WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:09.519 I have a letter that was mailed. I got in 2 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:13.359 the mail some time ago. The man who wrote the 3 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:17.679 letter does not want his name revealed on this podcast, 4 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:21.480 but he's a seventy one year old. He describes himself 5 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:23.760 as a good old boy of hillbilly from the back 6 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:27.399 holars of eastern Kentucky. And he's got quite the resume. 7 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.760 He's got a lot of experience in two or three 8 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:36.000 different trades. He is a professional, he's not a he's 9 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:40.200 a formally educated man. And he tells me all that 10 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:45.000 to say that he's credible. That you know, someone's educational 11 00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:49.200 resume and even their work resume is not necessarily an 12 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:55.079 indication they're credible. However, you know, the Bigfoot stories are 13 00:00:55.359 --> 00:01:00.679 normally attributed to people like me, just average guys, rednecks 14 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:04.040 living in Mississippi. I saw Bigfoot, and so I think 15 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:06.239 that's the point he was trying to get across. And 16 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.239 so with all that said, this is a long story, 17 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:12.079 and it's a long letter, and I'm gonna read every 18 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:14.840 word of it. It's very very good and I hope 19 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:17.200 you enjoy it. And since it is a letter, you 20 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:21.159 may hear some paper turning, because I'm just gonna flip 21 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:23.359 the pages as I go, and I probably won't even 22 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:26.280 edit that out, but it's really good, so I'll shut up. 23 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:30.400 Here we go. His first incident was June of nineteen 24 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:34.120 sixty four. He was fifteen years old. I was a 25 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:37.280 fifteen year old boy scout when our troop was taken 26 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:41.319 to Carter Caves State Park in eastern Kentucky for a 27 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:45.400 week of primitive camping. One evening, after a day of 28 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:49.920 carousing around, swimming, hiking, cave, exploring, and loving to be 29 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:55.920 while young teenage boys, we finally had a very late supper. Afterward, 30 00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:59.280 we drove the chilly night away around our campfires, a 31 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:02.480 large one of the troops and a second for the 32 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:06.840 scout master and his assistant some twenty feet away. Upon 33 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.240 this scene, about ten PM or so arrived a park 34 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:15.000 ranger on his nightly visit to our camp. He usually 35 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:18.360 just looked us over, asked if we had any needs, 36 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:21.639 and then he left, but this evening he apparently had 37 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:25.479 a couple of things on his mind. Upon gathering up 38 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:28.360 the scouts, the ranger said he was looking into an 39 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:33.759 incident concerning one enterprising scout. He said that he was 40 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:36.719 told that this scout was going down to the trading 41 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.639 post at the bottom of the mountain, buying up all 42 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:43.479 the nickel candy bars during the day, coming back to camp, 43 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:47.599 and selling them after dark for a dime. After being 44 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:51.360 informed that doing such a dastardly thing to fellow scouts 45 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:55.800 was wrong, the culprit who was me was admonished for practicing. 46 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:59.599 My first try it for a enterprise. I thought it 47 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:02.520 was fair. I spent two hours trudging up and down 48 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:05.240 the mountain every day, and for the past four days 49 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:09.159 they bought every candy bar I had. But a snitch 50 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:12.360 tried to blackmail me into giving him a share of 51 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.080 my profits. I wouldn't do so, so he reported me 52 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.280 to the ranger. The guys really gave it to me good, 53 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:23.479 rising me and shoving me around in the circle. The ranger, 54 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:26.000 on his part, put his hand on his hips and 55 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:29.039 smiled at me and shook his head and walked over 56 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:33.800 and sat down at the scout master's fire across the campsite. 57 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:37.159 Wondering if they'd talked more about me. I made a 58 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:41.360 small circle around the tents and I crept nearer. I 59 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:44.680 sat down outside the fire circles, listening in on the 60 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:48.439 adult conversation, but what I heard had nothing to do 61 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:52.479 with me. The ranger was cautioning the scout masters that 62 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.719 in the general area around the park there had been 63 00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:00.319 a tax on area farm stock. They put the blame 64 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:04.639 on dog packs, codies, coy dogs, cougars, bears, and maybe 65 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:08.120 black panthers, which we had and still having this part 66 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:13.159 of the country. The attacks were particularly prevalent in one 67 00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:17.199 area about eight miles away from the park. He said 68 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:20.800 that recently, thinking that they had the animal cornered, about 69 00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:24.439 one hundred volunteers formed a line with twenty five feet 70 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.480 or so between each one, with some extra men at 71 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:31.879 the closing end. When it began to get dark, every 72 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:35.079 man lit up some kind of lantern or flashlight. As 73 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:38.680 they pushed through the stifling, hot and dusty tall brush. 