YEAR: 2001

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 18

STATE: California

COUNTY: Calaveras County

LOCATION DETAILS: We camped at Big Trees State Park, 3 miles or so up from Arnold, in the North Grove campground. Our two campsites were adjacent to the highway.

NEAREST TOWN: Arnold

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 4

OBSERVED: While camping in the Sierra, several members of our group were awakened by repeated screams very similar to the Klamath and Washington State sound files at bfro.net. I first heard the eerie bellowing screams at 4:45AM and they continued until 5:05AM, followed by another short series soon after . I thought it was over for the night until a short series of screams began at 6:30... from a different direction. The vocalizations were grouped in a pattern of 4 or 5 "blasts" (lung-fulls?) with a (resting?) pause of a few seconds followed by another series of 4 or 5, a pause, and so on. This continued with only slight variation for 20 straight minutes; then the two other series mentioned above. While my wife says her heart was "beating like crazy", I was simply astonished. I've been interested in the bigfoot phenomenon for more than 30 years, so I had tears in my eyes as I paid close attention to this almost indescribable sound. To my thinking there are only two possibilities to explain these nocturnal screams: 1) Someone playing high-fidelity recordings at high volume at 4:45AM, or 2) A sasquatch was screaming out at night in the forests of Calaveras County. Either way -- MANY other campers had to have heard what we did.

OTHER WITNESSES: There were six of us who heard the screams. All were sleeping and were awakened by the unforgettable sound.

OTHER STORIES: I read of the Calaveras County reports on the bfro website, but have no knowledge of any other bigfoot action in this area.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Pre-dawn hours beginning at 4:45. Last heard at 6:30AM. Hot, dry conditions by day; barely sleeping bag cool at night.

ENVIRONMENT: Our campground was in a forest of very large fir, incense cedar, and ponderosa pine trees. It's a short hike to the giant Sequoias the park is named after. The elevation is somewhere around 4,000ft -- in the foothills of the Sierra.

Follow-up investigation report:

I talked with the witness by phone. The following details can be added to the report:
--Witness is a high school biology teacher (21 years), with a degree in biology.
--Witness is familiar with various owl and mountain lion sounds, and the scream heard was not any of those familiar forest animals.
--Other people in the campground, including other people witness was with, also heard the screams.
--First set of screams seemed to come from up country from the location of the campground, possibly a mile or so away.
--Scream was very long and sustained, high in frequency, with a falsetto ending that echoed.
--They stayed another night, but no further screams or sounds were heard.
--Outside of some bear footprints in camp, no footprints or other Bigfoot sign were discovered.