Talking with my dad the other day, he reminded me of a strange story I told him after a day hike about 27 years ago. We were on a hunting trip with about 10 people near Challis, Idaho in October 1975. We had stopped our trucks on a dirt road on our way back to camp following our morning hunt to "work" these hillsides that converged at a stream near the road. To our knowledge, there were no other hunters in that area. Four of us went up into the hills to make a giant circle to try to scare up some game and drive them back down towards the stream where the others were waiting. Being young and dumb, I volunteered to be a hiker. As we split up, I thought three of them went up the backside of one hill while I circled the other. As I came over the ridge, I found myself on a very steep, shale-covered slope about 500 feet above the stream. As I was scared of sliding all the way to the bottom on my butt, I sat down to watch the opposite slope while my dad and the other 2 worked that hill. As I sat there, I saw what I thought was one of our hunting party walk across the slope, about 100 feet below the ridgeline. I remember thinking, boy, he is going to get shot, dressed in dark clothing like that! It kind of made me mad because he was walking a rather brisk pace, not even stopping to look around for game. I watched him through my riflescope, and for the life of me, I couldn't see any rifle in his hands. My dad had brought along one of our neighbors who had very little experience hunting, and I figured it was that guy. After about 30 minutes, I saw my dad and his other buddy come into view. They were much lower on the slope and I estimated their range to be about 400 yards, but seemed to be smaller in comparison to the other figure I had seen earlier. We waved at each other to work our way back towards the others. When we got back to the trucks, the neighbor, of course, was late in arriving. While waiting for him, dad was joking about seeing him walking along the ridge with his rifle still in it's zippered case, as is was raining lightly. I told him that I thought I had seen him, but saw no rifle and almost shot at him as he was dressed in dark clothing. Dad said "He had an orange vest and orange cap on, and how did you see him when he was above and behind you?” I said, "No, he was above and behind you." When the neighbor with the clean and dry rifle returned, he confirmed my dad's report. So I said, "Well then, who was that I saw?” Everyone was too tired and wet to care. We went back to camp and forgot all about it, until the other day. Now I'm starting to wonder all over again.

Cool story, RB!

I'll bet you've been driving yourself crazy wondering about it too now that you recalled it again.

That's amazing RB! I almost wonder if it was BF! Your Dad and his friend must have pushed him past you. I wonder if it new you were there, and that's why it crossed below you. Do you remember anything out of the ordinary from that day? I'll bet if you sit down and let yourself think about being there again, you'll probably remember alot.

scout, I probably could have been more clear in my description...he actually crossed the hillside, near the ridgeline, on the hill across a large ravine from me. That hill was taller than the one I was on. I was way up on one slope and he was on the other. There was a small steam at the bottom of that ravine, and it converged with a larger one that ran between the dirt road and the two hills that we were working. That larger stream by the road was heavily overgrown with thick brush and was very difficult to cross.

He walked from my right to left, about 100 feet or so higher in elevation than I was. I had a very clear view of him, like I was watching a movie. He was probably 500 yards or so from me, which is why I had trouble making out much detail. I had a variable 3 X 9 power scope. After I saw him I cranked the power all the way to 9 and watched him cross the open hillside without obstruction for probably a full minute or so until he disappeared behind the trees. I was watching his entire left profile. He walked rather quickly and did not turn to look at me, as far as I could tell. He did not appear to have much difficulty traversing the terrain, but when my dad walked across, it looked like he was having the same problem as I was with the steep slope and rocks that slide when you step on them. It took dad forever to cross the same amount of space as this other guy, and dad appeared to be much smaller, even though he was obviously somewhat closer to me. Dad was probably 50 feet or so lower in elevation than I was.

And yes scout, it has been driving me nuts thinking about it since then! At the time, I really didn't even know much about Bigfoot, and it certainly didn't even cross my mind at the time that that's what it could be. But I remember being concerned there was some weirdo out there just itching to get shot at. I saw no other trucks, we were out in the middle of nowhere and I kept wondering where the heck that guy came from. This just makes my desire to find the truth more intense than ever!

Why don't you submit that one to the BFRO? Even with your doubts, it sounds like you should...

Yeah, it's probably time to put my money where my big mouth is.

