Unknown creature in the woods of Montana

So it was back in 2009 when I had gone camping with my girlfriend. It was in the woods of Montana. As far as I remember, I had carried a map with me. But for some reason, we were too overconfident. So we never referred to it and ultimately got lost. We did know the direction we came from, so we did not panic. Plus, the place that we had reached was pretty. It was at the end of a clearing and overlooked a small cliff. We could see the top of the trees that spread endlessly. My girlfriend suggested we stay the night there. And so I obliged.

We set up the camp and lit the campfire. We ate, chilled, and had some fun time until we decided to call it a day. The moon was out and the weather chilly. My girlfriend snuggled inside the tent and reminded me to put out the fire. As I rolled my eyes and walked outside the tent, I heard some noise around the tree line. It was the sound of some twigs snapping. I ignored it at first assuming it was coming from the fireplace. But as I was about to pour the water on the fire, I heard it again.

This time my senses were sharp. So I quickly turned around and eyed through the tree line. I could not see anything. I decided to keep the fire on just in case an animal was nearby. As a camper, we know that fire helps keep certain animals away.

I get inside the camp and sit up straight. I alerted my girlfriend - she seemed a little less concerned than me. She shot it down saying it was mostly some harmless animal wandering around. When asked what made her say so, she said the map had written the area we were in had no bears or bobcats. Although it was unmarked as a camping spot, it had no specific animal marked either.

Suddenly, we heard a loud snap. As if a twig snapped. But a big twig. We heard it again after a few seconds. It felt as if a massive tree was moving. The sound kept getting closer to us - we started panicking. We had a choice to make. Either dash out or stay put. We decided to hang in there because we could sense that the creature outside was huge. We could feel the ground shake a little along with the loud sound it made while it stepped. There was no roaring or typical animal sound. And that confused us. We could not guess what it was. You see, we campers have certain tricks up our sleeves to protect from certain animals. And no! Bear repellant sprays never work.

We waited for it to stand in line with the campfire so that we could see the shadow and make some guesses. Slowly perhaps, but it eventually did. I am unsure how to explain or describe what we saw, but I will try. And it is okay if you cannot visualize it because it is hard to even explain it well. So it was a pointy creature. Not like it had horns or something. But imagine a stick figure walking around. But a huge one. Or wait! Imagine Groot from Avengers walking around. It was something like that. But very tall. I mean, we could only see its long legs.

The shadow got larger as it moved away from the tent until it eventually disappeared. The creature had destroyed the campfire in a single loud blow. We were stoked. My girlfriend signaled me to stay quiet, and I agreed. The loud thumping continued - I kept hoping for the best. I just kept praying that it wouldn't smash the camp. Our lights were off, so we hoped we had not caught its attention.

After a few seconds, the sound of stepping got softer and farther away. We lay flat on the mat and stayed silent. We did not dare to move a muscle. Not sure when we drifted into sleep as we woke up in shock. I thought I had a nightmare, but my girlfriend asked me the same. So we slowly unzipped the tent and peeped outside. The campfire was gone but everything else was in place. We packed everything as quickly as possible and noticed the massive footprints on the ground. We reached home safely, but the memory still haunts us. Whatever that creature was, it did not like us there. And there is a reason why some places aren't marked for camping. I was lucky to have survived. These creatures do not like us visiting their home. And it is safe to not venture and risk our lives just for the sake of an adventure.