1 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:10,160 After thirty five years of living in metropolitan Portland, Oregon, I moved in 2 00:00:10,279 --> 00:00:15,480 late two thousand and six to a tiny incorporated town of Springdale, Washington. 3 00:00:16,039 --> 00:00:21,120 The population there is two hundred and ninety four. It's about an hour northwest 4 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:27,199 of Spokane. I began a job doing community development planning and grant riding for 5 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:32,479 the Northwestern Indian Tribes. In the early summer of two thousand and seven, 6 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:37,320 I was driving home from work. I had just left the Spokane Indian Reservation, 7 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,280 heading north on a country road that is the eastern boundary of the reservation. 8 00:00:43,439 --> 00:00:47,359 Along the east side of that road is a steep embankment, and looking 9 00:00:47,399 --> 00:00:52,640 down, I spotted a small sasquatch. It was maybe four feet tall that 10 00:00:52,719 --> 00:00:57,960 had scraggly and dusty looking charcoal hair that was about four inches long. It 11 00:00:58,039 --> 00:01:03,000 had wide shoulders like a human, and no visible tale or ears. I 12 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,159 couldn't determine if it was a male or a female. I saw it only 13 00:01:07,239 --> 00:01:11,000 in profile as it stepped forward nearly on all fours. I never got a 14 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:17,959 glimpse of its face. When I asked my coworkers the next day about Sasquatch 15 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,480 sightings, I was told that they were not uncommon, but were more often 16 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,200 seen in the western side of the reservation that bordered there by the Columbia River. 17 00:01:27,159 --> 00:01:32,640 The ute Indian grandmother with whom I became friends in Springdale, shared with 18 00:01:32,719 --> 00:01:37,079 me that she and her grandson, who attended elementary school, had seen a 19 00:01:37,159 --> 00:01:41,400 sasquatch a couple of years earlier as they entered the town from the east. 20 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,400 It crossed the road in front of their car and an area dotted with a 21 00:01:45,439 --> 00:01:49,879 few houses in the woods. Now they claimed it was carrying a full green 22 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,920 trash bag over its shoulder, as if it had just rated a garbage can. 23 00:01:55,400 --> 00:02:00,280 Well. While in Springdale, I began following Sasquatch reports and discussions on 24 00:02:00,359 --> 00:02:07,800 YouTube. I particularly enjoyed hearing Coombo's encounters and information sharing David polattis Sasquatch and 25 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:14,840 Missing four one stories and West Gurmers Sasquatch chronicles. I realized I had a 26 00:02:14,879 --> 00:02:21,080 loose connection after hearing Garmer Zone riveting encounter near Ecult, Washington, so as 27 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,960 a planner, I used to drive there to help the town develop public works 28 00:02:24,039 --> 00:02:30,960 grant applications. In twenty sixteen, I moved back to the west side of 29 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:35,319 the Cascade Mountains, this time in the backwoods of Washington, west of Mount 30 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:40,360 Saint Helens, a place rich with the recorded reports of sasquatch sightings. My 31 00:02:40,479 --> 00:02:46,439 highway area is partially forested, but with open fields and scattered homes, and 32 00:02:46,479 --> 00:02:53,240 I have always thought it likely that there were sisquatch frequenting this area. Well. 33 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,319 One night in the wee hours, I was sitting in my living room 34 00:02:55,400 --> 00:03:00,599 watching a free YouTube movie. I was suddenly startled by an awful crashing sound 35 00:03:00,599 --> 00:03:06,080 that shook my house. I could hear metal being bent and twisted, and 36 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,599 I thought something was happening with a vent to my kitchen range. There was 37 00:03:09,599 --> 00:03:14,759 a noise so loud that it caused me to envision my kitchen cabinets falling off 38 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:19,319 the wall. I checked around my house and I found nothing but a mirror 39 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:23,840 that had come loose, and it had not broken. I decided that multiple 40 00:03:23,879 --> 00:03:27,479 tree limbs must have landed on my roof, and I planned to check the 41 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:32,120 damage the next morning. I'm seventy four years old and my vision is poor, 42 00:03:32,479 --> 00:03:36,479 so I phoned a neighbor and she came over to check the roof with 43 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,879 me, but she saw no fallen limbs. But what I did find was 44 00:03:39,919 --> 00:03:46,840 that the decorative little wash basin I keep filled with large seashells had five of 45 00:03:46,879 --> 00:03:52,360 them removed and arranged in a perfect semi circle. I asked the neighbor if 46 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:58,520 anyone had reported strange goings on recently. Apparently, an elderly woman to the 47 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,800 east of my house was awake in the night before by something repeatedly hitting the 48 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:06,199 back wall of her house. I decided that I would camp out in my 49 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:12,240 utility room with the back door propped open and see if my unruly visitor return 50 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,079 well that night. It was cold and uncomfortable and scary, so I gave 51 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:21,199 up after about an hour. A few mornings later, however, shells were 52 