WEBVTT 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.