Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

A listener writes “I am from Australia and this September just gone, I took time off work and travelled to Canada to visit my son who is working in Whistler BC.

During my visit, my son had to work on a few of the days I was there and I was left to do my own thing. I had been up to Blackcomb Peak on the gondola a couple of times and I saw the “Ascent Trail” that ended by the gondola station at the top. Being a bit out of shape and in my mid-fifties, I thought that going up would be a huge challenge, but going down might be a bit easier and something I could brag about with my friends and family.

On the Wednesday I was there I caught the gondola up, had something to eat for lunch at the cafe at the summit. About 1pm I shouldered my backpack (with water and some snacks in it) and started down the trail. The first couple of people I passed mentioned the trail did get a bit steep and to be careful. I thanked them, walked on and then promptly fell on my butt and slid a few feet down the trail. I got up and dusted myself and kept going.

On the way down I met a hiker coming up and chatted with him. He was a local and I asked about the bushes on the trail and the fruit on them. He said they were wild blueberries and quite safe to eat. After a brief chat, he kept heading up and I kept heading down.

A little while later as I headed down I heard some noise to my right and when I looked, I could see a bear foraging in a little glade of blackberry bushes, maybe 10 to 15 meters off the trail. I was excited as this was the first time I had seen a bear. I did not feel scared or apprehensive at all. The bear was too busy eating berries to consider putting me on the menu. So, I snapped a couple of pictures and walked thinking about the excitement of telling my son I had seen a bear.

I crossed the first dirt road that the trail goes over as you come down and I passed a couple of ladies heading up the trail and mentioned to them about the bear, which they were thankful for. The trail then flattened out for a good 300 metres and this is where things turned strange. As I walked into that flat area I could hear a tap tap tap sound coming from midway up a couple of big trees. It kept going with 2 or 4 taps at a time. I then realised I was hearing a woodpecker. More excitement welled in me as I got to see my first live wild woodpecker. I stopped and listened and managed to snap a couple of pictures, although they were so zoomed in you could barely make the bird out.

I walked on a bit further and realised that the whole forest had gone quiet. I didn’t really think that much of it as I had enjoyed the silence of the mountains and peaks around Whistler over the last few days. Then I felt this low rumble in my lower gut, like you can get when the bass note of music is low. I felt it enough to stop for a moment and take stock of myself. I felt it again and that’s when I realised what I was hearing was a very very low growl, the type that comes the back of an animal’s throat. The only other sound I have ever heard that was in any way similar to it is the grunting growl a Koala makes. I started to take a look around me as I was worried that the bear I had seen a few minutes earlier may have worked its way further down the mountain. As I looked around I saw movement off to the left just on the tree line, about 15 meters (45 feet) from me.

It took me a moment to register that what I was looking at was standing on 2 legs and wasn’t a bear. What I was seeing was a large creature, maybe 2.5 meters (7.5 feet) tall and partly obscured by the trunk of one of the bigger trees. It was covered in hair, with broad shoulders and a head but no neck that I could see. I had been snapping pictures on my phone all day but when I saw this creature I didn’t even think of taking a picture, in fact, I didn’t really think at all I was rooted to the spot and couldn’t move. It felt like I was there for ages but it could not have been very long at all. The creature stared at me for a short time, kind of huffed to itself and then turned and walked away back into the trees and away from the trail. I lost sight of it pretty quickly as it blended in really well with the trunks of the trees, the moss and underbrush. Then I kinda got my sense back, had a bit of a panic moment and realised all I could do was get down that trail as quick as possible, and that’s what I did. I worked my way down he trail until I reached the midway gondola station, got on a gondola, got back to the village and my hotel room as quick as I could.

I honestly believe I saw a sasquatch that day, not a giant one like some people describe, a smaller one and from the amount of grey I could see in the hair around his face and shoulder, probably an old one. I think I disturbed him doing something (what I have no idea) but he was not that upset as to charge me, instead, he growled and gave the same sort of exasperated huff that I have given my kids at times and turned and walked off from the annoyance that was me.”