YEAR: 2006

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: August 1 2006

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Okanogan County

LOCATION DETAILS: At Grant lake a small Lake on the Colville Indian Reservation

NEAREST TOWN: Nespelem

NEAREST ROAD: State Route 155

OBSERVED: I was one of the leaders for our church Boyscout troop along for our annual week long campout high adventure. We arrived late morning July 31 at the Summit Lake Scout camp at the summit of Disautel pass located on the Colville confederated tribes reservation this is just a short ways off state route 155 in between Nespelem and Omak. I would like to give you as much information leading up to the incident of the evening of August 1st as I believe they are all related.

After arriving and getting the lodge setup. We decided to take a hike. Though we had some planned hikes loaded in our handheld GPS we decided to just pick an open ridge about two miles distant and hike up to it sticking to no trails or roads just bushwacking.

We had to skirt a logging operation which was clearing some thick timber on some very steep slopes using helicopters, to ferry the logs down the slope to more accesable sites to transport it. There was lots of fresh bear sign as there were wild Blueberries and huckleberries on the lower slopes.

The next morning we planned a hike to a lake about 6 miles from our camp the lake is called grant lake I believe? We hiked south down SR 155 to the coyote creek camp ground then to the right down the asphalt rd about a mile into an area where we were supposed to have a permit to enter.

We had the coordinates for the lake loaded into the GPS so we just went cross country until we arrived at the lake it was about 2 miles from the coyote creek camp ground. It is a small crescent shaped lake there was an old hunting camp with a tipi frame and an old travel trailer at one end.

We spent the day napping and talking and the boys swam in the lake and ran around as boys are want to do. It was a nice day we had decided to camp overnight, we had no fires as the area was quite dry. The only wildlife I noticed was a family of Lesser Scaup ducks and a family of Canada geese on the lake. No fresh deer sign there had been some cattle in the area fairly recently, but we saw no cattle.

Around dusk I decided to take a walk up on a rocky ridge a couple hundred yards north of the lake to see if I could get cell coverage to call my wife. As I left the boys were taking an old smoking rack apart and breaking the 3-5inch diameter lodgepole pine logs that it was made of against a tree most of these were rotten so they broke fairly easy but they were making quite a racket.

When I reached the top of the ridge I could hear the sharp cracks as they struck the small logs against the tree. I walked back around the opposite side of the lake back towards our camp keeping an eye out for bear as I know they would start to move around dark as it cooled down, though with the boys so noisy and it being drier at this lower elevation ( not many berries at all) I doubted there were any around. But I felt a little uneasy for some reason?? So I headed back to our camp.

As I approached the camp just before dark I smelled a musty smell like a pack rats den but stronger one of the other leaders commented yeah there is definately a skunk around. But it wasnt a skunk smell not that pungent just musty. So anyway I'm getting to the incident. We got the boys mostly settled and lights out in their sleeping bags about 10-11:00 O'clock I would guess. Shortly after they quieted down there was loud two part call with tremendous volume it was not man made it stated out lower then went to a high crescendo then followed by a shorter lower call. It did not sound like any of your recordings the closest sound I have found on the internet is the call of a male ibbon I believe some kind of Ape. It whatever it was repeated this call three or 4 times and got futher away each time the sound came from a draw at the north end of the lake where the soil was moist and there was fairly thick brush.

I spend alot of time outdoors hiking hunting, and fishing. I have never heard anything like this sound. We had to help one of the boys who had found a leech on him. This was a few minutes after the call.I asked the boys did you hear that noise. They all said yeah what the heck was that. I said I have no idea never heard it before. A couple of the boys joked maybe it's bigfoot. I never really put everything together until later when I got home and the boys comment got me to thinking about the bigfoot possibilty.

So I searched the Internet for bigfoot sounds and found your sight.

After reading most all of the accounts there are some things that many of the other sightings include.

I believe with the logging going on maybe this animal whatever it was was displaced from the thick timber up higher maybe it was attracted by the boys cracking the logs aginst the tree, and the musty smell shortly before the call. This call was very load and powerful and clear.

OTHER WITNESSES: 13 Boyscouts ages 14-18 years and two other adult leaders besides myself. I havent talked to any of them about it since.

OTHER STORIES: None

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Evening Clear and warm

ENVIRONMENT: Pine forest

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Derek Freel:

I spoke with the witness. He is credible. The animal could have been a sasquatch. If so, it could have been attracted to the camp because of the noisy commotion of the scouts during the day, and possibly the smell of cooking food.

About BFRO Investigator Derek Freel:

Derek Freel grew up near Okanogan, Washington, and currently lives in the Kennewick area. He has studied the subject of sasquatch for many years, and was very lucky to have encountered the animals on several BFRO Expeditions. Derek is taking an active role in bringing these animals into mainstream science. He attended the 2005 Washington Expedition, 2006 Redwoods Expedition, 2006 Oregon Expedition and the 2006 Washington Expedition.