WEBVTT

1
00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:10.400
<v Speaker 1>I'm from south central Kentucky. When I was twelve years old,

2
00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.039
<v Speaker 1>we lived on a dairy farm across a gravel road

3
00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:16.960
<v Speaker 1>from my cousin's house. At the time, I was raising

4
00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:19.519
<v Speaker 1>some baby chicks that I kept on a high shelf

5
00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:22.120
<v Speaker 1>and a tall shed that paralleled the back of my

6
00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:25.320
<v Speaker 1>cousin's house, and I kept them there to keep any

7
00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.600
<v Speaker 1>animals from getting to them. One night, my cousin was

8
00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:32.759
<v Speaker 1>over and we were watching TV when I suddenly realized

9
00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:36.119
<v Speaker 1>I had forgotten to feed my chicks. My mom handed

10
00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:40.039
<v Speaker 1>me a mostly empty box of Quaker oats, and my cousin,

11
00:00:40.280 --> 00:00:43.240
<v Speaker 1>my little sister, who was three years younger than us,

12
00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:47.280
<v Speaker 1>and I went out to feed the chicks. My cousin's

13
00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:50.159
<v Speaker 1>driveway had just recently had a new load of white

14
00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:53.039
<v Speaker 1>gravel poured on it, and the moon was full that

15
00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:56.960
<v Speaker 1>night and we could see just fine without the flashlight,

16
00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.399
<v Speaker 1>but I took one with me anyway, so I could

17
00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:03.960
<v Speaker 1>see inside the shed. The shed door was standing half open,

18
00:01:04.359 --> 00:01:07.319
<v Speaker 1>so we walked inside and I flipped on the flashlight.

19
00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:11.640
<v Speaker 1>The shelf where the chicks were on was six feet up.

20
00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:14.280
<v Speaker 1>I had to use the ladder to reach them, but

21
00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.680
<v Speaker 1>I wanted to make sure they were out of harm's way,

22
00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:20.239
<v Speaker 1>and as I swung the beam around to face the shelf,

23
00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.280
<v Speaker 1>I got the shock of my life. Standing there on

24
00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:27.359
<v Speaker 1>its hind legs with its front paws on the shelf

25
00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:31.920
<v Speaker 1>was a huge white dog like animal, well one of

26
00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:35.040
<v Speaker 1>a screened I couldn't tell which one of us it was,

27
00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:37.959
<v Speaker 1>but that prompted the dog thing to drop down on

28
00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:41.879
<v Speaker 1>all fours. My sister and my cousin took off running

29
00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:45.120
<v Speaker 1>for the house, but I was frozen in place. This

30
00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:48.040
<v Speaker 1>thing was hunched in its back, and it started moving

31
00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.480
<v Speaker 1>toward me with one of my baby chicks still in

32
00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:55.439
<v Speaker 1>its mouth. Its face was covered in blood and it snarled,

33
00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:59.519
<v Speaker 1>showing me its teeth. As it moved closer, I could

34
00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:02.519
<v Speaker 1>see red eyes glaring at me, and I knew it

35
00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:07.040
<v Speaker 1>was going to pounce on me, but still I couldn't move. Please,

36
00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:10.800
<v Speaker 1>dear Lord, let me move, my mind, cried, as it

37
00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:15.080
<v Speaker 1>got within five feet of me. Instantly I felt myself

38
00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:18.639
<v Speaker 1>spring into action. My sister and cousin had already reached

39
00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:22.080
<v Speaker 1>the house when I broke into a hard sprint. The

40
00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:24.560
<v Speaker 1>new gravel pulled my feet out from under me, and

41
00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:29.039
<v Speaker 1>I found myself spilling across my cousin's driveway. As I

42
00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:31.759
<v Speaker 1>tried to get up, I looked back and saw that thing,

43
00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:35.800
<v Speaker 1>that monster, standing on its back legs in the moonlight.

