YEAR: 2002-2003

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

STATE: New York

COUNTY: Essex County

NEAREST TOWN: Keene Valley

NEAREST ROAD: Route 73

OBSERVED: I didn't have an encounter exactly but we are owners of a camp in a remote region of the Adirondack Mountains. This camp is only accessible by hiking to it. There is rarely anyone ever around our camp. We have found strange things that have occurred.

1) Fall 2002: We went hiking for the day and when we got back we found a small pile of rocks at the back door that were neatly stacked with a stick coming out of them. These rock were not there when we left. They appeared to be deliberately stacked. We understand that these could have been made easily by a human, but there is never anyone around up there.

2) Fall 2003: One night around 7:30 pm (dark) my wife and I went outside with 2 dogs. We smelled something very strong and musty, like nothing we smelled before. It wasn't the dogs or anything we could identify. The 2 dogs got very antsy and wanted to go inside right away. This was very strange and freaky, these dogs are generally not scared dogs. They also are large dogs about 80 lbs. each. We had never seen them act this way. When we bring them out at night or day they run all over the woods this night they wanted nothing to do with that. Almost like they smelled something that scared them.

3) The same exact night as number 2. I went outside around 9:30 pm to relieve myself. While I was doing that I heard large heavy stomping behind me. The stomping was loud and heavy as if something was fleeing. The strange part is it sounded like it made 4-5 bounds then stopped. I heard nothing else after that. I looked around a little but the happenings of this night made be uneasy so I went inside and locked up the cabin.

I don't know what did all of this and maybe it is easily explained away but these things altogether make me think it might have been a bigfoot.

ENVIRONMENT: Steep hillside with 2 nearby streams, pine trees mostly with some birch trees.

Follow-up investigation report:

I spoke with the witness by phone on 12-22-05. The witness recounted the set of unusual occurrences in good detail. The remote cabin where the events took place has been in the family for over 70 years and the witness’s family typically stays there for a weekend or two every fall. The cabin has no running water or electricity and requires a 0.5 mile hike from the nearest road.

The first event took place in the late afternoon when the witness, his wife and two young children, and three adult relatives returned to the cabin after a day long hike in the area. Nothing unusual took place during the hike. Upon returning to the cabin, the group observed a small rock pile and stick formation on the back porch steps. There were a total of 3 rocks, which the witness described as being relatively flat and smooth and about the size of an adult hand. He reported that similar stones are found in abundance and scattered throughout the immediate cabin area. No other events took place the reminder of the weekend.

Approximately 1 year later the family of four and two adult relatives was at the cabin for an October weekend retreat. In the early evening, the witness and his wife went out the back porch of the cabin with their two family dogs. They both immediately smelled an unusual, strong musky odor that the witness described as a wet dog smell. They smelled their dogs and ruled out the odor as coming from their dogs. Nothing further happened and the couple went back inside after a few minutes.

Approximately 2 hrs later, the witness went out the front door of the cabin and walked about 25 feet to the edge of the tree line. While standing there, the witness heard a very loud stomping sound that lasted a few seconds and shook the ground around him. The witness turned toward the sound which he estimated to be coming from the base of a hillside about 25 yards away. As soon as the witness turned, the sound stopped. The witness mentioned that although it was a windy night, the sound did not seem to be a falling tree branch. No vocalizations or strange smells were observed.

No further events took place the remainder of their family stay. The witness mentioned seeing tree scrapings in the area about 6 feet off the ground and that bear and deer are known to inhabit the area. The witness also mentioned an abundance of wild blueberry and blackberry bushes in the area that bear fruit in August and September. The witness and his immediate family have not been back to the cabin since 2003.

These occurrences took place near Keene Valley, New York within the Adirondack Park Reserve. The cabin is located near the Phelps Brook High Wilderness Area, a recognized ancient forest area with a top elevation of 3700 feet comprised of balsam fir, red spruce and mountain paper birch. Also nearby is the Marcy Swamp ancient forest area. Vocalizations and sightings have been previously reported in this general area of central Essex County.

About BFRO Investigator D.A. Brake (PhD):

D. Brake holds a PhD in Immunology and attended the Maine 2008 expedition.