74 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.000 It was a bit hard to breathe because there was 75 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:45.759 a dry spell one and the shaking the parched weeds 76 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:49.600 dusted the air with an artificial yellow fog of pollen, 77 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:52.959 which grew about eight feet high or more this time 78 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.800 of year. At one point, as they fought their way 79 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:00.079 among the entangling brush, they heard a scream and a 80 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:03.199 shotgun blast, and they rushed to the point in the 81 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:07.000 line they found one of the younger men, he was 82 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:11.439 about twenty years old, groaning in amongst some crushed vegetation. 83 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.480 His gun was found with the stock smashed in the 84 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:18.959 barrel bent at the base of a nearby tree. He 85 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:21.279 was out of his head with fright, so he was 86 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:25.040 transported to the hospital where he was kept overnight for 87 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:29.839 chest bruising and shock. He was sedated, so nothing could 88 00:05:29.879 --> 00:05:34.759 be learned about the incident until the next morning. After 89 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:37.399 a day or so, according to what I overheard the 90 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:41.040 ranger say, the boy had calmed down enough to relay 91 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:44.920 his story. He said that he was walking through the 92 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.600 dusty growth with his lantern raised in one hand and 93 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:52.040 a shotgun in the other. He said he heard and 94 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:56.360 saw a rush of movement from directly ahead that something 95 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:00.279 was coming directly for him. When a huge white wall 96 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:05.759 came crashing down on him, he awkwardly lifted his shotgun 97 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:09.040 in one hand and fired, but was immediately struck in 98 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:13.079 the chest and launched through the air. The crush of 99 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:16.079 vegetation gave little clue as to the type of an 100 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:19.639 animal that had attacked the boy. There was no blood 101 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:22.040 at the scene, and I don't know if anyone tried 102 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:24.639 to backtrail it through the weeds to see where it 103 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.519 came from, but they didn't get even another glimpse of it, 104 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:32.519 and no one would volunteer to follow after it. The 105 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:35.120 boy didn't know if he'd even shot it and had 106 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:39.120 no idea what it was. He was sure that it 107 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:42.439 struck him with more powerful of a push than a hit, 108 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:45.279 but it was able to propel him through the air 109 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.480 in what he perceived to be a very little effort 110 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:52.199 on the thing's part. But the thing was never caught 111 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:56.319 after apparently getting through the line. Needless to say, that 112 00:06:56.439 --> 00:06:59.279 was the end of any more skirmish lines, and for 113 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:02.959 this thing could withstand a shotgun blast than all bets 114 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:07.199 were off. It has still been seen throughout the following 115 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:10.920 decades as something like a white shadow going through the woods, 116 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:14.639 and has remained around the southeastern portion of Carter County, 117 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:18.000 about twenty miles south of the park even to this day. 118 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:22.600 But more on this particular thing later. As I squatted 119 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:26.439 shaking in the night, the forest noise around me seemed 120 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:31.079 to go quiet. I realized I was alone in the dark. Spooked, 121 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:33.639 I made it safely back to my tent and my 122 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:37.600 sleeping bag. At that time, the mention of it being 123 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:42.680 a sasquatch was never discussed or even considered. Bigfoot was 124 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:46.720 alive and well at this time, supposedly in the Pacific Northwest, 125 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:49.720 or so we thought back some fifty five years ago, 126 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:52.439 not as it would be in the later sixties and 127 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:56.160 early seventies, and so was lost in my mind for 128 00:07:56.279 --> 00:08:02.720 all these years. And now Incident number two occurred not 129 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:07.160 in August of nineteen sixty six, and this gentleman was 130 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:11.000 seventeen years old. Here's a little note, he writes to 131 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:14.720 me before he starts the story. I finished writing this 132 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:20.040 incident four months after incident. I I've never told anyone ever, 133 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:24.480 not even my wife, until now about this