I'm giving this overnighter a Mini-Expedition designation, as Bighead, Cherokee Rose and I took out a bunch of Bighead's high school wrestling team for some Bigfoot research as a reward for their hard work during their season. Also present were Avery (Bighead's Daughter), and Goose and Nate (my other grandson). It was basically an introduction to Bigfoot Research to a younger generation.Bighead and his crew arrived Saturday afternoon to the location we would be camping at, and Cherokee Rose took my gear out and the boys put it all up for us. I was out of town attending a soccer game that Goose was playing in (His team won 5-1,
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After I arrived, we set about deploying trailcameras, peanut butter and popcorn ball baits, and the wireless microphones. One team of boys went across the creek from camp and positioned the trailcam on that side. They also put some glow sticks up around the hillside.
Well, boys being boys, several of them found ways to jump into the creek and get wet, so with the campfire going, they tried to dry their clothes with some hilarious effects, mainly, holes burned in clothes as they held them over the fire with sticks.
Bighead and Cherokee Rose cooked up chicken, hamburgers, baked beans and apple/cherry cobblers for dinner, and the boys ate their fill. Off in the distance, faint vocalizations and wood knocks were heard sporadically. We then sat around the campfire and talked to the boys about some of the research that has been done by the MABRC, some rules to follow, and then about some of the encounters that MABRC members have had. By this time, it was about 9:30 PM and Cherokee Rose headed back into town, having to work the next day.
We assembled the boys in 5 teams, with the Avery, Goose and Nate going to accompany Bighead and I, and I started out with the first two listening post teams down the trail. We jumped something about 600 feet out from camp, and I dove head first into the river reed to see if I could spook it out into the open, but after a minute or two, I realized it had melted back towards the creek. We dropped off team #1 near a river crossing, and started back down the trail. Team #1 was about 1000 feet from camp. Team #2 and I was heading back towards camp and before we went 75 feet, we had something flanking us in the river reed and underbrush, so I put team #2 about 900 feet from camp, just down the trail from Team #1. If needed, the teams could rush to help the other if something happened.
I had Team #2 radio Bighead, who had waited a delay before bringing the next two teams up behind us. I met him about 700 feet from camp and we deployed team #3, which was 3 boys, due to one of the boys getting cold feet. (Which, I made sure the other boys knew not to tease him about it, everyone has their limits, and from the pictures below, you can imagine how spooky it would be down there in total darkness.)
Bighead decided to head on down to Team #1, and Avery would go with him, and I took Goose, Nate and the boy who got cold feet and headed for Team #4.
We checked with the boys at Team #4 who were about 500 feet from camp. Everyone was secure with where they were at, and I took my party back to camp, to let the boys enjoy the experience of the listening posts.
About 15 minutes later, Bighead and Avery came back and joined us at the campfire.
Approximately 30 minutes had passed when reports came in by walkie talkie that Teams #1 and #2 were having activity. In the confusion, it also sounded like Team #4 was having something happen too, so Bighead and I both headed down the trail, leaving the teenager at the campfire with the three younger kids. (They were safe, while the boy may have gotten cold feet in the woods, he was beginning to get his confidence back at the camp fire. ANd we told him if anything did happen, to get the kids into Bighead's vehicle and lock the doors.)
We arrived at Team #4's location, and they informed us they had seen something whitish in color moving on the opposite side of the creek, so I would stay with them while Bighead went up the trail and sent teams #3 and #2 back down to camp, and then sit with Team #1 and see what was going on.
While we waited for the other teams to get down to us, I walked out onto the gravel creekbed and smelled a real bad dead fish smell, and then it went away, when it came back again, I had the team 4 boys come down and they smelled it too. We could hear something walking in the gravel up the creek from us, but couldn't see anything. We did shine a light into the water after hearing some splashing beside us, only to see an otter there.
