-Ace!
INTRODUCTION
This was not a detailed and specific “expedition” to obtain specific evidence of sasquatch.
This was a camping and fishing trip with a couple of friends. I was told when I had gone to another lake near here that Tannen Lake was more remote or secluded and got far less traffic than Bolan Lake, where I had previously “explored”. Tannen Lake is located in the Red Buttes Wilderness, approximately .5 – 1 mile north of the California/Oregon border, and approximately 30 miles south of Cave Junction, Oregon. It would be considered SSW Oregon.
We were camped near the lake in one of two primitive campsites that we saw near the lake. We fished, swam and hiked during the day and were in our tents by midnight each night. During the day I used binoculars to scan the ridges and mountains for movement. I also am very familiar with tracks in the area and spent a considerable amount of time listening (unaided) for movement and animal sounds and looking for tracks, prints and scats.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
There is a large amount of diversity in the Siskiyous and it would be easier to read the forest service description than write it all out here, so please look here for a more detailed description of the environment (in general):
http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/rogue/wilderness_redbutte.html
More specifically, Tannen Lake is set at approximately 5000’ elevation in the Red Buttes Wilderness of the Siskiyou mountain range. The lake was stocked at some point, by pack mule, with brook trout. They were not easy to catch, but they did seem to like flies and several made their way to our campfire for dinner.
The temperatures were moderate, in the 70s during the day and in the 50s at night. It was bright, sunny and without clouds or any weather to speak of.
The moon was approximately one quarter full.
Friday small scats were found, likely cougar, bobcat, coyote.
Saturday was spent fishing and hiking. We hiked from Tannen Lake to East Tannen Lake, which is probably close to 1/4 from Tannen Lake as the crow flies, but considerably farther using the trail between the two. East Tannen Lake seemed much more shallow, although we did not go to the far edge of the lake where the steepest part of the mountainside comes into it, where it may have a more steep slope and may be more deep.
There was considerable quail talk in the brush and one quail was seen running across a hiking trail. Deer tracks were also seen, but not in great numbers.
Saturday night we heard something with some weight walking not far from camp but could not see anything when we flashed our lights in that direction.
Sunday morning, while I was dressing in the camp and making coffee I saw a doe eating approximately 15 yards away. Although she was somewhat skittish, as long as I didn’t make a sudden move she would continue to eat and only occasionally jump or look up at me.
That same morning as I scanned the slope across the lake, where the ridge came down and into the lake I saw a black bear. I went to get my binos and it walked behind some thick brush. It made considerable noise and another in our group went down the trail to scare it back the other direction, but instead stood next to a tree quietly and watched the bear from approximately 30 yards tearing up stumps looking for grubs or termites. It headed away from our camp at that point and it wasn’t seen or heard thereafter.
CULTURAL SETTING
There is small game, grey squirrels, quail and grouse. There are also deer and black bear. The lakes hold trout that was planted many years ago, now native to the lake. People use this area mostly where there are established campgrounds; however, there was a group of maybe 8 – 10 people that were looking for large cedar trees (tree-huggers
) that came through for a couple hours. We saw two other fishermen on Saturday and as we broke camp Sunday morning three fisherman came by our camp. There were no others that we saw this weekend using the area overnight or before light or after nightfall.This camp gets far less traffic than some others in Southern Oregon and is considered primitive and remote. There were two stone fire rings in the immediate area of the lake that are not cleaned out or maintained. There is almost no other sign of camping. The only other signs of use that I saw were a single beer can, fishing line in an area near the lake and old toilet paper.
RESEARCH DESIGN
I planned to use this area in the future for further exploration and wanted to find out the general area and difficulty of travel in this area. I also wanted to see if there was a food source in the area. There are deer, birds, squirrels and rodents in this area.
Also, this is not far (as the crow flies) from the Oregon Caves or Oregon coast where there have been sightings in the past.
I was looking for twist offs or prints in the area, but not as my main area of interest. My first priority was to see if the area was accessible for further or longer study and whether there was a food source.
Scats, tracks and visual of animals confirmed food sources and although the camping is remote and primitive it is not inaccessible and will allow for more intense research in the area.
RESEARCH METHODS
This is probably the most important section of your report. Describe the site in detail, including what vehicle(s) you are using, who is with you (humans or animals), camp organization, duration of event, etc. Also note what methods of evidence collection you intended to use (i.e., if prints are located, how will you handle it – see http://www.bfro.net/ref/fieldres/archaeologicalmethods.asp for additional information of data collection methods). What methods did you employ to lure a sasquatch in? Bait? Sounds? Describe all of what you did, but save the results for the section below.
We drove a 4x4 truck to the end of the forest service road, where it has been washed out and blocked. We then took our packs and hiked approximately 1/4 mile to the lake. You cannot park at the lake, but can park near a trail to the lake. There were five people Friday night, four adults and one seven year old boy. Saturday the boy and his father left and Saturday night and early Sunday it was three adults only.
We came in Friday, approximately 6pm and left at approximately 10am Sunday.
We all carried a firearm on our hips, holstered, and concealed most of the time. We carried no long rifles. We had four very small tents (one was actually a bivy) set in a half circle around the rock fire ring.
We did calls for approximately five minutes several times on Friday night and Saturday morning (more for the seven year old boy’s amusement than to try to call something in).
We had one small stove, two water filters and took our water from the lake. We ate freeze-dried meals, cleaned our area as we went and hung out food from a tree. Our “footprint” in the forest was small, as we kept most things very organized and “tight” to the small campsite.
RESULTS
There were no results, except to show there is a food source for larger animals than humans. There are black bears that use the area and are able to find food, as well as confirmation of rodents, small game/birds and larger game such as deer.
There were tracks/prints of game animals and scats of both game animals and predators. This is an area that would support an indigenous animal as large as or larger than a human.
CONCLUSIONS
This would be a good site to set up a camp and use to study further into the woods with more equipment. The camp is set in a good location that sees some use, but much less than an established campground, with very few overnighters. This camp is just off the main road enough, and just difficult enough to reach to keep 99% of the people out of the specific area (I would expect this to change based on the hunting season).
Also, if a person or persons wanted to set up a very remote study of the area without much encroachment it would be easy to do that near here. With the right equipment, (i.e., bivy, water filter, backpacking stove) it would be fairly easy to maintain a primitive camp that could be nearly unseen or unnoticed by the animals in the area and without question unseen or unnoticed by other people.