occurrence. I 134 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.319 thought the event of over fifty three years ago would 135 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:29.800 be easy to put down on paper and ready to 136 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:33.159 send to you in a couple of hours. I found, 137 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:37.120 to my surprise that I hardly remembered any details at all. 138 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:40.440 But in starting to piece it all back together, I 139 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:44.200 was shocked by what I remembered concerning the terror I 140 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:48.799 had buried regarding this incident so many years ago. Over 141 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:52.120 the last four months, things that I hadn't thought about 142 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:56.080 in any detail over the last half century fell back 143 00:08:56.120 --> 00:09:00.399 into place, having been a counselor. I'm aware that I 144 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:03.799 blocked much of it due to trauma, but unplugging the 145 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:07.600 memories started it flooding back so fast I could hardly 146 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:11.399 keep up with my thoughts. Worst of all was that 147 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:14.600 I felt like weeping for that boy and the horror, 148 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:19.759 and especially the loneliness of this singular night. But be 149 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:22.360 that as it may. Let's go forward with a little 150 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:25.440 over two years after the first incident to when I 151 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:29.080 was seventeen. A few weeks before my senior year began, 152 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:33.000 a couple of my friends and I were invited by 153 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:36.639 a very close family member, Billy, to go hiking through 154 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:41.320 areas of eastern Kentucky from north to southeast, in places 155 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:45.559 where we'd never tramped before. At that time, there were 156 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:48.879 hardly any inhabited areas in this part of the states, 157 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:52.840 and roads were few and far between. It was to 158 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:55.600 be a two day trek off trail and through the 159 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:59.279 dense woods in steep ravines, not far from where the 160 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:02.200 white Thing had had been roaming some years earlier, but 161 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:06.240 we didn't give it any mind. Only Billy had a firearm. 162 00:10:06.360 --> 00:10:10.200 The rest of us had hunting knives and hatchets. The 163 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:14.159 temperature was over one hundred with near one hundred percent humidity, 164 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:18.240 a typical southern hot and dusty August day with a 165 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:22.240 miserable time for such a hike. All the creeks we 166 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:26.799 passed were dry. Only the largest creek, Tigert Creek, had 167 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:30.080 a good amount of water, whose course constantly doubles back 168 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:34.080 on itself. Our tongues were clinging to the roofs of 169 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:37.679 our mouths, and we were inhaling hot air and exhaling 170 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:42.200 hot air back out using our canteens cause a problem 171 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.320 as we were going to fill up as we went 172 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:47.200 with clear creek water, but as I said, they were 173 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:51.960 all dry. We started out in jackets in the cool 174 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.799 of the early morning, but as the heat quickly rose, 175 00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:58.519 we soon were shedding down from jackets to shirts to 176 00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:03.519 T shirts. On we went, snagging our way through heavy 177 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:09.679 brier patches, ankle catching vines, tripping over hidden rocks, insects 178 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:13.039 die bombing our faces, and gnats doing their best to 179 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:17.679 land on our open eyeballs. Finally, at the end of 180 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:20.559 the day, Billy decided that we would set up camp 181 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:23.440 in a limestone cave set in the side of a 182 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:27.080 steep cliff with a clear but small stream of cold 183 00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:31.519 water running through it. The gurgling brook echoed over and 184 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:36.000 over in the small cave. A wide flat stone porch 185 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:39.240 in front of the cave overlooked a sixty foot drop. 186 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:43.679 The cave was in the side of a limestone cliff, 187 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:46.200 and I shined my light and checked the drop of 188 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:49.879 the cliff from above the cave's position. It was about 189 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:52.919 forty feet down from the trail that we had been following. 190 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:57.559 Billy chose the cave for its natural cool air conditioning 191 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:01.399 due to the damp limestone walls the running stream for 192 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:05.200 a water supply. The old man was a hunter and 193 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:09.559 seasoned hiker that knew what he was doing. I was 194 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:12.720 sure glad to unload my backpack and sleeping bag and 195 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:16.600 quickly lay down before I threw up. I was suffering 196 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:20.519 from a pounding headache. I had all the signs of 197 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:23.720 heat exhaustion. There was nothing to do but try to 198 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:27.960 sleep the horrible pounding headache away. We were whipped, so 199 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:32.200 there wasn't much talking around the campfire. We ate a 200 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:36.360 late meal, gorged ourselves in cold water, and then turned 201 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:39.960 in as soon as darkness fell. About nine thirty PM. 202 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:43.600 I tossed in turn for hours in a fitful sleep, 203 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:46.759 but about one am I felt the result of all 204 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:50.480 that water. Groggily pulled on my socks and gem shoes, 205 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:53.879 buckled my jeans, and went out to water the grass. 