YEAR: 2009

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: early- to mid-June

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Skagit County

LOCATION DETAILS: Pilchuck tree farm. Near Centennial Trail. Lake McMurray side.

NEAREST TOWN: Big Lake, WA

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 9

OBSERVED: I fished till dark then headed to my truck. Threw my float tube in the back and cruised over to a nearby swamp to change out of my fishing waders and eat a snack. I sat for awhile listening to the frogs, they were so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. I was enjoying a Washington summer night. Out in the dark swamp 6 feet below me about 35 yards away I saw a pair animal eyes moving towards me. I thought I would let this deer just pass and even got excited for a second. As it came near I saw that it would eventually pass my location so I sat and watched. At around twenty yards or less I noticed from the blue/clear eyes that the deer was walking strangely. I got a little nervous and whistled to let it know of my presence and that is when I realized this set of eyes are connected to an animal walking on two legs! After the whistle the animal looked at me and walked off slowly looking over its shoulder. It tripped while looking over its shoulder, I could see the eyes go down then slowly get up again all the while watching me and walked off into the swamp looking over its shoulder. I was honestly freaked. I got out of there and didn't go back for quite some time. Before the incident I doubted the possibility, now I have no doubt of the existence of Sasquatch.

ALSO NOTICED: The frogs were so loud I think its why the animal got so close.

OTHER STORIES: I heard from a friend of sightings in the area.
Will not say who.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: It was night, 9 to 11. No wind,
no light besides in the eyes

ENVIRONMENT: Swamp

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tyler Bounds:

I interviewed the witness via telephone on the afternoon of September 30, 2010. He still seemed to be confused by what he saw, and was trying to rationalize it, unsuccessfully, nearly 16 months after the event. He is very familiar with various Washington fauna, and has considerable outdoor experience. He seemed to be very sincere about what he witnessed. We agreed to meet me at the site of his encounter immediately. Upon arriving at the site, he stated that he was immediately feeling "creeped out" by being back at the location, and was visibly affected by being there.

Late one evening in mid-June of 2009, after fishing at a local lake, the witness drove a short distance away to a trailhead parking area to eat some food and change out of his waders. This spot is immediately adjacent to and 3-4 feet above a large marshy area, with stretches of open water, cattails, small flowing streams, grassy hummocks, downed trees and rotting old growth stumps dotting the swamp. After changing and having some snacks, he sat for awhile, approximately 30 minutes, on the side of his truck bed, affording him a commanding view of the location, with his head height being 9-10 feet above the level of the swamp. He sat, listening to the songs and croaks of the numerous frogs in the swamp. He stated that they "were so loud, you couldn't hear yourself think." At this time it was completely dark, with no nearby houses or cars providing any ambient light. The only source of light was the stars on this warm, clear night, and he had no artificial light, preferring to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He eventually became aware of some sort of animal slowly approaching the parking area, parallel to his truck, from approximately 30 yards away. At first he thought it was a deer, as all he could immediately discern was a dark, shadowy figure, and with numerous deer in the area, he "just assumed that's what it was." As it approached closer, within 15 yards, he noticed that it had "shining eyes, bluish white, like starlight." It was after this point that he noticed that it wasn't moving like a deer, and it seemed to be "hunched over", and uniformly dark in color. He then began to think that it might be a black bear, and as it was dark, and he was sitting on a black truck, with all noise being overpowered by the chorus of hundreds of frogs, he was concerned that if it was a bear, it was now within 10 yards of him, approaching too close for his comfort, especially if it may be surprised by his presence, possibly resulting in a bad situation. So he decided to announce his presence to the animal by letting out a sharp, piercing whistle. Immediately after doing this, the animal looked straight at him, stood upright on two legs, "like a person", to a height "2 or 3 feet lower" than his eye level (which was somewhere around 9 to 10 feet, sitting on the side of his truck in an elevated parking area), and without taking its eyes off of the witness, turned and began slowly striding away, still on two legs, in the direction that it had come. The creature would look forward, then back over its shoulder, keeping its eyes on the witness. After retreating to perhaps 35-40 yards away, the witness stated that the creature, while looking back at him, tripped and went down on its hands and knees, and before arising, looked back at the witness, and kept its eyes on him as it picked itself back up and resumed walking away, until it went behind a stand of trees that are along the side of the swamp. The witness then immediately jumped down and got into his truck, locked the doors, and left the scene. He did not return to the site until he met with me there.

I believe that the witness was sincere in the description of his encounter, and did observe a sasquatch, perhaps gathering food in the swamp, as there was an abundance of frogs, skunk cabbage, deer and waterfowl in the immediate area. There are no human habitations nearby, to the west is a tree farm consisting of several square miles, to the east is the front range foothills of the Central Cascade Mountains. There have been several sightings in the immediate area, with 3 reports within 3 miles of the swamp being submitted, as recently as October 2009.

About BFRO Investigator Tyler Bounds:

Tyler Wm. Bounds is a lifelong outdoorsman and explorer, spending many years hiking, backpacking, biking and paddling throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. He has attended the Washington Cascades Expeditions in 2008 and 2009, the Washington Olympic Peninsula Expeditions in 2008, 2009, 2010 (organizer) and both 2011 WA expeditions (organizer), Oregon 2010 Expedition (co-organizer with Matt Pruitt), and numerous smaller trips, both solo and with other Investigators and BFRO members, investigating Bigfoot sightings and activity. Also Outdoor Technician, Production Associate and Fixer on the popular Animal Planet series "Finding Bigfoot", 2010-current.

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