WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.640 I was a fifteen year old boy scout when our 2 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:12.519 troop was taken to Carter Caves State Park in eastern 3 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:17.239 Kentucky for a week of primitive camping. One evening, after 4 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:21.640 a day of carousing around, swimming, hiking, cave exploring, and 5 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:25.320 loving to be while young teenage boys, we finally had 6 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:29.600 a very late supper. Afterward, we drove the chilly night 7 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:33.200 away around our campfires, a large one for the troops 8 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:36.679 and a second for the scout master and his assistant 9 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:40.920 some twenty feet away. Upon this scene, about ten PM 10 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:44.560 or so arrived a park ranger on his nightly visit 11 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:49.399 to our camp. He usually just looked us over, asked 12 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:51.920 if we had any needs, and then he left, but 13 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:54.719 this evening he apparently had a couple of things on 14 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:59.119 his mind. Upon gathering up the scouts, the ranger said 15 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:03.880 he was looking in to an incident concerning one enterprising scout. 16 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:07.400 He said that he was told that this scout was 17 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:10.000 going down to the trading post at the bottom of 18 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:13.439 the mountain, buying up all the nickel candy bars during 19 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:16.719 the day, coming back to camp, and selling them after 20 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:21.079 dark for a dime. After being informed that doing such 21 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:25.000 a dastardly thing to fellow scouts was wrong. The culprit 22 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:28.719 who was me was admonished for practicing my first try 23 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:32.519 it for a enterprise. I thought it was fair. I 24 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:35.719 spent two hours trudging up and down the mountain every day, 25 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:38.519 and for the past four days they bought every candy 26 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:42.280 bar I had. But a snitch tried to blackmail me 27 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:45.920 into giving him a share of my profits. I wouldn't 28 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:49.040 do so, so he reported me to the ranger. The 29 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:51.599 guys really gave it to me good, rising me and 30 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:55.719 shoving me around in the circle. The ranger, on his part, 31 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:58.319 put his hand on his hips and smiled at me 32 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:01.159 and shook his head and walked over and sat down 33 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:05.879 at the scout master's fire across the campsite. Wondering if 34 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:09.000 they'd talked more about me. I made a small circle 35 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:12.919 around the tents and I crept nearer. I sat down 36 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:16.919 outside the fire circles, listening in on the adult conversation. 37 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:19.520 But what I heard had nothing to do with me. 38 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:23.719 The ranger was cautioning the scout masters that in the 39 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:27.280 general area around the park there had been a tax 40 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:31.599 on area farm stock. They put the blame on dog 41 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:36.199 packs codies, coy dogs, cougars, bears, and maybe black panthers, 42 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:39.400 which we had and still having this part of the country. 43 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:44.800 The attacks were particularly prevalent in one area about eight 44 00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:49.159 miles away from the park. He said that recently, thinking 45 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.759 that they had the animal cornered, about one hundred volunteers 46 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.759 formed a line with twenty five feet or so between 47 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:59.120 each one, with some extra men at the closing end. 48 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:03.080 When it began to get dark, every man lit up 49 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.439 some kind of lantern or flashlight. As they pushed through 50 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:10.520 the stifling, hot and dusty tall brush. It was a 51 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:13.000 bit hard to breathe because there was a dry spell 52 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:16.960 one and the shaking the parched weeds dusted the air 53 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:21.120 with an artificial yellow fog of pollen, which grew about 54 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:25.000 eight feet high or more this time of year. At 55 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.360 one point, as they fought their way among the entangling brush, 56 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:31.639 they heard a scream and a shotgun blast, and they 57 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:35.240 rushed to the point in the line they found one 58 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:37.960 of the younger men, he was about twenty years old, 59 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:43.159 groaning in amongst some crushed vegetation. His gun was found 60 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:46.080 with the stock smashed in the barrel bent at the 61 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:49.039 base of a nearby tree. He was out of his 62 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:52.680 head with fright, so he was transported to the hospital 63 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:56.400 where he was kept overnight for chest bruising and shock. 64 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:00.919 He was sedated, so nothing could be learned the incident 65 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:05.639 until the next morning. After a day or so, According 66 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:08.800 to what I overheard the ranger say, the boy had 67 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:12.639 calmed down enough to relay his story. He said that 68 00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:15.879 he was walking through the dusty growth with his lantern 69 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.879 raised in one hand and a shotgun in the other. 