During our most recent night outing we discovered this fellow positioned on the right shoulder of the forestry service road we were driving on. It was set approximately two feet off to the right of the road surface itself. It was approximately 12" tall. The top rock was pointing roughly due Southeast down into a deep valley. The top rock was slightly larger than my own hand. The rocks still had loose dirt and dust clinging to them (we received a fairly heavy rain the night before). It is currently firearms season here. What would you think?

Everyone knows only sasquatch is capable of these things!

What do I win?

Old men with long grey beards search you out for wisdom. Don't they?

Aye! And I bestow it freely!

If only that were all you bestowed.

I'm still looking for the power cord. As the photo make it look like some of those translucent plastic rocks with a light bulb in it.



OK Sam, quit beating me - I'm returning to my cave.

A plastic light up rock formation might actually be a good Christmas hit. In this case though, its the beam of my Maglite blending with the flash from the digital camera.

Hey Bitter Monk , I've seen these rock stacks many times in the area I go to fairly often. They're usually on the side of the trail or on the wooded edge of a campsite. I've read about BF making them. I can imagine a bored camper playing around , but it is unusual to see them beside the road halfway up the mountain. Hunters put things on the side of the road to mark their deer trail , it's mostly ribbon , reflector tape , drink cans or bottles , and such. It would'nt make sense to mark your hunting trail with a pile of rocks so Bubba can run them over with his truck. One thing I've noticed is they're always between 12 to 15 inches in height .Thanks for posting the pics BM! :bf:

Indeed they do. My initial hypothesis after looking it over was that someone had killed a deer down in the valley, and that rather than attempt to drag it out themselves, had marked the spot from the road and then gone back for help.

That it's not as well done as some I saw by a river in North Cascades National Park. One was an actual bridge made entirely of river rock. The nasty old ranger destroyed it before I could get my camera, which was nearby at the campground.

These are those kinds of things that we can't say are definately BF or not, but make you wonder. When I see things like this, sometimes I say to myself, why would I have any reason to believe a person didn't do it. But then I think, why would a person do it?

Rock formations can occur naturally. During ice ages, glaciers break rock surface and rocks are carried to where the glacier ends, causing a rock pile, not all rock formations are bigfoot related.

I can't tell you how many times I've had the same thought.

Why do people do anything they do? Because they can!

http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/37306

http://www.rock-on-rock-on.com/cairns.html

I only wish I had that kind of time on my hands.

hi bitter monk good evening whats new are you currently investigating any resent sasquatch encounters in your state. i hope your doing great. please keep me postedok. bill. p.s. have you made any new ga bigfoot t-shirts or memberiela for your online store im just wondering.

I lean toward the marker(deer or deer stand, perhaps?), idea. This past summer, I marked the location of a game camera set a bit off a logging road in pretty much the same manner, by placing a few small stones atop one another.

BM, I don't think its hunters either.. Kids maybe.. Not sure on this one at all. Look around further in the woods and see if you pick anything else up here!!! Good Luck...

Crew Chief

BM,

Very likely is a marker but maybe not hunters.

Are there any Native American communities close by? I know that I've seen plenty rock stacks along routes through reservations and along roads who's origins date back to forest trails. The markers were used to donote the "safe trails" or "best route to take".

WIS

Not sure where in GA you were but if you were in NW GA near cave country it could be placed by cavers. Caver often use rock cairns to mark cave locations and/or starting points for directions to caves. Not sure where we evolved into doing that but there has been much discussion lately in caving circles as to the origin.

Paleocaver I was going to advise BM the same thing about the cave markers. I live in NW Georgia and see them all the time on Pigeon Mountain. Good area for caving.

Trail sighs

Regardless of who made the marker, and I say with certain it is new. We're in the area enough to pick up on such details, and with its close proximity to the road there's simply no way we could have driven past it 20-30 times without my having noticed it.

As for children, there's no campsites (established or otherwise) in the immediate area, although that still wouldn't rule them out.

Thanks for the caving information paleo and PF. Its a hard valley to get down into but it might we worth the effort if there are indeed caves there.

A cavers discussion a few months back centered around Pigeon Mountain, GA noises, one caver told of hearing a noise that scared the wits out of them. Years later he heard the same noise from his TV in the living room as he was in the kitchen. Checking it out it was a program about Bigfoot and someone imitiating the Texas Bigfoot screams. He said it was the same as the scream he heard those years before.

