YEAR: 2003

SEASON: Fall

DATE: 1

STATE: California

COUNTY: El Dorado County

NEAREST TOWN: Pollock Pines

NEAREST ROAD: Sly Park road about 3 miles from Highway 50

OBSERVED: I am posting this report after several months of trying to dismiss what I saw as a bear or other common animal. I have come to the conclusion that what I saw could only have been an unknown animal such as Sasquatch, as the behavior and curiosity of the animal does not match any animal I am aware of, yet is consistant with Sasquatch descriptions I have read on this and other web sites.

I had heard recent reports of black bear sightings becoming more common in the Pollock Pines area and that the bears are extending their range from the Rubicon/Desolation Wilderness area south to Pollock Pines. Two black bears had recently been hit and killed on Highway 50 about 3 miles north of my encounter. All this talk of bears in our area is what led me to initially conclude that what I had seen was a bear.

Approximately 5:30am sometime in early fall I was travelling northbound about 45mph on Sly Park road heading toward Highway 50. It was almost completely dark, there was some light starting to become visible, there where no other vehicles. I rounded a sharp corner to the left going downhill when my highbeams hit a large animal on the left side of the road, it was standing on two legs and was facing to the left. It appeared to be grabing at something in the trees in the front yard of a residence. As soon as my light hit the animal it quickly turned 180 degrees to it's right in a twisting motion going down on all fours and proceding to run on all fours to the other side of the road. The right side of the road had thick brush which at that time appeared to be about 3 feet tall. The right side of the road also opens into thick forest land. Upon first seeing the animal I slowed down to about 25mph to be sure this large "bear" got across the road without me hitting it. As I drove past the location where the animal had entered the brush I looked out the passenger window and to my surprise I saw it's face in the brush looking right into the window only a few feet away. I saw large reddish brown eyes, a large brown head and a dull black (not shiny) area that would have been the nose. I did not see ears and since it was looking straight on, I was unable to discern a flat or pronounced snout. In retrospect the face appeared to convey an emotional look of concern or panic.

During the encounter I did not consider the animal to be anything other than a bear until several minutes later when I thought it was odd that the animal would cross the road to escape then stop just inside the brush to watch me pass. I would think a Bear would continue to run into the forest. Even with this curious behavior I continued to assume it had been a bear. I was shocked into reconsidering my expanation a few weeks later when road crews cleared the brush away revealing that the brush was growing on a drop off that was 5 feet lower than the road, making the brush 8 feet tall. This would rule out the animal being on all fours while looking into my passenger window. The animal had to have stood up again immidiately after entering the brush to reach the hight required to look into my window, that would place the animal at approximately 8 feet tall. Is it likely that all the behavior I have described can be attributed to a bear, not likely in my opinion.

OTHER WITNESSES: No other witness

OTHER STORIES: I've been camping in the Sierra Nevadas and Desolation Wilderness since childhood. I've heard calls and screams matching sould bites and reports on your site in the same areas I've heard the sounds in the Desolation Wilderness area.

I've read reports on your site that seem to indicate there may be a concentration of these animals in the Desolation Winderness North of Highway 50 between Pollock Pines and Echo Summit.
I also read a report on your site that finally convinced me to subit my report. It was a report that mirrors the behavior I witnessed, "the animal going down on all fours to escape an oncoming vehicle"

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Approx: 5:30am. Dark, just before dawn. Weather was clear, no fog. Cool fall morning, but not cold.

ENVIRONMENT: The section of Sly Park road where the sighting occured is residential on the west side and dense forest on the East side.

Follow-up investigation report:

I talked with the witness by phone. The following details can be added to the report:

--The sighting happened half way between the lake and Highway 50 on Sly Park Road.
--The tree the animal was looking at was a Dogwood.
--The animal did not move like a bear when it crossed the road. Its legs were longer than its arms, so it moved like a person trying to walk with their hands on the ground.
--The animal must have been around 8 feet tall due to the drop off on the side of the road.
--Witness heard screams as a boy scout in the Desolation Wilderness area in the early to mid 1980s.