Tracking Bigfoot
Daily writer heads to the woods in search of the elusive ape
By Dionne Desiano
May 06, 2005
Hiking in the middle of the woods, miles away from the nearest pay phone, I find myself clumsily taking large steps to keep up with the group in the dark forest, dimly lit by starlight.
I'm with members of the Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BFRO) searching for Bigfoot. We're hiking through woods two hours west of Naches, Wash. searching for the "Great American Ape."
Earlier that day I met the group at a campsite set up on a closed campground, where the rangers wouldn't be patrolling and where help would be miles away.
As soon as I sat down with the group, I was told outlandish stories about a 10-foot-tall Bigfoot swinging from pine tree to pine tree in this forest.
The scientific term for a Bigfoot is Sasquatch, which means "wild man."
Kristine Walls, a temporary employee at the UW botany department, must have seen the look of disbelief on my face upon hearing these stories, because she told me to walk with her. She invited 27-year-old UW senior Tracy Herigstad to come as well. We were the only women on this Bigfoot expedition.
Walls said BFRO is selective when choosing its members, and that many members are intellectuals as well as people with a general interest in the lore of Bigfoots. To become a member, a person must be dedicated to the group and want to offer something to the Bigfoot community.
"I have always been intrigued by the unknown. That is why I have always loved camping and have been an avid Unsolved Mysteries watcher," said Herigstad. "It's my exploratory spirit that has gotten me interested in Bigfoot."
Walls said the average person wouldn't be interested in pursuing Bigfoot, but this group has techniques to get a Bigfoot's attention, and therefore a likelier chance for a close encounter. Singing, whistling and frying bacon are great ways to encourage a Bigfoot encounter, she said.
I learned that Herigstad has had a number of "Class A" Bigfoot sightings, which are rare. This means she claims to have had visuals of the creature in the wild.
She became active in the BFRO last August, and has gone on several expeditions in places such as New Mexico, Florida, California and West Virginia.
According to BFRO, there are 2,000 to 6,000 Bigfoots roaming the United States. With a total of 354 sightings, Washington reports the most Bigfoot sightings in the nation.
BFRO members explained that Bigfoots are not dangerous. They have had many encounters with humans, and there have been no reports of anyone being attacked by one.
Since actual sightings of Bigfoots are so rare, Bigfoot trackers must turn to the other senses in an attempt to pin down the beast.
There are a number of sounds in the woods at night that will alert trackers to the fact that a Bigfoot is nearby, including "wood knocks." These are the sounds heard when a Bigfoot smashes branches into tree trunks.
On rare occasions, one might even catch the scent of a Big Foot. Herigstad said it smells like wet dog, rotting meat, rotting garbage and sewage all at once.
Another way to spot a Bigfoot is through "eye shine." When walking through the woods, if a tracker feels like something is following him or her and looks around to see shining eyes watching from behind the trees, the tracker may have spotted a Bigfoot.
The group has prerecorded calls and "call blasts" that a BFRO member will call out to Bigfoots in hopes of hearing a return call.
These calls are about five seconds long, extremely loud and obnoxiously unnatural.
Walls said the apes have their own language similar to talking backward in English.
Native Americans are said to have a close relationship with Bigfoots, according to BFRO. They have known of the creature for a long time, and it can be found in traditional stories. Native Americans have a genuine respect for Bigfoots because they are similar to humans.
By dusk there were packs of coyote howling at each other from either side of our campsite after several call-blast attempts made by Herigstad.
They had no success in having a Bigfoot respond, but it seemed every other animal in the forest thought the call blasts were worth replying to, including the frogs, owls and coyotes. Walls explained that sometimes Bigfoots respond to coyotes instead.
Later that night, after another series of "call blasts," an animal from the woods responded to the calls. Half of the group thought it was an owl -- the other half thought it was a Bigfoot.
This type of disagreement seemed to go on most of the night. During the midnight hike, two people, including Herigstad, split from the group and went to look for Bigfoots themselves. Fifteen minutes later, they spotted one crossing a river, going into the trees.
What happened next was, to me, the most ridiculous part of the trip. Herigstad called in on her walkie-talkie and said she was experiencing "infra-sound."
Walls explained to me that humans can only hear a certain frequency of sounds, but that Bigfoots can growl at a frequency below a human's hearing capabilities. When this happens, it makes hair stand on end and arms and legs go numb.
When Herigstad experienced this a few other members from our group made us hustle over to her and they then also experienced infrasound.
For me, this meant was we all had to stand there waiting for the magic to die down so we could keep moving.
Since this area was getting such a high level of activity, the group members decided to drive around with trucks and spotlights looking for a Bigfoot. The night ended without another sighting.
"If you are lucky enough to see Bigfoot, once you take your attention away from them, they're gone," said Walls.
After retiring to bed after the night hike, I was constantly reawoken to more call blasts being made from members lying in their tents. At 5 a.m. Walls told me it was time to search for Bigfoot's footprints in the fresh morning dew of the forest. We found none.
Walls ended the morning hike by speaking about a famous 16-second video known as the "Patterson footage" that many claim shows a female ape or Bigfoot in the forest. BFRO members said the footage is real and proves the existence of Bigfoots in America.
Remains of a dead Bigfoot have not been found, according to BFRO, because no one has looked for them.
"There are thousands of people who have seen what they feel is a 9-foot ape from every profession and all walks of life," said Walls. "People who come forward have a lot to lose."
I left the trip, feeling unimpressed and unconvinced. Each occurrence of Bigfoot evidence could be explained away by some other natural phenomenon.
At one point, a group member kept saying he heard "wood knocks," but little did he know it was my water bottle hitting the side of my hip.
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