44
00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:39.759
<v Speaker 1>It reared its head and screamed a terrifying howl, like

45
00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:43.080
<v Speaker 1>a dying woman, and then it looked at me, and

46
00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:45.560
<v Speaker 1>by then I was back on my feet, and I

47
00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:49.240
<v Speaker 1>took off for the house. I bolted through the screen

48
00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:51.800
<v Speaker 1>door to find my cousin and my sister trying to

49
00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:55.240
<v Speaker 1>explain to my dad what had happened what they saw,

50
00:02:55.639 --> 00:02:59.039
<v Speaker 1>and I tried to tell him too. We wanted him

51
00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:02.879
<v Speaker 1>to go check, but he wouldn't go outside. He insisted

52
00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:06.159
<v Speaker 1>that we didn't see anything, and to tell you the truth,

53
00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:08.800
<v Speaker 1>I think he was afraid. I heard a lot of

54
00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:12.360
<v Speaker 1>stories about men out raccoon hunting when their dogs wouldn't

55
00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.520
<v Speaker 1>leave the campfire, and maybe that's what my dad was

56
00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:19.360
<v Speaker 1>thinking of that moment. I don't know what I saw

57
00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:22.080
<v Speaker 1>that night, but if that was what kept good hunting

58
00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:25.439
<v Speaker 1>dogs from leaving the safety of a roaring campfire, it

59
00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:30.080
<v Speaker 1>made perfect sense to me. Two years later, we moved

60
00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:33.080
<v Speaker 1>five miles down the road. We had a big Collie.

61
00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:37.439
<v Speaker 1>Then that dog wasn't afraid of anything, or so we thought.

62
00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:41.000
<v Speaker 1>One summer night, when the moon was full, we heard

63
00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:44.800
<v Speaker 1>it scratching at the door trying to get inside. Daddy

64
00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:47.000
<v Speaker 1>opened the door and that dog almost knocked him down

65
00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:51.039
<v Speaker 1>trying to get past him. About that time, we all

66
00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:54.879
<v Speaker 1>heard the same ungodly scream I recognized from that night

67
00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:58.080
<v Speaker 1>in the shed, and my dad and I stepped outside

68
00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:01.039
<v Speaker 1>to see what it was. The field next to the

69
00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:05.680
<v Speaker 1>house was that same white doglike creature standing on its

70
00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:10.680
<v Speaker 1>hind legs in the moonlight. Dad ushered me inside, where

71
00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:13.199
<v Speaker 1>we watched from the window as that thing dropped down

72
00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:16.480
<v Speaker 1>on all fours and walked away. And the next day

73
00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.480
<v Speaker 1>we went to the field to look around. We found

74
00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:22.120
<v Speaker 1>some white hair in the barbed wire fence around it,

75
00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:25.639
<v Speaker 1>but we never saw the creature again. I've since heard

76
00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:29.360
<v Speaker 1>stories of others who have seen it. Though to this

77
00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:31.879
<v Speaker 1>day I think about that monster that killed all of

78
00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:37.240
<v Speaker 1>my baby chicks that night, and it ate most of them.

79
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:43.399
<v Speaker 1>This encounter took place on October sixth, two thousand and five,

80
00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:47.800
<v Speaker 1>in the desolate desert of southern Utah. My late wife

81
00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:50.000
<v Speaker 1>and I were to meet some friends for a multi

82
00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:53.879
<v Speaker 1>day hiking trip through some slot canyons. For those who

83
00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:57.079
<v Speaker 1>are not familiar with what a slot canyon is, it's

84
00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:02.560
<v Speaker 1>a narrow sandstone canyon formed by water runoff with vertical sides.

85
00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:06.800
<v Speaker 1>By narrow, I mean some areas are several feet wide,

86
00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:10.000
<v Speaker 1>and while others are barely large enough to fit yourself through.

87
00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:14.279
<v Speaker 1>It's common to crawl, climb, and repel your way through,

88
00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:18.959
<v Speaker 1>and sometimes swim scattered pools of standing cold water left

89
00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:23.040
<v Speaker 1>over from the storms. This particular hike we were doing

90
00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:26.279
<v Speaker 1>is well known for having these cold pools of water.

