WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:08.400 Nineteen eighty four, when I was seventeen years old, my entire family and 2 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:13.320 I drove up to Kerne County, California to go off road camping for a 3 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:18.359 long weekend. We arrived at our destination and found a dirt road that went 4 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:23.039 off the highway into a ravine that was a beautiful shaded area, and it 5 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:27.679 was up against the Kern River. It was surrounded by lots of trees, 6 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:30.879 and there was a nice little creek that broke off from the main river, 7 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:34.679 and it flowed right in front of our camping spot, and then it curved 8 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:39.600 down the ravine the same way the main river was flowing. There were twenty 9 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:43.560 of us in five vehicles. We set up our tents and made lunch. 10 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:48.159 Afterwards, we cleaned up, and half the family went whitewater rafting, while 11 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:52.840 the other half went to find a local grocery store to replenish our food supply. 12 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:57.320 I stayed behind and decided to read a book under the shade of the 13 00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:00.920 trees. The wind was blowing just enough to turn all the leaves into a 14 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.519 million little fans, making it very comfortable to sit and relax on a hot 15 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:11.200 day. After about an hour, I decided I should bathe while the family 16 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:15.560 was still gone. I gathered up my things and walked about thirty yards down 17 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:19.079 the little creek about twenty five eat down from the highway, to a nice 18 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:23.439 little pool that looked ideal for the job. There were a lot of trees 19 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:27.920 and bushes to conceal me from any passing motorists, and I quickly got into 20 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:33.159 the water and started washing. After a few minutes, I got the worst 21 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:37.400 feeling of dread I have ever felt in my life. The feeling of being 22 00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:42.560 watched intently was so powerful I could barely breathe. I panned the surrounding trees 23 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:47.480 and bushes, but I didn't see anything. I got out of the water 24 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:52.599 and gathered up my things and walked the thirty yards back to the camp site. 25 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.840 I dressed inside my tent and then went back out to resume my position 26 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.920 in my chair with my book. But now it was hard to concentrate. 27 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:05.840 I couldn't stop a thinking of that earlier feeling of being watched, and because 28 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:10.080 of that, I was now listening to every sound around me. After an 29 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:15.000 hour and a half, everyone returned to camp. We barbecued our dinner and 30 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:19.240 then cleaned up our mess. The adults sat around the camp for our drinking 31 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:23.680 beers and wine coolers and telling scary stories. My boyfriend, who was Native 32 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:30.000 American, and I turned in around midnight. At two in the morning, 33 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:34.919 I was awakened by very heavy footfalls coming from the direction of the pool that 34 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:39.199 I had bathed in earlier. I sat up and started to shiver. Whatever 35 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:45.400 this was, it began rummaging around our campsite. I was frozen, barely 36 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:50.919 breathing and listening intently. After five minutes or so, this extremely large, 37 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:55.439 upright fur covered creature walked right by our tent. It was very bright. 38 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.319 It was a clear night. The moon and stars were like a million night 39 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:04.800 lights in the sky. As it walked past our tent, I could see 40 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:09.719 its shape clearly. It was massive. The tent turned completely black under its 41 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:15.039 shadow. Its head and upper body were huge, and I could tell it 42 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:19.919 was covered with hair. Its enormous arms swung with every stride, and its 43 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.479 breathing sounded like thunder and an oak barrel. I remained motionless as it walked 44 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:30.199 on by the tent and down the opposite way into the ravine. The next 45 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:35.120 morning, I asked my boyfriend and if he had heard or seen anything last 46 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:38.919 night, and of course he said he hadn't. He's very aware of these 47 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:44.319 creatures, but in his culture, you just leave them alone. After breakfast, 48 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:46.479 I decided to walk back down to the pool where I'd bathed the day 49 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:52.280 before. There was an area of bushes about forty feet further that was matted 50 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:55.319 down. It was not that way the day before. I walked over to 51 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:00.319 it and I could clearly see that something large had been sitting or lie in 52 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:04.360 that area. I remember thinking to myself, Wow, I just saw bigfoot 53 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:10.000 last night. The next thought was if it had walked out of the bushes 54 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:14.400 while I was in that pool, I could have been at lunch. We 55 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:18.079 camped there for another two days without any incident, for which I'm grateful I 56 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:23.000 was able to sleep in peace. I'm fifty two