Encounter in the woods with a man...was I being silly?

[Woodwalk]

I walk in a local woods daily. Today I parked in the small car park where there were around 4 cars already. Changed into my boots, tied up my hair, no one else arrived in this time. Then I set off down a trail which begins running alongside the main road to the right, to the left is an inaccessible woodland - too dense to walk through. You can only enter the trail from the car park (at that end).

I had only been walking for around a minute or two when I got the sensation I was being watched/followed. This is strange as I would only have expected to meet someone head on on the path - given that there's one entrance and I saw no one else arrive at the car park within a minute of myself.

Anyway I turned round a few times and finally spotted a man behind me, slightly off the trail nearer to the side where the road is (trees are between the main road and me). I immediately did feel uncomfortable as I wasn't sure where he had come from, and debated stopping so that he could move ahead of me. I decided against this as didn't want to make a big thing of it.

Instead I kept going and took a turn off into a large shaded area, a clearing where I could see the original trail and find a little tree trunk to sit on (and look normal!) as he passed.

Instead of passing the man followed me into the clearing. I had walked quite far into the clearing to find a tree that gave a lot of space around me. He made a beeline for me straight towards me. I felt scared, and then he met my eyes and asked how my day was going. I immediately went into flight mode jumped up blurted out something about not wanting to be followed on my walk and started to run back to the car park (around 6 mins running). He shouted after me to come back, he didn't mean to scare me, he hadn't been following me, he was lost, he was sorry, come back please.

I just ran all the way back to the car and left.

I'm a woman in early 30s the gent was late fifties I think, and very overweight, if he tried to follow me back I couldn't tell, but don't think he could have matched my pace. He didn't have a dog, but then, neither do I.

Now I'm wondering, was he innocently lost and wanted a chat? Was I being silly to run away? It doesn't really matter now as I'm obviously safe and fine but the woods is my favourite place to go and I feel really put off returning now. Need a reality check as feel a bit silly now but in the moment I was scared.

Good move. He needs to be aware of his actions towards a lone woman in the woods!

I try to do the walking trick. I'm nearly 6 feet tall which helps. But our pelvis and bone structure means we walk at a different gait to men. Despite my height I suspect any observer would deduce instantly that I'm female. That said, a confident, upright walk, head up, looking as though you know exactly where you're going does help. If you're hesitant and keep looking over your shoulder you make a more obvious victim.

A friend of mine is of Chinese origin. We were once walking home in the dark after a late university seminar, it was misty and raining and he had one of those parkas on with the hoods that zips up like a tube, almost completely obscuring the face. A bunch of idiots leaned out of his car and hurled a lot of racist abuse at him. He couldn't help but laugh - turned to me and said 'but how did they know?'

I've no idea how they know these things. I only know that abusive males invaribly do.

Well, he may be genuine, however, I feel you are not being unreasonable, and I would ask on any local Facebook pages if anyone else has had creepy interactions with this man. If so, report it on the police non-emergency number and encourage others to do the same.

Ah yes, taxi drivers, such a risk to men! one of my mates was raped by a taxi driver and i had a had a couple of dodgy experineces with a few . Do you remember John Worboys, the "Black Cab rapist"? Don't recall him attacking any men as he drove around London with his rape kit in his car. Yes men get attacked, but guess what, they get attacked by men. I could detail every horrible thing that has been done to me by men and the most shocking thing is how common it is, that there is nothing unusual about the things I have been through. I'm not going to, though because I wonder what is motivating you to keep posting what appear to be deliberately tone deaf comments

No I was agreeing with you but you have decided to take offence so you do you

WTF are men like this doing on one of the few support sites predominantly used by a female demographic? I don't venture into the manosphere or the noxious Reddit to womansplain to men about how being an incel isn't particularly nice nor is it going to incline any right-thinking woman to fuck them. It wouldn't even enter my head. If I found their views that obnoxious then I wouldn't want to expend my time and energy conversing with them in the first place.

They, on the other hand, can't wait to come here and announce to us all that men are the most discriminated-against group on the planet, that they are sooo much more at risk of sexual assault than women (demonstrably untrue by about the biggest statistical margin out there), to inform rape victims that NAMALT and victims of VAWG that they should Hail the Penis because 'he might have depression'. They can't ever think of anything witty, scintillating or original. How tedious. How predictable. How mind-numblingly boring.

What is it about some men that they're completely incapable of leaving women the fuck alone?

It’s perfectly legal in the uk to carry deep heat with you for the muscle cramps when walking.
And by muscle cramps I mean to spray anyone who makes an attempt in any way to touch you or invades your personal space and doesn’t leave when asked too.

What you were doing, transparently and in plain black-and-white, is telling a victim of gang rape that NAMALT. Anyone who chooses to scroll up can read that for themselves.

To coin a polite phrase: exit and multiply.

Agree that men are also at risk but from other men. They are also more likely to be able to defend themselves. Not all men, no, but this is a male problem. I’m not afraid of women and I’ve certainly never been worried that one might sexually assault me.

quote fail @SerafinasGoose

I haven't read your post but I know you weren't being silly from the title of it.

Report him.

'What is it about some men that they're completely incapable of leaving women the fuck alone?'

It's the creeping irrelevance they feel. The ever increasing desperation for attention from women who won't and don't have to give it to them.

Ha ha 😁

You did the right thing. Perhaps alerting authorities and local walking groups pages would be a good thing.

Was this in Hampshire by any chance?
I went for a walk two weeks ago with a friend. We parked in the local country church car park and walked through the open fields into the woods chatting away to each other. An hour or so later we returned via the same route and were almost exiting the woods when my friend said to me ‘There’s a man in front of us with no clothes on’. He was behaving in a most peculiar way, bending down and thrashing the underneath!
We dropped back until he had exited the field and entered the graveyard and we then decided to cautiously head towards the car. At that point he reappeared into the field, completely naked, and had some sort of weapon in his hand. It looked like a knife or iron bar or maybe a stick.
You have never seen two women run so quickly back through the woods! We rang 999 and got through to a call centre where the lady said she would send a car to investigate and promised to ring us that evening to report back.
We rang a friend to pick us up and take us back to the car. No police car was around, and we never got the promised phone call.
If an incident occurs again in that area involving a chubby, naked man in his sixies we are determined to kick up a stink!!!!
Well done OP. You did the right thing!

You did not overreact at all. A decent man would know not to go following a woman into secluded woodland because he’d know that he’d scare the crap out of her. Men aren’t stupid. Any man who’s had even the vaguest awareness of the modern world knows not to do this. He had bad intentions. Maybe not as bad as you can imagine, but he certainly did not have your best interests at heart because he deliberately followed you in a secluded wood. He knew what he was doing.

If he was lost then why wouldn't he wait in the carpark. That would be the sensible option. And just shout over to anyone who parks and ask for directions.
But lurking by the woods just sounds weird.

Hi all

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I'd report it to the police.

Your instincts are there for a reason and you felt that there was something off about what he was up to.

Read 'The gift of fear'. It wouldn't surprise me if that gift saved you from something nasty today. Well done you!

But definitely report to the police.

And no decent man would ever follow a woman like that and most definitely not in the woods.

He was up to no good!

You did the right thing.

That sounded sketchy as fuck. I’m sorry he ruined a perfectly good happy place for you.