YEAR: 2002

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: November

DATE: Nov. 19

STATE: California

COUNTY: Del Norte County

LOCATION DETAILS: Up French Hill Road.

NEAREST TOWN: Gasquet

NEAREST ROAD: 199

OBSERVED: This report was brought to my attention on Nov. 24, 2002. I am posting for the reporting party. John Frietas called me and requested that I investigate a report that he had been contacted about. I contacted the lady, JW, and she took me to the spot where she had found a track. She had found the track on Nov. 19 (Tues.), 2002 while picking huckleberries with her sister. She had noticed a large track (13" X 7") in one of the few bare places in the area. I might add that it was just a week since it had rained and the ground was still somewhat soft. She went up to the area and made a cast of the track two days later (Thurs.). The track was found in an area next to the road that had been cut with a piece of heavy equipment to form a waterbar to drain the road. Since there was a slight incline to the drainage the weight of the track appears to have been on the downhill side. The cast also picked up a rock approximately 2"X2" which may have caused the weight of the subject to be on the downhill side, hence the reason for a deeper depression on the lower side than the place where one would expect it, on the ball and heel area. The local ranger, MS, was going by when she was doing the casting and saw the track. After talking with other people she was encouraged to report the incident.

ALSO NOTICED: The lady has some large scat that she found about 1/2 mile away. She also picked up bear scat from the area to compare it to.

OTHER WITNESSES: The reporting parties sister.

OTHER STORIES: A friend of hers relayed this story: He was hunting around El Capitan mountain in 1997. They came upon a lake in the area and was looking down on it and saw a large upright, dark colored bipedal figure standing in the water splashing water on itself.The figure saw them and ran splashing out of the water.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Afternoon

ENVIRONMENT: Transition area. 1625' elevation. Mixed Pine and Fir forest. A good area for Huckleberries.