YEAR: 2003

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 25

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Skamania County

LOCATION DETAILS: You take the 90 Rd., west from Eagles Cliff to the 25 Rd., follow the 25 Rd. to the 93 Rd. across the Muddy River. Follow the 93 Rd. about 14+ miles to the end where it forks take the left fork (40 Rd.?) and go about a quarter to a half mile our camp was on the left next to the (Wright) creek just before the road crosses it just before a trail head on the right. It has been used for elk camp for 15 years and is set up as such.

NEAREST TOWN: Cougar, WA

NEAREST ROAD: 90 Rd.

OBSERVED: My wife and I were on a family camp out with my inlaws. I stayed up after everyone had gone to bed to let the camp fire burn down. I had noticed earlier that day the dogs would go nuts barking into the woods. Since there were no other campers within miles of us I figured it was deer or some other critter they were barking at. It was after midnight and was quite dark the fire was down to coals. I got this intense feeling that I was not alone, I put it down as over active imagination that feeling you get when you are alone but feel like someone is watching you, so I decided to head for the tent.

Some time in the morning between 3:00am and 4:00am I was awakened by what I thought was coyotes howling. It was high pitched. It was not loud at first but grew in intensity, it awakened my wife also, it sounded like one than others joining in. It sounded like five or six animals as it grew in intensity. I knew it was not anything I had heard before. I jumped up thinking it was an alarm and that the woods were on fire but the night was dark and no smoke so we listened to it and could tell it was some sort of animals. I thought it was elk my wife and sister inlaw had spotted a heard down the road earlier that day but I have never heard elk sound like this and if it was they were in pain, as I said it started out low and others joined in and it grew in intensity like it was far away and getting closer it lasted about 10 maybe 15 seconds and then just stop abruptly! It was in unison starting with one than another until it sounded like 5 or 6 going at the same time and then just stopped all at once. It was a very high pitched scream, not a trumpet like an elk or the squeek of a deer and it was not the cry of a cougar. I have heard these animals before and this was new to me.

When we were on our way home after the camp out we stopped at the Eagles Cliff store and my wife mentioned what we heard to the girl working there and she said there had been other people that had heard it too and some mentioned having rocks thrown at them out of the dark. I dont know if what I heard was bigfoot. I never believed in the story. All I can say is it was something I had never heard before.

ALSO NOTICED: Dogs barking at the woods earlier that day, I made the comment that whatever it was is bigger than them, that same night before i came to the camp fire (I was napping in the tent) my sister inlaw said she saw something move in the trees on the other side of camp near the tent the kids were using but it was to dark to realy see.

OTHER WITNESSES: My wife, everone else slept through it.

OTHER STORIES: Just that the girl at Eagles Cliff had heard other reports of the screams and rocks being thrown but she did not say how recent they were.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Between 3:00am and 4:00am, it was a warm calm night following two cold nights.

ENVIRONMENT: Dense forest, a creek, its right on a forestry road with some trail heads near.

A & G References: A&G pg.34, C1
T9N R7E Sec 34

Follow-up investigation report:

D. V.B. sounded like he was very familiar with the other animals in the woods that could of possibly made these sounds. He imitated the sound to me on the telephone and it didn't sound like Elk to me, it sounded like the Tahoe tape, which was used on the Skookum expedition. Wapiti bulls bugle and whistle with a deep terminal, guttural call at the end and is quite distinct. It is the wrong time of the year for the rut bugles but the single cows who have given birth a few weeks ago probably all returned by now to the cow herd. Any alarm calls from the cows would be more like a bark or if calling a calf, a high pitched neigh.

His sister inlaw made the observation of something large moving by the kids tent at about 10:00PM. This moved the classification from C to B.