RB, bipto is right. Submit the report. It is amazing! You must have seen bigfoot! What else could it have been? That last comment was very descriptive, I could just picture the whole scene!

nice story! could u make out a height estimate by chance? did u check the area for tracks?

Hi SolidSnake, welcome! Thanks for bringing this thread back from the dead...I love talking about me!

Good questions! Estimated height, hmmm, well, it would have to be a very rough estimate...the sighting was at several hundred yards. But the first thing that struck me as odd regarding the size was that when I first saw the thing walking across the hillside was that I thought to myself, "Wow, I'm a lot closer to that ridge than I thought. Look how close that guy looks!" But then later, when my dad came into view, he seemed smaller even though he was obviously closer. My dad was about 6ft tall at the time, and this dude was much taller and broader...but not fat...kinda "lanky" I'd say. A really rough estimate would be at least 8ft. tall...with really long arms that he/she swung like a cross-country skier as he walked...and taking rather long strides as well.

Nope, I didn't go look for tracks. Not only did I not even think of it, but it would have taken me at least 45min-1hr to get there, as I would have had to go wayyy down and then wayyy back up the opposite mountainside over treacherous terrain during miserable conditions whilst 6-8 wet and hungry hunters waited on me...and I was the youngest on the trip...they would not have been too happy about waiting for me. But now if I had even thought what I saw was a Bigfoot, I may have been able to persuade them to join me...I just didn't make the connection at that time.

I say, maybe, they would have joined me...maybe not this one guy...he was still (I think) spooked by something he saw earlier that morning. We had started out in 2 trucks for our day hunt, it was way dark and cold...snowing slightly as I recall. It was still very dark, and as we slowly drove up this old logging road, we saw something "crawl" across the road about 100-150ft ahead of us. At first I thought it looked like a tree sloth, or a wounded bear. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but you could see a dark figure moving slowly across the snow-covered road. Everyone in the truck (Blazer) saw it, and we stopped where we saw it enter the heavy growth to the left of the road. This was a steep embankment heavily overgrown with trees, etc. Well, after we stopped, no one had the guts to get out and see what it was. So this big loudmouth, (no, not me...shame on you!) got out with a .45 auto and a flashlight and slid down over the embankment. He scampers back about 3 minutes later in a big hurry. No shots fired. Big eyes, white face. He says, "Let's go!". We, warm and with our coffee, were in no hurry. He says. "Let's get outta here!". What was it? I don't know. Why are we getting outta here? It might be dangerous. What was it? I don't know. Did you see it? Yes. Well, what the hell did you see? It was big. And covered with hair. Was it a bear? I don't think so...I don't know. What was it doing? It looked like it was trying to hide under some branches. How close were you to it? About 5 feet. And you couldn't tell what it was? All I saw was a lot of hair, and it was big! Now leave me alone! Ok, ok....sheeesh. Forget it. And we did.

Oh, and when were you going to drop that little bombshell on us!?!

If you already told us about that somewhere else, forgive me. It's not like I actually read any of this stuff...

Wow RB,
I didn't know you had seen one too, and your friend. How come he hasn't been here and told us his story? I would like to know more about what he saw. How long ago did you say this was? Please tell us more.....

RB is cracking up again here, hehehe. That was perfect...

No, I had not mentioned it before, I had thought about it, it just seemed really...well, like I didn't want anyone to think I was just making this stuff up. Because if that's what I wanted to do, I could do much better.

Actually, thinking about these old experiences again got the molasses flowing thru the old punkin again. Now that I think of it, the guy driving was scared to drive up to it, we kept saying, "Go, go, go!". The thing never actually got in our headlights good. I was bummed. I was also bummed that loudmouth didn't shoot it! I told him it didn't matter what it was because we had tags for everything! Plug it! hehehe... And if I wasn't sitting in the middle of the back seat, I would have gone after it. My dad was afraid I was gonna spill his coffee getting out over him. And then we came past the same spot on the way back down the hill later, and nobody would stop for me to get out and check in the daylight. During that day, we found fresh bear tracks in our tire tracks in the snow after returning from a short hike. Never saw the bear. This probably only about 2 miles from the aforementioned "creeper". as Msfit would say, "Weird!".

