YEAR: 1979

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 15

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Pacific County

NEAREST TOWN: IIwaco,Wa.

NEAREST ROAD: 101

OBSERVED: I have never spoke to anyone about the night that my friend that I will call Joe and me left Long Beach Wa. on State Route 101. Walking with our packbacks that probably weighed about 70 lbs. a piece. We left Seattle thinking that we were going all the way to Santa Cruz, Ca. However we did not plan on leaving in the middle of the night from Long Beach... we had a room that we were hanging out with a couple of girls we had met earlier at the bar. Well after a few hours of drinking things suddenly turned nasty. So Joe and I decided that it was best to get out of town. We had Astoria, Oregon on our next desination stop. However we had no idea we would be heading there in the middle of the night. It was late July so we had no problem worrying about rain or cold weather. It was a crystal clear night walking down Hwy. 101 at around 2:30 in the morning. We were trying to hitch hike but at that time in the early morning there was not much traffic. We walked for miles, however we were relieved just knowing we got out of town and away from those wicked girls. Whew ! So now we have walked to IIwaco, Wa. and it's pitch black out. The only light we had to go by was the light of the stars above. It was a beautiful sight. We were laughing and joking when suddenly we heard a growl that instantly stood the hairs on our neck up in a frenzy. Joe nor I had ever heard such a growl like what we heard that night. It was frightening and I thought that it just might be the end. I looked at Joe and he looked at me, and I swear all I could see was the whites of his eyes. We took off running as fast as we could. 70 lb. packbacks and our tail between our legs. We must have ran for a mile at least ! If not more. We were absolutely terrorfied! To this day I will never forget that night and what that might have been out there in the marshland by Fort Canby State Park. To this day when I think about it...I still get chills.

ALSO NOTICED: The sound of this growl was like nothing we have ever heard before. I grew up in Kansas on a farm I've been around many animals.

OTHER WITNESSES: Joe and I

OTHER STORIES: No but I am interested about if there are any other sightings in that area.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Pitch black. Around 3:am.

ENVIRONMENT: Highway walking.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Scott Taylor:

I interviewed this witness over the phone. He re-told of an encounter with something that screamed loudly at him. As his narrative says, it was back in 1979 when he was a young man hitchhiking down Hwy 101 to California. He says that the memory of the event is still just as fresh in his mind as it was 30 years ago.

The witness described the vocalization as a very loud growl that started at a higher pitch, but then dropped down to a low-toned growl with high intensity. He said from the volume of the growl that he had the impression that it was a huge animal. The hair stood up on the back of his neck, and his body felt like pins and needles. He described the sound as “other worldly; like it came from the depths of hell”. It sounded like nothing he had ever heard before. They both stood there frozen for a few seconds, and then they took off running down the road. He said that he was afraid to see what it was. They ran for what seemed like miles.

He and his friend were just past town when this event happened. He was heading southbound towards the Astoria Bridge. It was a clear night, about 2:30AM. The creature that made the call was to his right (the Columbia River side). From Google Earth, one can see that the left hand side of the road is a forest that extends back several miles. The right side is an estuary. This would be the likely place for a sasquatch to access the food sources along the river. Crossing this road would be expected at this location. Also, this is much like another report near Aberdeen, Washington, where the sasquatch was observed either heading towards the estuary, or returning from it. Report 26101

I believe that this report is genuine. The vocalization does not match any other large animal. I believe that the most likely creature to make such a vocalization in that place would be a sasquatch.

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.