70 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.959 He said he heard and saw a rush of movement 71 00:04:23.079 --> 00:04:27.319 from directly ahead that something was coming directly for him. 72 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:31.920 When a huge white wall came crashing down on him, 73 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:36.639 He awkwardly lifted his shotgun in one hand and fired, 74 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:40.000 but was immediately struck in the chest and launched through 75 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:44.240 the air. The crush of vegetation gave little clue as 76 00:04:44.279 --> 00:04:46.959 to the type of an animal that had attacked the boy. 77 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:50.000 There was no blood at the scene, and I don't 78 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:53.000 know if anyone tried to backtrail it through the weeds 79 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:56.000 to see where it came from, but they didn't get 80 00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:59.199 even another glimpse of it, and no one would volunteer 81 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:02.480 to follow out after it. The boy didn't know if 82 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:05.639 he'd even shot it and had no idea what it was. 83 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:10.120 He was sure that it struck him with more powerful 84 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:12.720 of a push than a hit, but it was able 85 00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:15.639 to propel him through the air in what he perceived 86 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.360 to be a very little effort on the thing's part. 87 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:22.920 But the thing was never caught after apparently getting through 88 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:26.120 the line. Needless to say, that was the end of 89 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:29.759 any more skirmish lines and for this thing could withstand 90 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:34.120 a shotgun blast than all bets were off. It has 91 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:37.560 still been seen throughout the following decades as something like 92 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:41.040 a white shadow going through the woods, and has remained 93 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:45.199 around the southeastern portion of Carter County, about twenty miles 94 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:48.040 south of the park even to this day. But more 95 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:52.879 on this particular thing later. As I squatted shaking in 96 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:57.199 the night, the forest noise around me seemed to go quiet. 97 00:05:57.480 --> 00:06:00.560 I realized I was alone in the dark. I made 98 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.399 it safely back to my tent and my sleeping bag. 99 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:07.279 At that time, the mention of it being a sasquatch 100 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:11.959 was never discussed or even considered. Bigfoot was alive and 101 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:16.000 well at this time, supposedly in the Pacific Northwest, or 102 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:19.560 so we thought. Back some fifty five years ago, not 103 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.839 as it would be in the later sixties and early seventies, 104 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:27.480 and so was lost in my mind for all these years. 105 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:32.879 And now Incident number two occurred in August of nineteen 106 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:38.360 sixty six, and this gentleman was seventeen years old. Here's 107 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:40.920 a little note, he writes to me before he starts 108 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:45.959 the story. I finished writing this incident four months after incident. 109 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:50.319 I I've never told anyone ever, not even my wife, 110 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:54.439 until now, about this occurrence. I thought the event of 111 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:57.160 over fifty three years ago would be easy to put 112 00:06:57.240 --> 00:06:59.519 down on paper and ready to send to you in 113 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:03.279 a couple of hours. I found, to my surprise that 114 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:07.600 I hardly remembered any details at all. But in starting 115 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:10.439 to piece it all back together, I was shocked by 116 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:14.480 what I remembered concerning the terror I had buried regarding 117 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:19.240 this incident so many years ago. Over the last four months, 118 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:22.800 things that I hadn't thought about in any detail over 119 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:27.759 the last half century fell back into place. Having been 120 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:30.439 a counselor, I'm aware that I blocked much of it 121 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:34.879 due to trauma, but unplugging the memories started it flooding 122 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:38.439 back so fast I could hardly keep up with my faults. 123 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:41.879 Worst of all was that I felt like weeping for 124 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:45.759 that boy, and the horror, and especially the loneliness of 125 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:49.839 this singular night. But be that as it may. Let's 126 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:52.680 go forward with a little over two years after the 127 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:56.120 first incident to when I was seventeen. A few weeks 128 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:00.279 before my senior year began, a couple of my friends 129 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:04.120 and I were invited by a very close family member, Billy, 130 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:07.720 to go hiking through areas of eastern Kentucky from north 131 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:13.120 to southeast, in places where we'd never tramped before. At 132 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.199 that time, there were hardly any inhabited areas in this 133 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:19.680 part of the states, and roads were few and far between. 