91
00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:30.040
<v Speaker 1>My wife wasn't keen on that part, so she and

92
00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:32.759
<v Speaker 1>I opted to hike in a different way and join

93
00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:35.720
<v Speaker 1>the rest of the group halfway and hike out together.

94
00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.160
<v Speaker 1>The very nature of how these canyons are formed is

95
00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:41.240
<v Speaker 1>why you do not want to be in them when

96
00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:45.279
<v Speaker 1>it's raining. Storm water moves swiftly through these canyons and

97
00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:49.959
<v Speaker 1>immediately becomes a deadly flash flood. Often the walls are

98
00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:53.519
<v Speaker 1>sheer and vertical, so there's no climbing out for escape.

99
00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.040
<v Speaker 1>In fact, every year people die when entering these places

100
00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:01.160
<v Speaker 1>without concern for the weather. For this, the weather had

101
00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:04.319
<v Speaker 1>been clear for days leading up to our planned departure

102
00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:08.000
<v Speaker 1>and was predicted to be a storm free night. Also,

103
00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:10.600
<v Speaker 1>there is no self service in much of this area,

104
00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:15.680
<v Speaker 1>so you're on your own. Self sufficiency is expected. Our

105
00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:19.160
<v Speaker 1>original route traveled through one slot canyon and met up

106
00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:22.560
<v Speaker 1>with another slot canyon, and carried on further south as

107
00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:27.399
<v Speaker 1>a tributary to a larger reservoir downstream. Looking at a map,

108
00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:29.920
<v Speaker 1>it would look like a capital y where these two

109
00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:34.279
<v Speaker 1>canyons came together. The west entrance is more technical and

110
00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:37.759
<v Speaker 1>takes more time to traverse, while the east entrance is

111
00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:43.240
<v Speaker 1>largely a sandy wash bottom and can be traveled much easier. Basically,

112
00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:47.480
<v Speaker 1>it's like walking on a beach. Just upstream of where

113
00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:51.040
<v Speaker 1>both canyons meet is a clearing wide enough to camp

114
00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:54.240
<v Speaker 1>away from the wash. That was the place where we

115
00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:57.920
<v Speaker 1>planned to meet the others. The main group set off

116
00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:00.759
<v Speaker 1>on October the fifth, with plans to meet us either

117
00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:04.199
<v Speaker 1>late on the sixth or early on the seventh. My

118
00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:06.480
<v Speaker 1>wife and I planned to leave our home and get

119
00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:09.759
<v Speaker 1>to our meeting point all in the same day, so

120
00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:13.560
<v Speaker 1>we set off on the sixth. Getting to the trailhead

121
00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:17.040
<v Speaker 1>for us required a six hour drive, then about eight

122
00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:20.319
<v Speaker 1>miles of hiking. As usual, we were running late, so

123
00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:22.720
<v Speaker 1>By the time we were on foot with our gear

124
00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:26.040
<v Speaker 1>and in motion, it was three o'clock in the afternoon.

125
00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:30.319
<v Speaker 1>The hike was incredible. The two hundred foot wide wash

126
00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:34.240
<v Speaker 1>slowly narrowed as the miles went by, and halfway we

127
00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.800
<v Speaker 1>were walking through areas where we could almost touch both sides.

128
00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:42.160
<v Speaker 1>The colors would glow especially strong as the sun lowered,

129
00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:46.399
<v Speaker 1>making some of the hallways glow in ways not thought possible.

130
00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:51.120
<v Speaker 1>It was the golden hour. We were progressing well, spirits

131
00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:54.839
<v Speaker 1>were up, the map had us just about to the confluence.

132
00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:59.839
<v Speaker 1>Suddenly we were rocked by the awful stench of death.

133
00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:04.040
<v Speaker 1>The canyon walls were over four hundred feet tall and

134
00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.360
<v Speaker 1>the canyon was ten to fifteen feet wide, and that

135
00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:11.480
<v Speaker 1>stench was so concentrated you could almost feel it. Yet

136
00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:14.079
<v Speaker 1>there was no sign of where it was coming from.

