Close Contact!!

Howdy all! I've been getting hate mail from readers irate over the lack of new posts on the blog, so I figured I better get my butt into the woods so I would have something to write about. Seriously though, I'm trying my best to get material to share with you all. It's tough with three very active boys who are involved in a ton of activities. But I am doing my best!!

With that said, I did get into the woods late Monday evening. I went back to my original area and steered clear of the area with all of the Black Bear sign. Not only to avoid running into the Bear but I also wanted to check my gifting site and the bait station with the hanging peanut butter jar. I stopped at the gifting site first and was disappointed that nothing had visited it. The last time I was at this spot is when I heard that loud crash and then found what appeared to be the makings of a shelter. I started on my way towards the bait station. I have to admit I wasn't doing my customary stealth walk. I was a little perturbed that nothing stopped at the gifting site. Frustrated, I make my way the 1/4 -1/2 mile to the bait station and find that it also hasn't had any signs of interest from the local Squatch.

So by this time I am just in a crappy frame of mind. As I plunder through thick vegetation, steep terrain, and never ending nats trying to fly into my eye balls, I start to question this whole Bigfoot thing. Is it all just a made up fantasy of mine and countless others, with over active imaginations?? Why am I wasting my time, effort, and resources on something that evidently is not real???Maybe the previous close encounters of years past were just my mind playing tricks on me?!?!All of the suspected Sasquatch sign just innocent natural occurrences! I decide the best course of action is to get the heck outa dodge...I'm going home!

I head in the direction of my truck which is still a pretty good hike away. Half way there I find a nice spot off the trail with two fallen trees and I decide to stop, rest, and have a drink. I also wanted to calm my mind and just enjoy being in the woods. I also looked up the Native American word for friend, "kola" and decided to say it randomly into the woods as I walked. Honestly I needed this down time and it was very good for my mind and spirit. After a half hour or so I packed up and continued my hike towards my truck.

I arrive at the infamous power line. If your familiar with the blog, you know that the power line has played a huge part in my Squatching adventures. There has been a ton of activity in the area of the power line. By the time I reach this point the wind had picked up. I crossed the power line and just entered the opposing wood line when I heard an extremely loud crash in the wood lot to the right, that instantly stopped me in my tracks. It was a violent sound and not one of a tree or limb falling from a natural occurrence.This was also the same woodlot that my buddy and I played "Hide and Seek" with the Big Guy two years ago. But the wind buffered some of the sound to a point that I couldn't tell exact local, and I couldn't positively rule out the wind wasn't the culprit. So after listening for a few minutes and hearing nothing else, I proceed down the trail.

I go a little ways down the trail and through the wind I hear extremely heavy foot falls to my right....please make note that all of this sound is taking place on the right side of the trail. I stop, look,and listen.....nothing! I start walking again and the sound happens again....extremely loud and its stops me dead in my tracks. Whatever it was definitely had my attention and I was now on high alert!

I have been getting some requests from a few readers asking  me to video some of my trips to the woods so I figured this might be the perfect opportunity to do just that. I turned around and headed back to the power line to tell the story on video for you guys. I made the short video and nothing out of the normal happened so I turned the camera off. It was getting closer to dark so I decided to wait until total darkness before leaving. I walked off trail to the "right" several yards since that is where all of the sounds were emanating from.

After a few minutes I was shook by a loud crash behind me, which would of been to the left of the trail as I was walking out. My body felt like it was electrified and I immediately started my retreat to the truck. I stopped myself and decided to "man up" and figure this out. I walked back down the trail towards where the loud crashing sound came from. I stopped and looked into the woods and couldn't see anything. It was getting darker by the minute. I had my walking stick so I decided to hit it on a big rock on the ground three times. After the third strike I had something really big and bipedal in nature start walking away from me at an extremely close range. As is the norm in this field it was just too thick to see it. The maker of the foot falls did not try to mask it's sound and I could hear the brush being moved away as it negotiated through the heavy vegetation.Oh yeh the area where it was walking was the gifting site area I might add. I immediately got my camera out and tried to video in the low light but to no avail!

The picture I am painting in my mind of what happened is this. The first loud crash I heard was the "Watcher" alerting the rest of the group to my presence. The proceeding "paralleling" was either it or another making sure I was leaving the woods, or at least monitoring my movements. Later on when I got off trail they gave me a warning with a loud crash.  It seems to me when they let you know an approximate location of where they are, it's to lead you away from another one or misdirect you away from the group. It worked because all of my attention was with the one that was walking.

One thing that I took away from this experience is that I don't think I want to research alone anymore. When you hear how loud they are when they walk and when they throw stuff it shakes you up. I like to think of myself as a mans man and I really have no fear but when your in their presence you can't help but feel vulnerable!