206 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:57.399 This is the downside of sleeping in a cave. We 207 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.000 had to walk back up the trail to take a leak, 208 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.279 and Billy didn't want us to go out to the 209 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:05.159 porch edge for fear that we'd be so sleepy that 210 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:09.519 we'd likely fall over. It was chilly in the cave, 211 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:12.919 much cooler as I stepped up on the ground above 212 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:16.120 the cave aways in just my t shirt. I would 213 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:18.080 be back in my warm bag in just a couple 214 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:22.159 of minutes, though. I had my rail backed flashlight and 215 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:24.879 my bowie knife tied on my right leg in a 216 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:28.200 low quick draw sheathe, both of which my dad had 217 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:32.519 made for me. I turned several times and finally chose 218 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:35.679 a direction that wouldn't spray in the direction I would 219 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.919 have to use in the return to the cave. Aiming 220 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:43.120 is important. As I was doing my business, the great 221 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:47.360 chattering noise brought on the night air suddenly ceased. I 222 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:50.399 felt creepy, so I finished as quick as I could. 223 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:53.960 The night was clear, and the air was cold and damp, 224 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:56.399 and I was shivering, so I headed back to my 225 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:00.679 sleeping bag where it would be warm. Still in the 226 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:03.840 throes of heat exhaustion, and I stumbled away in the 227 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:07.639 wrong direction. After not coming back to the trail to 228 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:10.679 the cave for five or ten minutes, I knew I 229 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:14.879 had lost my way. I grew a bit frantic as 230 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:17.440 I went each way along the cliff and I couldn't 231 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:20.200 find the small trail over the edge and down to 232 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:24.639 the cave. I let out desperate shouts, but I got 233 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:28.879 no reply. The loud babbling brook that echoed in the 234 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:33.360 cave must have drowned out my pleas I was in 235 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:36.080 heavy brush, so the path to the cave did not 236 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:40.240 stand out. I'd been a scout and an explorer for 237 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:43.080 six years, and I had hunted since I was eight, 238 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.679 so I was filled with the false overconfidence of youth. 239 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:50.679 I believe that even lost, I'd be able to walk 240 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:53.799 out in a few hours. I had a strong flashlight 241 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.440 and a twelve inch blade bowie knife, but the heat 242 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:00.679 exhaustion and the lower temperatures were now causing me to 243 00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:04.720 sometimes shake violently. I felt like I was in an 244 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:08.320 ice house, but I knew that when I found Tigert 245 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:12.120 Creek that I'd find my way out. If I walked 246 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:14.600 against the current, so to speak, I was bound to 247 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:20.240 eventually run into an east west highway a few hundred 248 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:23.879 yards further. The bank gave way under my right foot, 249 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:27.440 and I was launched out in space on an elevator 250 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:33.039 ride to Hell. The fall seemed to take forever. I 251 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:37.200 had crashed through flimsy branches, falling about forty feet to 252 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:40.720 a point where the limestone wall met the incline. When 253 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:44.159 I hit a heavier, forked branch covered with tangles of 254 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:48.759 vines and briars, my back landing on the limb, knocking 255 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:53.159 the wind out of me. Thank God for the outstretched limb. 256 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.879 Without it, I would have hit the rock strown basin 257 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:01.919 far below the entangling limb. Ye and slowly tipped sideways 258 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.919 with my weight, And I saw by the waning moonlight 259 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:07.639 that I might be able to use the vines as 260 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:10.519 a sort of lighter and climb down to within ten 261 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:14.320 feet of the steep bank under me. When I got 262 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:17.000 free enough to drop down, I knew that my best 263 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.399 bet would be to dig my heels into the earth 264 00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:22.720 upon impact and ease down the rest of the way 265 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:26.639 to the bottom. I let go and my heels hit 266 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:30.399 and jammed in the loose earth. I was in for 267 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.679 a fast, hard tumble