A listener writes “Good day to you Wes, I am a new listener to the show. You are welcome to call me Bryan. Very fascinating stories, and I love the neutral approach you take on each situation. Hearing other peoples seemingly legitimate stories made me feel a lot better about the intriguing yet haunting memories I carry with me each day.
A bit of background on myself, I am a 23 year old guy employed at one of the “Big Three” automakers in the Detroit area. I enjoy nature and the outdoors, fishing, kayaking, camping, biking you name it. A state surrounded by incredible freshwater seas makes a great place to do those things.
It all started when I was 16, myself and a group of three other friends all decided to get together and go backpacking through a river system In the incredibly expansive Huron-Manistee National Forest. Upon arrival, we spent most of the first day surveying the area and we eventually settled upon a spot on a ridge along the river. In retrospect this was a very popular game trail for the local wildlife residents. The sun was setting, and on the opposite ridge across the river, we heard what sounded like a very strong man going to town on some firewood, with perfect rhythm. We initially thought this was strange to hear another camper in the area, as we were very deep in the woods with incredibly hilly and forested terrain, but that’s the only thing logic allowed us to come up with. The behaviors of these things were completely unknown to me at this time. As the fire burned we noticed we were surrounded by coyotes. This didn’t bother us as we were armed, and they are at times just curious animals.
I mention the coyotes for a reason. As we were settled in on the second night we heard the frenzied yips back and forth between a distant pack, but there was a different call that seemed to reply to them about a mile away, and the reach and wail of it gave me goosebumps. If I were to speculate I would definitely say it seemed like they were communicating. I awoke out of a peaceful sleep to that same horrible scream, except it was right across the river from us. The sheer decibels of this thing made is sound like the wail of a thousand banshees. It seemed to vibrate my bones. I was paralyzed in my tent. Obviously we all woke up and whimpered to each other’s tents trying to rationalize what in the world would do that. As I sat there waiting for what seemed like hours, I entered a half sleep sort of trance and was subsequently ripped out of it to the sound of that same smashing of trees, except it seemed literally 10 feet above us and around us at the same time. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! My head was spinning, so sure that our craniums were next. The sheer power and rhythm of these impacts around us made me just slump in my bag in fear. They eventually stopped, and I just laid there until I finally saw the glorious hues of light from the coming sun. This seemingly supernatural entity made no sounds upon exit. We left the next morning. The group was more bewildered as to what it was than simply fear. I initially thought we somehow angered Native American spirits or something. The stealth skills of this thing was just other worldly.
Fast forward over a year or so, I entertained the idea of the intruder being a Bigfoot. After a bit of research about the tree knocks it was all starting to add up. The real confirmation was hearing some vocalization recordings, many of which instantly gave me chills. They were identical. I was so fascinated, I convinced one of the members of the group to make a return trip to the same spot, with these cryptic animals as the objective. We were armed to the teeth for our own safety, but I had a camera which was the weapon I really wanted to use. It was time to settle our mutual speculation on what had the audacity to disturb us camping.
We packed fairly light. Canned food and granola bars, which we stored high in a tree bag to prevent anything from rustling the campsite and potentially distracting us from what we wanted to find. It was very early spring, but we immediately found it odd that the forest was so silent. I’m talking ear ringing, hear every molecule of air through your bronchial tubes silent. Nevertheless, we spent the day scouting the area fishing the river and catching trout to our hearts content. We noticed a den like area inside of a massive fallen tree near the cliff of the river bank, and agreed that would be a promising place to investigate post sunset.
With the click-on of our weapon mounted flashlights, we were off. We almost didn’t need them, the moon and stars lit our fern laden path. My friend and I are about 50 feet away from this fallen tree, crouched and waiting. No lights- steady silent breathing. I watch as my friend raises his trembling 30-30 rifle towards the inky blackness. “I see it” he murmurs. “See what?” I whispered back. “I don’t know but it’s moving.” I didn’t see anything. It was pitch black, I almost didn’t even believe him, until he started tilting backwards, and did a complete 180. He didn’t say anything and just started sprinting back to camp. I obviously stayed right on him. As we were running I turned on the spotlight I had brought with me, panning the cascade of ferns we were sprinting along. The actual fear kicked in when I noticed a huge brownish figure or blur keeping pace with us about 30 feet parallel to us, darting through the trees like some phantom or something. At this point I’m at maximum velocity trying to get back to the imaginary safety of a fabric tent, not keeping track of this abomination that was obviously stalking us. We zip the tent up, chambering rounds of every weapon in sight. Now we are waiting. Listening. Silence. Then, from the same direction we had last seen the creature, we hear this seemingly curious cooing or hooting, almost reminiscent of a primate ambling about. It was steadily getting closer. Then the foot steps. Quiet. Rhythmic. Bipedal. Silence. It is next to the tent now. From the top side of the tent, I watch an impression of a hand or similar object approach the side of my friends face. In slow motion, this hand is caressing, inspecting the top of my friends head from outside the tent. His pistol is pointed in the direction of the entity, shaking as tears stream down his face. He was absolutely paralyzed in fear. People deal with terror in different ways, and I guess me maniacally laughing is one of them. I was just in such disbelief that here these boys were with high powered weapons, in the middle of nowhere chasing this creature that we were completely powerless to. I couldn’t bear to look up through the screen mesh and witness what was doing this. The bizarre fondling finally stopped, and we heard large sticks being broken making way for this seemingly large animal. Thankfully darkness does not last forever, and at first light we were making departure preparations. We inspected the site, and found a ankle width young tree snapped in half at our torso length. It was not there the previous day.
These memories and imagery still follow me today and although incredibly fascinating, it has changed my perception of the outdoors and I now find the most comfort in dense urban areas, even though I grew up in a rural area. I do still explore the woods with friends and sometimes with the intent to bump shoulders with one of these again, but I find I am usually on edge when the sun sets. I did not feel fear for my life on the second expedition, I was only left with more questions. I really enjoy the show and I’d be delighted to have a talk with you and see your thoughts on this. The Manistee forest area is a hot spot for Bigfoot related reports.”