YEAR: 1973

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: 20

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Snohomish County

LOCATION DETAILS: Between Arlington and Darrington 4 miles east of Oso, north of 530.

NEAREST TOWN: Darrington

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 530

OBSERVED: We were camped right on a old road. We got there late at night and did not have a tent so we were going to sleep in our sleeping bags right in front of my friends old VW. We had a small camp fire and it was dying down so we got in our bags and were shooting the breeze trying to doze off. All of a sudden we both were startled by alot of leaves and branches breaking all around us and a foul smell which I have never smelled before or since (I know what a skunk smells like and that wasnt it). There was a lot of screaming going on all around us like there was more than one thing out there. We grabbed our rifles and threw our bags in the car and got the heck out of there. We didn't have a flash light handy so we couldn't see a thing.

ALSO NOTICED: This area is always very erie.

OTHER WITNESSES: There were two of us and we were just getting ready to go to sleep so we could get up in morning and go deer hunting.

OTHER STORIES: The locals say there is a lot of weird stories from the same area much like ours. I'm in my 50s now and I don't really ever talk to any one about this but it is still very clear in my mind.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Between 10pm and 11pm. Very dark and overcast but also very still it was in the low 30's

ENVIRONMENT: River bottom alder, swamppy, at the base of Mt Higgins

A & G References: A&G pg. 96
T32N R8E Sec 7

Follow-up investigation report:

The site contains an old fruit orchard, railroad track line and an old cedar cabin which burned down. The sounds these men heard were monkey type sounds - chattering, hooting and hollering. At least two animals were jumping around in the bushes on either side of them. It was definitely not a cougar.