware store and he didn't like repeating himself. There was no emotion on his part at all. "Do this" and "catch this"

Matter of fact.

In hindsight there wasn't any time for anything else. His/it's strength is what really gets me.

If I was stuck up to my knees in silt and you held a 12 foot branch out- clutching to a tree- could you hold long enough to pull me free?

I do realize that the angle assisted in my feet coming free, but this guy clearly didn't have the strength.

I've read similar accounts of people who were in life and death situations like the one you found yourself in, who were mysteriously helped by a stranger who appeared out of nowhere with just the right help to save their lives. I myself believe them to be a temporary spirit guide who were sent to aid someone that they could help because of their experience or life skills they had while they were alive on this plane of existance. To me, its the universe's way of saying to you that you were still needed here and your time to transition wasn't at that time.

That was a wonderful, incredible story. It gave me goosebumps.

Do you think that he was there because he had, if fact, died that way and was telling you so by saying you were not the first to be caught that way?

Do you definitely feel it was the ghost of a formerly living person as opposed to an angelic being or spirit or something along that line?

Wow,what a good story.

The number of people who has died in Alaska is unbelievable.

I am sure there are a number of lost souls there watching out for those in peril.

I bet you don't go out with out a knife strapped to your hip,now.

I too had a strange experience similar to yours.

Maybe someday I will share it on here.

lol running away from a bumblebee. Owned.

reply to post by justsaying


I really think it was some sort of spirit, the guy came out of nowhere and vanished. The trees were not that dense, so I thought I could have caught him by the time he got to the end of the finger.

I spent 10 min looking for the lake on Google and couldn't find it!

wow, very interesting. I've heard of people having encounters like this before...

The beginning of the story with the bumble bee cracked me up! The rest of the experience was just amazing!
Thanks so much for sharing this with us!

reply to post by justsaying


I may be a spirit guide, but the physical interaction was/seemed human. I kind of akin it to the Indian story's where the animals morph into another animal. The Bee to the old man?

reply to post by angrywhitechick


It is very odd, but I am/was totally at ease with the experience. Neutral feeling about it.
I do think he died that way and has/is helped many more escape the silt.(due to his instructions and demeanor)
He appeared as a regular old man. Plaid shirt unbuttoned over a white button up dress shirt with polyester slacks.

His appearance and tone were that of what you would expect from a man his age. Not angelic. No halo. No energy field. Just a regular old dude.

In the 2 or 3 min it took me to get up and go after him, there was no way he could have reached the beginning of the "finger" Here is where I continued to the truck. I never let go of that pocket knife and yet it was gone.
I vote for spirit/ghost.

What a great story! I enjoyed your writing very much. thank you for sharing your experience. It was a spirit for certain. He told you himself it had happend to him a number of years ago. He knew what needed to be done, that perhaps he didn't get to, to save his own life. And the knife....it vanished as well, back to it's ghost.

You had me cracking up big time, over the bee the size of a golfball! lol.... You definitely gave a good image of your adventure

reply to post by Oneolddude


Thanks for the comment, there must be "these helpers" out there. I has a similar experience while descending Half Dome about 10 years earlier, I guess I could write about it also. My brother and his friend were witnesses to that intervention.

--------------------------
WHINE FLU- Yes, I got owned by that bee lol

Touching story...

The only flaw is the part where the old timer said "your not the only one to get caught in these rising tides"

I thought you were sinking in the mud, then he says it's a tide. Even the great lakes only experience tides of a few centimeters. Lakes do not have the capacity to experience 2 foot + tides that you speak of.

However, still a great story, I will reserve my willingness to believe though.

Originally posted by Tribble
reply to post by justsaying

 

I may be a spirit guide, but the physical interaction was/seemed human. I kind of akin it to the Indian story's where the animals morph into another animal. The Bee to the old man?

Well, the bee really did play a role in this, the unusual size, the persistant attack on you, I have to say the bee was doing it's divine part to discourage you from going on further, but not really sure that it was a spirit guide morphed into a bee though, but who really knows! From what I know of spirit guides, we all have many, some that are with us throughout our life, and some who come and go depending on what stage of life we are in and what our interests are, but they do guide and intervene when needed. The old man came from the spirit world, no doubt, and from what you have said, you seem to have been very blessed in receiving help at crucial times. I would love to hear your other story as well.

like all things i am skeptic, but in scienfitic terms, perhaps this was merely an alternate verison of "you" in a 4th dimenional(temporal) form. Imagen a parrell universe where you died (either as the same time or as an old man) excatly how you were trapped there.

So merely it could be yourself saving yourself, it would be interneting to pounder.

reply to post by Exodus2pt0

I am glad you liked my story, it remains a memory more vivid than the day I got married.
Snow melt will rise a lake in Alaska. The first lake I referred to was Silver lake and it was connected to five other lakes. I found this out after finally talking to a group of Kaiakers! They said the streams connecting the lakes were deep enough to paddle through. On a 85 degree day in the springtime there are square miles of fresh snow melting. Silver lake could rise 6 inches in 10 hours.

I really don't know how much higher the water was, but like I said it floated my cooler and tackle box away. I had placed them 1 to 2 foot from the water.
I am going to have to find my fishing maps from back then to find this certain lake and see it it was similar.