Oh yeah, I started this thread to get all that off my chest. Oh, and that guy was no friend of mine. He was a friend of my cousin. He may still be in contact, I don't know. I would also be interested in hearing more from him on that...only on that tho. He is probably still mad at me for almost accidentally poking him in the eye with my gun-cleaning rod as he tried to sneak-up behind me and scare me back at camp one night. He called me a jerk, I told him I had a jumpy trigger finger and not to try to sneak-up on me again...he and I did not get along very well. I think I had embarrassed him over the way he acted when he got back in the rig in such a hurry earlier. Bigfoot, I can't find...but jerks? no problem finding them unfortunately...

Wow RB!!! Awesome story! You have been holding back on us!

Actually I can honestly understand why. Let me guess... the more time you spend posting here the more comfortable you get with talking about the questionable things, or rather, things that some might question?

I want to hear more! Too bad your friend hasn't talked about it more, that is one of the closest sightings I have heard of. That I believe anyway..LOL

DANG, RB!!!

Anything else you just happened to forget to mention? :wink:

Yep, Arky...you are exactly right. The longer I post here, the easier it becomes to share these old memories. As much as I hate to, maybe I will contact my cousin to try and get him to ask his friend (not mine, I wanted to shoot him!) what he remembers about that incident. I do remember my cousin was driving his truck behind us and he didn't see anything at all. He was wondering "what we were doing up there". Maybe I can get some better info... he may well have seen more than he let on to. But he did say the thing looked like it was trying to hide under a bunch of branches...he said it was very still, it did not move. He said he got close enough to it to shoot it point blank, but he didn't think his handgun was big enough. (.45 auto!) Whatever it was, it took at least a minute to cross the road (there was lots of snow on the road)...and it looked like it was crawling or dragging itself along. (oh boy, it just hit now me...that may have been an injured or dying Bigfoot...not just one playing games maybe....gee, I wonder how many winning lottery tickets I've thrown away in my life without checking them...)

Fishy, you just wait until you get old! Heck, I'm lucky if I can remember why I opened the fridge half the time! But as the sap slowly flows thru my gourd, maybe something else will fall out...I'll keep you posted!

OK, to recap...the one I saw walking along the ridge behind my dad, the one sliding across the road, (both in Idaho) and the scream I heard (and felt!) along with the freaked out mule in the Trinity Alps Wilderness area in California. That's three possibles...not even mentioning the crystal I found on the trail after "feeling like being watched" or the time I felt I was being followed while hiking and hunting near Sonora Pass in California.

Am I an expert yet? :wink:

RB, from the actions of this creature whether it was a bigfoot or a bear, it does sound like it was sick, injured or dying. Even a bear would have gotten across the road quicker and would not have taken kindly to someone only a few feet away from it. It sounds like someone might have missed the opportunity of a lifetime.

How long ago did this take place? If you said, I forgot. Could it be possible there might still be bones there under those branches?

Or has it been too long ago?

Then again anything that died there would probably have been dragged away and eaten on by other wildlife..

That incident and the one where I saw something across a huge ravine both happened on the same trip...way back in October (I think) of 1975. I remember the year because it was the year I graduated high school. Yeah, it was probably too long ago to do any good. And I'm not entirely sure I could find the exact same spot again...although I'll bet I could get pretty close! It was above Challis, Idaho (NE)...but south of the Salmon River Wilderness. We camped at a small campground next to a small stream where we caught some little brookies. This campground had one small outhouse (old school variety). Just north of this campground was a small valley with an old barn in it...no house. From there we drove north then west to hunt. Where we saw the creeper was near the top of a ridge on a dead-end road. I guess that pretty much pin-points it, huh? :wink:

Did I miss a golden opportunity? I hope not!

Well we'll chalk that one up to lost opportunity anyway!

Yea if it was that long ago there would be no hope in finding anything now. I was hoping it was "not so long ago".


Great sighting report though! :wink:

Just look at this thing, the dust is an inch thick on it!

I’ll be answering questions and selling t-shirts at the door if anyone is interested.

That was a great report.

Thanks ya'll!

Now then... if I only had a time machine, we would be all set!!!