137
00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:17.759
<v Speaker 1>Nothing nothing in sight on the ground up or down

138
00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:21.879
<v Speaker 1>the canyon, and with near vertical walls, we were really confused.

139
00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:25.240
<v Speaker 1>We kept on using our shirts and whatever else to

140
00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:29.160
<v Speaker 1>filter the air as the canyon continued to twist and turn,

141
00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:34.039
<v Speaker 1>and then there it was a full size adult mountain

142
00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:38.320
<v Speaker 1>sheep or ram just a few days dead. I say

143
00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:40.720
<v Speaker 1>a few days because that was the time since the

144
00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:44.799
<v Speaker 1>last storm flooding in this canyon, and the carcass wasn't

145
00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:48.679
<v Speaker 1>covered with runoff debris. It was obvious it had showed

146
00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:53.240
<v Speaker 1>up afterward. Our suspicion was it slipped and fell down

147
00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:57.399
<v Speaker 1>into the canyon from above. The gender was impossible to

148
00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:02.240
<v Speaker 1>determine because the entire abdominal area ribs to pelvis and

149
00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:05.840
<v Speaker 1>all the way to the spine was missing. Not to

150
00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:09.159
<v Speaker 1>say the introls were strewn about in the process of

151
00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:15.039
<v Speaker 1>being devoured or in decomposition. It was outright missing all

152
00:09:15.080 --> 00:09:18.240
<v Speaker 1>of it. The head was turned away and down into

153
00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:21.600
<v Speaker 1>the crevice between the ground and the wall. Once we

154
00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.159
<v Speaker 1>identified the source of the stench, we quickly ran past

155
00:09:25.240 --> 00:09:28.480
<v Speaker 1>it to get to fresher air. Just as we were

156
00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:31.840
<v Speaker 1>clear of the odor, we walked right into the confluence.

157
00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:36.720
<v Speaker 1>The joining of three four hundred foot tall large sandstone

158
00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:41.080
<v Speaker 1>hallways was an awesome sight. I stood in the center,

159
00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.360
<v Speaker 1>and I looked straight up to see the sky in

160
00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:45.519
<v Speaker 1>the shape of a wy, and I could tell that

161
00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:49.600
<v Speaker 1>we needed to find a spot to camp soon. Luckily,

162
00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:52.120
<v Speaker 1>the clearing where we were camping was just a few

163
00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:56.000
<v Speaker 1>hundred feet away up the west canyon to our surprise,

164
00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:59.399
<v Speaker 1>the West Canyon was wet, meaning it had a small

165
00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:02.519
<v Speaker 1>amount of water flowing through it, so much so that

166
00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:05.759
<v Speaker 1>we were jumping from sand mound to sand mound trying

167
00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:09.240
<v Speaker 1>to keep our feet dry. We weren't concerned with flooding

168
00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:12.720
<v Speaker 1>because we were confident with our weather forecasts, and it's

169
00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:15.960
<v Speaker 1>also common to have water springs or seeps in the

170
00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.720
<v Speaker 1>desert canyons. As we walked through a particularly narrow section

171
00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:24.639
<v Speaker 1>along the way, the walls gradually widening to around two

172
00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:28.399
<v Speaker 1>hundred feet with large sandy banks on both sides, and

173
00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:32.120
<v Speaker 1>they were gaining elevations safely away from the wash bottom.

174
00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:35.480
<v Speaker 1>We chose to stay left as we hiked up stream

175
00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:38.440
<v Speaker 1>and found a clearing large enough to camp for the night.

