YEAR: 2000

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: 09/7-11th/2000

STATE: North Carolina

COUNTY: Mitchell County

LOCATION DETAILS: BearDen Campground Rt 3 Box 284 SprucePine, NC 28777
Just off the BlueRidge parkway milepost 324.8

NEAREST TOWN: Sprucepine, North Carolina

NEAREST ROAD: BlueRidge parkway milepost 324.8

OBSERVED: My wife, children, my father, our lab mix dog and I were camping At Bear Den Campground Sept 7th thru the 11th, 2000. The campground is located just off the Blue ridge parkway near SprucePine, NC. I have summited a report earlier this year my grandfather told me about (local legend stuff). Anyway, The first night there I could not sleep and was reading a book, it was around 2-3am. I turned off the lantern and was just getting settled in when I heard a howl/moan. It sounded sort of like a cow bellowing only alot deeper. The sound was off to the southwest of the campsite and sounded maybe 1 mile away. It was very quiet that night and I could hear away in the distance a train coming through the valley. This sound would call out (oooooohhhh, ooooooohhh, oooooooohhh) like it was lost or searching for something. I sat up and listened to it for more than 30 mins. I looked over at my dog but he was just asleep. It moved away over the ridge the the west. I thought at first maybe it was a cow and a layed back down to go to sleep. I woke up around 4 am hearing it again this time coming back over the ridge and going more back to the south east. I told my wife about the next day, she did not believe me. My father arrived at the camp on the 9th. The morning of the 10th my dad asked me if I was up the previous night. I told him no, I went bed around 11pm and sleep all night till 7am. He said he heard what he thought was a bird at first in the trees directly behind my tent around 3am. He said it made a Whoop, Whoop, Whoop noise and lasted for several mins and was very loud. He got up with his flashlight and checked around but didnt see anything. He described the noise as something up in the trees. The trees at the camp site where mostly pine with a few large oaks. We didnt check around for anything then because he was sure it was just a bird or something. The same thing happened on the morning of the 11th. He stated to me that "that thing was back again a 3 o'clock in the morning". He described to me the same whoop, whoop, whoop sound and that it ended very low in a chattering kind of sound you hear at the zoo, like a monkey. My wife heard my dad and said she had heard it both nights. I slept through the whole thing. I sort of felt that maybe it could have been a bigfoot but both my wife and dad described it as being up in the trees behind the tent. Also my dog did not wake up at any of the noises. This dog can't stand any kind of wildlife and will bark at it till it leaves. Only around people does he "lounge around". I kept asking my wife and dad to give me more details such as smells. Neither smelt anything or heard any other noises. I figured that it had to be just some animal or maybe a peacock because it did not come across as any of the other vocalizations encounters I have heard about before. About a week after we got back My dad, stepmom, wife and I were at my home and the conversation went back to those sounds. Both my wife and dad said "It sounded like something a the zoo" again and I remembered that this site has vocalizations recorded. I played the howl and scream. The howl is close to what I heard only much longer, lower in pitch and slower. When I played the scream both my dad and wife "went white". My dad jumped up and said "that's it!, that's what I heard only there was like a chattering at the end". My wife refused to discuss it any further and acted both scared and mad. Please note I have 3 kids ages 3- 10 years old and they nor my dog heard or seemed to hear anything. I hesitated about posting this report until I read the most recent postings about the vocalizations, especially the sightings of a bigfoot up in a tree. I have never heard that these things could climb before. Also how my dog did not react to any of the sounds, I noticed in another report how some dogs will react and in one case the dog did not at a sighting.

ALSO NOTICED: Driving up to the campground we noticed lots of deer around. This is fairly common on the parkway. Nothing else unsual was seen or heard.

OTHER WITNESSES: 3 Myself, my wife and father. At each incident we had all been in the tents, all lights off and were or had been asleep.

OTHER STORIES: The camp site is not very far from the Parkway Trading post. I have seen a report on your site about a hunter in that area that heard vocalizations. Also coming off the mountain we were not very far from the Lenoir/Hickory area where a large footprint was found.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was around 2-3am that I heard the bellowing/howl/moan. The moon was waxing towards full and the night was very bright. On the following nights my dad said he checked his watch and knew it was 3 am each night he heard the whoop sound. The weather was clear and cool around 50-60 degress.

ENVIRONMENT: Very wooded. Lots of pines and large oaks. The camp sites are nicely maintained and secluded, back off the road. The area directly behind the campsite was very wooded and but had several narrow trails that you could walk down. I went down one but not very far to see if I could find any tracks. I could not but I did notice that there was a lot of pine needles lying about and I made little noise walking. I am about 5'8 1/2" tall and weigh 260lbs. I got the creeps thinking that something large could come up the trails and not be heard, so I went back to camp.