I'm on the fence about this too....I don't really believe as I need some hard evidence.  Having said that there are too many people that have had some kind of weird experience/sighting so it does raise the "well...maybe" thoughts in my head.  I also look at it this way...I've spent a lot of time up north and have never seen a Lynx.  Does that mean they aren't there?  hmmmmm..

I had an experience years ago that I posted (maybe on here) and someone reached out to me and said they believed I had a Sasquatch experience (although I'm not totally sold).  So I was car camping at Kearney by myself and sleeping in my hammock.  Around 4 am I heard a super loud thumping coming through the forest.  I'm a heavy sleeper and this woke me right up.  It sounded like someone walking on two legs (not sure how I know what that sounds like but in my head that's what I heard).  It walked swiftly almost right by my hammock.  I bolted up and shone my flashlight all around and saw absolutely nothing.  I scanned high and low thinking maybe (probably) a bear or moose but saw nothing at all.  Very weird.

So I posted this experience online and someone reached out asking me more questions (time, location, what I heard etc.)  That person then pointed me to a website that documents all such experiences.  As it turns out the Kearney Lake campground area is a bit of a hot-spot for alleged. Bigfoot sightings.  Based on the info I gave the guy he basically told me that I had a Bigfoot come past my hammock.  We engaged in some banter and I basically ended up telling him I wasn't sold but not entirely dismissive either....Interesting, nonetheless!

As my nickname implies, I have more than a passing interest in the topic of Sasquatch. I've spent a lot of time in recent years learning what I can about the topic, though you'll never catch me watching those buffoons on "Finding Bigfoot". I only pay attention to what I believe are credible sources (e.g. Jeff Meldrum). There is a tremendous amount of hoaxing going on, so to get to the good stuff you have to be very selective.

Here's a story I can relate about my solo backpack trip to Provoking Lake in September 2015. I hiked in and set up camp with my MEC Tarn 2 under a 12 x 9 MEC Guides tarp. Skies got cloudy and later in the evening it began to rain. I fell asleep to the sound of raindrops falling on the tarp above.

Sometime in the middle of the night I awoke to a noise outside. Rain was still falling, but I could also make out the unmistakable sound of someone peeing on the ground. The stream was constant for at least 5 seconds, then stopped and I could hear nothing again but the rain.

In my sleeping bag, I was thinking to myself "why in God's name did I have to listen to the Rusty Wilson Bigfoot Campfire Story audiobook on the way up to the Park?". Could it be a wolf, a bear, or even the Big Guy himself? I was too tired to be afraid, and could not be certain in my sleepy state I actually heard what I did, so I allowed myself to relax and fell back asleep. 

Some time later, the rain is still falling. I awaken again to the same sound, a long steady stream of peeing, right close to the tent. OK, I am not imagining it and it's not a dream. I heard it. The peeing stops and the rain continues. No other sound can be heard, no footsteps or shuffling. And now I have to go pee!

With the determined attitude of a man going to meet his fate head on, I unzip the sleeping bag, noisily get my boots and headlamp on, then step outside. Looking around I come face to face with the source of the sound.

A corner of the tarp is not quite taught, and rainwater is pooling there. I can now see what is happening. Once the rainwater gets to a certain level, the edge of the tarp succumbs to the weight. The pooled water spills onto the ground, making a sound just like a person peeing. Then the process starts again. I congratulate myself for not getting all freaked out, take care of business and go back to bed.

I thought there were some stories out there !!

Here's one thing that I find odd about sasquatch ... with so many people that have smart phones I would expect that the video evidence would be far better today than in the past .. really easy to get footage ... but its really not. or at least I haven't seen it ... so that makes me wonder a bit.  But Steve your point about the Lynx is a good one  .. .they are out there but they are just too smart to be seen by us noisy/clumsy/smelly humans. 

Les was interviewed a number of years ago and told a story of something that he spooked when he was doing his show in Alaska ... he's careful not to say it was a samsquatch (as bubbles might say) but he did say that in all his time in the bush he's hears all of the large animals and this was nothing like it.  So I think that has always made him wonder ...

I must say that there was (is?) a TV show that profiles a few people that go out looking for sasquatch's ... I think there 4 people ... one is skeptical and the others are true believers ... I watched a few shows and they never really find any hard evidence ... no shortage of stories from locals and perhaps a knock heard at night and that's about it.  I'm not sure if this type of show really helps the cause.

I grew up in the maritimes where we people told stories over the decades about giant squid ... the majority poo poo'd this as nothing more than a tall tale ... that is until one washed up on shore ...    

     

All very valid points Methye!

I'm with you Methye, skeptic through and through.

I think we've all had that experience where in less familiar situations the mind can get creative and highly suggestive. On a trip with a couple of rookies we were sitting around the campfire when the loons started to call to each other. We had the rookies convinced it was the cry of baby wolves and we should remain quiet and block the light from the fire before the adult wolves came to check things out. We spooked them pretty good.

The world is a crazy place with crazy sounds but it's more likely to be an angry pee soaked moose than a sasquatch.
 

Time to weigh in a little here based upon the research (decidedly non-professional) I have done.

North America is approximately 38% wilderness. And I'm not referring to the small clumps of trees we see here and there in our largely urban and suburban lives. As you folks all know, you could wander 100 feet off into the bush from certain backcountry campsites and possibly find yourself standing in a place no person has ever stood before.

We often mistake having an area mapped and putting roads through it to mean we know that area inside out. Our roads and trails touch less than 1% of many vast tracts of the true wilderness that exist on this continent. We stick to well defined pathways. We don't do much bushwhacking because it is too difficult. Knowing this, can any one out there really say with confidence that something like Sasquatch cannot exist simply because no physical evidence has come to light?

Do any of you go to church? Is there any more physical evidence of God than there is of a flesh and blood animal that could potentially live, die and decompose out in the bush, where dangerous creatures like humans rarely tread?

I can't make the assumption that something doesn't exist simply because we have not yet proved its existence. The discovery of the very large mountain gorilla in the early 1900's is a more recent reminder that we don't yet know all about life on this earth. There is a saying " Lack of evidence is not evidence of lack".

Sadly, the whole situation has been compounded by a scientific community that largely has lost its appetite for discovery. Instead, it leans on the position that all the reports of Sasquatch sightings are nonsense. They don't bother to put in the effort to truly research the subject before making such claims.

Enough decent evidence does exist to prompt those with a true scientific mind to at least delve deeper into the matter before dismissing the entire business as hoaxing. I recommend Idaho State University professor Jeff Meldrum's book "Sasquatch - Legend Meets Science" for those interested in learning more.

Please note that I am not telling you I believe Sasquatch exists. More correctly, I believe in the possibility of its existence. I actually hope we never find the answer, as on that day the world will become a little less mysterious and wonderful.

Tracy

Last edited by Blobsquatch (9/02/2017 3:43 pm)

holycow wrote:

This may be the answer we've been looking for
Title:NC mom invents a spray she says will attract any Bigfoot within a mile and a half
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article173012526.html#storylink=cpyhttp://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article173012526.html

Thanks for this link! I need to order some prior to my next solo trip so that I don't have roast marshmallows all by myself.

It sounds like he was too afraid to do much but it would have been nice if he would have taped a bit of the audio with his phone ... would have been interesting to hear.