YEAR: 1986

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: June

DATE: can't remember

STATE: Colorado

COUNTY: Eagle County

LOCATION DETAILS: This is near the Dotsero exit from I-70 past Coffee Pot Springs on the road to Deep Lake.

NEAREST TOWN: Eagle

NEAREST ROAD: I-70

OBSERVED: I was 17 and on a back packing trip with my family in Grizzly Creek canyon. It was night and we were sitting around the campfire talking. Suddenly a foul smell came into the camp site. Smelled like a combination of rotten meat, body odor and musk. Our dogs went crazy barking and growling staring past our campfire behind the tent. We could not see anything. Suddenly we heard extremely loud, and extremley close vocalizations coming from just outside the ring of light made by our fire. The sound was unlike anything we have heard before. It was NOT a mountain lion or an elk. It is hard to describe the sound. It was gutteral and it undulated sounding like something was strangling a goat. It vocalized 2 or 3 times each time the sound started slow and then built in intensity. My dad grabbed his gun but didn't fire. After a few more minutes the smell disapated and the dogs calmed down. I have never been more frightened in my life, and remember wondering if I would live through the night. The next morning we expolored the area where we felt the sounds were coming from. There was an area of smashed grass behind a large boulder approximately 15 -20 ft from our tent but nothing else significant.

ALSO NOTICED: The whole day I felt uneasy as if I were being watched or intruding. Earlier we had taken a long hike down stream. After several hours of hiking came to a large clearing of flat rock that jutted out over a fishing hole in the creek. The entire area of this clearing was littered w/clothing some very old that appeared to be from the 1970's. Some of the clothes were in the trees and some were piled around the rock area. It was very creepy.

OTHER WITNESSES: 4 children 17, 15, 13, and 7 years. Mother and Father. 2 dogs. All sitting around campfire at night.

OTHER STORIES: On earlier trips to the same area with my father we found abandoned campsites where people left all of there gear including back packs and tents. My father and grandfather would both tell stories of having strange experiences there, including one incidence of my father waking in the middle of the night to see "someone" standing over his sleeping bag (he was not in a tent). Thinking that it was one of the members of his group taking a bathroom break he went back to sleep. After questioning his companions the next morning they all said that they did not leave there sleeping bags all night. When my grandfather would back pack there as a young man, he would describe what he called "spirits" walking and hiding in the tall grass at night.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: At night after dinner. Sitting around campfire talking. Clear night but very dark, no moon.

ENVIRONMENT: Bottom of the canyon. Aspen forest on one canyon wall, pine forest on the opposite with the creek dividing. Canyon floor is meadow, with small aspen or pine groves.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Dennis Pfohl:

After a lengthy phone interview Paulina described the events to me as she had stated in her report adding just a few things.

She said her family had been camping in this area for many years, and that the younger children always sensed an uneasiness when entering the area. The canyon also seemed lacking in wildlife during that time.

Paulina said she thinks this occurred in June of that year, but cannot recall the exact date. They found the clothing scattered about to be unusual in such a remote location, and stated it did not look like a homeless persons camp, but was completely disorganized with some clothing hanging up in the trees. Later that night after returning back to camp, they all heard the vocalization near the camp. She sensed that the vocalizer was letting them all know it was unhappy with their presence in that location. There was also a strong odor associated with the vocalizations.

I asked Paulina to listen to the vocalization samples from the BFRO website and see if she could find anything that would be close to what she heard that night. She stated the one particular vocal exchange from Ron Moreheads "Sierra Sounds" link (http://www.bigfootsounds.com/) called " Quarrelsome exchange between two after food set out 21 October 1972:(Corresponding CD Sound Sequence)" http://www.bigfootsounds.com/excerpt2.mp3 was the most similar to what she had heard.

She also added that her grandfather who had camped in the location for a number of years has commented in the past that sometimes his clothing and small items would disappear from that campsite. He blamed the raccoons and porcupines although he never witnessed one carry anything off.

About BFRO Investigator Dennis Pfohl:

Dennis Pfohl is a business owner in Colorado and an avid Outdoorsman. He attended the 2004 New Mexico Expedition (Mescalero IR), 2005 New Mexico Expedition (Mescalero), 2005 California Sierras Expedition, and 2005/2008 Oklahoma exp. 2008 Texas Expedition. Organizer of the first Colorado
BFRO expedition in 2005, and organized the 06,07,08,09,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 and( non public) Colorado Expeditions.

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