YEAR: 1985-1986

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: Utah

COUNTY: Duchesne County

LOCATION DETAILS: We went around Strawberry reservoir (NE of Heber) Hwy 40 up to Hanna, then on a dirt road, then backpacked to Betsy Lake (Granddady Basin). We were on the North side of the lake. It as a "No firearms allowed", area.

NEAREST TOWN: Hanna, Utah

NEAREST ROAD: dirt road out of Hanna

OBSERVED: We backed pack into the Uintah's two years in a row - this was our second year. I have never shared my experience with anyone. I was afraid people would think I'm crazy. My personal experience happened about 1985-1986. We were camping in the high Utah Uintah's (Grand-Daddy Basin) on the North edge of Betsy Lake, in a small clearing. Since we were by the lake we built a little raft out of logs (tied them together). The FIRST night something woke me (I was in a tent with my nephew). It was about 2:00-3:00am I could feel and hear heavy walking outside the tent. We had a two man tent and something was playing with the top of the tent (feeling the poles). I lay in my sleeping bag (petrified!). Because we were so close to the water, I also heard someone (something) in the lake. What caught my attention the most was the long strides when they walked. I knew it wasn't a bear, because bears would have clawed at the tents. Whenever I camp, I always sleep in my clothes. I finally got the courage to go out of the tent to look things over. While I was putting on my shoes, my Nephew woke, and he said, "What's that?!" I said, "I don't know, but I'm going out to find out." As I went out of the tent, I screamed as loud as I could (like Tarzan) to scare them away! The one in the lake came out and joined the other and they ran past the tents. My sister heard them run past her tent and they ran fast! They were gone immediately!
The SECOND night I moved into the tent with my sister and her husband and my nephew moved into his sister's tent. About the same time of the night, I heard them again. I just lay in my sleeping bag wondering if I was crazy. I could hear them walking around and I listened extra hard to recognize how large they must have been from the extra heavy footsteps and very long strides. They hung around for several hours (moving around) and left at day break.
The THIRD night they came about the same time. I could hear them walking around again, and then one of them grabbed the tent rope and plunked it ("Bing" like a guitar string). My head was about 6"-8" from the side of the tent and suddenly one of them ran their fingers across the side of the tent (that's how it sounded to me). With my heart pounding and everyone awake, I stepped out of the tent to build a fire (hoping this would scare them off). While I was building the fire, I could feel them watching me. When the fire became a blaze they walked off (they didn't run this time). Later in the day we went out on the raft. As I looked into the water, I pointed and said "Footprints"!! My brother in law laughed at me, but what I saw were large dips as if something had walked into and out of the water. It was about the same place I heard something come out of the water the first night. My brother in law teased me about my "big Foot" experience. Since my brother in law is a heavy sleeper and snores loud, I have wondered if the sound of his snoring is what brought them to our tents.
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ALSO NOTICED: This is in the above information.

OTHER WITNESSES: My nephew and my sister

OTHER STORIES: No, because I've never talked to anyone about this.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 2:00am-3:00am
It rained every day. Very little moon - very dark.

ENVIRONMENT: Pine trees and quaken aspin trees. There was Tomahawk and Fish Hatchery lakes not too far away. We found a clearing by Betsy Lake and set up camp.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Chad Hamblin:

I had a good conversation with the submitter of the report and concluded that he is a reliable witness. I believe he had the experiences he described in the report, and I think the creatures he encountered could well have been bigfoots.

About BFRO Investigator Chad Hamblin:

Chad Hamblin is a life sciences/biology teacher with an interest and background in wildlife and the outdoors. He lives in a rural community in northeastern Utah. He participated in the first Utah BFRO expedition in 2007, as well as the 2009 and 2010 Utah expeditions. He attended the Wyoming expedition in 2008, the Bluff Creek California expedition in 2011, and the Idaho expedition in 2013. A few months ago Chad experienced a bigfoot encounter while hiking alone in Utah's Uinta Mountains.

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