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:27,680 being removed from the tub and arranged in a semicircle. Again. The shells 53 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,959 became a running theme, ending up in various places around my home, arranged 54 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:38,879 in the same similar pattern. I wondered if my Sasquatch friend had a flare 55 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:44,439 for decorating. Perhaps it was meant as something sinister, a calling card for 56 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:49,879 future violence. The fall rains have arrived and it's been quiet. I really 57 00:04:49,959 --> 00:04:56,879 do not want to be face to face with a sasquatch. Us Indigenous tribes 58 00:04:56,959 --> 00:05:01,160 believe there's strong evidence that shows the crypto to be a human hybrid and not 59 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:06,120 an animal, and as such, I will likely be looking over my shoulder 60 00:05:06,319 --> 00:05:15,240 as our garden in the spring. I'm a Vietnam IM veteran from Clarksburg, 61 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,920 West Virginia, and my story happened in Gandy, West Virginia. I come 62 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:24,360 from a family that taught you to hunt at a very early age. Hunting 63 00:05:24,439 --> 00:05:27,959 was one of the main sources of food for most families in those days. 64 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,839 I spent most of my childhood running through the woods for fun. I helped 65 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,720 start a boy Scout troop in my area. During the camp outs, the 66 00:05:36,759 --> 00:05:42,319 boys and Scout masters would play tag. It could get pretty brutal, with 67 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:46,279 the adults and the older boys giving out Charlie horses and shoulder punches when they 68 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:50,519 tagged you. So a friend and I decided to escape and go into the 69 00:05:50,519 --> 00:05:56,879 woods. We climbed a big rock formation and we hid out. The rock 70 00:05:56,959 --> 00:06:00,160 formation was pretty high up and we could see the camp while the others had 71 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,040 no clue where we were. In the darkness. Behind me, I thought 72 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:10,120 I heard heavy breathing in the sound of something walking toward us. I counted 73 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:14,000 off the seconds between each step, and I could tell that not only was 74 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,720 it large in size, but likely something standing upright. I thought maybe it 75 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:23,800 was a bear. We never saw whatever it was because it freaked U south. 76 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,439 We got out of there and preferring to face off with our scout masters 77 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,319 then whatever was lingering out there in the dark. As an adult, I've 78 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:38,519 been back there several times to troutfish. There's an awesome stream that runs through 79 00:06:38,519 --> 00:06:42,279 the area, and a lot of scouts from those days remain fishing buddies. 80 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:46,839 But in Gandy, every time I've been there, no matter how many friends 81 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:51,639 and family tag along, always get that feeling that I'm being watched. In 82 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:57,920 nineteen eighty, my ex wife's grandfather Bill and his son Johnny asked if I 83 00:06:57,959 --> 00:07:00,720 wanted to go fishing in Gandy. Well, I didn't have to work and 84 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,120 it was going to be a beautiful weekend, so naturally I was all in. 85 00:07:05,399 --> 00:07:09,959 The place was packed with people, so we struggled to find a decent 86 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:15,360 spot to camp. We decided on a small valley nestle between two mountains. 87 00:07:15,319 --> 00:07:19,879 The place was a little grown up with tall grass and strewn with fallen trees. 88 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:25,879 You could tell it wasn't used often. It had a creepy feeling about 89 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,480 it the way it was lit up in the moonlight that night, but it 90 00:07:29,519 --> 00:07:33,120 had firewood in a huge fire pit. The stream wasn't but one hundred yards 91 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:39,399 behind our camp. The dirt road we drove in on was about thirty yards 92 00:07:39,399 --> 00:07:42,920 from the tent, and we had just fixed a little something to eat right 93 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,279 before Bill and Johnny turned in for the night. I started putting a few 94 00:07:47,279 --> 00:07:53,160 pieces of wood on the fire when out came this cry from beyond hell. 95 00:07:54,319 --> 00:07:58,519 It sounded like a woman being murdered, and then morphed into a lion, 96 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,680 growling and howling. I heard Bill yell from inside the tent, what was 97 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:09,279 that? This huge hickory tree, at least four feet in diameter and one 98 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,639 hundred and fifty feet tall, started swaying back and forth like something had gripped 99 00:08:13,639 --> 00:08:18,040 the trunk and was trying to shake apples down from a branch. It was 100 00:08:18,079 --> 00:08:22,279 across the road, forty feet deep into the woods, just out of the 101 00:08:22,319 --> 00:08:26,120 reach of my flashlight beam. Bill claimed the only thing that could shake a 102 00:08:26,199 --> 00:08:31,679 tree like that was a bull elephant. He needlessly added that we didn't have 103 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:37,039 any animals like that in West Virginia. The