176
00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:41.519
<v Speaker 1>It was about twenty or so feet up from the

177
00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:44.840
<v Speaker 1>wash bottom and about thirty feet away, with small trees

178
00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:48.919
<v Speaker 1>and bushes between to give us a little privacy. After

179
00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:52.000
<v Speaker 1>setting up camp, we had just enough light left to

180
00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:55.240
<v Speaker 1>look around a little. I personally wanted to see if

181
00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:57.960
<v Speaker 1>anyone else was around that we should be aware of,

182
00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:01.720
<v Speaker 1>and just as I hoped, we were alone. It soon

183
00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.960
<v Speaker 1>got dark, so we started back to our tent. It

184
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:07.559
<v Speaker 1>was then we took notice that as we walked along

185
00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:11.519
<v Speaker 1>the wash, our footsteps sounded like a splat splat as

186
00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:15.320
<v Speaker 1>we stepped. I remember jokingly telling my wife that it

187
00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.279
<v Speaker 1>would likely wake us up should our friends arrive before

188
00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:21.080
<v Speaker 1>we got up the next morning. Before long, we were

189
00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:23.440
<v Speaker 1>zipped in our tent and down for the night, when

190
00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:27.159
<v Speaker 1>just minutes later, out of the pitch black night, we

191
00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:32.039
<v Speaker 1>were met with an absolutely insane roar coming down through

192
00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:35.600
<v Speaker 1>the canyon. It was of such volume and force that

193
00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:41.200
<v Speaker 1>we were instantly beside ourselves with fear bordering on outright panic.

194
00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:46.519
<v Speaker 1>Everything about it seemed impossible. The sheer capacity to create

195
00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:52.080
<v Speaker 1>such a sustained volume was outside my understanding. Out there.

196
00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:55.639
<v Speaker 1>At worst, maybe you would see a mountain lion or

197
00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.480
<v Speaker 1>a black bear on a very rare occasion, but nothing

198
00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:02.840
<v Speaker 1>that would come to the combined guttural roar of an

199
00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:06.679
<v Speaker 1>African lion mixed with that of a silver backed guerrilla.

200
00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:12.039
<v Speaker 1>What still has my head spinning is the duration. It spanned,

201
00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:16.879
<v Speaker 1>almost ten full seconds, with no change and intensity throughout.

202
00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:22.360
<v Speaker 1>Instantly we knew first we were not alone as previously thought,

203
00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:25.840
<v Speaker 1>and second we were definitely not on top of the

204
00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:28.720
<v Speaker 1>food chain. It was then that I took notice of

205
00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:31.799
<v Speaker 1>my wife, who at the time was having an absolute

206
00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.639
<v Speaker 1>melt down. She was yelling and squirming around in her

207
00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:39.559
<v Speaker 1>sleeping bag as if she was possessed. It was everything

208
00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:41.960
<v Speaker 1>I could do to get her to try to be silent,

209
00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:44.759
<v Speaker 1>and as I held her down with both arms and

210
00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:48.120
<v Speaker 1>a leg so we could hear. Easier said than done,

211
00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:51.639
<v Speaker 1>but done nonetheless. And there we sat, holding each other

212
00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:55.840
<v Speaker 1>in our tent, whispering and wondering what the hell was happening.

213
00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:58.879
<v Speaker 1>My wife, having grown up on a farm, told me

214
00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:01.960
<v Speaker 1>she had never heard or known of any animal that

215
00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.720
<v Speaker 1>could make that kind of sound, except on television. I'm

216
00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:09.559
<v Speaker 1>a city boy, having spent most of my youth mountaineering,

217
00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:14.000
<v Speaker 1>and I've met up with mountain lions, black and brown bear, moose,

218
00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:19.200
<v Speaker 1>wolves and whatnot. And I was absolutely stumped. Neither of

219
00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:21.840
<v Speaker 1>us had a clue what could have made that sound.

220
00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:25.840
<v Speaker 1>So we lay there in dead pitch black silence for

221
00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:29.519
<v Speaker 1>around ten minutes, when I eventually mustard up the nerve

222
00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:33.559
<v Speaker 1>to sit up. Very slowly. My mind kept racing around

223
00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:35.919
<v Speaker 1>for anything that we may have had with us that

224
00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:39.440
<v Speaker 1>could be converted to a weapon of defense. The two

225
00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:42.799
<v Speaker 1>metal bars in my internal frame pack A three inch

226
00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:47.080
<v Speaker 1>pocket knife, tent, poles, a rock. I didn't find anything

227
00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:49.679
<v Speaker 1>that I thought would keep whatever this was off of

228
00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:54.360
<v Speaker 1>us if it attacked. Suddenly, whatever this thing was showed up.