Just found this little jem!
Dang, the mental image of both of these stories is clear as a bell, I can almost see the wounded squatch huddled under the tree myself!

Hey RB. 75 was the year I graduated too. Must have been a really good year Great stories!

Hey, that's cool, dex! 1975 rocks!

Thanks... I can still see those events in my mind like they happened yesterday...

1975? Hmm, I was still 3 years away from being born. Not trying to say you guys are old or anything.......

Hey, watch it there SFS. I'm not old. I'm getting better every day.

I don't feel bad I'm only old enough to be your big brother. (1970)

Yeah, the ‘70s were some good times… driving my “59 Chevy to high school… gas was 35 cents a gallon, when the stations had it…CB radios instead of cell phones… MTV was only some kind of military term… longhaired girls wearing hip-hugger bellbottoms…

Yeah, the ‘70s were some good times… except for things like the draft card I carried and having to watch the draft lottery on TV every year and pray my birthday wouldn’t be drawn until near the end of the drawing… and feeling guilty for wishing that…

But you guys keep drawing me back to this thread… and it gets me thinking about that trip I took to Idaho with my Dad, cousin and several friends back in the fall of 1975… all over again…

On that hunting trip, I watched a very tall, dark, humanoid-shaped being walk across a mountainside… and it was not just a brief glimpse I got…

And then on either the next day, or a day later and within a short distance of the first encounter… is when and where I watched a very large, dark figure crawl it’s way… belly to the ground, across the snow-covered road ahead of our vehicle in the very early morning hours before dawn… and the guy who hopped out to see what it was came back in a big rush and in obvious emotional distress… we just thought he was too chicken to take on a 1000 pound grizzly at very close range with only a handgun and a flashlight… but you noticed none of us rushed up to scramble over the hill in the dark to satisfy my curiosity… that is when I began to see the difference between a “hunter” and a “target shooter” that uses live animals as targets… there is a huge difference, and I knew I didn’t want to be a target shooter… that is not right to be so lazy…

And as I’ve thought about the incident more, I really wonder what it was… I’m thinking I should try to talk to the guy who went over to look for what it was… he said it was big and hairy and trying to hide…

I was talking about that experience with a very good friend of mine the other day, and he suggested maybe the creature was crawling not because it was wounded, but possibly because it was an attempt to obtain a place of better concealment than the long, snowy-white upslope on our right, over to the much better cover across the road from him on our left… but for him to cross the road in front of us, we would clearly be able see the dark silhouette against the white backdrop…

Maybe this guy was pulling a ninja move on us!

I’ve got some smart friends, huh?

I bet I could find our old campsite on a map… and if I could find that, I bet I could find the area where these 2 encounters occurred…

I bet I could talk myself into going back if I keep this up…

Ok, here’s the plan in case my wife asks… it’s “Elk hunting”… Ok?

That’s all you know… RB just loves to “Elk hunt”…

Elk hunting . I like that. Hey nice thoughts regarding target shooting vs hunting. That's deep. I like the way your friend thinks too. You never know, he just might have something there. I would have liked to seen what your friend looked like when he came back from the little one on one he had roadside.

Friends...

I would be lost without them...

Funny you should mention that guy with the one-on-one... I was just thinking about that again tonight...

I believe he was one of the guys that left the hunting party the very next day to travel up north and were then flown into a remote lake for an overnighter... or so their story goes anyway...

But for all I know, he went straight home and crawled under his bed!

Now I really need to talk to this guy...

Update: Attempting to contact my cousin regarding a couple of guys I want to talk to regarding these possible sightings, but my cousin does the rodeo routine and this is the busy season for him… out of town quite a bit… but he knows what I want from him and I’m sure he is working on it for me…

But speaking with my Dad the other day regarding this hunting trip in Idaho, he did remember some rather interesting details…

First, Dad remembers me asking everyone if they were up walking around on the hillside where I saw Sas(?) walking… and he remembers me telling them all how BIG this guy was… and then we pulled out a map to try a determine where another hunter would access that area from, if not from the road we were on… since we saw no other vehicles at all… the nearest road was at least several miles away over very rough terrain…

And, on the other possible sighting, the one with something crawling across the road, Dad says that after this guy got back into the truck… now get this, I can’t believe I didn’t remember it until he said it, I feel so stupid… Dad says that this guy said, at first he said it looked like an animal trying to hide behind some tree branches… and when he shined the flashlight on it, it moved away… and that the guy said that he wasn’t sure it was not a hunter, because he said he saw a face glance at him as it was walking away… and he said it was probably a hunter wearing a brown fur coat and was on horseback, because “he was much too tall to be walking”… yet he saw no horse...