campfire, by now was a 104 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:43,039 raging inferno because while all this was going on, I was throwing any kind 105 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:46,600 of wood I could get my hands on to make sure that that fire stayed 106 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,960 in nuclear We didn't have any weapons on us. Bell and Johnny never came 107 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,320 out of that tent while I stood guard outside all night long. Finally, 108 00:08:56,399 --> 00:09:01,799 when daylight came, the danger seemed to have passed, and I went over 109 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:07,080 to see if there were tracks near the tree. The bar, about fifteen 110 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,120 feet from the ground was all ripped off, with claw marks about one and 111 00:09:11,159 --> 00:09:15,480 a half inches deep into the tree. I placed my hand over them, 112 00:09:15,519 --> 00:09:18,919 and I couldn't open my fingers that far apart. There wasn't a track to 113 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,000 be seen. We ate breakfast and I went fishing, and when I came 114 00:09:24,039 --> 00:09:28,320 back into camp around noon, Bill had everything packed up and he was itching 115 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:33,080 to leave. Back then, I had never heard of Bigfoot or the Patterson 116 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:39,200 Gimlin film, but it hit me about two weeks later when Bill was watching 117 00:09:39,279 --> 00:09:45,320 a Bigfoot documentary and in the soundtrack I heard the same sort of noises similar 118 00:09:45,399 --> 00:09:48,559 to that that we heard in Gandhy. Now I know a cat or a 119 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:52,720 bear couldn't make those sounds or do that kind of damage to a massive old 120 00:09:52,840 --> 00:10:01,000 hickory tree. I am of Aboriginal to scent, and I have hunted all 121 00:10:01,039 --> 00:10:05,440 my life. A friend and I decided to search for a new area to 122 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,879 track moose and deer, and we both live in Prince George and we know 123 00:10:11,039 --> 00:10:13,919 all the areas within fifty miles or so, but we had the itch to 124 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:18,759 go see some new country. We hooked a jeep to the back of the 125 00:10:18,799 --> 00:10:22,559 motor home and off we went toward the mountains and Pine Pass. We found 126 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:28,480 a perfect spot just off Highway ninety seven, eighteen miles south of Chetwynd. 127 00:10:28,759 --> 00:10:33,000 It was noon when we disconnected the jeep and immediately drove up the older trail 128 00:10:33,039 --> 00:10:37,240 to see where it would take us. To our surprise, the road was 129 00:10:37,279 --> 00:10:41,000 in pretty decent shape. As we immediately started to climb up the mountain, 130 00:10:41,759 --> 00:10:46,799 we came to several awesome clearcuts that allowed us to see in all directions. 131 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:50,480 We were in the middle of one of these clear cuts and decided to hide 132 00:10:50,519 --> 00:10:54,799 the jeep back in the heavily forested area and walked to a good vantage point 133 00:10:54,879 --> 00:10:58,200 that was in the middle of the clearing. We were sitting on a knoll 134 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,919 that was about well feet above the skidder trail, which we could see through 135 00:11:01,919 --> 00:11:07,039 the willows. We figured that we would enjoy a couple of sandwiches and didn't 136 00:11:07,039 --> 00:11:11,720 really expect to come across anything unusual, as we had driven through with the 137 00:11:11,919 --> 00:11:18,120 jeep twenty minutes earlier. It was a beautiful day and we were sitting with 138 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,759 our backs to each other, me watching the downhill and my partner watching the 139 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:28,080 uphill. The grade was ten to twelve percent, with small willows not blocking 140 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,200 our vantage point, and we could see five hundred yards in all directions. 141 00:11:33,519 --> 00:11:37,639 Four massive bucks came out of a patch of trees that were only one hundred 142 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:41,399 and fifty yards on the downhill side. Well, that was a good sign, 143 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,440 and since it was the day before the season opened, we headed back 144 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,679 to set up camp and we decided that we would walk to the same spot 145 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,559 in the morning. We set out before daylight because we figured it would take 146 00:11:52,639 --> 00:11:56,559 us an hour to get there on foot. I have to admit that this 147 00:11:56,879 --> 00:12:01,080 was a bit unnerving for me because I like to see my surroundings when I'm 148 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:07,559 in grizzly country. But nevertheless, off we went My partner had done this 149 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,799 night walk hundreds of times, and he said that we would be fine. 150 00:12:11,519 --> 00:12:16,000 He was such a nice guy that if we happened to come across a grizzly 151 00:12:16,039 --> 00:12:18,120 in the dark, he was going to trip me and get the hell out 152 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,279 of there. He didn't get the chuckle out of me that he was expecting. 153 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,720 Anyway. We arrived about twenty minutes before shooting light, and we just 154 00:12:28,759 --> 00:12:33,519 sat there and listened to all of nature's sounds. Now, this next part 155 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:37,200 is very important and it needs to be explained. There was no way in 156 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:41,960 hell that even a coyote could be in the vicinity without one of us spotting 157 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,639 it. There was nowhere for an animal to hide unless there were crouched within 158 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:52,240 the same small clump of trees that the bucks had emerged from the day before. 