YEAR: 2013

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 28, 29th

STATE: Minnesota

COUNTY: St. Louis County

NEAREST TOWN: Orr, Mn

NEAREST ROAD: back roads

OBSERVED: Went camping at Lake Jeanette in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota. First night we were there we heard wood knocking. Knocked back and got three distinctive and separate responses. As we started to go to bed we heard a whooping noise. The next day we hiked out into the area which the sounds came from; no camps, nothing out there. After a long day of hiking and and swimming we went back to camp, ate dinner, and that night we started the knocks. Again we hear three responses. One of the three got closer and closer after each time we responded back. My friend got creeped out and we left the woods and sat at our camp site. As we are sitting by out fire we both saw a set of eyes staring at us. Neither one of us said anything about the eyes to the other until we were on our way home. We decided to go back into the woods for one last time and as we did something very close to us made a loud grunt. I've hunted since I was 12, I have heard bears, moose and everything else that would be in the woods of Minnesota and I have no idea what this was. We took down our tent and left within 20 minutes of this grunt. I don't know what was there but we both felt like it didn't want us there.

OTHER WITNESSES: Yes, sitting next to me or standing next to me

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Night both times

ENVIRONMENT: Early summer pine forest next to a lake.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Robert Barhite:

I talked with Charlie, who was initially nervous when discussing the incidents. The first night, which was overcast and damp, began as any overnight camping trip would, with dinner and making plans for the next day. After sunset they heard very distinct knocks coming from the north, east and west. The knocks, which were sporadic, went on for nearly ninety minutes. Eventually Charlie and his camping buddy would knock and then would hear response knocks, with the loudest responses coming from the east. As they hunkered down for the night they heard a very distinct low voiced whoop. And about 1 a.m. they were awakened when something very large slowly walked by their campsite.

The next night, which was perfectly clear and chilly, again began with the same knocking patterns. Charlie and his friend knocked back. This time whatever was making the knocks to the east began to move closer. His friend became uncomfortable with the scene, and they made their way back to the campsite and sat near their fire. From the woods opposite them, which was the towards the east, they clearly saw a pair of red eyes about six feet off the ground. They do not believe the eyes were reflecting the amber color of the fire, and at one point Charlie saw them blink. There are no cell phone towers, out buildings, roads of any kind, or other campers in the direction of the eyes. At first neither one said anything about the eyes. Charlie and his friend decided to go into the woods to the west, maybe about forty feet, and do a couple of knocks. As they moved in, a tremendous deep grunt was heard very close by. Charlie's friend had enough, and in Charlie's words his friend was "horrified" and went straight back into camp, packed up his gear, and they left. It was on the way home as they began to recount what just happened that they both said that they saw the red eyes staring at them.

The campground is located on the western end of the Echo Trail, a remote country road that traverses through the heart of the western Superior National Forest. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Jeanette and provides scenic views of the lake. The terrain is covered with a granite rock outcropping and a mix of pine and spruce trees. This area was once the site of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp which operated in the 1930s.

About BFRO Investigator Robert Barhite:

A native of far northeast Iowa, Robert has always had an intense interest in Bigfoot and exploring the great outdoors.

His first expedition was the 2012 BFRO Iowa Hill Country Expedition He the 2013 Iowa Big River Expedition, 2013 Oregon Cascades Expedition, 2013 Michigan Upper Peninsula Expedition, 2014 and 2015 Wisconsin Expeditions, 2014 Iowa Expedition, and the 2015 Iowa Spring Expedition. Since 2012 Robert has participated in several private expeditions in Iowa and in Wisconsin. In addition to expeditions, he has conducted numerous solo research trips in Iowa and Wisconsin throughout 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. And for the last two years has been a guest lecturer at the request of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. Robert led the 2016 Iowa Spring Expedition and is assisting with the 2016 Iowa Fall Expedition and is scouting locations across North America for 2017 expeditions, and continues to monitor activity in a long-term study location in the Midwest.