Sam wasn’t really sure she wanted to go on the camping trip but figured she’d come along since there was an RV involved. Glamping didn’t sound as bad as camping. At least she wouldn’t have to take care of her business in the woods in the middle of the night.
Since she and her friends got in a little later than they’d liked, there were no formal plans for the evening. Sam took her dog, Scotch, a golden retriever that was a beautiful butterscotch color, on a hike behind the campground.
She and Scotch stumbled across a weird structure. It was something out of that old horror movie, Blair Witch something or other. She’d never been a fan of horror movies. It wasn’t that they scared her at all. She just didn’t find them entertaining in the least.
Anyway, the structure was made out of a bunch of old branches leaned up against a very large dead tree. It was rather eerie if Sam did say so herself. Scotch gave a low throaty growl at the structure as they moved on.
A short while later, Sam found another structure. This one had a “road closed” sign set up as a “front door”. Someone had put some thought into building these. She assumed it had been the campground as a bit of a “tourist” attraction and headed back to her site without much more thought.
Scotch woke Sam up in the middle of the night. The dog had a doggie door back home and could come and go as she needed but here, Scotch was locked in the RV with Sam and the others. Sam threw on her favorite college sweatshirt and grabbed a flashlight.
As soon as the RV door was open, Scotch took off. Sam couldn’t yell at her because there were other campers that she didn’t want to wake. She finally caught up with Scotch and turned back to the campsite. Just then, she heard laughter off in the woods. The laughter chilled her to her bones and every hair on Scotch’s spine raised as she looked deep into the forest. Sam didn’t get much sleep for the rest of the night.
The next day, Sam wanted to show her friends the cool structures after telling them the spooky tale of the laughter. They all just assumed it was someone playing a practical joke. They headed off into the woods in search of the teepee like structure. Sam was sure she remembered where it was but she was unable to find it. The old dead tree was still there but not a single sign of the teepee that had been built around it.
As they began to hike back to the campsite, having given up hope of finding it, they found yet another odd structure. This one had been built over a dug out area in the side of the hill. It all seemed just a little too much like a prank, especially when they saw the sign.
“Welcome Home Sam.”
The History
These structures are located in the Tonto National Forest behind Sunset RV Park – Clint’s Well. I have no idea who built them or for what purpose.