My girlfriend and I went for a night hike

A few months ago, my girlfriend and I were bored at home and spontaneously decided to go for a hike. We rarely went hiking, but the idea appealed to us. Even though only about an hour of daylight remained, we thought we had enough time to enjoy a short trail before dark. We filled our water bottles, put on walking shoes, and drove toward the mountains.

There were many trails in the area. We usually stayed near the base, where other people would still be walking, but a friend had mentioned a trail farther up the mountain road, so we decided to try it. We arrived at the trailhead and noticed there were no cars along the road. We still had roughly forty five minutes of light, so we continued.

The trail descended a steep hill, climbed back up, and then became easier. We saw a coyote some distance away and a few rabbits. Less than a mile in, we found a large fallen tree spanning a dry creek bed. We rested there, climbed around on it, and took pictures for about ten minutes. As we continued, my girlfriend heard a large rustle in the trees behind us. We stopped briefly, then she decided that she was done and wanted to return to the car. Twilight had begun, so I agreed.

When we reached the fallen tree again, my shoe came untied. I used the trunk to steady myself and looked behind us for the first time. A person dressed entirely in black, with the hood up, was walking toward us at a slow, even pace. The sight was unusual but not automatically threatening, so I tried not to assume the worst. I warned my girlfriend and became more alert.

We walked faster through a winding section of trail and lost sight of the person. When we rounded the final bend, I assumed he was far behind us. Instead, he appeared again, much closer, perhaps fifty feet away rather than the hundred feet or more he had been before. We walked briskly around another bend, then both of us suddenly began running without speaking.

Near the trailhead, we stopped briefly to catch our breath. When I looked back, the person appeared to halt a sprint as soon as he noticed me watching, as though he were trying to preserve the appearance of simply walking. I shouted for my girlfriend to go, and we ran downhill. The remaining light barely reached through the trees, and the steep ground was difficult to navigate. We stumbled over rocks and loose brush but managed to reach the bottom and climb the final hill to the car.

I started the engine and reversed onto the road. The person emerged at the trailhead, apparently breathing heavily. His hood had fallen back, revealing a pale face and eyes that looked dead in the light from a lantern near the trail entrance. He was holding something, but it was too dark to identify. We did not wait to find out. I shifted into drive and accelerated away as quickly as the car could manage, leaving him behind on the empty road.

We never learned why he followed us or what he was carrying. We only know that a stranger in the woods stayed behind us, closed the distance after we sped up, and ran after us as darkness fell.