YEAR: 1974

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: August

DATE: 9/15/1974

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Snohomish County

LOCATION DETAILS: It was about 5 miles toward Monte Cristo on the Mount Loop Highway at a campground called Gold Basin. Mount Pilchuch was the nearest mountain in the range.

NEAREST TOWN: Granet Falls

NEAREST ROAD: Mount Loop Hwy.

OBSERVED: August 1974 I and my three friends Tom, Byron, and Jay went camping with their parents who slept inside their camper while we slept on the ground with a plastic tarp draped over us. It had been raining the day before. Around 2 am I was awakened by an eerie screaming. It sounded like a woman was being murdered. It freaked me out. The screaming was across the Stillaguamish River which was about 50 meters from where we slept and into the forest on the other side. Across the river was a steep incline into the rustic forest and beyond that was nothing but wilderness all the way into Canada. The screaming became louder and louder as the “thing” that was screaming was getting closer. I heard it walking down the steep hill on the other side of the river, and then I heard it walk up and down the other side of the river, screaming all the more. It was very loud and very scary. It gave me the impression that it was angry. Angry at us for being in its area and it wanted us out. That was my impression. I was scared to death and I did not know what to do. Then, suddenly, the thing walked across the river towards me! It came to my side of the river and began to walk up and down the river bank screaming all the louder. Then it stepped on a fallen tree that was on the river bank and I heard a “snap” as the weight of the thing broke the log as it stepped on it. Then the thing walked up to me and my friends and came within 10 feet of us and screamed some more. I thought it was going to kill us. Just then I noticed the terrible odor that this thing had. It was overwhelming! It was so strong it made my eyes water. I was petrified. I was too scared to move, to speak, to do anything. I really thought it was going to kill me. It was lasting forever! This thing was standing over top of me, screaming, smelling horrible, and scaring me to death. Then he started to simply walk away. It went back to the river and walked across it to the other side. Then it climbed up the steep hill and into the forest screaming all the time. The screams became farther and farther away. When it was a good distance away I started to believe that it wasn’t going to kill me. I then asked my friends, “Tom, Byron, Jay, did you guys hear that”? They all three jumped up and yelled at me “yes what the hell was that?” It seems they were just as terrified as I was and were frozen stiff with fear. The entire episode lasted for approximately 25 minutes. What did I see? I saw nothing because it was pitch black dark. I heard and smelled everything. It was as real as it could possibly have been and we are convinced that it was some kind of monster. It walked on two legs just like a human. I have been shot at, artillery shelled, sniper shot at, have had a hand grenade tossed at me, survived an ambush, and IEDs while in combat. I have been attacked by a 12 foot shark while scuba diving. I have been face to face with three adult man eating lions that were pets of Saddam Hussein’s son. Nothing can compare with the fear that I felt this day.

ALSO NOTICED: It lasted so long. I have never heard of anyone having an exposure to bigfoot as long as this was. The odor was overpowering. It made my eyes water it was so strong. This "thing" was less than ten feet from me.

OTHER WITNESSES: They were all asleep when it started and witnessed the entire episode with me.

OTHER STORIES: Yes. My brother saw a bigfoot about a year later in the same area. I had an encounter with bigfoot in 1970, January in the same area. I will report on this incident later. Many sightings in the area of Granite Falls.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 2 am

ENVIRONMENT: It was a thick evergreen forested area with the south fork of the Stillaguamish River by it.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator John Ray:

I found the witness to be very credible and competent as he related the details of his encounter to me during our interview.

Even though the encounter lasted almost a half-hour, and included terrifying screams, loud footsteps, and a very close approach, it must be classified as a Class B encounter because the creature was not seen.

Witness has not been in contact with these friends for many years. When asked about the parents inside the camper he stated that the parents never brought up the screams. He and his friends discussed the screams among themselves and decided not to talk about it any further. He did not know if the parents were awakened by the screams or if they even heard them.

The witness has been in several battles and life-threatening situations during his military career, but has never been as scared as he was during this probable encounter with a sasquatch.

The Gold Basin Campground is along the Mountain Loop Highway East of the town of Granite Falls, Washington. It is still in use today and the surrounding terrain is basically unchanged since the described event occurred.

The Mountain Loop Highway has a long history of Bigfoot activity, including the following reports:

Report # 41602.
Report # 37307.
Report # 37101.
Report # 26353.
Report # 25882.
Report # 23170.
Report # 23017.
Report # 16276.
Report # 1880.
Report # 1722.
Report # 1672.

The Mountain Loop Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It traverses the western section of the Cascade Range within Snohomish County. The name suggests it forms a full loop, but it only is a small portion of a loop, which is completed using State Routes 92, 9, and 530. Part of the highway is also a designated and signed Forest Highway, and is known as Forest Route 20.

The highway connects the towns of Granite Falls and Darrington. It is paved for 34 miles (55 km) from Granite Falls to Barlow Pass (2349') where the highway becomes unpaved for 13 miles (21 km), and then paved again for the remaining 9 miles (14 km) to Darrington. The unpaved section is U.S. Forest Service Road #20 and passes several USFS campgrounds. Portions of the unpaved section are often closed for periods of several years due to flood damage.

About BFRO Investigator John Ray:

John conducts BFRO report investigations in the Snohomish County area of Washington State. He has attended the 2006, 2008, and 2009 Washington Cascades expeditions, the 2009 and 2011 Washington Olympics-2nd expedition, the 2012 Western Washington expedition, the 2013, 2014, & 2015 Washington Cascades Area 1 Expeditions, and several other personal and private expeditions.