Hidebehinds | A Lumberjack’s Worst Fear

During the logging era in Washington, lumberjacks would go missing … often. Something, or is it some thing, stalked them and dragged them into the forest. Never to be seen again. That monster? A Hidebehind. And no one knows that the hell it is. Get the scoop after the jump.

The Hidebehind Is A Vibe Monster

You know that feeling in the woods when everything goes quiet for a beat?

No birds. No wind. No bugs.

Just you, your footsteps, and the sudden certainty that you are not alone.

In the timber country tradition, that is exactly when you get a new problem.

Not a bear. Not a cougar.

A Hidebehind.

The Hidebehind is a classic “fearsome critter” from North American lumberjack folklore, blamed for woodsmen who wandered off alone and never made it back to camp. And if you have ever walked a tight trail through thick trees in the Pacific Northwest, you already understand what it is.

Because in a forest like ours, anything can be three feet away and still be invisible.

What Is A Hidebehind?

The legend is simple and mean. A Hidebehind stalks the edges of camp. It waits for the lone wanderer. The greenhorn who took a wrong turn. The guy who went off to cool down after a rough day.

And the Hidebehind does one thing better than any monster in the Lumberwoods bestiary.

It stays out of sight.

As soon as you try to turn and get a clear look, it ducks behind a tree trunk, a stump, a boulder, or the angle of your own body. In one classic description, it is so slender it can hide behind the “bole of a ten inch tree.”

So the monster wins before the chase even starts.

No face. No clear shape. No proof.

Just that awful feeling of being followed.

Lumberjack Lore Of The Pacific Northwest

The Hidebehind was born in lumber camp storytelling, and it thrives in places where logging kept them in isolation, danger, and loooooong nights.

By the early 1900s, the timber industry had shifted hard toward the Northwest, with Washington leading U.S. lumber production. Logging pushed into remote ground. Camps moved. Accidents happened. People disappeared for reasons that were mundane and tragic, and sometimes never fully explained.

Side note: Many lumberjacks migrated to the PNW from the Great Lakes region (home of lumberjack tall tales) for work. As you can imagine, they brought their stories with them.

That is where legends took off.

PBS’s Monstrum even calls out how Hidebehind stories spread among lumberjack camps, including those working in the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest.

In other words, this is not some random monster we are forcing onto our region.

This is already one of ours.

Hidebehind Powers

The Hidebehind is not scary because it has a detailed anatomy chart. It is scary because it is built out of a human fear response. When your brain does not have enough information, it fills in the blanks. It assumes threat first. That’s our animalistic survival wiring.

And the Hidebehind is basically a walking blank.

You never see it. So your mind does the monster design work for free. That is why the Hidebehind is still effective in 2026, even if you have GPS, a headlamp, and 4K video.

You can still feel watched.

Alcohol As Protection

A lot of versions say the Hidebehind hates alcohol, and that carrying booze keeps it away. Specifically, if your intestines are soaked with booze, the Hidebehind won’t attack you … and that gives a tired lumberjack a reason to swig some whiskey.

Anyway, this is lumber camp humor. It’s a tall tale that does two jobs at once:

1. It explains danger and loss in a scary workplace.
2. It gives the storyteller a reason to take a drink.

But for us modern-day residents: Do not treat this as wilderness safety guidance. If anything, the real-world rule is the opposite: stay sharp in the woods. No boozing and hiking.

Hidebehind Habitat

Look for:

• Tight timber with short sightlines (fern, salal, second-growth thickets)
• Sound masking (creeks, wind in canopy, distant road hum)
• Frequent occlusion (trees close together, lots of trunks, lots of angles)
• That social factor: places where people swap stories about “something out there”

How To “Hunt” The Hidebehind

So … you don’t really hunt monsters with weapons. You use cameras and audio recorders. The goal is documentation. No guns. Keep it legal. Keep it safe. Make it fun.

Here’s how the PSMC sets up a Legend Walk, which our way of planning a monster excursion.

1) Daylight scout first
Pick a public trail with clear rules and good footing. Note hazards and cell coverage. The last thing you want is to get lost without a signal.

2) Two-person rule
No solo night hikes for monster-finding. 2 people can scare away real critters and provide a safety net. Going solo into the woods is not worth it.

3) The Occlusion Test
This is the money shot for your monster hunt.

• Person A walks 30–50 feet ahead on trail.
• Person B films from behind.
• Every time Person A “disappears” behind trunks or bends, log the distance and angle.

You will get a surprising result: it is extremely easy for a human to vanish in plain sight in dense woods.

That is the Hidebehind’s entire stalking method.

4) Stationary listening session
Pick one safe spot. Sit for 10 minutes. No talking. Record audio. Log every sound.

5) Write the case file
Do it like a report: conditions, timeline, what you heard, what could explain it.

Plausible Explanations For Missing Lumberjacks

What could (rationally) explain the missing lumberjacks? Well, many may have wandered back to town, decided logging wasn’t for them, and headed back home. That’s the nice picture we tell ourselves.

It’s also likely a greenhorn fell down, got injured, and a real-life critter got him. Things like grizzlies, wolves and cougars. The deep, dark, dense forests of the PNW are full of alpha predators.

Another reason: Accidental drownings, falls and exposure could also explain the lost lumberjacks.

And once you die, nature takes care of the body … one way or another.

Further Reading Or Watching

If you want the Hidebehind in its “native habitat,” start here:

• William T. Cox (1910), Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods (public domain scans available) DigitalCommons
• Lumberwoods “Fearsome Critters” Museum Library entry: Hidebehind Lumberwoods Library
• PBS Monstrum: “Why Lumberjacks Never Look Behind Them” (modern, thoughtful breakdown) PBS

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Thanks for reading Puget Sound Monster club. If you’ve encountered a PNW monster, let us know about. Take care!