229
00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:57.720
<v Speaker 1>As I sat in the dark, something very large and

230
00:13:57.879 --> 00:14:01.080
<v Speaker 1>very fast ran down the wash toward us from the

231
00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:04.559
<v Speaker 1>upstream at my left, passing in front of us, and

232
00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:08.320
<v Speaker 1>to my right, out and down toward the confluence. And

233
00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:13.399
<v Speaker 1>it did it in seven unmistakable bipedal steps. It was

234
00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:17.600
<v Speaker 1>pitch black, and I stereophonically heard the splights of the

235
00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:21.080
<v Speaker 1>steps that had to have been more than fifteen feet

236
00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:24.159
<v Speaker 1>apart as it ran past me, no more than thirty

237
00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:27.080
<v Speaker 1>feet in front of where I was seated. The creature

238
00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:31.360
<v Speaker 1>made a breathy, gruntle sound, almost matching the pace of

239
00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:33.799
<v Speaker 1>its steps, and had passed through the one hundred and

240
00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:38.000
<v Speaker 1>thirty foot clearing and under three seconds. If we were

241
00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:41.799
<v Speaker 1>scared before, it was nothing compared to how we felt now.

242
00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.600
<v Speaker 1>All we could do was sit and wait and wait,

243
00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:49.360
<v Speaker 1>and that is what we did for hours. I don't

244
00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.600
<v Speaker 1>remember when we finally fell asleep, but I was sure

245
00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.679
<v Speaker 1>wide awake when my wife started packing to leave at

246
00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:58.960
<v Speaker 1>first light. I spent a few minutes looking around in

247
00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.639
<v Speaker 1>the daylight, trying to find anything that would give me

248
00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.240
<v Speaker 1>an indication of what it could have been. But I

249
00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:07.360
<v Speaker 1>didn't find any footprints, and my wife was making it

250
00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.960
<v Speaker 1>clear she was leaving with or without me. I think

251
00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.440
<v Speaker 1>it either climbed out of the canyon or it was

252
00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:18.720
<v Speaker 1>stepping in water the entire time. I don't know what

253
00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:23.159
<v Speaker 1>I'm confident with. However, while not having seen anything, I

254
00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:26.320
<v Speaker 1>know what I heard, and that is enough for me

255
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.679
<v Speaker 1>and our friends that we were to meet up with.

256
00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:34.159
<v Speaker 1>They were delayed with minor injuries. There was absolutely no

257
00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:37.720
<v Speaker 1>keeping my wife there a single minute longer than necessary,

258
00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:40.440
<v Speaker 1>and I wasn't about to let her walk out alone.

259
00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:44.240
<v Speaker 1>I left markings in the sand washbottom and put a

260
00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:47.879
<v Speaker 1>note for our friends in the hiking register before informing

261
00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:50.600
<v Speaker 1>the ranger at his station that our friends were still

262
00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:53.799
<v Speaker 1>out there. He said another ranger was making the track

263
00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:56.159
<v Speaker 1>that day and he'd let him know to keep an

264
00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:59.480
<v Speaker 1>eye out. It turned out that our friends were around

265
00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:03.159
<v Speaker 1>six hours behind us when they called. They claimed they

266
00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.399
<v Speaker 1>neither heard nor saw anything out of the ordinary during

267
00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:10.000
<v Speaker 1>their entire trip, and that a few nasty blisters were

268
00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:14.720
<v Speaker 1>the reason they decided to leave early. Strangers still They

269
00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:17.759
<v Speaker 1>all say they didn't see any dead animals along the

270
00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:21.840
<v Speaker 1>way either, while I clearly remember taking notice that the

271
00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:25.000
<v Speaker 1>sheep had not changed in any way when we ran

272
00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:28.720
<v Speaker 1>past it again on our way out. We still haven't

