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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen sixty five, my mother and I were in

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<v Speaker 1>West Virginia spending time with our grandparents. I spent many

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<v Speaker 1>summers throughout my childhood there. My grandmother and grandfather lived

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<v Speaker 1>on the Cheap River before it was flooded, and they

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<v Speaker 1>had a cabin there with a boat and a dot.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a down in the boondocks kind of rural. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>I loved that cabin. It was small and it slept

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<v Speaker 1>up to eight people in bunk beds. One night, we

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<v Speaker 1>were all sitting on the back porch. There was pitch

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<v Speaker 1>black outside, not even the moon was shining at all

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<v Speaker 1>that night. When the rest of us decided to turn in,

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<v Speaker 1>Mom said she wanted to stay out a little longer

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<v Speaker 1>and enjoy the quiet. A few minutes after we got

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<v Speaker 1>to bed, my mom came running into my grandparents' room screaming,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a bear out there. She said. The bear came

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<v Speaker 1>up to her and put its paws right on her shoulders.

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<v Speaker 1>My grandfather grabbed a shotgun by the bed and went outside,

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<v Speaker 1>ready to defend, but there was nothing there. Now, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know what put its paws on my mother's shoulders,

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<v Speaker 1>but I don't believe for a second it was a bear.

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<v Speaker 1>If anything, it would have attacked or at least growled

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<v Speaker 1>a her. It really never dawned on me then as

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<v Speaker 1>a child, but now I have to wonder if it

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<v Speaker 1>was not a bigfoot. My friend Bill used to live

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<v Speaker 1>in Eureka on the northern California coast. He was studying

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<v Speaker 1>to become a forest stranger at the local university, and

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<v Speaker 1>he worked to pay his way there. His job was

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<v Speaker 1>as a timber cruiser, which meant he walked miles and

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<v Speaker 1>off in dense and dark forests, and he marked huge

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<v Speaker 1>redwood trees that were to be cut for lumber. In

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<v Speaker 1>each location, a landing was made near a tree falling area,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is where the various types of equipment were stored,

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<v Speaker 1>the huge tractors parked, and where fuel for diesel tractors

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<v Speaker 1>were stored in fifty five gallon drums. A landing was

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<v Speaker 1>usually several acres in size, which had been cut out

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<v Speaker 1>of the thick forest and raised up and then leveled off.

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<v Speaker 1>Everyone except the timber cruiser took the weekends off. Bell

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<v Speaker 1>would work most of the weekends and then much of

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<v Speaker 1>the weekdays according to his class schedule. One Monday, when

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<v Speaker 1>he and the cutting crew showed up at their regular

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<v Speaker 1>early hour. They were astonished to what they found. Three

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<v Speaker 1>of the fifty five gallon metal cans of fuel had

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<v Speaker 1>been picked up and carried to the edge of the

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<v Speaker 1>landing and thrown down the hill. And whatever had thrown

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<v Speaker 1>the metal drums had also managed to throw over the

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<v Speaker 1>locked portable shed full of chainsaws and numerous other tools.

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<v Speaker 1>Bill and the others and the crew were baffled trying

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<v Speaker 1>to comprehend the strength the number of people that it

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<v Speaker 1>would take to pick up, carry and throw these things

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<v Speaker 1>off the edge of the landing. But the most unbelievable

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<v Speaker 1>site was what happened to the heavy equipment. There were

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<v Speaker 1>three D nine cat tractors on the landing, each weighing

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<v Speaker 1>fifty four tons. The D nine is a beast of

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<v Speaker 1>a machine, Yet somehow all three of these huge tractors

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<v Speaker 1>had been lifted and laid onto their side. It was

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely impossible, and they never did get an explanation. What

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<v Speaker 1>do you think did all that damage? In June of

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<v Speaker 1>twenty eighteen, I was visiting my son in his family

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<v Speaker 1>in Lewis County, Washington. At the time, they were living

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<v Speaker 1>in a house on a mountain It was the last

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<v Speaker 1>house on the road. There were several other homes, each

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<v Speaker 1>of them separated by large distances. It was two days

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<v Speaker 1>until I was going back home, and back then I

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<v Speaker 1>lived in Nevada. An hour before sunset, my son and

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<v Speaker 1>I went behind his home to a waterfall a quarter

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<v Speaker 1>of a mile behind the property. We were close to

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<v Speaker 1>our destination when a branch snapped behind us. We stopped

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<v Speaker 1>and looked, but there was nothing there. One hundred feet away, though,

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<v Speaker 1>something growded us from the trees. We got to the waterfall,

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<v Speaker 1>and while we admired the view, I was standing next

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<v Speaker 1>to a tree with a double trunk. We could still

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<v Speaker 1>hear the grouse from the trees, so I looked between

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<v Speaker 1>the trunks and I saw two black hair covered legs

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<v Speaker 1>and tan colored feet walk past us, about twenty feet away.

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<v Speaker 1>They disappeared quickly, and I thought maybe I was seeing

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<v Speaker 1>things All the time. The forest was dead silent. When

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<v Speaker 1>we started to head back, we heard growling coming from

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<v Speaker 1>a pile of branches and stumps from some logging. When

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<v Speaker 1>we arrived at my son's house, he got out his

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<v Speaker 1>thermal viewer. The clear as day, we could see a

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<v Speaker 1>large shape standing on two feet watching us from the trees.

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<v Speaker 1>I went home, and I came back two weeks later

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<v Speaker 1>to help him move as the owners had sold the house,

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<v Speaker 1>and while we were moving his furniture out, I noticed

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<v Speaker 1>a large figure sixty feet away. It was watching us

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<v Speaker 1>from the tree line. I estimated it to be eight

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<v Speaker 1>feet tall, probably four feet wide at the shoulders. It

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<v Speaker 1>had no neck appearance and had arms hanging down to

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<v Speaker 1>its sides. I could not see the hands. It was

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<v Speaker 1>standing in an arch between the trees, which was twelve

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<v Speaker 1>feet wide and had three foot high bushes in front

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<v Speaker 1>of it. This thing left us alone, but it stayed

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<v Speaker 1>there for twenty minutes and it just watched us