YEAR: 1997

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: May

DATE: 22

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Chelan County

LOCATION DETAILS: Washington State; west of highway 97; up the Ingalls Creek Valley, on the south side of the valley; about 150 feet above the creek.

NEAREST TOWN: Blewett Pass

NEAREST ROAD: HWY 97

OBSERVED: We were hiking towards the west on a 45 degree slope of forest soil when we came upon four large prints. They ran from west to east towards the direction we had been coming from. Above the easternmost track there was a 5th print that was the best to view. These two prints had been created by a biped who put most of their weight on the lower down hill leg while placing only a small amount of weight on the uphill leg. As a result, the lower foot had slipped about 8 inches down the slope, tearing the slope to the wet clay beneath. The upper track was 16 inches long and over 4 inches wide. The track that had exposed the wet ground was less than 10 minutes old when we found it, since it dried before our eyes to form a dry crust. My husband, Mark tried to duplicate the track's depth and appearance by stomping his hiking boot into the ground. It required 5 such kicks. The main line of tracks were spaced at over 4 feet apart. When Mark tried to duplicate this same stride length, he fell because the slope was 45 degrees. Above the 5th track, there appeared to be toe-kick-in prints made as the subject turned to go directly up the slope. The tracks vanished in an area covered with deep pine needles. We followed the general direction of the prints uphill until we came to a large nest. The nest was next to a pine on the uphill side. It was about 3 to 3.5 feet high, made of pine needles and was shaped sort of like a volcano with a hole at the top. The hole was about 2 to 3 feet wide. We took pictures of the best track, and the nest. Over a decade later, we were watching a special about China on P.B.S. that showed what was supposed to be a nest of the Chinese version of Bigfoot. It looked just as ours had except the one in China was made of twigs. It appears that the subject was moving our direction, then stopped to view us. It then climbed up the slope towards the nest site for what ever reason.

This occured at 10:00am-11:00am in May of 1977.

OTHER WITNESSES: Backpacking. Mark Buitron who worked for the Entiat Ranger District at the time.

OTHER STORIES: When we first moved to Washington State in May 1974 we spent about 5 days at the Sulphur Creek Camp ground east of Darrington Wa. We were the only people there during that time and on the last night we were there we both awoke at about 2:00 A.M. to the sound of something in the big tree above our tent. This sound was like nothing we had heard or have yet heard since. Neither of us believed in the Bigfoot at that time. Nevertheless the voice of the creature was so strange to us that we threw all of our camping gear into the car and drove off. The trees in that area are about 200 feet tall and because of the low cloud cover it was a pitch black night, therefore we could see nothing in the tree.

ENVIRONMENT: Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Stuart Range

A & G References: Pg. 66, A3

NW1/4 of SE1/4,Sec.26, T.23 N., R.17 E.

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO

- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email ContactUS@BFRO.net