134 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.680 It was to be a two day trek off trail 135 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:27.279 and through the dense woods and steep ravines, not far 136 00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:30.519 from where the white Thing had been roaming some years earlier, 137 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.960 but we didn't give it any mind. Only Billy had 138 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:37.519 a firearm, the rest of us had hunting knives and hatchets. 139 00:08:38.679 --> 00:08:41.600 The temperature was over one hundred with near one hundred 140 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:46.440 percent humidity, a typical southern hot and dusty August day 141 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:49.840 with a miserable time for such a hike. All the 142 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:54.519 creeks we passed were dry. Only the largest creek, Tigert Creek, 143 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:57.720 had a good amount of water, whose course constantly doubles 144 00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:01.600 back on itself. Our ungs were clinging to the roofs 145 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:04.600 of our mouths, and we were inhaling hot air and 146 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:09.320 exhaling hot air back out using our canteens cause a 147 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:11.600 problem as we were going to fill up as we 148 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:14.559 went with clear creek water, but as I said, they 149 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:18.679 were all dry. We started out in jackets in the 150 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:21.919 cool of the early morning, but as the heat quickly rose, 151 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.600 we soon were shedding down from jackets to shirts to 152 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:30.320 T shirts. On we went, snagging our way through heavy 153 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:36.440 brier patches, ankle catching vines, tripping over hidden rocks, insects 154 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:39.799 die bombing our faces, and gnats doing their best to 155 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:44.159 land on our open eyeballs. Finally, at the end of 156 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:47.039 the day, Billy decided that we would set up camp 157 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:49.919 in a limestone cave set in the side of a 158 00:09:49.960 --> 00:09:53.639 steep cliff with a clear but small stream of cold 159 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:58.360 water running through it. The gurgling brook echoed over and 160 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:02.799 over in the small cave. A wide flat stone porch 161 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:06.039 in front of the cave overlooked a sixty foot drop 162 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:10.480 The cave was in the side of a limestone cliff, 163 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:13.000 and I shined my light and checked the drop of 164 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:16.679 the cliff from above the cave's position. It was about 165 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.720 forty feet down from the trail that we had been following. 166 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:24.600 Billy chose the cave for its natural cool air conditioning 167 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:28.159 due to the damp limestone walls and the running stream 168 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:31.960 for a water supply. The old man was a hunter 169 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:36.159 and seasoned hiker that knew what he was doing. I 170 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:39.399 was sure glad to unload my backpack and sleeping bag 171 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:42.480 and quickly lay down before I threw up. I was 172 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:46.799 suffering from a pounding headache. I had all the signs 173 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:49.919 of heat exhaustion. There was nothing to do but try 174 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:53.879 to sleep the horrible pounding headache away. We were whipped, 175 00:10:53.879 --> 00:10:58.120 so there wasn't much talking around the campfire. We ate 176 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:01.720 a late meal, gorged our sh in cold water, and 177 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:04.840 then turned in as soon as darkness fell about nine 178 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:08.679 thirty PM. I tossed in turn for hours in a 179 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:12.320 fitful sleep, but about one am I felt the result 180 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:15.600 of all that water. Groggily pulled on my socks and 181 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:18.720 gem shoes, buckled my jeans, and went out to water 182 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:23.120 the grass. This is the downside of sleeping in a cave. 183 00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:25.440 We had to walk back up the trail to take 184 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:27.960 a leak, and Billy didn't want us to go out 185 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.159 to the porch edge for fear that we'd be so 186 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:34.879 sleepy that we'd likely fall over. It was chilly in 187 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.080 the cave, much cooler as I stepped up on the 188 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:41.120 ground above the cave aways in just my t shirt. 189 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:43.639 I would be back in my warm bag in just 190 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:47.080 a couple of minutes, though. I had my rail backed 191 00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:50.360 flashlight and my bowie knife tied on my right leg 192 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:53.279 in a low quick draw sheath, both of which my 193 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:57.399 dad had made for me. I turned several times and 194 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:00.679 finally chose a direction that wouldn't spray in the direction 195 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:03.519 I would have to use and the return to the cave. 196 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:08.399 Aiming is important. As I was doing my business, the 197 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:12.360 great chattering noise brought on the night air suddenly ceased. 198 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:16.000 I felt creepy, so I finished as quick as I could. 