What Was It That I Saw On The Side Of Cadillac Mt. Years Ago?!

Let's get this right out of the way, first thing: No, I was not under the influence of any drugs, or alcohol at any point during this particular visit to MDI. Not. One. Thing.

Now that we've established that I was in my right mind (as right as I can get) let me tell you about something really strange that happened to me one night, 20+ years ago, as I was riding up Cadillac Mountain.

To set the scene: It was in the Spring of 1994. I was a freshman in High School, and I had been out bowling in Bangor with my friend Robin and her friend Dennis (who I kind of knew from Church).

Dennis made the suggestion that we should all go for a drive up Cadillac Mountain to watch the sunrise. (He had told his folks he was going fishing with friends, so they were none-the-wiser.)

Robin couldn't go, but being in a particularly rebellious mood, I said that I could. So Dennis and I got into his little gray 86 Chevy Nova, and made our way from Bangor to Acadia. (I know, I know. The mom in me is appalled that I was ever so young and dumb. But moving on...)

It was already pretty late in the evening when we set out for Bar Harbor, so by the time we got to the park, it was well past midnight. Probably closer to 3 or 4 in the AM.

I don't remember exactly, but there might have been a sign with some hours on it when we turned onto the winding road that leads up to Cadillac. We had the idea but had not made proper preparations for this trip, so we were both pretty cold. I had just a plain tee shirt on, I think Dennis had a coat on, which he did offer to me at one point. But we were both pretty chilly and kind of distracted by that fact.  We didn't really notice much else around us, just the road ahead, and how cold we both were.

There were no other cars on the road, so it was just the little headlights from Dennis's Sedan lighting the way. At one point, he had put his high beams on. They didn't make much of a difference, but did allow us to see a little more along the edges, as we made our way up the road.

We had been joking about the dark, and the cold, slowly making our way up the winding side of the mountain. We couldn't wait to get to the top of the mountain, as we hoped that the rising sun would bring with it some warmth!

All of a sudden, from the front of the passenger side of the car, this "thing" crossed in front of the car...just a few feet in front of the car.

It was lumbering on two feet, but not like a bear would. It had much more grace and stealth. It seemed almost nimble. It was definitely not a deer or any kind of large cat and there was no tail that we could make out.  Its entire body was covered in light brownish, very long hair. It was tall enough to block the headlights with its body as it passed in front of the car, but not taller than the car itself.

The only thing I have ever been able to compare it to is an orangutan, but its movements seemed more human-like than ape-like.

Dennis slammed on the brakes and we both watched this creature make its way off into the bushes to the side of the driver's door.

We sat there, stunned.

"Did you just see that?" One of us said out loud. The other confirmed.

I think it was I who then said "We better get moving, and quick, in case it comes back!" (That's something I would say, being a wicked scaredy cat.)

Dennis started to drive, at a much quicker pace. We both sat in silence, intensely scanning the front and side of the car as it moved up the mountain.

And we were both so relieved to see other people at the top, although we didn't dare get out of the car, let alone try to tell anyone else what we saw. We thought for sure they would think we were just a pair of drunk teenagers, which we weren't.

The sunrise came, but we could have cared less.

We were too busy game-planning how to safely get back down the mountain. We would get into the middle of the pack of cars and head back down. That way we wouldn't meet the thing head-on if it decided to come back onto the roadway, and it couldn't surprise us from behind, either.

For weeks, we would pass each other sketches we'd drawn up of what we remembered the creature to look like, adding things to each draft, that we would think of after the fact.

Dennis moved away, and I haven't seen him in literally decades. But that night is something I will never forget.

Was it an animal? I don't think it was a normal animal that most people would see if they visited the Maine woods.

Was it a baby Big Foot? I didn't really think such a thing existed until I saw what I saw. But even then, it didn't strike me as very "Big".

Was it something else? I recently heard of another Maine Cryptid called The White Monkey. Now I wonder if that might be what we saw.

I don't honestly know what it was.

But I do know this...that was no bear. And I'm never going up that mountain alone in a car with a guy named Dennis, ever again!

That's not the only creepy tale from our great state. Check these out.