Report # 48652(Class B) Submitted by witness on Sunday, May 10, 2015.Target shooter hears strange sounds (see video) and finds possible tree-breaks and prints off of the Mountain Loop Highway(Show Printer-friendly Version)
LOCATION DETAILS: Off the Mountain Loop Highway, I would have to drive back there and reset my odometer to see how far it was from the Monte Cristo trailhead.
NEAREST TOWN: Darrington
NEAREST ROAD: Mountain Loop Highway
OBSERVED: Saturday May 9th my girlfriend I and were returning from an overnight camp off the Mountain Loop Highway. I wanted to find a place to shoot that was off the road and away from any trails, the river, or possible campers. Found a spot that didn’t have a car for more than a mile each way. Pulled over and loaded up about 10 magazines. Spent about 15 minutes getting everything ready on the tailgate of my truck. Heard absolutely nothing but birds chirping.
I hiked down a ravine to the left of the road about 150 yards and shot off some rounds for about 15 minutes. Finished up and walked back up to the car where my girlfriend had been waiting. As soon as I came out of the ravine and onto the road we both heard a LOUD cracking / snap noise from the top of the wooded hill that was to the right of the road, the opposite side of where I had been shooting.
We both looked at each other wondering what it was, our jaws dropped. It wasn’t a tree breaking because we didn’t hear anything hit the ground. There was also no wind less a sporadic slight breeze. We heard the noise approximately 6-7 times and there was about 30 seconds between each one. It was very loud and very, very close. The time between each one was also very consistent. My girlfriend and I both said that we could hear it coming form the top of the hill maybe 100 yards from the truck. We could also hear something moving around. Not twigs and branches snapping but it sounded like bark rounds being stepped on and ripping. A strange noise, it actually sounded like something ripping bark from a tree too.
I grabbed my cell phone and walked up the hill to where the sound was coming from. Filmed about ten minutes. I was filming up and to the right of the hill for a good 6 minutes. As soon as I walked a little closer to the top of the hill and started filming to my left another cracking sound rings out, startled the hell out of me because it was so close. The camera actually shakes when the noise starts from me reacting. This was just about seven minutes into filming. I heard the sound of bark or something again, like it was peeling off a tree. I couldn’t help but think that the sound was coming from up in a tree. I got it on my phone and you can hear how loud it was, and how close. I would guess whatever was making the noise was about 50 yards away.
Returned to the car and left. I thought it was very strange that this noise didn’t start until after I made all the noise shooting. When I made it to the area where the noise originated I could see my truck. It’s like whatever made the noise waited until it saw me get back on the road. The noise it made was so loud I am perplexed as to what it was. It sounded like a large branch being hit on a tree and snapping. I can’t think of any animal that makes any noise that loud. I’ve spent countless hours in the backcountry and camping and have never heard anything like it.
As much as I wanted to climb the next 50 yards to the very top of the hill I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I had the feeling that whatever the hell was making that noise was protesting my being there. I still had my pistol on me but it was loud enough that I decided to head back to the car.
OTHER WITNESSES: 2, one was shooting, one was sitting in the truck
OTHER STORIES: I took my dirtbike up forest service road 4096 off the mountain loop highway and found a cluster of 4 tree breaks the Saturday prior. Approximately 2 miles up the mountain. Noticed nothing of the sort until I was just about at the summit. Then I saw 2 trees on the right side of the road, and 1 directly across on the left. They were all snapped in half about 6-8 feet up. The trees were alive and still had foliage. They were all pointing directly at a 90 degree angle to the road. The trees were about 3 inches in diameter. 50 feet down the road I photographed another tree in the same configuration, snapped 6-8 feet up and 90 degrees to the road. It was at the bend in the road. This was at the steepest and roughest terrain of the road.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: 17:30, 73 degrees, no wind less an occasional breeze. Not a cloud in the sky but it was a heavily wooded area so it wasn't bright by any means under the forest cover.
ENVIRONMENT: Heavily wooded area with lots of cedars and birch. Not a ton of ground cover just lots of fallen trees.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator John Ray:
I found the witness to be credible and factual in his description of the events. It is highly possible that he was being watched by a sasquatch during his target shooting session and afterwards. An interesting observation is that the sounds started after the witness was done shooting and possibly perceived as no longer a threat.
Here is the video that contains the cracking sound:
The witness also provided pictures from a dirt-bike ride in the same area a few days later. The pictures provided could indicate sasquatch activity in the area.
The witness will continue to visit the area to try and find additional indications of sasquatch activity.
The Mountain Loop Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Washington. It traverses the western section of the Cascade Range within Snohomish County. The name suggests it forms a full loop, but it only is a small portion of a loop, which is completed using State Routes 92, 9, and 530. Part of the highway is also a designated and signed Forest Highway, and is known as Forest Route 20.
The highway connects the towns of Granite Falls and Darrington. It is paved for 34 miles (55 km) from Granite Falls to Barlow Pass (2349') where the highway becomes unpaved for 13 miles (21 km), and then paved again for the remaining 9 miles (14 km) to Darrington. The unpaved section is U.S. Forest Service Road #20 and passes several USFS campgrounds. Portions of the unpaved section are often closed for periods of several years due to flood damage.
About BFRO Investigator John Ray:
John conducts BFRO report investigations in the Snohomish County area of Washington State. He has attended the 2006, 2008, and 2009 Washington Cascades expeditions, the 2009 and 2011 Washington Olympics-2nd expedition, the 2012 Western Washington expedition, the 2013, 2014, & 2015 Washington Cascades Area 1 Expeditions, and several other personal and private expeditions.