Dad also says we stopped on the way back later that same day to look for horse hoof tracks in the snow where it had crossed the road… we found none… only tire tracks and lots of our own footprints… and we were not certain we had the exact spot on the way back… this is when the guy's story went to “hunter on horseback” for certain… no question about it, he said…

Now, let me tell you this… I am quite certain what I saw slowly and lowly crossing the road ahead of us that morning was no horse… and definitely wasn’t a rider on horseback… no way, no how… nope.

What part of Idaho were you hunting? tia-

Chronic, we were north of Challis...

I looked on topozone, and as near as I can figure from my feeble memory, we camped near this spot here (Morgan Creek Summit):

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=11&n=496...&e=716544&s=200

And we hunted north and west from that area...

I was curious because I do a fair amount of trout fishing, but in norther Idaho.

Interesting article regarding Idaho for ya:

http://www.stevequayle.com/Giants/N.Am/Idaho.html

You were right, chronic. That was an interesting article indeed... as was that entire website. I had never heard of that guy before, I don't think. If he has a radio program, we don't get it where I live... but maybe I'll try the old wire coat hanger and foil antenna booster routine and see if I can locate that show... I have to listen to Coast to Coast out of L.A., and it's a real pain... the Mexican stations come in crystal-clear, however... so I got that going for me...

Thanks for the link! Cool page of giants pics on that site.

After reading that article, I realized the area I'm talking about is in that same general area... and it is very rugged country indeed.

Hey chronic, I have a good buddy living near Lake Cascade, Idaho... ever go there?

That is a very interesting site. Thanks for the link, Chronic.

GREAT, GREAT thread RB...I'm just seeing this for the first time.

The guy who got out of the vehicle to see what had crossed the road...he didn't notice anything about the "hunter's" gloves/hands or boots/feet??

If it was a BF, your description makes me feel very sorry for it. Whatever it was, there must have really been something wrong with it.

I don't remember him saying anything about any details, Stacy...

My Dad had to remind me of what I posted about the hunter on horseback thing... I remember him saying that... I think he said he couldn't see the horse, but it must have been there for the guy to be so tall... Dad says he thinks he said the guy looked at him, but I am having trouble recalling that part exactly... and I remember him being upset with us about giving him a hard time with a bunch of questions... I am hoping to talk to that guy again soon...

My first thoughts were of a wounded or sick animal, but I'm beginning to think maybe it was just super-stealthy behavior... with a little curiosity tossed in... maybe even hunger, who knows?

Thats some interesting stuff, RB. First time I read it too although I remember reading something similar in a sighting report somewhere...Did you post that on BFRO? Okay, you said that you all had liscenses for everything. I assume you had bear liscenses too? Since it was in the same area and close time-frame, I was wondering.....Did anyone in your group take a shot at a bear or something that looked like a bear? You said there were no other hunters around. I find it hard to believe that a BF would try to be stealthy while trying to cross a road with a car coming down it. Sounds like it was wounded or sick. It sounds like a BF to me because of all you have posted. It's real easy to blame it on something else when you are not informed about BFs. Cant wait to hear a follow-up from when you talk to this guy. Have to admit that I feel bad for the creature too. Similar to what you said about "hunting" and "target shooting". I'm a hunter but if I see a sick or wounded animal I will do everything I can to help it. Wont ever eat bear. Dont think bear are meant to be eaten. My hubby was trying to get a liscense and I have been giving him a hard time about it. Told him I wouldnt eat or cook it. (hehe, he didnt get one). My dad goes bear hunting every spring, just got back actually. They go up to Manitoba. Everyone that went got one...Pretty bears, they were. Shame that they aren't living anymore. He has about 7 to his credit now. A half body mount, a head mount and a few hides, he has. Damn shame it is too.. I've always respected bears and think that they are such regal and beautiful animals.

