Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

A listener writes “I have decided to share my experiences after many years of remaining silent on the topic of Sasquatch. It is important to tell you that I am believe in science, and I think that most things can be explained logically. I have a four year science degree, and grew up hunting and fishing. I have been hiking, camping, and backpacking in remote areas for over 20 years. One could say that the outdoors are my bliss, and I am quite at home in nature.

I have had things happen in my life that I cannot explain using science and logic. I have told very few people about these experiences. The odd thing is most of these experiences have occurred in an area of the United States where Bigfoot is not well known to be in residence. All of these experiences occurred within the Southern Tier of New York south of Buffalo.

My Family’s Property
When I was just a kid, I spent a lot of time at a cabin my Grandfather owned. He had purchased the land (5 acres) from a friend who had 300 acres. The property could only be accessed by driving up a common driveway off a seasonal road. The property was on a hilltop above a small town, and bordered another 600 acre plot of land left to a local church when a local resident passed away. The church property was an old, abandoned farm. It was only used once a year for a picnic area, and otherwise had been abandoned to local wildlife.

My grandfather’s property, and surrounding area, was comprised of dense forest and several large fields. We would often take long hikes after dinner, and I always loved to see wild game in these natural settings. We would often spot a half dozen deer or turkey in the fields near the cabin. My grandfather would always carry a rifle or shotgun with him, and had offered an explanation that he sometimes saw wild dogs. In 17 years, I never saw one dog or dog track on that property… but I am getting a bit ahead of myself.

My sighting, as best I can figure, happened about 1986. One evening after eating dinner, we decided to walk over to the church property and check the fields to see what wildlife we could spot. The wind was blowing in our favor, and my grandfather explained that animals would not catch our scent. He was always teaching me, and telling me stories about his past outdoor adventures. He was a very accomplished hunter and outdoorsman… he taught me a lot growing up. I remember the wind blowing in our faces as we crossed the property line and headed up past an old abandoned house toward the barn that stood at the top of a small hill. We followed the dirt road around the buildings past a small pond toward a large field behind the barn. You couldn’t see past the barn until you crested the hill, and I was eager to spot a few whitetail deer or a few tom turkey. I was not prepared for what I would see, nor will I ever forget it even after 30 years.

We reached the top of the small hill beyond the barn, and I scanned the field. The meadow was perhaps 200 yards wide, and 400 yards deep. My eyes were immediately drawn to the far side of the field. Something dark stood in the field, maybe 20 feet out of the tree line. It was big, standing on two feet, and covered in hair. My mind raced as I tried to identify what I was looking at, but I drew a complete blank. I could see the hair waving on the arms and head as the breeze caught it. It was far too big to be a man, and I never questioned if it could be one for a second. My mind told me it wasn’t anything I had ever seen before.

My arm raised toward the creature, pointing toward it. “What is that?” I asked my grandfather. He was already looking in that direction, and replied “I don’t know”. This thing had not seen us, it was facing toward the far end of the field. Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that it was searching the field for something, perhaps a deer or some small animal. After 10-15 seconds, I saw the torso and head shift in our direction. The shoulders squared up to face us and that’s when I realized it has seen us. After a few seconds it turned, took three or four steps, and disappeared into the woods on the opposite side of the field. It did not seem to be in a particular hurry at all. The second it got into the trees you couldn’t see it anymore. Maybe it was because I was a kid, or because it was so far away, but I was not scared at the time. It never made a sound. It was there, and then in a few seconds it was gone. I have never seen anything like it before or since that day.

Normally, our hikes were quite long, and were composed of long circuits around the area. That evening, my grandfather decided it was time to head back the second it disappeared, and we retraced our exact steps back the way we came all the way to the cabin. I believe my grandfather knew much more than he ever told be about that property, and Sasquatch in general.

The last comment I will make about this event is that I never thought it was a Bigfoot until recently, because it did not resemble the creature in the Patterson Gimlin film. It was tall, maybe seven or eight feet but not massive like that. It was much lankier, although the frame was big with shoulders wider than a man. After discovering Sasquatch Chronicles, it was like a light switch being turned on in my head. There are more than likely multiple types out there, and other people have seen the same thing.

Strange Experiences in One Area over Several Years
When I reached my early twenties, I had for the most part given up hunting and fishing. However, I desperately missed the outdoors and began doing a lot of hiking. Hiking trips quickly became camping trips, but I was never a big fan of camping at congested parks where you can see a tent 20 feet away from you. I decided I needed to find a place to camp away for others, so I could truly enjoy nature.

