Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

A listener writes “Hey Wes, I recently found Sasquatch Chronicles…. and now, I’m hooked !!!!

You seem to have the intellectual ability and compassion to connect with just about every personality you Encounter (no pun intended.)

It’s a rare gift and you use it well, even if you’re cynical humor creeps out a bit.

Its you’re ability, that drives the success of the show and the sky’s the limit as far as your future endeavors. Ok, enough with the compliments.

First off, this encounter is not as entertaining a story as I would have liked it to be however, it was and event that has stayed with me for the better part of 25 years and it always seemed a little strange.

About 20+ years ago, I was driving cross country from California to Connecticut with a good friend of mine. We planned to camp the entire length of the trip and our first stop was scheduled to be Yosemite. So, Chuck and Myself, along with his very young black lab pup, crammed in the cab of a 1987 Toyota pick up truck. The truck bed was filled with camping gear and towed behind that four-cylinder engine was a U-haul trailer with all of my worldly possessions, including a waterbed and my motorcycle (entirely too much weight for the sierra Nevada mountains, especially going down.)

I believe it was early May, and the camping areas directly inside the park were filled. So after a short hike on our first day (which was amazing,) we drove out of the park, looking for a place to camp. About a mile or two away from the park, we pulled off onto a dirt road that led to an area about the size of two football fields where we were able to secure an offsite campground with dozens of other people already there.

Sasquatch was probably the last thing on my mind. This is not to say that I didn’t believe, I had always been intrigued by the subject however, it just was not something I was at all thinking about. I had just dropped out of college and I wasn’t sure what I was doing with the rest my life and I was dreading the wrath of my father when I got back to Connecticut.

That night my sleep was restless and after tossing and turning most of the night, I decided to stoke the fire and make myself a cup of tea. As I was smoking a cigarette, drinking my tea and listening to Chuck snore, I realized I had some time to kill before Chuck would even think of getting up. I looked in the truck to the small clock glued to the dashboard and it wasn’t even 5 o’clock in the morning yet. I then decided I would take a hike on my own, and hopefully I would see some wildlife. I hiked about a mile or a mile and a half through an old weathered path and entered a huge meadow. I’ve got to be honest it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. The meadow was about a half mile by half mile and there was a stream trickling through the far end of the opening. All I could think was that this area must be a great place to see wildlife. I don’t actually know what I was expecting to see, perhaps a bear or an elk.

At this point I started walking slowly through this meadow towards the small stream. I got about 25 feet from the water and in the dense woods to my right, a branch snapped. This was not a twig that snapped, the branch must’ve been an inch thick and it stopped me dead in my tracks. Immediately after that I heard a growl, a growl that I could tell was intended for ME to hear. To the best of my knowledge whatever was in those woods was something I was not familiar with. The tone of the growl was so low that it vibrated in my chest cavity and was one of the scariest moments of my life.

That entire quarter to half-mile through the meadow I walked backwards, because I was afraid to turn my back to those woods. Finally I got back to the path where I enter the meadow and I sat down for on a small stump and I waited. I waited for over a half an hour looking over that meadow and I saw nothing.

I have told this story many times, it has become ingrained in my mind and is something I will never forge however, the animal I thought that made that sound, has recently changed. Any person I ever spoke with, said it must’ve been a bear or perhaps a cougar and for 20+ years I agreed with them however, today I’m not so sure that that wasn’t a Sasquatch.

It just didn’t make sense. First of all you would never hear a cougar coming and secondly this was early May so any bear cruising around would surely be very hungry. That day, I honestly had prepared myself to be charged by a wild animal. Listening to a lot of the encounters on your show I’m sure glad I wasn’t charged.

Again, I know this isn’t a great encounter, especially compared to some on your show but I figured I’d let you know about my admiration for the show and what happened to me in the Sierra Nevada’s 25 years ago.

I would love to know your thoughts on this encounter and I have some questions if you have time.”