YEAR: 1984

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: mid-month

STATE: Nevada

COUNTY: Douglas County

LOCATION DETAILS: Go to the town of Genoa. Drive north on Foothill Rd. turn left on Centennial past the cemetary. The road ends up behind some residential homes but where the road ends the land belongs to the Forestry/BLM and is the start of the trail head. It is a tough hike but eventually you will come to the remaining foundation of the deer hunter's cabin. It was in this vacinity where we met this large, hairy, smelly guy near the creek. Going uphill the creek will be on your left.

NEAREST TOWN: Genoa, Nevada

NEAREST ROAD: Centennial Rd.

OBSERVED: In Sept. 1984 my friend and I were hiking on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mtn. Range above Lake Tahoe and the Carson Valley above the town Genoa. Both of us grew up in this area. Although in high school I was kind of a cut up, my friend Linda, graduated valedictorian of our class 5 years earlier. She is very logical. We have often hiked this trail that basically goes straight up the mountain and over to Tahoe. It is a strenuous hike. When we parked our truck at the trailhead there was another car parked there as well. We were 1/4 the way up the trail when two teenage boys came running down the mountain towards us. The trail was extremely steep and they were running for all they were worth. They stopped long enough to implore us not to go any further up the mountain as they had seen a monster or something. There was an old deer hunter's cabin at about the half way point and we told the boys that we were only going to go that far. (We thought they were drinking or on drugs) We shrugged off the incident laughed and joked that we wished we had what they were "smoking."

We reached the cabin without incidence sat down on the bluff that overlooked the Carson Valley we split a soda that we had brought and I took out my recorder (flute like instrument) and began playing some little tunes on it. We were alone on the mountain we thought. After about an hour of putsing around we decided to head back down the trail. I kept smelling dog doo or something dead. I even checked my shoes. We were near the creek gathering pine cones for an art project, I was facing downhill, Linda was facing uphill, we were examining a particularly perfect cone when Linda looked up and exclaimed, "Oh, my God it's a bear, no....it's a guy in a bear suit!" I looked up and couldn't believe it, we were a stone toss from a 7 ft. hairy dude. He looked directly at us and to this day Linda and I felt something pass between the three of us. He stood across the creek from us. His hair was the color of dry pine needles and covered his whole body with the hair thinning just on his chest and face. He had a large broad chest, but not breasts like a female, his arms were hanging at his sides nearly to his knees and when he walked, he took long strides and his arms swung freely as he walked. He didn't seem to fear us although he began to walk straight up a pine needle covered slope, barefooted, without slipping.

As he moved away Linda grabbed my arm and began dragging me down the hill I couldn't take my eyes off him and he never took his eyes off us. I do not feel to this day as he meant to harm us but instead I feel he was just as fascinated with us as we were with him. His face seemed almost serene with very intelligent eyes - his face resembled an orangutan. He had large eyes and a flattish nose I sketched a picture as soon as I got home and Linda confirmed that I had captured his likeness - I wished I had a camera on me that day. As we continued at a fast pace down the hill he remained on the ridge above us paralleling in the same direction.

We reached our truck and could still see him crouching on a granite boulder at least a football field distance between us. I yelled up to him that he was very cool but he shouldn't be scaring the crap out of us locals. He stood up on his boulder and Linda told me to shut up and get in the truck. We were strangely disturbed that afternoon and evening. We thought of going to the forest service or the sheriff’s dept. But crimeny sakes, who would've believed us? Plus in our community they would just want to shoot him. We have since hiked there many times. Always hoping to catch another glimpse. We are married ladies with kids and we take the kids up "Bigfoot Canyon" periodically in search of our elusive friend.

A few years ago the wind blew down some trees during a storm and exposed an area that we had not seen from the trail before. When we went up to investigate we found a large boulder and some older pine trees with branches low to the ground around it. You could duck down and go under the trees near the wall of the boulder and it looked as if something or someone had made a natural shelter there. The pine needles had all been tramped down and it seemed to be away from the prevailing winds. A great place for deer, bear or perhaps a bigfoot. We hope so. I will never look at life on this earth the same way. I have seen bigfoot and not only does it make for a great tale around the campfires at night, it fuels my imagination about every little sound I hear when I am in the wilderness. I am intrigued. I only hope that no harm comes to the Bigfoots. I believe that the great creator of all life shares the sight of the Bigfoot with people who might grow from the experience. I know Linda and I have both grown. Even if we share the experience with someone who doesn't believe us - it really does not matter. We know what we saw. He was so close in proximity it was obvious to us that this fella belonged here. He was as natural as the sky, creek, trees and the deer.

ALSO NOTICED: No except that he appeared to be studying us.

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself, my best friend and whoever the two young boys were.

OTHER STORIES: Yes, I spoke with an Austrian Mtn biker who had a strange experience 5 years ago directly on the other side of the mountain on the Tahoe side. He said he was riding his bike and excercising his German Shepard. He said he kept smelling something dead. He said his dog was running ahead of him. Suddenly he said his dog yelped, and turned around without waiting for him and ran back down the mountain. This man said that he never did see anything but he felt there was someone watching him and he said he felt the hair on his neck and arms prickle. He thought maybe it was a bear. But the smell kept coming back to him. This story was shared with me before I had told him my own.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: A beautiful fall day. Clear but a little bite in the air. 2 o'clock pm.

ENVIRONMENT: Ponderosa Pines and Cedar. Near the foundation of an old deer hunter's cabin and a trickle of a creek.

Follow-up investigation report:

Following the investigator's interview with the witness, the following information can be added to this report:

Just prior to the encounter, the witness reports having the "sense of being watched."

The witness reported the "hairy man," as she called it, had possibly been nearby for some time without them noticing, as he was very close when they did notice him.

The witness reported he raised his nose to the sky and was heard to take a big "sniff," followed by a very loud, deep "huff" which much resembled a snort from a very large bull, which she was accustomed to hearing.

The witness reported he then turned and ran off uphill in a very fluid and graceful, yet powerful and agile fashion. He ran up a very steep hill covered with thick pine needles without missing a step or slipping at all. He was reported to have run uphill in a "hunched over" position, but he used his hands for "swatting objects out of the way," rather than for locomotion.

The witness reported he followed them down the hill, staying off to the side and uphill from them. The hike back down to their truck took approximately one hour. Upon arriving back at the truck, the witnesses took a rest break and sat on the hood of the truck while the "hairy man" stayed on the ridge above them, and appeared to be observing them. As they began to leave, the witness shouted to him, which may have caused him to rise from his crouched position and stand upright.

The witness had several observations on physical features to report as well. Working from the top down, they are as follows:

·The head was very large, with a prominent brow ridge and deep-set, dark eyes.

·The face was flat, with a “ruddy” complexion.

·The nose was flat and wide, with nothing resembling a prominent snout.

·Estimated size was 7 feet tall and 360 pounds.

·The shoulders and chest were very wide and very muscular, much like a very serious body builder; the hair was thinning on the chest; no breasts were visible.

·The abdomen was very firm, described as “six-pack” abs.

·The definition of the muscles was quite visible through the hair.

·The hair was of varying length, with some obvious patches “worn off” on the chest, buttocks and about the lower portion of the legs. The hair was described as “human-like, not thick like a bear’s coat.”

·The hands observed were described as “huge” and hung to the knees.

·The feet were described as “gigantic.”

·The exposed skin color was described as being much the same as the color of the dirt, giving a “very dirty” appearance to it.

The witness reports having been in the same area many times since then, yet she has had no further encounters.

The witness also submitted a sketch done shortly after her encounter that she feels fairly depicts what she saw that day.