199 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:19.519 The night was clear and the air was cold and damp, 200 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.960 and I was shivering, so I headed back to my 201 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:25.639 sleeping bag where it would be warm. I was still 202 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:28.840 in the throes of heat exhaustion, and I stumbled away 203 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.360 in the wrong direction. After not coming back to the 204 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:35.279 trail to the cave for five or ten minutes, I 205 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:38.960 knew I had lost my way. I grew a bit 206 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:41.759 frantic as I went each way along the cliff and 207 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:44.639 I couldn't find the small trail over the edge and 208 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:49.039 down to the cave. I let out desperate shouts, but 209 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:53.720 I got no reply. The loud babbling brook that echoed 210 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:58.120 in the cave must have drowned out my Pleas I 211 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:02.120 was in heavy brush, to the cave did not stand out. 212 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:06.159 I'd been a scout and an explorer for six years, 213 00:13:06.200 --> 00:13:08.879 and I had hunted since I was eight, so I 214 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:13.279 was filled with the false overconfidence of youth. I believe 215 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:15.840 that even lost, I'd be able to walk out in 216 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:19.320 a few hours. I had a strong flashlight and a 217 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:23.440 twelve inch blade bowie knife, but the heat, exhaustion, and 218 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:27.639 the lower temperatures were now causing me to sometimes shape violently. 219 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:31.240 I felt like I was in an ice house. But 220 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.240 I knew that when I found Tigert Creek that I'd 221 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:38.120 find my way out. If I walked against the current, 222 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:40.840 so to speak, I was bound to eventually run into 223 00:13:40.919 --> 00:13:46.639 an east West Highway a few hundred yards further. The 224 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:49.519 bank gave way under my right foot and I was 225 00:13:49.639 --> 00:13:53.440 launched out in space on an elevator ride to Hell. 226 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:59.200 The fall seemed to take forever. I had crashed through 227 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:03.000 flimsy branches, falling about forty feet to a point where 228 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:06.840 the limestone wall met the incline. When I hit a heavier, 229 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:11.279 forked branch covered with tangles of vines and briars, my 230 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.879 back landing on the limb, knocking the wind out of me. 231 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:19.320 Thank God for the outstretched limb. Without it, I would 232 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:24.360 have hit the rock strown basin far below. The entangling 233 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:28.039 limb and vines slowly tipped sideways with my weight, and 234 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:30.840 I saw by the waning moonlight that I might be 235 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.879 able to use the vines as a sort of lighter 236 00:14:33.960 --> 00:14:36.879 and climb down to within ten feet of the steep 237 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.720 bank under me. When I got free enough to drop down, 238 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:43.080 I knew that my best bet would be to dig 239 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:46.759 my heels into the earth upon impact and ease down 240 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:50.080 the rest of the way to the bottom. I let go, 241 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:53.480 and my heels hit and jammed in the loose earth. 242 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.279 I was in for a fast, hard tumble and slide. 243 00:14:57.320 --> 00:15:01.480 To the rocky bottom of the draw. When I stopped tumbling, 244 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:04.679 I lay there, surveying any damage done to my body. 245 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.679 I was happy to find that, aside from many thorn 246 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:12.480 scratches and some probable bruising, I was whole. I slowly 247 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:15.399 got up on very shaky legs, and I turned around, 248 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:17.639 and as soon as I could think, I saw that 249 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:22.279 I was standing beside a tiny creek. A person would 250 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.000 think you could look up and see the fireplace light 251 00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:27.759 in our cave, but it would have died down by now, 252 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:31.159 and I didn't know in which direction to look. I 253 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:34.159 tried anyway, but upon searching the cave, I could not 254 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:37.399 see anything but the leaves and the brush and the 255 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:42.720 walls effectively made this a prison hole. I did try 256 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.639 to find either or both my flashlight and knife, but 257 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:49.919 those two were lost causes needles in a black hay stack. 258 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:54.840 I stood there alone in the dark in a steep wedge. 259 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:57.519 I struggled over the bottom of the draw in each 260 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:00.399 direction for at least an hour. When I heard the 261 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:04.240 sound of that of a bear, quieting the forest chatter 262 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:08.000 once again. I looked around into the darkness of the 263 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:11.559 narrow pit of the mountain. I saw nothing, but felt 264 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.360 once again that I was being watched by something, and 265 00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:16.799 I prayed it wouldn't be a cougar or a black 266 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:20.279 panther or a bear aside from wolves, or worse, a 267 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:23.519 dog pack. I tried to climb the side of the hill, 268 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:26.519 but each time I slid back down on my belly. 