We got back up by the trail and intercepted the two teams coming back. They told us that something had crossed between Team 1 and 2 on the trail and it was big. Team 1 also had seen a large silhouette along the horizon west of them, and possibly something up in the trees moving back and forth. The figure that also had crossed between them and Team #2 appeared to have walked up around behind them within possibly 20 to 30 feet. (The next morning, Bighead, Elvis-he showed up that morning, and I went down and checked the area out in the light, and it appears that the boys seen something moving on the opposite creekbank, and it was silhouetted just right to appear to be in the trees. Again, just speculation.)
I sent teams 2 and 3 back to camp, and waited with team #4 until Team 1 and Bighead made it to us. During this time, gravel was heard being kicked around, and splashing to the west of us in the creek bed.
When Bighead and Team 1 made it down to us, I told Rob what was going on. We stepped down into the creek bed and walked a short ways upstream along it when we shined our lights upstream and seen a large dark figure step up out of the creek onto the opposite side of the creek, about 100 feet upstream. It then stopped behind a v shaped tree and stopped. I had my video camera mounted on my spotlight, but curse of the Bigfoot, the light only lasted for about 10 seconds when we lit up the creature. We also smelled the dead fish smell during this time. We got the team 4 boys down there with us and tried to use all of our flashlights to light the area, and they saw the eyeshine and then the creature and both about had a heart attack.
Our lights were going dim fast, so I grabbed a walkie talkie and called to camp to get everything that shined and get it down there to us. It seemed like those boys covered that 500 feet in about 5 seconds, as we soon had 12 of us down on the creek bank shining a motley collection of flashlights and small spotlights on the creature. It kept peering around the tree and opening it's eyes, trying to duck back behind the tree that couldn't conceal it's size. We had it trapped, it had river reed about 30 to 40 feet behind it, and it tried several times to get to it, only to return to the tree. It was a dark brown, and was approximately 8 to 9 feet tall. All 12 of us were witnesses to this creature trying to stay behind the tree, peer out around the tree, and try to bolt for the river reed and apparent safety.
After 5 minutes of watching it, our lights were growing dim, and Bighead had everyone turn off their lights for a few seconds, when we turned them back on, the creature had made it to the river reed and was gone.
We returned to the camp fire and the boys were so excited that all they could talk about was what they seen. This had occurred roughly about 11:45 PM and by 12:15 AM, the boys began making smores while Bighead began cooking garlic and bacon to get the smell going again.
I had to take Goose to bed, he was already snoring away in his camp chair at the fire, so by 1 AM, I turned in myself. The boys would later go on a night hike with Bighead, and they would hike down past where team #1 had been sitting and he had put them in a circle around that area, after hearing a wood knock. He figured if the creature was still in the area, maybe it would throw some rocks or something. After a bit, he stepped over to the side and did some rock clacking, with no response, and thinking that the boys could see him in the open like he was, he tossed the rock into the creek, thinking they would see it was him. Instead, two of the boys screamed in terror, and grabbed each other and wouldn't let go until Bighead got them calmed down.
They returned to camp, and everyone began turning in.
At daylight, several of the boys were up and about, snacking on stuff and building the fire back up. I got up, went and retreived the trail cam in the river reed to the west of camp, the wireless microphones and went down to the sighting location and took pictures of the spot.
When I returned to camp, I sat with the boys as more of them woke up and came out of the tents. When Bighead finally woke up, we fixed Breakfast Burritos by mixing the eggs, sausage and salt in freezer bags, then boiling them in a pot of water, you then poured the mix into a tortilla and added cheese and Picante Sauce. It was a great meal.
Everyone then pitched in to break all the tents down and pack everything up, and Elvis showed up, so Bighead and I walked down with him to the place where Team #1 had their sightings occur.
Returning to camp, Elvis took a group picture for us, so we could show everyone the new Jr. Bigfoot Researchers who now have the bug in them.
We then showed the boys how to police up the area, and we picked up not only all of our trash that was there, but also did half the area.
(Pictures to be added in a little bit.)
