YEAR: 2008

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 10

STATE: Oregon

COUNTY: Clackamas County

LOCATION DETAILS: I am a little fuzzy as to the exact details but i do know that we took 224 through Estacada and continued east for at least another hour then ended up on I believe FR 43. Although after that we took the bagby hot springs road and several logging roads later found our first campsite at the end of one of these logging roads.

NEAREST TOWN: Estacada

NEAREST ROAD: FR 43

OBSERVED: Near the end of August, this year 2008 a couple of friends and I went camping/Bigfoot hunting around the upper Collawash River in the Oregon Cascade Range east of Estacada with the intensions of finding a spot I had been told about by a guide on a whitewater rafting trip I had taken with my brother in 2006. Unfortunately, when we got to our destination, I was the only one in our group that wanted to look for Bigfoot. Disappointed but not dissuaded, I tried to keep the rest of the group (2 guys and 1 girl) at least somewhat interested in the Bigfoot search, to little avail. The first night we camped (under much protest) quite a way into the bush and away from the overcrowded camp grounds where everyone felt more comfortable. We followed an old logging road until it ended at a very secluded spot atop a ridge and maybe 250 to 350 yards directly south of the clear cut power line running east/west. The first night was interesting as we continued to hear distinct wood knocking; they started at around 11:00pm. Most were far off and very fast, 4 to 7 quick, sharp cracks directly east of us that would echo across the valley only to be answered from another direction farther south and then north but at first they were pretty far off. Everyone thought they were gunshots but this was a really dark night and these sounds were coming from pretty deep in the thick forest accessed only by not well traveled logging roads and from at least 3 different sources that for the life of me, sounded like they were communicating so I ruled out gunshots. These sounds continued to get closer to our campsite as the night wore on. At one point, maybe 12:30 or 1:00am the group wanted to drive over to the power lines, where the trees weren’t so thick and you could see for several miles, I decided to stay at camp and hope for something to happen. Almost immediately after everyone left, I started hearing sticks breaking from the direction they had driven out on and everything got real quiet. Now I’m from Montana and have spent many a night camped alone in far more rugged mountains than I was in now and have experienced most of the wildlife at least partially up close and personal that our American forests have to offer but I gotta tell you, I got a little spooked while they were gone! I did what any self respecting outdoors man would do and…put a lot more wood on the fire! I didn’t hear anything at that time that sounded too bizarre but I was glad when everyone got back. My buddy asked me if I was knocking rocks together while they were gone. I told him I hadn’t and asked what they heard. He said that they were out looking at the valley from the top of the road we came in on, about 250 to 350yards away and they all heard distinct knocking coming from the direction of our camp, he said it sounded like rock on rock. Later after everyone had gone to their tents I again decided to stay up. At around 3:30am I heard a very low grumble with a huff followed by what sounded like a lot of breath being pushed out and very close to the fire, maybe 30ft. At first I thought it was a bird or something, then, almost immediately another answered the first from across the clearing we were camped in directly behind me. I put my flashlight on where I heard the sound coming from and it would stop. 10 min later it would start up again. I don’t know why I didn’t get anyone up to listen with me but I didn’t. This went on for about an hour, until the sun started to brighten the sky and you could see a lot better. I never heard walking or anymore sticks breaking but those grunting noises were definitely close and there was at least 2 of whatever was making them. It wasn’t until on our way home that my buddy told me that he had heard the grunts too and, I love this, he was too scared to get up and investigate. The next day we went looking for another campground. I didn’t want to leave but I was definitely the minority on the subject. As we were driving down, I believe was FR43, my buddy and I in his rig and his friends behind us in theirs, something very big ran across the road about 150yrds in front of us. It was dark brown or black and uniform in color and at least 8ft to 9ft tall and moving like a freight train, it was huge! We only saw it for maybe a second before it tore into the trees running from the right to the left. My skeptical buddy looked at me and said “Did you see that!” I had my video camera in my lap but there was no way I could have gotten a shot of this thing, it was really moving! We stopped where we thought it crossed the road and you could see quite clearly where something had came down the incline on the right side of the road, we didn't smell anything. We got out and I climbed the small incline that it had come down to investigate and after 30 min or so found a barefoot track 18” long x 7½” wide and got video of it. I can send you the video and have other stories of the area as well. We did have material to cast the print but since it was in the mossy ground that covers most of the Oregon forest my buddy refused to cast the print claiming that we wouldn’t get anything from it. I was furious but it was his stuff and I learned the hard way to pack your own gear!

ALSO NOTICED: when i climbed the incline after we saw the thing cross the road, something tore off away from me which would have been heading south west into the forest when i peaked the incline. very noisy! Also, the track I found was definitely older, i don't think it was made at the time of the sighting. There where many other partial tracks in the general area, some quite large others just looked like scuff marks. the one i videotaped was without question the best one we found. It looks like a giant footprint in the moss! 5 toes.

OTHER WITNESSES: To the first incident all 4 of us heard the wood knocking for several hours then the grunting/huffing was heard by both my skeptical buddy and myself 2 total the other two were asleep.

2nd incident both my skeptical buddy and I saw the thing run across the road, the other 2 were behind us and didn't see it but everyone saw the 18"track.

OTHER STORIES: there are several stories that quite frankly were the reason that we went to this area to begin with.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 1st incident started at around 11:00pm and lasted until almost 5:00am. Dark mostly clear night. cool around 45 to 50 degrees

2nd incident was the following day at around 11:30am clear and sunny beautiful day the trees were providing alot of shadows but we were both sure of what we saw.

ENVIRONMENT: Very thick Oregon forest, mountainous and fairly rugged country. Steep drop offs on either side of the logging roads we used. Most of which were in pretty rough shape, fallen trees had to be moved on more than one occasion and they looked like they hadn't been used in a long time?

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Scott Taylor:

The behaviors described in the witness' well-written and detailed narrative, as well as other details, are typical of what we have heard and observed during expeditions. The sighting of a large, fast bi-pedal creature crossing the road the next day also corroborates the experiences from the night before, in that at least one of the creatures was still around. The witness described the creature as approximately 9’ tall, huge, thick through the body, black in color, swinging arms, and looked like a very big man.

After interviewing this witness, hearing his account, and gathering details that were not written up in the report I must conclude that the witness and his camping partners were visited and observed by more than one sasquatch, and that they actually had a brief sighting of a sasquatch the next morning on their way out of the area.

About BFRO Investigator Scott Taylor:

Scott Taylor is a retired aerospace manager. He lives in Mason County, Washington. He had his first bigfoot encounter in October 2005 where he was stalked and later heard vocalizations.

Scott has attended official BFRO Expeditions in the Washington Cascades in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. He also attended 2007 Central Oregon Cascades and 2007 Utah. He now organizes BFRO expeditions in Washington and has participated in bigfoot conferences over the past 17 years.

Scott will be leading a Washington BFRO expedition in 2025 (July 17-20) which is open to non-members. For more details and registration information for that trip click here.