Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

A listener writes “Hi my name is Matt I moved to northwest Montana about 13yrs ago from the east coast of Delaware. Anyway I will just get right to the story.

There is a lot to the whole background of story that might seem boring to some and very long to type in this email to help you visualize the whole magnitude of the story for me. Just moving out here alone from Delaware to being in the great bear wilderness state forest just across hwy 2 east of glacier national park. So my buddy Ron and his friend Rocky from work decided to go hike into Marion lake which turned out to be 3 to 5 miles in and a very strenuous hike up to the lake.

Took about 2 1/2 hrs. No one else was on the trail nor at lake. Ive never seen anything like this in my life. So beautiful so remote and at times almost like a rain forest. The undergrowth is so thick. When your down in the valley and you look up at the mountains you can see where avalanches have occurred during winter and knocked down all the huge pine trees. For someone it would appear that this was just a green rolling meadow but when you get up in there its an impenetrable green undergrowth of mixed saplings, grasses,bushes that reach 10 to 12 ft in height.

I call it bear grass cause walking on the trail this stuff towering over you on either side I would think man if there is a grizzly bear in there it could just lunge right out and be on top of you and you would never see it coming except for that second. Not to mention now what I think and know what else calls these forests home.

So anyway we finally reach the lake and its just picture perfect crystal clear blue water. The lake is nestled at the back of this bowl of halfway up trees then turns to all rocky barren steep mountain tops all the way around this u shaped bowl. I don’t know if its just to steep for trees past that point or we’ve reached the altitude of any growth. The whole point in this venture was to fish high mountain lakes that don’t get fished out. So it was what we thought every other cast fish on cut throat trout 15 to 18 inches long. Perfect I love to fish. So I noticed about 75 to 100 yrds away was a rocky out crop underwater that jutted out 20 to 30 ft out then dropped into a deep hole. I thought that’s my spot. So I left the other 2 guys and made it to my spot. Sure enough first cast big ol fish.

Hears where it gets interesting as I pull the fish out of water and taking off hook behind me up over my left shoulder about 60 ft up the steep bank behind me in the trees and bear grass I hear what I thought and actually kinda chuckled to myself. I heard a bird whistle. Now I say I chuckled cause even looked back behind me cause it was like a whistle of approval of the fish i just pulled out of the water. I remember thinking even the birds up here appreciate the fish. So I caught another and threw it with the other one in the rocks on shore behind me as im standing in the water up to my knees at the edge of this deep hole. So I holler to Ron to come bring me a stringer. I had to yell twice. I was very focused on the fishing but remember hearing something else up and behind me but associated to bird activity.

So Ron reaches me and is putting fish on stringer im casting and hooking another fish when Ron says what is that noise. I said yeah ive been hearing something since I moved to this spot. As I turned around Ron was looking up in that same area. Where the sounds and whistle came from was a snag which is what the locals call a dead tree that was about 60 ft maybe more up on the steep slope and about 40ft tall broken off some ways up the tree it had no top. It was a large old dead tree 3ft around maybe 4. So were both looking up in that direction when crackkkkk that dead tree looked to be snapped off dropped down a foot held in that position for a few seconds then wham pushed straight for us with so much force the bark that was on it peeled apart and butterflied back on its self.

The tree flew vertical a bit till it got hung up towards the bottom then crashed over pointed directly at us the opposite direction the wind was even blowing. I can see the whole situation in my mind and the way I felt at that moment like it was yesterday but 10 yrs ago. Ron has his back to me and his body shuddered and his arms went out to either side pole in his right stringer and 2 trout in his left as he did this he let out a “oh shit” and he doesn’t cuss. Now me new to kalispell and the rocky mountains and Ron being here his entire life the tone in his voice even though I couldn’t see his face I could feel this was not good and something he was not used to seeing no gun no bear spray.

It seem to get real quiet until that bear grass started moving as if you put an arm out pushed away to one side then took one step forward then the other arm push aside another step one by one something on 2 legs working its way down at an angle at first then cutting back to left then straight towards us.

I felt as if i was falling backwards into a tunnel and felt I was now on food chain. I cant explain how it really felt in words. So whatever this was comes all the way down to us but is just out of sight right in front of us in this bear grass and nothing silent motionless it could see us you could feel it. What do we do Ron what do we do I kept saying Ron didnt answer.

I dont know how long we stood there but finally something in me said the fish. I told Ron throw the fish in there and he did. That was it we worked our way slowly back the way we came and left. Something followed us halfway back as soon as it stopped following i could feel that it had stopped this was halfway down the mountain.”