A good friend of mine soon contacted me to let me know of an area that might be a good choice for our weekend trips. There was a 400 acre section of land that had been left to the county to become a park. It had been listed as a multi-use area because the government did not have the funds to create and maintain another park. It was a 45 minute drive from my home, and he said he barely ever saw anyone in there. The area was in a rural setting, surrounded by cornfields, patchy greenbelts, and homes here and there dotting the landscape. Over the next two years or so, we would have a number of odd experiences in the area that ranged from bizarre to downright terrifying.

It is important to stress, I never connected these occurrences with Sasquatch at the time but we could not explain our experiences either. Only recently have I obtained information on theoretical behavior of these creatures and begun to connect the dots. Speaking today to my friend of our experiences, I learned that he has actually seen a strange, bipedal creature in that every area after these events on at least two occasions.

Our first camping trip to the multi-use area had a rough start. We got to the parking area late, and covered the first mile through the woods to a gas pipeline that cut through the area. The plan was to walk down the pipeline to a creek and set up camp near the creek bordering the woods. The sun was setting as we entered the pipeline clearing, and it was apparent immediately we were running out of daylight. After a quick conversation, we decided to cut into the woods and set up camp before nightfall. This section of forest was younger trees about 20 feet high and a lot of brush.

I remember bending at the waist and pushing through thick brush to enter the tree line. We found a small area just inside the trees to set up a small dome tent. There was a lot of brush and the trees here were spaced close together. This was not an ideal campsite but we did not have much choice.

There were three of us that day, me, my girlfriend at the time, and my friend. It was getting dark quickly, and we gathered some small tinder and sticks for a fire as the last light left the forest. It was obvious that we would not have enough wood. We only had one cheap Eveready flashlight, and searching for firewood was not a viable option. We resigned to the fact we were kind of in a bad situation, but tried to make the best of it anyway.

After a half hour or so, we began to hear sticks breaking up the hill. It sounded like someone or something was slowly pushing down the dry brush and branches causing them to break. This went on for a while, and the noise level increased steadily. We began to get a bit nervous, because we could not see the cause of the noise and it was pretty loud. It seemed to be getting closer, and our tiny fire was running out of fuel. The sounds of something bulldozing through the brush moved from our left to the right, in a semicircle around camp. Whatever it was, it was definitely circling our camp moving closer and close.

Out of options, we decided to get into the tent. We didn’t have any firearms, just a couple of hunting knives. I remember thinking this cannot be happening, we are barely in the woods and this crap doesn’t happen around here. The breaking branches continued for several hours, with us huddling inside the tent wondering what the heck was going on. We fell asleep after hours of being circled, and only after the noises finally subsided. I woke up in the morning still clutching my hunting knife. We crawled out of the tent to find broken trees and brush all over the surrounding area. Our tiny clearing was now 50 feet wider all around the tent. We stared at the chaos, then at each other. What had happened here? What was it that did this? We had no clue. Needless to say, we decided to cut out trip short and head back to the cars.

Over the next two years I returned to this area a few dozen times to hike, rappel, and camp overnight. We never returned to the exact spot that was the site of that scary night, instead choosing to camp on a hill overlooking the creek. The trees were much bigger there, and the forest was wide open. We found a dead-fall and created a campsite that allowed us to put a ravine at our backs. The creek ran through the ravine below, and a few fallen logs were used to create benches around the camp fire. In our minds, the new area would at least allow us to get a good view of anything approaching our camp.

The first few trips back to the area were relatively quiet, but there were a few odd moments. One evening after dark, a half dozen of us were camping in our now usual spot on the hill next to the creek. A couple of the guys had lugged in a few 12 packs of beer and were kicking back around the camp fire. During a lull in the conversation I heard something hit the ground near me. Movement caught my eye near my feet and I looked down to see a green three inch long pine cone rolling across the ground. A few minutes later I saw another pine cone land near the fire. I looked up at the canopy above me, and noted that all the trees were hardwood… no pine trees, and green pine cones don’t just fall of trees anyway. I asked the guys who was throwing stuff, and with a laugh everyone said they were not responsible. Over the next hour or two, this continued until it got quiet and we turned in for the evening.

The next morning, I noticed something odd on the outer edge of camp, and called my friends attention to it. Anyone who spends any time in the woods has probably seen where a deer has bedded down. They push the grass down and leave a body sized oval. What I found in the leaves and ferns on the edge of camp was similar, but much larger. The realization that something very big had laid down at the edge of camp just outside the fire light hit me like a ton of bricks. We couldn’t explain it, but after a while we just let it go.

The following spring we planned another trip into the area, and things got even crazier. We were planning a backpacking trip to the Adirondacks, and had to field test some new gear. It was about ten at night and we were settling in for the night. It was quiet, when suddenly a loud howl pierced the night. It was like nothing I had ever heard before, and instantly a shiver ran up my spine. Everyone stopped what they were doing instantly. The howl had barely finished echoing down the ravine when what seemed to be every dog within five miles started barking in the distance. We tossed a few logs on the fire. My friend, who had been on every trip into the area that I made, noted that the howl had come from the bottom of the hill near a bend in the creek. A chorus of howls broke in the ravine down by the creek. These were different, and someone suggested it was dogs or coyotes. 20 years ago coyotes we not common in the area like they are now, but it was possible we decided.