159 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,559 It was an uneventful first few hours, and it was now approaching the 160 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:01,279 same time of day that we had initially seen the deer. There wasn't much 161 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:05,279 wind, except for a slight breeze from time to time. I had just 162 00:13:05,399 --> 00:13:09,519 remarked to my buddy about how quiet it was, when all at once I 163 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,440 could hear a high pitch buzzing sound, and I thought it might just be 164 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:18,879 my ears ringing. The best way to describe the sound was as if someone 165 00:13:20,039 --> 00:13:24,440 had put a tuning fork to my head. I looked over to my buddy 166 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,240 and he said he could hear it too. On the skitter trail right below 167 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:33,559 us appeared a dark shape that we could see through the willows. There was 168 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:37,879 literally no way that this thing could have walked up on us, because we 169 00:13:37,919 --> 00:13:41,799 could see ninety percent of the terrain all around us. It had hair rather 170 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:46,279 than fur, and then all at once it stood up on two legs and 171 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,759 it was staring right at us. That freaked me out, and my buddy 172 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,519 with the cooler had warned me not to shoot, but to take the safety 173 00:13:54,559 --> 00:14:00,120 off and be ready. This thing stared at us for what seemed like in 174 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:05,200 eternity but was probably only seconds. It dropped back down on all fours and 175 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:09,919 it let out a scream, and it shook us to our core. We 176 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,120 should have caught a visual twenty feet down the Sketterer trail, but clearly it 177 00:14:13,159 --> 00:14:18,720 had serious stealth going for it. The high pitched sound was hitting our ear 178 00:14:18,799 --> 00:14:22,000 drums again as we sat there for another hour, concerned that we had not 179 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,879 seen it leave the area. We knew it was still close, and being 180 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:33,240 ambushed was on both of our minds. The stalemate drug on until my buddy 181 00:14:33,279 --> 00:14:37,200 finally said that he was going to walk down to the skitter trail and have 182 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:39,480 a look. Well. I was terrified, and I was about to see 183 00:14:39,519 --> 00:14:43,600 my friend get torn up right in front of me. It only took him 184 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:48,080 a minute or two before he shouted to me to help him estimate how tall 185 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,320 this thing was by raising one end of his gun up in the air. 186 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:56,840 His arm sockets were straining as he held the weapon above his head. We 187 00:14:56,919 --> 00:15:01,559 guessed the beast appeared to be at least ten feet tall, judging by my 188 00:15:01,639 --> 00:15:07,480 buddy's rotator cuffs. I've heard stories over the years about sasquatch and always blew 189 00:15:07,519 --> 00:15:13,840 them off as folklore. Whatever this thing was, it had somehow eluded us 190 00:15:13,879 --> 00:15:18,840 and vacated the premises. I was shook by my experience, and I chose 191 00:15:18,919 --> 00:15:24,399 to leave. On the ride home, my buddy told me about several encounters 192 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:28,200 he'd had with sasquatch over the years, and based on his well worn travel 193 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:33,360 tales, I assumed that they must be everywhere. When he invited me out 194 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:39,840 into the wilderness for another overnighter, I declined I couldn't bring myself to get 195 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,960 back out there. He tried to convince me that sightings were few and far 196 00:15:43,039 --> 00:15:48,279 between, and that the sasquatch would rather be left alone. It's why he 197 00:15:48,399 --> 00:15:52,639 warned me off from shooting my gun at it that day. After letting the 198 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,720 encounter simmer in my head for a few weeks, I let my buddy talk 199 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:02,200 me into another hunting trip. I thought facing my fears by going out to 200 00:16:02,279 --> 00:16:07,519 the same general area would be good for me psychologically. All was nervous as 201 00:16:07,519 --> 00:16:11,879 hell while we were there, but after bagging two really nice mules and an 202 00:16:11,919 --> 00:16:18,000 immature bull, I started feeling like my old self. It's always mystified me 203 00:16:18,279 --> 00:16:22,720 how the thing I saw that day managed to vanish without us viewing its escape 204 00:16:22,399 --> 00:16:26,759 something they travel through portals, or that the high pitched ringing we heard was 205 00:16:26,799 --> 00:16:32,279 something to do with their ability to teleport I don't know if I believe that. 206 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:37,039 It doesn't make me feel any better knowing that these things can appear wherever 207 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:42,679 and whenever they want. I don't want to stop going out into the bush, 208 00:16:42,799 --> 00:16:53,559 so I'll continue on as I've always done.