years old now and I 57 00:04:23.079 --> 00:04:26.959 live in Los Angeles. There have been a lot of more sightings closer to 58 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.720 civilization here, such as in our local mountains and hills. Now I'll leave 59 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:34.560 those stories for other people to tell. Thank you for letting me share my 60 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:44.240 story. As a child growing up, every summer from the age of five, 61 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:48.800 my father and grandfather, older brother, and myself would drive from Chicago 62 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:55.560 to Sue Narrows, Ontario, staying at a resort. There were no roads 63 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:59.519 to the resort. We had to travel the last thirty minutes by boat. 64 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:04.560 My mother usually came up later with my three younger brothers. This place was 65 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:10.240 great. They pumped water out of the lake to a homemade water tower and 66 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:15.000 spigots were located here and there around the camp. The water was beautiful. 67 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:19.319 The resort was made up of a main lodge and ten or twelve cabins on 68 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:26.360 a five acre peninsula. A generator started around seven pm for lights. There 69 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:30.639 was no telephone and no overland route to town except over the ice. During 70 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:35.079 the winter. They would even cut ice each winter and keep it in the 71 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:42.120 ice house, buried in sawdust, keeping the ice for years. There were 72 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:46.480 five lakes and they were all connected, and there were boats in eight other 73 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:53.160 lakes to portage into for different species of fish walleye, smallmouth, Northern Pike, 74 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:57.639 musky, and Lake trout. Some lakes had all species of fish and 75 00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:01.839 some were more specific. We poured stoffened too a lake called Hope Lake. 76 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:06.480 I remember there was a hermit living on an island in this lake, but 77 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:13.199 we never saw him. From early on one of the Oglalla Sioux guides we 78 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.839 hired would always tell us to watch out for the gorilla of Hope Lake. 79 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:21.680 Every time we fished with this guide, he gave us the same warning. 80 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:27.240 It was quite unnerving to me as a child, even into my teenage. 81 00:06:27.319 --> 00:06:30.879 Years later, in years I got my first job. I bought a car 82 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:38.160 and a new fourteen foot Smokecraft small car topper boat and my own nine point 83 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:43.800 five horsepower Johnson outboard motor. This gave me freedom to venture off on my 84 00:06:43.959 --> 00:06:47.160 own fishing, and I could stay as long as I wanted. On my 85 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:51.600 solo fishing trips, I would stop at midday on shore for lunch, and 86 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:58.040 I would do some swimming or exploring in the untouched forests of Aspen Beach and 87 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:03.040 pines. I'd let my imagination room, wondering if anybody had ever explored the 88 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:09.720 places that I was walking on. Portaging into Hope Lake alone for small mouth, 89 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:15.920 I always felt very uncomfortable or actually afraid. Once having drugged my boat 90 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:19.480 across and on the water, always felt more at ease, but never completely 91 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:25.040 comfortable. Something always bothered me. It was a great little lake, but 92 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:28.959 the years of warning by the guide stuck with me, and I eventually quit 93 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:33.199 going to Hope Lake by myself. Closer to the resort, and in the 94 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:38.319 evenings, I would go out after dinner just before dark to get in an 95 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:43.120 extra hour of fishing. I enjoyed the sounds of the loons and watching the 96 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.480 otters play. I didn't do this every day. Sometimes I would go with 97 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:50.560 my friends to hunt for muskie, but I loved the solitude of fishing my 98 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:56.920 spot in the evenings alone. One evening, after getting into my little spot, 99 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:00.560 I dropped my anchor and I cast a minnow and I began to relax. 100 00:08:01.319 --> 00:08:03.519 I looked around, taking in the whole scene, and on a rock 101 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:07.920 island not far from me, I saw a deer laying on the island close 102 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:13.600 to the water. As I focused in, it was obvious this deer had 103 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:18.600 been mutilated. The head was attached with antlers visible, but the body had 104 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:22.439 been ravaged. The kill was fresh. I had fished this spot the two 105 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:26.879 previous evenings and the deer was not there. The kill had to have taken 106 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:33.440 place within the last twenty four hours. I stared at the macabre scene and 107 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:37.559 it occurred to me the loons were quiet. There were none of the usual 108 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:41.320 sounds I loved hearing during this time of day, other than the horde of 109 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:46.559 mosquitoes trying to drain me of blood. I had seen wildlife swimming in the 110 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:50.200 lake, deer, bear and other smaller creatures, but I never saw anything 111 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:54.159 alive on this small rock island. And all the years that I fished this 112 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:58.159 area, and I spent at least five of the seven days a week fishing 113 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:03.919 this spot. During the evenings, I heard my bobber slap the water. 