269 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:30.720 I tried to choose the right way back along the 270 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:34.240 dimly lit cliff, but I couldn't discern from which side 271 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:37.840 I had fallen. Logically, I chose to go down the 272 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:40.879 draw following the dried up creek bed, which is all 273 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:45.799 I had since it was away from the growl. After 274 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:50.360 a long stumbling journey of constantly having to climb over, under, 275 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:53.720 and around obstacles without a light or knife in the 276 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:56.879 near darkness, I finally came to a break in the 277 00:16:56.919 --> 00:17:02.759 limestone wall on one side. I stopped and laid my sweaty, 278 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:06.279 filthy body over yet another tree, Falling from a bank 279 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:10.839 to bank, Gasping for breath with much effort, I used 280 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:14.480 small trees to drag myself out of my limestone prison, 281 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:18.640 sliding two steps down the bank while advancing just three, 282 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:24.160 getting filthier and sweatier by the minute. I finally made 283 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.759 the top edge of the flat on the mountain side, 284 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:29.759 and I flopped over above the cliff, and I drew 285 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:34.799 in a heavy, damp breath of air. After resting on 286 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:38.680 the grimy flat in order to stop wheezing out my lungs, 287 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:41.759 I got up and continued to crash through the thorn 288 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:46.279 rods and stumble over rocks and depressions covered by dirt, 289 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:49.720 gasping for air, sweating in the cold night. When I 290 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:53.920 made out a larger game trail, Imagine the fear of 291 00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:57.640 a skinny one hundred and forty five pound kid, three 292 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:02.279 months into his seventeenth birthday, shivering in a filthy, wet 293 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:06.359 T shirt, groping through the darkness, almost legally blind and 294 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:11.079 not knowing what direction to go. The moon was going down, 295 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:14.000 and once again the noise of the forest stopped, but 296 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:18.519 this time it stopped around me. My heart was pounding 297 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:22.119 through my ribs as I struggled onward. So again all 298 00:18:22.119 --> 00:18:26.359 I could see were silhouettes of trees and bushes. And 299 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:29.640 there in a right hand curve in the trail, looking 300 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:33.400 through and over the brush. Standing on each side of 301 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:38.039 the game trail were two large back lit figures, one 302 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:41.640 slightly taller than the other. They were massive and the 303 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:46.000 last thing I wanted to run into. Suddenly, the thought 304 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:49.359 of a bear or a cougar was more preferable than 305 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:53.440 the pair of things I was looking at now. At first, 306 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:56.359 coming up slightly from the side, I thought there were 307 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:00.240 two massive black panthers sitting on large boulders because they 308 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:03.759 seemed to have cat's ears pulled back to a point 309 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:08.119 my knees got weak. The worst possible meeting was about 310 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:11.240 to take my life. But as I turned to view 311 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:14.920 them straight on, I realized they were not on boulders, 312 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:19.000 but things that stood eight to nine feet tall. They 313 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:23.279 didn't move but for a small sway. Their heads appeared 314 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:26.319 to be directly attached to their three to four feet 315 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:30.559 wide shoulders. Whatever they were, if they were looking at 316 00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:33.640 me at all, I could not tell, and looking back 317 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:37.559 on it now, I probably misconstrued their sloping heads for 318 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:42.799 possible ears. Them being a pair of sasquatch again never 319 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:47.000 even occurred to me until decades later, when sightings became 320 00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:52.279 more common outside the Northwest. I stood there, shaking as 321 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:55.519 my sweat soak body trembled with cold and just plain 322 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:59.359 near panic. I then leaned over and put my hands 323 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:03.519 on my trim knees to steady myself. I was as 324 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:05.960 wet as I could be, covered with a filth of 325 00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:09.519 many stumble and falls, and I already had had blood 326 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:12.640 running down my arms from the briars that had torn 327 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:17.599 at them. I had been lost so long, so many hours. 