Someone uttered the fact it was getting closer, and it definitely was. Whatever it was, there was more than one of them. Again that horrible howl echoed through the night, this time it seemed like it was on the hill rather than down by the creek. This was not the same kind of animal as the ones in the creek, there is no possible way it could be I thought. We were starting to get nervous to say the least. We added wood to the fire. We needed more light. The fire was raging now, with flames three feet high. In the distance, the local dog population was still barking up a storm. I listened, and then noted to the group that those howls were not a dog. I was stating the obvious, no one needed any information to arrive at that conclusion.

At about this point, my buddy started shining a flashlight into the darkness. He stepped toward the edge of the firelight, then quickly moved back. In fact, he backed up until he was almost standing in the fire. “Eye shine” was all he said when he looked at me. Later he would tell me that he had seen four or five sets of eyes looking back at him when he had gone to the edge of camp.

We huddled near the fire for most of the night. We felt like whatever it was had come up the hill, while others had gone down the creek bed and circled around us. We were effectively trapped with our backs to a cliff. We burned wood most of the night, even after it went quiet. When we started to run low on firewood, I took off my insulated flannel shirt and tossed that in the fire too. Anything that would burn went into the fire pit. Needless to say, I do not think any of us slept a wink that night.

Once the sun was up, we started to break camp. We headed down the hill toward the pipeline access area. At the base of the hill where the pipeline starts, there is a bend in the creek with an old campsite someone had created. I convinced my friend to help me look for some tracks, and what we found was completely unexplainable. There was a thin glaze of mud, a patch perhaps 40 feet around. In the mud we found barefoot human style foot prints that walked to the center of the mud and then stopped. At the edge of the mud were several sets of canine style tracks the size of a medium size dog. We looked at the tracks for what seemed to be a long time. Two questions came to mind. Who walks around barefoot like that? Where did they go once they got into the middle of the mud patch? We could not come up with an answer for either question.

After that night I was done camping in the area, I just didn’t feel safe going there. For the remainder of the summer I did some car camping, went to the Adirondacks backpacking, and stuck to day hikes. As early fall took hold in Western New York, I got a call from my old friend who had shared all these experiences. He convinced be to go back the multi-use area during the day to rappel in the ravine. After a little convincing on his part, I agreed to go back with him. I definitely should have taken a pass on it though.

We hiked into the area and rappelled a half dozen times into the ravine from our usual camping site. It was about a 90 foot drop, and then a 400 yard walk back up the hill. We took turns, since we only had one line and harness. It was late afternoon when we headed down the hill and up the pipeline access to the trail that led back to the car. I had hoped to get out a bit earlier, but it was only a 40 minute hike from the camp site to the car so I thought we should be fine to get out before dark.

The shadows were getting long in the forest as we made our way through the trees. The trail splits with the option of taking a long route, or a short route through a swampy section. We took the wetter, short route. We were anxious to get out, and past events weighed heavily on my mind. About half way up the trail we began hearing noises behind us to the left. A quick conversation verified that we were both hearing the same thing. It was the unmistakable sound of something walking. As we stopped, it stopped. When we began walking it followed, pacing us about 20 yards behind us off the trail. A stand of pine trees blocked our view.

I will admit it, we were scared. My friend suggested we stop and start a fire because it was getting dark soon. That was not an option for me, not at all. I insisted we keep going, knowing whatever was following us was still there. I turned facing the way we came, back to back with my friend. It was surreal, like something out of a bad movie. We decided to walk out back to back, and I grabber his belt to keep from falling while backing up down the trail. We still couldn’t see whatever it was. It was keeping the trees in-between us and it. We moved down the path back to back until we came to the final stretch before the parking lot. From the top of a small hill, we could see the front half of the car.

“Ready?” he asked. “Yes… go!” We broke into a sprint and ran down the hill toward the car. I was sure any second something would pull me down from behind. My buddy was ten feet ahead of me all the way down the hill. We reached the parking lot, and he ran around the car to the driver’s side. He fumbled with the keys and got them into the lock after what seemed like an eternity. The whole time I was looking up the hill sure that any moment whatever it was would burst into sight and rush us before we could get into the car.

We finally got into the car and as he put the key in the ignition, we were both looking up the trail. The tires spun as we left the dirt parking lot and got onto the paved road. We were safe, but shaken to the core. I haven’t been there again since. Unbelievably, my friend has… but that is his story to tell.”