Sometimes I like to pick a spot anywhere in the US that is suspected to be bigfoot habitat and I just start looking at maps. All kinds of maps: bear density, foliage, precipitation, topographic, wilderness/roadless areas, etc. I did that tonight with Del Norte County in California

I was following US 199 along the Smith River at the Topozone website when I came to an odd place name: Monkey Creek.

Yeah, I know... X marks the bigfoot isn't the way it works. It still peaked my curiosity. For anyone interested, it's a few miles east of Gasquet on US 199 in the Smith River NRA.

There's also a creek that comes off of the South Fork of the Smith River that intrigued me a couple of years ago. I was trying to find it again tonight when I stumbled on Monkey Creek. What I was originally looking for was Eightmile Creek, which is smack dab in the middle of nowhere. If the topo is correct (and that's *always* questionable), then there are no roads or trails along Eightmile and its offshoots in an enormous area of forest.

Follow the south fork of the Smith River long enough (like to the Prescott Fork) and you get to a big expanse of a wholelottanuthin' except forest and water. Prescott Lake just sits all by its lonesome next to the county line between Del Norte and Siskiyou.

Just a guess... I'd bet that travelling a mile on foot through that terrain would take the better part of a day for a person in excellent health... longer if loaded down with gear. When there is no road or trail, there's usually a reason. The area I'm talking about may be within the Siskiyou Wilderness. I can't tell the exact boundaries from the map I'm looking at.

Anyone want to go camping for a month?

*sigh*

I recognized the name, so I did a search.

The first one:



But for a good chuckle:



As for the location you talk of, yes it's very remote. And if you notice, go a bit more east and there's Happy Camp. That's another place that's mentioned often in reports.

Places that make you go hmmm.

Too funny on Monkey Creek...

Backpacking across that terrain to get to the more remote areas wouldn't be practical. I wonder if there are outfitters who run camping trips with pack animals (i.e. mules, llamas) in any of the surrounding counties? An internet search revealed plenty of fishing guides, but nothing on pack animals. If rented gear, animals, and a guide were available, I'd pay good money just to be out in remote, beautiful country with a small group of trusted folks. I wouldn't be disappointed in the least if there was no sign of a sasquatch.

Anyone know of outfitters with pack animal trips?

Here in the Greater Northwest we have a number geographical features that have names that make you wonder. Ape this and Monkey that. Like Ape Canyon and Ape Cave lava tube near Mt. St. Helen's, where there have been reputed bigfoot sightings.

Then there are other areas that have strange names. Like "The Crazy Hills", just to the east of, and overlooking the Skookum Meadows where the Skookum body cast was made. And you wonder why these particular names were given to spacific areas.

Most probibly just a coincidence that the name is given to an area or feature that has a later and recorded history of sightings. But it does make you wonder why these spacific names were picked by the first people to enter the area.

Maybe someone with something better than an old dialup computer can look up the origins of some of the place names in our region. Be a good project for someone.

Six Rivers National Forest Map

Check out the map description...

The Six Rivers National Forest, a relatively undiscovered natural gem, is a mountain playground for the North Coast and interior valley communities. With over 355 of California’s wild and scenic rivers on federals lands, its 1,500 miles of waterways offer fantastic whitewater and river recreation opportunities. The combination of dramatic settings, water-based recreation opportunities, outstanding salmon and steelhead fishing, remoteness from major urban populations, and rich cultural heritage make the Six Rivers National Forest a perfect choice for every visitor. Also on this map the Smith River National Recreation Area (NRA) has all the best of California’s North Coast, offering diverse botanical and wildlife habitat, and the enticing crystal clear waters of the state’s purest river stretching from the coastal mountains to the redwood forest. Further south the steelhead trout capital of the world, the Orleans Ranger District, provides rugged mountains, steep canyons, and old trees in the heart of Bigfoot country.

The South Kelsey Trail is the closest to some of the spots I've mentioned. Sounds fairly rugged...

South Kelsey Trail

You may or may not want to look at my posts in the report publication section, on Tannen Lake and Bolan Lake, http://www.bigfootforums.com/index.php?showforum=21 They are "relatively" close to where you're talking. I'll be back up there probably in November, if I can get there before it starts snowing in the area I want to research.

I have driven through that area many times and it is good BF habitat. Go more to the east and you have Oregon Caves and the Illinois River Canyon. Other good areas.

We live near the head waters of the Elk River that is a few hours north. Look at this area on the map. Glad to guide a camping party in this area.