273
00:16:28.759 --> 00:16:36.200
<v Speaker 1>told those guys anything about our experience that night. My

274
00:16:36.279 --> 00:16:39.600
<v Speaker 1>father was a logger, a for a stranger, a mechanic,

275
00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:43.000
<v Speaker 1>an iron worker, and a welder. He and I spent

276
00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:46.159
<v Speaker 1>a great deal of time in the woods together. My

277
00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:50.639
<v Speaker 1>father was no stranger to the wilderness. My paternal grandfather

278
00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:53.240
<v Speaker 1>had been a fisherman until he enlisted and went to

279
00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:57.279
<v Speaker 1>fight the Kaiser in World War One. A short time

280
00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:00.840
<v Speaker 1>after arriving in Belgium, a shell explode did three feet

281
00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:05.079
<v Speaker 1>from him and practically ripped him to shreds. But he survived,

282
00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:07.440
<v Speaker 1>and he spent about a year in the hospital in

283
00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:11.359
<v Speaker 1>England until the doctor sent him home to Newfoundland, telling

284
00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.480
<v Speaker 1>him that he would never fish again and probably never

285
00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:18.640
<v Speaker 1>work again. He went home and proved the doctors both

286
00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:23.440
<v Speaker 1>right and wrong. He never did fish again. Instead, he

287
00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:27.240
<v Speaker 1>chose to start logging and sawing lumber with the assistance

288
00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:32.000
<v Speaker 1>of his sons. My grandfather's mill was located at the

289
00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.680
<v Speaker 1>mouth of a short heavily timbered valley, where they cut

290
00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:38.519
<v Speaker 1>about fifteen to twenty percent of their lumber. They practiced

291
00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:41.519
<v Speaker 1>selective cutting and did a five or six year rotation,

292
00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:46.519
<v Speaker 1>moving to a new area each year. As each son

293
00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:49.480
<v Speaker 1>came of age to work in the mill or the woods.

294
00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:54.519
<v Speaker 1>Grandfather warned them to never, under any circumstances, be caught

295
00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:58.680
<v Speaker 1>in the valley after dark. He never did give a reason,

296
00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:01.680
<v Speaker 1>but Grandfather was star enough in his warning that none

297
00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:06.519
<v Speaker 1>of the brothers ever disregarded his advice. My father told

298
00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:08.640
<v Speaker 1>me that sometimes late in the evening, when they were

299
00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:12.519
<v Speaker 1>doing their post work day maintenance by lantern light, they

300
00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:16.440
<v Speaker 1>would hear strange sounds coming from the valley. There would

301
00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:20.400
<v Speaker 1>be wood knocks and growls and screams, and owl hoots

302
00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.640
<v Speaker 1>and whistles, and brush breaking, and occasionally the sound of

303
00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:28.200
<v Speaker 1>an animal dying. None of the brothers ever saw anything,

304
00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:32.640
<v Speaker 1>and Grandfather never admitted to seeing anything, but they all

305
00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:37.039
<v Speaker 1>knew that there was something terrifying in those woods. The

306
00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:40.640
<v Speaker 1>neighbors nearby and in surrounding villages knew that the valley

307
00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:44.640
<v Speaker 1>was occupied by demons, and nobody went there after dark.

308
00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:48.519
<v Speaker 1>The fear lasted up until the nineteen sixties, when I

309
00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:51.119
<v Speaker 1>was a boy, and it was my father who delivered

310
00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:55.119
<v Speaker 1>my warning. The mill had been shut down in nineteen

311
00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:59.759
<v Speaker 1>forty nine due to political issues, and everyone found alternative employment,

312
00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:03.599
<v Speaker 1>but the brothers and grandfather still operated it now and

313
00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:08.880
<v Speaker 1>then for personal use. One day in the early nineteen fifties,

314
00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:11.400
<v Speaker 1>a friend of my grandfather's arrived at the mill with

315
00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:14.079
<v Speaker 1>his horse and slay to go into the valley to