114 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:07.200 I looked over and a big fish was running with the bait. But at 115 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:11.679 the same moment, the most dreadful feeling came over me. I felt like 116 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:16.360 something evil was in the area. There's no way that I can convey my 117 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:22.240 senses at this time or in words, but I never felt anything like that 118 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:26.080 in my eighteen years on Earth. I am sixty one this year, and 119 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:31.720 I've never felt it since. It overpowered my natural instinct to set the hook 120 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:37.279 on this big fish, so I didn't. I just let him run until 121 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:41.360 the spools snapped tight out of line, and with my pocket knife, I 122 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:43.720 cut the line. I dropped my rod in the boat, and I calmly 123 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:48.960 prepared to leave the area. Something was on that island, something evil, 124 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:52.559 and it meant business, and I was not going to push my luck. 125 00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:58.799 There were two routes back to the lodge. One would take me thirty minutes. 126 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:03.399 The other would take an hour around a long peninsula where I normally dragged 127 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:07.360 my boat over to save a long ride. I was not getting out of 128 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:11.480 this boat, so I took the long route. The farther I got from 129 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:15.759 that island, the better I began to feel. Making the turn around the 130 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:20.200 end of the peninsula at full throttle, I saw a mated pair of loons 131 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:24.919 setting on the glass like water. I cut the engine and began drifting, 132 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:28.639 and I could hear them making the lonely call they do at the end of 133 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:33.159 the day. Darkness was coming fast, but the sound of those loons seemed 134 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:37.840 to calm me, and I began to feel normal again. I actually stopped 135 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:41.559 when I was far enough away from the island and made a few more casts. 136 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:46.360 A good pike raised to my bait once, but it never hit. 137 00:10:46.039 --> 00:10:50.480 That just made the night normal even more. I made it back to camp 138 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:54.600 ate a good supper, and I had a restless night of sleep, but 139 00:10:54.679 --> 00:11:00.480 I felt like I was safe. This event was forty four years years ago. 140 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:03.559 I've been back to the area many times and had several great weeks of 141 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:09.120 fishing on those beautiful lakes, but it's been years since my last trip. 142 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:13.480 I have even motored past that Rock Island a few times, but I never 143 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:18.600 stopped. I doubt I would enjoy fishing that spot again. I hope to 144 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:22.320 get back there someday. I hope when I see it again it has not 145 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:26.679 changed. The days were filled with fun and the nights were magical watching the 146 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:33.399 Aurora borealis and the millions of stars. It is my favorite place in the 147 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:37.039 world. But on that day, something was on that island and it was 148 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:41.639 watching me. It did not want me there, and I followed my instincts 149 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:46.120 and I left. I'm not in any way saying that it was sasquatch, 150 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:50.679 but I have a hunch that it may have been, but I may never 151 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:56.919 know. I grew up in the woods of northeast Alabama, hunting and fishing 152 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:01.679 like any good Southern boy. I started deer hunting when I was six. 153 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:07.759 I'm thirty eight now, so that makes thirty two years of hunting experience. 154 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:13.639 I've been all over the Southeastern States, plus I served fifteen years of active 155 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:18.120 duty. Through all of my experiences, I don't think I can recall ever 156 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:22.360 being scared in the woods, not even when the bullets were flying by me 157 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:28.200 when I was overseas. It happened so fast that I think instinct and training 158 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:33.639 takeover, and there just isn't time. It always hits me after the fact. 159 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.960 I've been a straight shooter, and I've never given much thought to bigfoot 160 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:43.080 or any of those types of beings. I always accepted that other people believed 161 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:48.919 and that I didn't until this happened to me. It was a cool winter 162 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:52.679 day on the dark side of dug Or Mountain where me and my dad were 163 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:58.120 bow hunting. It was one of my favorite spots to hunt. I could 164 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:01.519 always count on and sing and maybe even shooting one there. It was about 165 00:13:01.559 --> 00:13:05.000 a two mile height through some really rugged country, but it was worth it. 166 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:09.159 As we walked in, my dad got to his tree first and I 167 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:13.919 walked another five hundred yards or so to my tree. I quickly settled in 168 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:18.720 for another typical day of honting. I saw some doze early on, and 169 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:24.200 I got excited, and then things got real. Remember how I said that 170 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:30.679 I've never been afraid of the woods that changed instantly. This day, I 171 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:33.879 was sitting in my tree when I heard something coming up behind me. I 172 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:37.720 know the woods and the animals that lived there. This was different and it 173 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:43.320 was really odd. And then it just stopped. Everything was silent. It 174 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:48.919 seemed like every critter for miles just hid. Okay, maybe it wasn't that 175 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.200 big of a deal. But then I heard it again and it was closer. 