YEAR: 2001

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 6 thru 8th

STATE: Colorado

COUNTY: Montezuma County

LOCATION DETAILS: In the Jersey Jim Lookout tower area.

NEAREST TOWN: Mancos

NEAREST ROAD: highway between Durango and Cortez

OBSERVED: We pulled into camp on a rainy night about midnight. Cows were in the camp, so as they were leaving we heard - at least what I told my nephews - a bull really upset with us. It was a throaty, gutteral huffing noise. Only the pitch never varied to a higher one at the end, like a bull bellowing. Only the so-called bull never left with the herd. That, and I never recalled seeing a bull in the herd. Then, after 15 or 20 min. of the huffing in front of us, it got quiet. Then my Sister heard a noise behind her in the woods, that sounded like an angry growl. I told her it was only the dogs growling at something. She informed me both my dogs were right there with her, and it wasn't them. So, she pulled out a pistol and turned and faced the direction it came from, and I went to get my rifle, and slung it across my back. Then, it got quiet and we didn't hear anymore of that during the night. Whatever it was knew what a gun was. My dogs never barked or went to investigate anything. They stayed right with us. They are watch dogs at my home, and have been camping numerous times. They seemed to want our protection this time.
The next night, we heard some stirring out in the woods, became real uneasy because everything went dead silent. So, we went hastily to bed in the camper, dogs and all, and locked down. During the night, my Sister said she had been looking at the sky, and stars, and when she looked back again, she said all she could see was like a "black mat" over the window. She and her boys said they heard the dogs growling low, and the boys said they saw "something black".
The next night we broke camp about an hour before dark, and once more everything became deathly quiet again, and the feeling like we were being watched. We finished loading about dark, and as we started to leave, it came a downpour, so I was coming down off the mountain about 5 to 10 mph. At one point my Sister commented about one "bushy pine tree" in a grove of aspen trees, when the headlights flashed. About halfway down a vehicle caught up with us, and informed me the doors were open on my trailer. We stopped to close them, and my lock was broken. When we got into town, we stopped at a gas station, and there I noticed handprints and muddy smears on the camper. They we too big and too high for any of us to reach. One of the handprints was very clearly one of a primate. That is where I noticed the lock had been twisted until it broke, instead of just popping off, like I thought at first. Obviously, we were going slow enough for it to follow us, and check out our trailer. We had just built the camper on the trailer, and it was a nice shiny sheet-metal one. The door is on the rear of the trailer

ALSO NOTICED: Low huffing noises, growling, weird elk-like calls, and cows. There was a small pine tree twisted at the top then broke over. There were small aspen trees broke off at the ground level, yet no bark or leaves gone like should have been if cows or elk or deer rubbed, or stepped on. Also heard a weird slow woodpecker-like pounding, or something drumming on wood.

OTHER WITNESSES: Myself and three more. We were making camp one night, asleep one night, and leaving camp the next.

OTHER STORIES: No, that why I was thinking this was a good place to camp. I have actually seen a BF in Tex. when I was 18 yrs. old. I'm now 52. I have also encountered one at Rainbow Lake, 12 miles up abouve Blue Mesa Lake between Monrose and Gunnison, Colo. Also, when my husband and daughter and I went back camping to the same place the following Sun. after this incident.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Night, mostly rainy, lightening and thunder. One night the weather had broke and was clear for awhile.

ENVIRONMENT: Pine and aspen forest, two game trails join together at this place, also a thick brush is along the creek. It is at least 8,000 in elevation, maybe higher.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Dr. Steven Coy:

A field investigation was conducted at the site on Saturday evening, August 18. The results were negative. No tracks or sign were found, and no sounds or anything unusual were heard around a campfire up until 10:30 pm when the site was vacated.

I visited the family in their home in New Mexico a week later on August 25. I spent almost 1 1/2 hours with them, discussing their experience and inspecting the trailer. There were still observable signs on it, though much had faded or washed away since the occurance almost 3 weeks previous.
Some of the sign or "handprints" were above the window where the sister had observed the "black mat" against the window in the middle of the night. Also, at the back of the trailer, which angled away from the perpendicular toward the top (which was 8 feet high from the ground on the sides), was one of the mud smearings. I am 6'2" and the tips of my fingers fell 12" short when I stretched up to try to reach the spot.

On the opposite side of the trailer, there was still a definable print of what appeared to be the right hand of a primate. The right edge of the hand was discernable, and 12 1/2 inches up from the heel were the fingertips. I would guess the fingers were curled at the time because it seems the creature was "feeling out" the trailer in the night. The occupants heard what sounded like fingernails being scraped over the sheet-metal. A tarp was tied down over the un-weatherproofed top with bungy cords. Twice a cord at the rear corner of the trailer was 'twanged' during the night-time experience.

The witness is very intrigued by the BF mystery, especially since seeing one at close range in Texas when she was a teenager. She is anxious to return to the site. I noted, however, that her husband stated he would just as soon not go back. She wants to try to return sometime in September even though big game archery and muzzle-loading seasons are underway, and human activity will be much increased compared to when they visited in August.

In summary, it is a very intriging experience reported by the witnesses. I am convinced they were visited by what appears to be a bigfoot-like creature. And, in case you're wondering - no photographs of the sign on the trailer were attempted because they could only be seen during my visit at certain angles of the light. I do not believe photographic efforts would have produced any distinguishable results.

About BFRO Investigator Dr. Steven Coy:

Former wildlife biologist - US Department of Interior

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