and slide to the rocky bottom 268 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.519 of the draw. When I stopped tumbling, I lay there, 269 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:41.039 surveying any damage done to my body. I was happy 270 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.919 to find that, aside from many thorn scratches and some 271 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.159 probable bruising, I was whole. I slowly got up on 272 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:51.240 very shaky legs, and I turned around, and as soon 273 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.559 as I could think, I saw that I was standing 274 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:58.039 beside a tiny creek. A person would think you could 275 00:16:58.120 --> 00:17:00.799 look up and see the fireplace slight in our cave, 276 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:03.399 but it would have died down by now, and I 277 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:07.079 didn't know in which direction to look. I tried anyway, 278 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:10.119 but upon searching the cave, I could not see anything 279 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:13.640 but the leaves and the brush and the walls effectively 280 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:18.160 made this a prison hole. I did try to find 281 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:21.000 either or both my flashlight and a knife, but those 282 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:26.079 two were lost causes needles in a black haystack. I 283 00:17:26.119 --> 00:17:30.240 stood there alone in the dark in a steep wedge. 284 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.880 I struggled over the bottom of the draw in each 285 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:35.720 direction for at least an hour. When I heard the 286 00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:39.640 sound of that of a bear, quieting the forest chatter 287 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:43.680 once again. I looked around into the darkness of the 288 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:47.240 narrow pit of the mountain. I saw nothing, but felt 289 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:50.079 once again that I was being watched by something, and 290 00:17:50.119 --> 00:17:52.480 I prayed it wouldn't be a cougar or a black 291 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:55.960 panther or a bear aside from wolves or worse, a 292 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:59.480 dog pack. I tried to climb the side of the hill, 293 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:02.519 but each time I slid back down on my belly. 294 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:06.720 I tried to choose the right way back along the 295 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:10.240 dimly lit cliff, but I couldn't discern from which side 296 00:18:10.279 --> 00:18:13.839 I had fallen. Logically, I chose to go down the 297 00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.880 draw following the dried up creek bed, which is all 298 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:21.799 I had since it was away from the growl. After 299 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:26.359 a long stumbling journey of constantly having to climb over, under, 300 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:29.720 and around obstacles without a light or knife in the 301 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:32.839 near darkness, I finally came to a break in the 302 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:38.759 limestone wall on one side. I stopped and laid my sweaty, 303 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:42.279 filthy body over yet another tree. Falling from a bank 304 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:47.119 to bank gasping for breath. With much effort, I used 305 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:50.799 small trees to drag myself out of my limestone prison, 306 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:54.920 sliding two steps down the bank while advancing just three, 307 00:18:55.240 --> 00:19:00.039 getting filthier and sweatier by the minute I found He 308 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.079 made the top edge of the flat on the mountain side, 309 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:06.079 and I flopped over above the cliff, and I drew 310 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:11.119 in a heavy, damp breath of air. After resting on 311 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:15.000 the grimy flat in order to stop wheezing out my lungs, 312 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:18.079 I got up and continued to crash through the thorn 313 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:22.599 rows and stumble over rocks and depressions covered by dirt, 314 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:26.000 gasping for air, sweating in the cold night. When I 315 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:30.759 made out a larger game trail. Imagine the fear of 316 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:34.480 a skinny one hundred and forty five pound kid, three 317 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:39.720 months into his seventeenth birthday, shivering in a filthy, wet 318 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:43.799 T shirt, groping through the darkness, almost legally blind and 319 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:48.559 not knowing what direction to go. The moon was going down, 320 00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:51.440 and once again the noise of the forest stopped, but 321 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:55.960 this time it stopped around me. My heart was pounding 322 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:59.519 through my ribs as I struggled onward, so again all 323 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:04.599 I could say, were silhouettes of trees and bushes. And there, 324 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.640 in a right hand curve in the trail, looking through 325 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:11.039 and over the brush. Standing on each side of the 326 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:16.119 game trail were two large back lip figures, one slightly 327 00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:19.559 taller than the other. They were massive and the last 328 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:24.000 thing I wanted to run into. Suddenly, the thought of 329 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:27.319 a bear or a cougar was more preferable than the 330 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:31.240 pair of things I was looking at now. At first, 331 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.200 coming up slightly from the side, I thought they were 332 00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:38.079 two massive black panthers sitting on large boulders, because they 333 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:41.599 seemed to have cat's ears pulled back to a point 334 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:45.880 my knees got weak. The worst possible meeting was