Also cavers report many screams in the hills of Tennessee.

Even was a discussion about the Carter farm.

As far as area being far off the beaten path, cavers often make hikes of two to three miles to get to a cave. Many more if on a ridgewalk - a systematic search for new caves. Covering 50 or more miles a day is not unheard of.

holycow... have read a lot of stuff on good ol' BFF, but must say I am most impressed with folks covering "50 miles or more a day" on the ridges down there, AND, systematically looking for new caves at the same time. Sounds like the sort of dudes (or dudettes) BFRO needs for some scouting.

That would definately qualify as being called a "hump".

Intresting report about the guy hearing a scream on Pigeon Mountain , Paleocaver. That is the area I have had at least 3 experiances over the past few years. I wondered if many others had anything happen up there. Peppersfarms , do you have any stories from the mountain? Thanks guys!

When you go into the woods you are deprived of TV and the Internet. I propose people may do this out of boredom.

If you've ever whittled or made a whistle out of a cane stalk you know this to be too true.

paleocaver,, The US Army's looking for a few guys like you!!!! 50 mile hump through the Ga. Mtns and you're Ranger Material!!!!! Good Luck...

Crew Chief

There were a number of reports in the late 60’s and early 70’s around a Rock Query, sightings were made by farmers, hunters and high school kids. During that time period some friends and myself were camping at Dixon Springs at the foot of Pigeon around 2 or 3 AM one of friends brother shows up and advises he heard animal scream behind his house, and it was headed in our direction he made us go to the house with him. We never heard anything.

I’ve never found a track or had an actual sighting, I’ve heard some interesting vocals couldn’t say for sure what it was. I hear a lot of stories about big cats in this area although I’ve never seen one myself, other than a few Bobcats. I’m outside all the time working in the fields at night and fishing.

Investigated an interesting occurrences last year. A number of dead deer, a woman who lived off the road in a trailer, in the same area, who claimed someone was throwing rocks against her trailer. I never found any solid evidence. It was about this same time last year and so far there has been no reoccurrence.

A neighbor who has caving parties and even a few caving conventions on his farm Advised he had a friend who had a sighting in the area of a cave on Pigeon.

There are some good areas for wildlife, including BF, on Pigeon plenty of food with game, livestock, berries, nuts, fruit and ETC. I think BF could get fat and sassy on Pigeon.

Each year more and more people visit Pigeon, I think that DNR reported over 100,000 visitors last year with that kind of intrusion it may drive BF if there are any in the area away or deeper into remote areas. There is a report in BFRO on Pigeon and here is the link.

Good hearing from folks who know the area.

I don’t know how many of yall have been caving, but let me tell ya you have to be in good shape to do caving. It is some strenuous exercise.

:surrender:

Pigeon BFRO report

Oops a typo to be sure. My hands get carried away.

I meant 5 miles.

One of my last ridgewalks put in 8 miles.

If we could do 50 we could cover a lot of ground.

Thanks for catching my goof guys.

Question...is there a resource to find out if and where caves are located in the area?

Stacked rocks found on a dirt road during the UP trip earlier this year. Most likely to mark the trail for berry pickers or ATV riders,as there were several overgrown roads and two tracks in the area that looked very similar to each other. Nightwing next to it for size perspective.

Like Lookout Mountain, Pigeon Mountain is laced with caves that wind all through the limestone rock. There are many cave entrances on the mountain, and it is an important location for cavers throughout the Southeast. Ellison's Cave contains two exceptionally deep pits—Fantastic Pit at 586 feet and Incredible Dome Pit at 440 feet. About 13 miles of Ellison's Cave have been explored and mapped. In fact, it is likely that Pigeon Mountain is a vast system of underground caverns and stream channels. Pettijohn's Cave was first described in 1837. Approximately 6 miles of passageways in this cave have been mapped, and new passages are still being discovered. This cave has seen much more use than Ellison's and has sustained more damage to its mineral formations.

It should be emphasized also that the underground can be an extremely dangerous area to explore for individuals unfamiliar with the skills required in caving. Caves should be explored only in the company of well-equipped, experienced cavers.