316
00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:17.880
<v Speaker 1>cut some firewood. Well, grandfather was there at that time,

317
00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:21.079
<v Speaker 1>and since it was late in the day, he reminded

318
00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.319
<v Speaker 1>his friend to be out of the valley before it

319
00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:27.640
<v Speaker 1>got dark. The friend scoffed at the advice and headed

320
00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:33.279
<v Speaker 1>out anyway. Grandfather finished sawing his lumber around dusk, and

321
00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:36.240
<v Speaker 1>he loaded his trailer and began oiling and greasing the

322
00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:39.079
<v Speaker 1>bearings in the mill, and all of a sudden his

323
00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.880
<v Speaker 1>ears picked up the sound of pounding hoofs and a

324
00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:46.480
<v Speaker 1>voice yelling at the horse to go faster. Grandfather looked

325
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:48.519
<v Speaker 1>up in time to see his friend and the horse

326
00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:52.759
<v Speaker 1>coming tearing out of the valley towing an empty sleigh,

327
00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:55.880
<v Speaker 1>and grandfather intercepted the horse and managed to bring it

328
00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:00.039
<v Speaker 1>to a halt. Both man and horse looked wild, and

329
00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.920
<v Speaker 1>it took a while for grandfather to calm them both down.

330
00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.640
<v Speaker 1>When his friend regained enough of his composure to speak,

331
00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:10.920
<v Speaker 1>his first words were, I should have listened to you.

332
00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:14.559
<v Speaker 1>He had gotten about halfway through the valley when he

333
00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:17.640
<v Speaker 1>saw an ideal spot for cutting. He gave the horse

334
00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:19.799
<v Speaker 1>some feed and water, and then he went to work.

335
00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:23.240
<v Speaker 1>A couple of times he noted that the horse had

336
00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:27.319
<v Speaker 1>seemed fidgety. He couldn't see anything wrong, so he returned

337
00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:31.440
<v Speaker 1>to his work. He recalled several times hearing something moving

338
00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:34.319
<v Speaker 1>around in the brush, but passed it off as being

339
00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:37.039
<v Speaker 1>a moose or some other form of wildlife, and he

340
00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:41.440
<v Speaker 1>ignored it. By dark, he had a load cut and

341
00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:44.720
<v Speaker 1>was almost ready to head home. He picked up his

342
00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.880
<v Speaker 1>gear and was about to secure it with the load

343
00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:52.319
<v Speaker 1>ropes when all hell broke loose. A huge, hairy, manlike

344
00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.039
<v Speaker 1>creature burst out of the trees. It was a giant.

345
00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.960
<v Speaker 1>It was eight feet tall and probably weighed five hundred pounds, said,

346
00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:03.880
<v Speaker 1>and it was screaming and gnashing its teeth and breaking

347
00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.839
<v Speaker 1>off trees as it rushed forward. According to the man,

348
00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:10.839
<v Speaker 1>it probably broke off more wood in a few seconds

349
00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:15.519
<v Speaker 1>than he had cut all afternoon. What scared him. Most

350
00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:19.440
<v Speaker 1>were its eyes. They were glowing red and contained more

351
00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:22.319
<v Speaker 1>pure evil than he had ever encountered in his life.

352
00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:26.079
<v Speaker 1>I'm never going back into that valley again, he swore

353
00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:30.000
<v Speaker 1>to my grandfather, and with that he snapped his reins

354
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.880
<v Speaker 1>and headed home as fast as he could, And he

355
00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:37.759
<v Speaker 1>kept his vow, and he never returned. As a child,

356
00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:40.799
<v Speaker 1>in the nineteen sixties, we used to ride our bicycles

357
00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:43.200
<v Speaker 1>near the mill to play in the shavings and saw

358
00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.680
<v Speaker 1>dust in the nearby river. We always had fun, but

359
00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:50.160
<v Speaker 1>we never felt comfortable there. In the evenings, we always

360
00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:52.960
<v Speaker 1>felt like we were being watched, and we always made

361
00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:54.759
<v Speaker 1>sure to be home after dark.