YEAR: 2003

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 17, 19, and 20

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Jefferson County

LOCATION DETAILS: Since the report is for 3 separate incidents, in 3 nearby but separate places, the counties are Jefferson and Grays Harbor, I think. One is on the south shore, and two on the north shore, of Lake Quinault.

NEAREST TOWN: Amanda Park, WA

NEAREST ROAD: North Shore Road on Lake Quinault, off of State Hwy 101

OBSERVED: I and my husband have been visiting the Lake Quinault, WA area for the past 5 summers, for up to 10 days at a time. This past June,2003, around the 17th, about 5 PM, we were hiking the Quinault Rainforest Nature Trail,on the south shore of the lake, down at the Cedar Bog area. While at the bog, something dark and large moved behind the reeds/ tall plants there, about 10 yards from where we stood. It could have been a bear, or something that had been crouched down looking for something.Whatever it was, it moved away, and we never got a [good] glimpse of it.
On June 19th, we took the hike up to Wolf Bar around 5 o'clock P.M. Twice,on our way up, we heard what sounded like rapping/ tapping on a hollow log, back towards the places on the trail where we had already hiked. Since there was a herd of Roosevelt elk in the area, we didn't think too much about it. When we got to the end of the main trail, we stayed about 15 minutes just enjoying the quiet. There were no other hikers that we passed. We decided to turn back when we began to smell a strange, not very pleasant smell, and heard 3 knocks on what seemed to be hollow wood (this time the sound came from just past the end of the main trail, where we hadn't been.) I kind of joked about the smell, thinking that it was only the shallow water in the stream there. But we had remained at the same place near the trail end, and had not smelled that smell during the prior 15 minutes.
The next day, about 7:00 P.M. we took the short hike to Irely Lake. On our way back, the sunlight was getting fairly dim, so we had to watch where we were walking. About 3/4 of the way back, we heard this tremendous sustained roar-growl sound - almost like it was out of a science fiction movie. Not like any bear that we've heard, and certainly not at all like a mountain lion. It was loud, but seemed to be somewhat distant - perhaps 100 or so yards off in the forest. And it never repeated itself. We scurried back to our car and drove home.
We hesitated about reporting this, simply because we love that area and were worried about what publicity would do to the area if indeed a bigfoot/ family of bigfeet were found there.
However, I know that if one is ever to be found and photographed, sightings and noted sounds need to be reported.

ALSO NOTICED: Nothing I can think of.

OTHER WITNESSES: There was only my husband and myself. On only one of the days did we see any other hikers. We were just either walking on a trail, or resting before walking back.

OTHER STORIES: Not exactly where we were. After we had done the Quinault trails, and were visiting the Hoh Rainforest, the couple who runs the Rainforest Cafe in the Hoh Rainforest told us that a crew of scientists had just recently left the area of the Hoh where they had attempted to set up a temporary camp to make a sighting. This was kind of disappointing to us, that the researchers had left, even though I realize they would never have discussed anything with us.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around pre-dusk - always between 5 PM and 7 PM. Somewhat filtered light in the forest. Otherwise clear.

ENVIRONMENT: Rainforest for all of the reports. One side of a stream, one about a mile from a lake, and one in a cedar bog.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tracy H.:

I followed up with the witnesses on several occasions and scouted the site of the incidents twice. I visited the site(s) on April 10th and May 14th, 2005. The area(s) were lush and thick, with streams threading the area near the lake.

One of the witnesses noted that when he heard the sound of the [animal], his "jaw dropped." This is of some significance, as one of the witnesses is a retired zookeeper, and said that he had never heard anything like this animal. He investigated animal vocalizations on-line and determined that the noise was similar to other sasquatch recordings. The witnesses indicated that the vocalization lasted for approximately five seconds. The witnesses also verified that they had definitely heard three loud taps that sounded like a stick or rock rapped against a tree.

The witnesses stated that they had seen snapped off branches near a game trail, and that there was an inaccessible print nearby. The branches were large and twisted at the top, but they were unable to reach them. They also smelled something that was "strong, like an outhouse, but not fecal in origin." It was "putrid, disgusting and powerful," and there was "very little breeze at the time."

While the witnesses are uncertain regarding their large animal sighting, they are certain that the vocalization was a sasquatch. One of the witnesses stated that, "It's... such an uncommon sound." This witness' zookeeping experience provides much support for his experience and his findings.

About BFRO Investigator Tracy H.:

Tracy has a BA in Social Sciences with a minor in Anthropology. She participated in primate field work in Africa from Jan. - Mar. 2008 and is currently taking primate behavior coursework. She works with young children in the behavioral science field and has participated in numerous BFRO expeditions, including WA, NM, FL, WV, and OR.

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