about 335 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:49.119 to take my life. But as I turned to view 336 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:52.799 them straight on, I realized they were not on boulders, 337 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:57.160 but things that stood eight to nine feet tall. They 338 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:01.480 didn't move but for a small sway. Their heads appeared 339 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:04.519 to be directly attached to their three to four feet 340 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:09.079 wide shoulders. Whatever they were if they were looking at 341 00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:12.160 me at all, I could not tell, and looking back 342 00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:16.079 on it now, I probably misconstrued their sloping heads for 343 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:21.039 possible ears, them being a pair of sasquatch again, never 344 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:25.240 even occurred to me until decades later, when sightings became 345 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:30.559 more common outside the Northwest. I stood there, shaking, as 346 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:33.839 my sweat soak body trembled with cold and just plain 347 00:21:33.960 --> 00:21:37.720 near panic. I then leaned over and put my hands 348 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:41.880 on my trembling knees to steady myself. I was as 349 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:44.279 wet as I could be, covered with a filth of 350 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:47.880 many stumble and falls, and I already had had blood 351 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:51.000 running down my arms from the briars that had torn 352 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:55.960 at them. I had been lost so long, so many hours. 353 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.359 I was tired and weary. It seemed so unfair to 354 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:04.240 be stopped, injured, or even killed. Now I tried so hard. 355 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:07.960 Was it for nothing? I raised my head and gazed 356 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:11.200 up at these beasts. I was only about twenty five 357 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:13.920 feet from them at this point, but as I stood there, 358 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:17.240 I could make out hair and a shadowy face, but 359 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:22.640 again no details. It would be four decades later before 360 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:26.039 I read about such encounters and how the creatures almost 361 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:30.359 become as still as statues while observing humans, and how 362 00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:34.359 many people went through exactly what I did. But for now, 363 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:37.720 I realized that I was halfway up the mountain. To 364 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:41.839 my left were briar patches and wildly tangled brush. To 365 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:46.200 my right was empty darkness that meant a cliff's edge. 366 00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:49.079 I could not go back because I didn't know where 367 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:53.039 back was, my strength was not up to it, and 368 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:55.519 I didn't know what would happen if I turned my 369 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:59.000 back on them. Why they stood in the brush on 370 00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:01.920 each side of the train instead of blocking it, I'll 371 00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:06.079 never really know. They still swayed slightly in the dead air, 372 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.160 but as with any predators, I knew that if I 373 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:13.039 kept my head about and made no eye contact, perhaps 374 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:15.920 they would just look at me as a harmless curiosity. 375 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:20.319 As I slowly lowered my head, I got the impression 376 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:23.240 that they too might have lowered their heads to better 377 00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:26.799 watch me. I'm not sure. The path was a good 378 00:23:26.839 --> 00:23:30.359 three feet wide, so I very slowly made my way 379 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:33.759 towards these two things. I wanted to look up and 380 00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:37.119 see what kind of beasts they were, but I think 381 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:40.400 my first thought was correct, and I kept looking down. 382 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:44.480 As I stepped closer. I wanted to scream and run 383 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:47.720 for it. All either of them had to do was 384 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:52.839 crush my head like a grape. The forest was dead still, 385 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:54.839 and it came to me that they could have been 386 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:58.319 stalking me all through the night. As of now, though 387 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:02.480 it seemed as eternity was marked in slow inches. But 388 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:06.599 in the end I was permitted to pass unharmed. I 389 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:10.079 looked neither right or left or back, and neither did 390 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:13.960 I raise my head. I didn't realize that their feet 391 00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:16.759 were partially on the trail, but I couldn't make them 392 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:21.279 out in the gloom. After passing by them, I quickened 393 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:25.799 my pace until the beautiful night's noises began again. I 394 00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:28.880 must state that even passing by within a foot of 395 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:33.039 these things, I smelled nothing beyond my own sweaty stink. 396 00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:37.319 I walked on for an hour or so and finally 397 00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:42.240 hit Tigert's Creek. I collapsed forward on all fours into 398 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:45.279 the creek, putting my mouth under and slurping up water 399 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:49.000 through my parched lips like there was no tomorrow. I 400 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.240 didn't have a canteen, but this time I followed the 401 00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:55.720