328 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:21.319 I was tired and weary. It seemed so unfair to 329 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:26.160 be stopped, injured, or even killed. Now I tried so hard. 330 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.359 Was it for nothing? I raised my head and gazed 331 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:33.880 up at these beasts. I was only about twenty five 332 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:36.559 feet from them at this point, but as I stood there, 333 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:39.880 I could make out hair and a shadowy face, but 334 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:45.000 again no details. It would be four decades later before 335 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:48.359 I read about such encounters, and how the creatures almost 336 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:52.680 become as still as statues while observing humans, and how 337 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:56.960 many people went through exactly what I did. But for now, 338 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:00.319 I realized that I was halfway up the mountain. To 339 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:04.440 my left were briar patches and wildly tangled brush. To 340 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:08.599 my right was empty darkness that meant a cliff's edge. 341 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:11.400 I could not go back because I didn't know where 342 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:15.279 back was. My strength was not up to it, and 343 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:17.759 I didn't know what would happen if I turned my 344 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:21.160 back on them. Why they stood in the brush on 345 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:24.119 each side of the trail instead of blocking it. I'll 346 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:28.279 never really know. They still swayed slightly in the dead air, 347 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:31.359 But as with any predators, I knew that if I 348 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:35.240 kept my head about and made no eye contact, perhaps 349 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.119 they would just look at me as a harmless curiosity. 350 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:42.440 As I slowly lowered my head, I got the impression 351 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:45.400 that they too might have lowered their heads to better 352 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:48.960 watch me. I'm not sure. The path was a good 353 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:52.519 three feet wide, so I very slowly made my way 354 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:55.920 towards these two things. I wanted to look up and 355 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:59.240 see what kind of beasts they were, but I think 356 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:02.559 my first thought was correct, and I kept looking down. 357 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:06.839 As I stepped closer. I wanted to scream and run 358 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:10.079 for it. All either of them had to do was 359 00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:15.160 crush my head like a grape. The forest was dead still, 360 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:17.200 and it came to me that they could have been 361 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:20.680 stalking me all through the night as of now, though 362 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:24.839 it seemed as eternity was marked in slow inches. But 363 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:28.960 in the end I was permitted to pass unharmed. I 364 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:32.440 looked neither right or left or back and neither did 365 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:36.000 I raise my head. I didn't realize that their feet 366 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:38.799 were partially on the trail, but I couldn't make them 367 00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:43.279 out in the gloom. After passing by them, I quickened 368 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:47.759 my pace until the beautiful night's noises began again. I 369 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:50.839 must state that even passing by within a foot of 370 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:55.000 these things, I smelled nothing beyond my own sweaty stink. 371 00:22:56.119 --> 00:22:58.960 I walked on for an hour or so and finally 372 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:04.359 hit Tigert's. I collapsed forward on all fours into the creek, 373 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:07.359 putting my mouth under and slurping up water through my 374 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:11.079 parched lips like there was no tomorrow. I didn't have 375 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:14.759 a canteen, but this time I followed the creek opposite 376 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:17.799 its flow to keep my thirst quenched. And within a 377 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:21.160 few hours I heard a lone truck's moan just south 378 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:24.960 of the creek. I stumbled about five hundred feet in 379 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.160 that direction upon an east west highway. I tried to 380 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:32.359 flag down the four or five passing cars and trucks 381 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:35.680 at that early hour, but looking at myself, I hardly 382 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:40.559 looked human in my totally filthy condition. I then walked 383 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:43.680 what turned out to be over five or six miles 384 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:47.000 until I flagged down a cruiser and told the deputy 385 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:50.240 of my plight. He drove me clear back to the 386 00:23:50.279 --> 00:23:55.359 farm where we'd started out from the day before. Several 387 00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:58.680 hours later, a car pulled up outside and out the 388 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:01.759 rest of the team jumped out and shouted with relief. 389 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:05.200 They had been searching for me, and we simply had 390 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:08.599 a tremendous emotional release from the worst night of my 391 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:12.799 life thus far. But the really bad part was that Billy, 392 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:15.960 who led us in whom I hunted with several times, 393 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:18.559 never allowed me to go out in the woods with 394 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:24.519 him again. Until now, I hardly remembered any of this incident, 395 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:27.119 having just told one of my friends at the time 396 00:24:27.160 --> 00:24:30.359 about spotting the creatures, but he just told me I 397 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:33.759 was hallucinating from the terrified time that I had had. 398 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:38.240 But it's very clear that God and God alone spared me. 399 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:42.480 This friend, even though it was fifty four years ago, 400 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:45.799 still refers to it as the night that you went crazy. 401 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:48.759