Thanks Angie, I agree with your feeling regarding bears...

I think they are pretty damn smart...

Yes, we all had deer tags and licenses... but I think we only had a couple of elk tags and one bear tag in the group, as they were so expensive.

And I hear what you are saying about the crawling action being a sign of distress... and I thought that way for quite some time... but I now think the animal, if BF, didn't want to give up a dark outline against the white background of the snow... I know we couldn't see it very well, but he/she may not have known that... I'm thinking maybe we caught it out in the open, and it wanted to hide, but as nearby the road as possible... the curiosity/hunger thing again... there was no blood... it vacated the area... we were in IT'S backyard... it made no sound... and if what my Dad says is true about the thing walking away, then it wasn't so hurt after all...

If I get to talk to this guy, I will urge him to write it all down and let me post it here... and if we get something that seems solid to ya'll... maybe submit a report to the BFRO...

Hey Jaylee! I think we found that bigfoot on horseback from around your area!

Sorry, RB, this is a great report you're working on, I just had to razz Jaylee a little.

I still think the one you saw was sickly or wounded RB. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Well, I guess since I'm not really sure what the heck it even was, I suppose it could be darn near anything, Arky...

I think the description your friend (the witness) gave was hysterical....

A hunter wearing a brown fur coat on horseback.....

I mean its funny how hard he tried to put it into a context he could understand....

Hey Arky, maybe that one here rode that horse all the way up to Idaho!

Seriously RB, this is a great thread and I am real anxious to hear if you find out or remember anything else.

re: RB: "Hey chronic, I have a good buddy living near Lake Cascade, Idaho... ever go there?"


Sorry, I'm about 500 miles north at Lake Pend Oreille, right by the Canadian border.

Too bad, thought maybe we could meet up for some good food and stimulating conversation...

I have been thinking more and more about this sighting of mine lately… for many reasons…

I have been wracking my brains trying to figure if the creature I saw on the hillside was waiting for us to drive by his location on the road (so he could watch because he’s curious) or if it was just happenstance that he was sitting on a hillside overlooking a desolate stretch of road…

We were on our way out of the area, maybe Sasquatch knew it was a dead-end road we were on and was waiting for us to come by…

These guys are really sneaky, so it makes me wonder… not sure what difference it makes though…

RB, now that's some "food for thought"! Maybe Sasquatch did know the area and knew what your next move would be. I dont' see why this would be so far out. It's his house after all.

Have you been able to come up with any more ideas, thoughts, etc. about your sighting? Have you talked to your Dad about it again?

Jay

Yeah, a few things, Jaylee... thanks for asking... mostly bits and pieces...

Dad says we pulled out the map to see where another hunter may have accessed that area... the closest road besides the one we were on was at several miles to the south, over extremely heavy terrain...

My Dad gave me his perspective as to how big I appeared to him when he looked at me through his binoculars... and his estimation of the range between us, he says between 400 and 600 yards... (wish I had a range finder)

He confirmed the loose shale rock surface I was on, the very steep hillsides he and I were both on... the weather... his hunting partner, the entire layout... he remembered everything just as I did...

He remembers me being upset that someone was out screwing up our hunt... and that I said I hope I didn't meet up with him because he was so damn big... and that I first thought it was a bear due to the color, but then decided it was a big guy in dark clothes... and I was asking everyone if they were up on the hill in dark clothes...

This is also new... Same trip, different day... when I saw the dark form slink across the road... Dad says guy who got out with a flashlight came back with a story of "something big and hairy in the trees, like it was hiding behind the limbs... so he moves down closer and thing travels away... all he sees is a fur coat moving high through the trees... he concludes it is a hunter on horseback because nothing else is that tall..." I had forgotten that part, but I recalled it when Dad reminded me... I'm glad I asked him.. My cousin has lost track of this guy and is asking around for me so I can talk to him...... I think it was a Bigfoot doing the belly-crawl across the road that I saw...

Oh my gosh, how exciting! I hope you can locate the guy with the flashlight. I would love to hear if he can add anything to what he saw. The fur coat moving high through the trees sure sounds promising.

Thanks for keeping us posted on this.