YEAR: 2004

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 29

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Grays Harbor County

LOCATION DETAILS: about 1 mile from the Quinault hatchery

NEAREST TOWN: Lake Quinault Lodge

NEAREST ROAD: Moclips Highway

OBSERVED: On July 29th,2004 my mother,aunt, and I were leaving the Lake Quinault Lodge after having lunch there. We decided to take the shortcut between Neilton and the Lake Quinault park turnoff to go towards the ocean at Moclips. About a mile from the Quinault fish hatchery we all saw something none of us believed in. It was very tall, dark brown hair, walked on two legs like a man but resembled a gorilla, (sort of). This was at about 2:30 in the afternoon, no rain, clear day with sunshine. It crossed the road a few hundred feet in front of my pick-up. When it crossed, it didn't seem to be in any hurry, glanced breifly our way and continued as if we were unimportant. It's stride was such that it easily stepped from the road back into the brush without losing any momentum. I stepped on the gas to try to get a better look as this thing was moving fairly good clip but didn't seem to be running but just moving right along. I would say it was approximately 8' tall. I say this as I am almost six feet tall and this thing towered over my truck. This was NOT some guy in a suit, as the area is fairly isolated and not many cars go down this road. In fact, we only saw two more cars on that road until we reached the ocean turnoff. It was also not a bear, or at least no bear I have ever seen to walk like this did. It was also hunched over somewhat or didn't have any neck but gave me the impression of being hunched forward somewhat. It was not scruffy or dull colored hair but appeared to be healthy especially the way the thing moved.

OTHER WITNESSES: three

OTHER STORIES: I have heard of other sightings by a couple of hunters. At the time, I thought they were probably drunk or nuts. Until this happened to ME, I was a total non-believer. I know what I saw and it has changed the way I see my world.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: about 2:30 in the afternoon

ENVIRONMENT: crossed the pavement in front of us

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator John G. Callender:

I spent a combined total of several hours speaking with two of the witnesses connected to this investigation. They were: the submitter of this report and her mother. The only witness involved in this report who was not interviewed was the witness' aunt.

The group consisted of three people (two were visiting from Iowa) who had lunch at Lake Quinault Lodge and then decided to drive to the coast via Moclips Highway.

They were driving in a mid-1970’s, full-size pickup truck. Not far from the Lake Quinault Fish Hatchery they spotted an animal crossing the highway off their left. All three women saw the animal at nearly the same time, but the reporting witness' mother was the first to speak up and acknowledge seeing something crossing the road. She told me that she estimated it to be about “a city block and a half, maybe more”. At that point she commented to the others “is this what I think it is". Her daughter, who was driving, replied “I think it is” as she quickly accelerated to nearly 60 M.P.H. in hopes of “catching” the animal before it disappeared into the woods and brush off the right side of the road. As she was accelerating to catch up to the animal, her aunt was busy rolling up the right passenger window since she was afraid the animal might attempt to reach into the cab of the truck as they drove past it. The animal had finished crossing the road when they passed it.

Interesting to note: All three of the people in the truck had cameras. One of the witnesses actually had her camera on her lap. When asked why it didn't occur to her to pick up the camera and use it at that moment, she said the "shock and awe" of what they were seeing made none of them think about taking pictures until a long while after the incident. She went on to tell me how easy it would have been for her to have taken a picture through the windshield, but it simply wasn't on her mind while the incident was in progress.


Prior to crossing the road, the animal turned and looked at the truck. After crossing the road, it again turned its head and shoulders to get a better look at them before continuing to move out of sight. It never stopped or slowed down. It continued moving at the same pace. The reporting witness' mother said "he was sauntering along, taking his time” but still moving rather quickly.

The reporting witness said that the animal looked like “a gorilla, but it walked like a person”. She described the animal as big, dark, and hunched over and she went on to say that it “had the longest arms I’ve ever seen on anything”. Her mother also said it was large and she used the truck as a reference in determining height. She said “he could have looked over the top of it and ripped the cab off had it wanted to.”

Her mother estimated the animal’s hair was at least six inches long. She used her Japanese Spitz as a reference citing her dog’s hair is approximately three to four inches in length. She did say the hair was a uniform length all over the animal on the legs, head and entire body.

When it came to a description of the animal’s head shape, her mother said that the head came to a peak and looked like it wore a “pointed hat”. The daughter said that the head reminded her of a gorilla, and she commented that it was “sloped back”. She told me that she didn’t recall of seeing a neck but she described its face as “an ape face” with a “flat” nose from the brief look she got of the face.

The daughter said no breasts were observed. She had the impression that the animal was male.

After the incident they only saw two more cars along Moclips Highway for the next five to ten minutes. The Moclips highway, on the edge of the Quinault Indian Reservation, is not heavily travelled.

The reporting witness was kind enough to share an image she drew of what she remembers seeing. Interestingly, the drawing was made prior to her receipt of photos that I mailed her for comparison. After this report was published, I learned both the witness and her mother felt that while the drawing was a very accurate representation of they observed, they said there could be one major change to the drawing: both felt that the drawing wasn't accurate when it came to the length of the animal's arms. Both stated that the drawing should have depicted the animal's fingers nearly touching its knees.

About BFRO Investigator John G. Callender:

John Callender hails from Mississippi where he received a BA degree in Accounting from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). He spent 26 years in the Seattle area flying for a major airline before retiring and relocating to Middle Tennessee in 2017. John quickly found that he missed flying and he’s now on his second career as a pilot for a major airline. He has done extensive field work in the Pacific Northwest, as well as Mississippi and he has attended the following expeditions: WA - Oly Pen (Aug. '04); New Mexico (Jicarilla Apache SEP '04); WA - Oly Pen (October '04); CA - Redwoods (May '05); WA -Oly Pen -3, (AUG '05 ); WA Cascades Expedition (AUG '06); Central Oregon Expedition (JUNE '07), BC, Vancouver Island Expedition (SEPT 2007), WA Cascades Expedition (June '09), 2009 Washington Olympic Peninsula Expedition.