For more information: Because of the danger of caving and the fragile nature of caves, directions are not provided. For information on the sport of caving, contact the National Speleological Society, 2813 Cave Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35810-4431. Phone (205) 852-1300. Fax (205) 851-9241. E-mail nss@caves.org. World Wide Web http://www.caves.org



SHERPA GUIDE LINK

Thanks for the info Pepper. Now that the state has paved Rocky Lane from the check station to the top , acess is easier for everyone. I used to have to put it in 4LO to get up and down. That smooth crusher-run gravel is a skid-off waiting to happen!

No joke, I was exploring a cave on Monteagle Mtn. when I was 15 and fell 20ft. bounced off 2 outcroppings on the way down and wound up cracking 3 ribs and punched a nickel sized hole through my left shoulder blade, not to mention having to crawl back out of there. Not fun... I have a tremendous respect for spelunking now..

At one time, I did a lot of horseback riding in the Kiamichi Mountains of SE OK. Many of the trails are marked, but we have used stacked rocks to point the way we had traveled up a mountain or off a marked trail.

Up there, you have to use rocks because the ground is covered in them and the horse prints won't always show up for people to follow.

Thanks Peppers...I was hoping if there is some info out there, then it could help BM determine if that is a cave marker. As far as spelunking goes, you'll never see me try that.....too damn claustrophobic!!!

Don’t know if ya were around in the old days, but a ride across the mountain resulted in a jeep or two being towed back with broken suspension parts, busted radiator because of broken motor mounts. A few broken axles were also the norm.

We would work all week to fix our jeeps so we go back again next weekend and tear them up again!!!! :surrender:

I preferred it that way myself, but can't stop progress I guess.

The gravel was a danger that's for sure, I am gland that has been fixed.

I have seen rock formations on pigeon mtn. my self. We try to go up there at least every other weekend. By the way I hate the new road!!!!!!!!!

Hey...welcome to another Ga. person!!

Hi jeepman,, you trying to put one over your hood?? Or are you a picture taker too?? Just wondering!!!

Crew Chief

Crewchief, If the big guy jumps in front of me and I can't stop, then the big-un will
be on my hood. Hay theres ower proof. :bffrules:

Pigeon Mountain update: I went there tonite, I was dismayed to see the Georgia DNR in its infinite wisdom has seen fit to CLOSE ALL CAMPSITES on top of the mountain, including the popular Rocktown trailhead.The only campsites open are the 2 at the foot of the mountain next to the cave trailhead. Also the 2 gates on either end of the Sawmill Camp road and Hood Overlook are locked. Seems to me they wasted a ton of money paving to the top, only to shut everything down once you take that nice smooth drive to the top!

FWIW, we used to make those rock stacks in Scouts. We marked trails, tent sites etc. with them. Just sayin...

He's right, ya know...

Let's not forget that, geologically speaking, it wasn't that long ago that Georgia was covered in glaciation...

Native Americans did mark trails with stacked rocks, but the rocks today would appear very old...settled and covered in lichen.

Historic trails are generally marked with tree blazes, but did have stacked rocks, which again would look old today.

These look brand new, and there are many reasons why they'd be there. Miners are required by law to mark the corners of their claims (often there are claim papers under the rocks); hunters mark them for directions to good camps; hikers marker them; etc. The newest craze is geo-caching...hiding something in the woods, posting the GPS coordinates on a public forum, and seeing who can find them. Stacked rocks appear when you are getting close.

It gets pretty frustrating sometimes when you are out in the field and come across dozens of these. The U.S. Forest Service is thinking about asking all forest visitors to refrain from building stacks, and if they do, then to return the rock to nature once the activity is concluded.

Thank you Kathy for hitting the proverbial nail on the head. While this stack was obviously made very recently (in regards to the time photographed), there are literaly dozens of reasons for how and why it was made. Just because something looks odd or strange doesn't mean it has an odd or strange explanation.

[QUOTE]
I rode up ther last night, signs posted in campsights said "No camping outside of managed hunts. Due to litter& environmental impact. This doesn't explain roads being closed. We was wanting to ride down passed the lake at sawmill camp, but the gate was closed at the lake. Looks like we'er going to have to start investagating at cohutta now. please forgive the spelling, have had just 1 cup of coffee this morning.