176 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:56.879 I knew something wasn't right. It sounded like a big, heavy set 177 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:01.399 man walking. It got closer still, and I was expecting it to be 178 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:05.399 the game warden. It was getting late in the day and it made no 179 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:09.200 sense why a grown man would be walking in from that direction. A man 180 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:13.720 would be heading towards the road. I was searching for any answer that would 181 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:20.159 make sense while I watched the area it was coming from. It walked between 182 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:24.919 me and my dad and then it stopped. It cut loose with a roar 183 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:30.240 so loud that it made my spine shiver. It felt like it lasted forever. 184 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:33.559 I got the idea that this thing didn't want us there. My heart 185 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:39.399 was pounding and I was experiencing real fear. My dad texted me, did 186 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:43.080 you hear that? And I replied, yes, it came from your direction. 187 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.840 He said it sounded like it came from mine, and that confirmed that 188 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:52.360 it was between us. Dad said just to hang tight and let it get 189 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:56.480 dark. Maybe it'll move on. I heard it stop, so I knew 190 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:01.440 if it moved, i'd hear it again, even see it. But it 191 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:05.480 was quiet, and I had the feeling it knew that I was there at 192 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.320 dark. Dad sent me a text saying climb down and had my way. 193 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:13.519 I climbed down and packed my gear, and I started making my way towards 194 00:15:13.559 --> 00:15:20.039 my dad, knowing I was heading right towards this powerful thing. About halfway 195 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:24.600 to my dad, I started realizing when I stepped that it stepped, and 196 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.639 I stopped and it stopped. I shined my light, but I didn't see 197 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:31.679 anything. It was close, though, so close that I could hear it 198 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:37.759 breathing, and it was definitely something big and heavy. I made it to 199 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:41.519 my dad and right away I said, Dad, we're not alone. Something's 200 00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:46.200 trailing me. His immediate response was, oh, you're losing it. Bear's 201 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:50.039 code. He's pretty much any animal in Alabama runs away from humans. I 202 00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:54.320 told him that it was following me, and we started walking towards the truck, 203 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:58.240 and it continued to follow us. Dad did what I had done. 204 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:03.559 He motioned for us to stop, and whatever was following us stopped as well. 205 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:07.720 We started walking again, and then started walking with us. He shined 206 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:11.080 us flashlight, but he couldn't find it either, and I could see how 207 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:15.840 spooked he was. At this point. It matched us step first step all 208 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:19.679 the way out. We crossed the creek and it made a splash bigger than 209 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:25.480 both of us put together. It seemed to be getting bolder as we walked. 210 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:29.799 It got louder and made more racket. I held my flashlight in my 211 00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:32.759 mouth, my bow in one hand, and my knife in the other. 212 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:37.879 I was fully expecting it to charge at any minute. All I could think 213 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:41.600 about was getting to the truck. An hour long hike away over rugged terrain 214 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:47.960 in the dark. Was something huge following us. At this point Dad told 215 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:52.559 me to take the lead, putting himself between me and this thing. We 216 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.759 kept pushing forward to the truck, and when we finally got there it felt 217 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:00.639 like we'd been hiking for hours. We didn't stop to pack our stuff. 218 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:04.079 We tossed it all in the bed and Dad cranked up the engine and got 219 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:08.319 us out of there. He drove us out faster than I've ever seen him 220 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:12.119 drive. I turned the cab light on and I looked over at him. 221 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:17.839 I've never seen that look on my dad's face before. It was somewhere between 222 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.559 scared and disbelief. I asked him if he ever saw it. He just 223 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:26.039 said, I don't want to talk about it. We haven't hunted there again. 224 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:32.000 Dad has never spoken openly about that night. Neither of us have ever 225 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:36.000 been back to that spot, and to this day, it still gives me 226 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:38.960 chills to think about it. I never hunt far from the truck now, 227 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.799 and I'm always on alert, just like I was back when I was in 228 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:44.839 the sandbox.