YEAR: 1973

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: Unknown

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Skagit County

LOCATION DETAILS: It has been so long and many changes in the area I don't know where it is. The Jim Clark Dude Ranch is out of business.

NEAREST TOWN: Marblemount

NEAREST ROAD: North Cascades Highway

OBSERVED: This sighting happened on a summer vacation trip with my mother who is now deceased. The trip was July 1973 outside of Marblemount Washington State. We were staying at a camp called Jim Clark’s Dude Ranch (no longer in business). The facility had cabins, and activities, one of which was horseback riding on their fenced in property; I don’t recall how long the ride should have taken. We were assured the horses knew where to go so we would not get lost! I believe we left around in the morning, just my mother and I.
The surrounding woods and property consisted of Alders, Evergreens, local trees and lots of underbrush, berry brambles and a barbed wire fence which was 4 or 5 feet tall, 3 strands

It was a clear, sunny day, no clouds and no wind. I could hear the river and birds chirping. The horses were walking along the well-worn trail until we came around a small bend that followed the property line, and then the horses stopped, fast! We were questioning what the heck was going on as the horses would not respond to any of our urging them to go. One horse made a chortle sound and the other responded then stopped making any noise, looked to the left and stared off into the distance. The only sound you could hear was the river, there were no birds chirping anymore. Within a couple of seconds I heard a crack which sounded like a tree branch snapped and simultaneously the horses (still looking left) looked a bit right and through the underbrush I could see the back of a tall being (Bigfoot) that stepped out and moved a tree aside to continue through the woods. All I saw was brownish reddish hair and the creature had its right hand on the tree then put its left hand up and moved another tree and then you could not see it anymore, it was gone. I saw the back of this creature which was at least 5 feet above the top wire of the fence! The horses waited probably a minute but it felt longer and then they galloped all the way back to the barn.

Mr. Clark said that we got back fast and in a hurry, my mother just said yeah, she wanted to get to fishing. She would not talk about it, ever. I never forgot it and did not know what it was at that time!

ALSO NOTICED: I am not sure if the Sasquatch saw us but if he did he was not interested. He was HUGE!

OTHER WITNESSES: One other witness, my mother who is deceased.

OTHER STORIES: No

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 10:00a.m.. Sunny, clear day, no wind.

ENVIRONMENT: The terrain was basically flat, there were small inclines but nothing major. The property fronted a river and was fenced in by a 4 or 5 foot barbed wire fence. The horse trail was approximately 10 feet from the barbwire fence and I would say the creature was maybe 10 feet away from the fence on his side. (hope this makes sense)

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Kevin Llewellyn:

I talked to the witness by phone.

She was fifteen at the time of this sighting. She recalls seeing from horseback, the back, arms and hands of a figure twenty feet away. It was five feet above a four to five foot high barbed wire fence. She observed it for fifteen to twenty seconds.

She first saw the right arm and a hand on a tree, then the left arm and hand pushed another tree away. The trees, possibly alder, were four to five inches diameter. She did not see fingers but did see the back of eight inch wide hands grab the trees. There was eight inch flowing hair from the long arms and the sun was shining on a solid coat of brown-red hair with no patches of hair missing. The shape of the head was more pointed than a person and did not appear to have a neck. She saw its back, so did not see any facial features. It was thick, with shoulders about five feet across. She said, "it looked like a wall, didn't know what I was looking at." No odor was detected.

I find the witness credible with great attention to detail.

About BFRO Investigator Kevin Llewellyn:

Kevin has camped, fished and hunted in Eastern Washington all his life. His interest in Sasquatch began when he was 10 years old and saw Roger Patterson present "the" film. He lives in Eastern Washington.

Recently retired, he was a veterinarian since 1984, after graduating from Washington State University.

He attended Washington BFRO expeditions in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Oregon in 2015 and 2018, Montana in 2017 and 2018. He was co-leader of N.E. Washington 2019, Washington 2020, 2021 #1 & #2, and Montana 2020, 2021expeditions.