YEAR: 2023

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 18

STATE: Massachusetts

COUNTY: Worcester County

LOCATION DETAILS: Mt Wachusett is next to Leominster State Forest

NEAREST TOWN: Mt Wachusett

NEAREST ROAD: On the ski slope of Mt Wachusett

OBSERVED: First, I am a skeptic but I am willing to be open minded. Secondly, I ski Wachusett and I hike there so I am very familiar with the terrain and trails. So, this past week I have been hiking up the road just before sunset and hiking down the road leaving the top about 5 to 10 minutes after sunset.

First night, I am coming down and I stopped under the chair lift where the road crosses 10th mountain ski trail. This is the upper road crossing . Looking up slope, I notice a dark shape standing to the left of a lift tower probably about 400 feet above me. My thought is: “what is that?” I thought it might be a bear but if it would have to be a big one. Or it was a piece of equipment next to the tower. I watched for a while a no movement. I shrugged and moved on.

Second night, two days later. I walk the same hike and I stop in the same place on the 10th mountain trail and look for the dark shape near the tower. It isn’t there. I didn’t see anything but I did smell a an animal kind of odor. Not overpowering but you could not miss it.

Day three, same kind of hike. As I was hiking down I noticed three deer on the Conifer trail. They were not nervous but aware of me. I moved down to the 10th mountain trail to see if I could see anything. On the military crest of the slope, right where the flat section of the trail has a sharp drop off I saw a large dark shape move from my left to the right for a few feet then made itself small like it squatted down. I saw what looked like a head and shoulders. I did not see any further movement or smell any odor. I headed down the road back to the parking lot . As I got close, I heard a branch snap on my left in the woods and then a few feet later I heard a branch snap on the right.

So, while I am a skeptic, it was intriguing enough that I would share it. I don’t have night vision equipment but I would suggest you hike the same road and the same time and observe looking up the 10th mountain trail after sunset.

I have been thinking about the tree branch break sounds I heard near the bottom of the Wachusett road. This happened on the third night after I saw movement high up 10th mountain trail. If you look at a map, there is a straight line shot down the ski trail where two bigfoot could have moved down back down to the road without being seen by me and placed themselves on each side of the road to wait for me to pass. The road after from where it crosses the upper 10th mountain ski trail continues west for a third of a mile before it hits a hairpin turn and then head a third of a mile back to the parking lot. My point is there was an easy opportunity for bigfoots to get to the near end of the road and wait for me before I got there.

OTHER WITNESSES: no

OTHER STORIES: After I mentioned my experience, a woman told me that she also knew of sasquatches near the top of the mountain

TIME AND CONDITIONS: dusk

ENVIRONMENT: slope of the ski slope. Mixed type of forest to include old growth. Lots of deer. The terrain can be steep.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Kevin Ducharme:

On the morning of October 01, 2023 fellow Massachusetts-BFRO Investigator Jonathan Wilk asked me to pick up on this report. Of course I obliged. On Oct. 09, 2023. The day after sending my first email to the witness, arrangements were made to discuss this sighting in detail.

The reporting witness, who describes himself as an open-minded, avid hiker, who is skeptical of sasquatch, asked that I not include his name in the report. He is a retired Army officer, finishing a 25 year career. He is a qualified observer.

I was picking up on this report nearly 3 months after the initial sighting, so Massachusetts has now begun to enter fall foliage. The climate has changed from the warm humid summer to a much colder climate rolling toward winter. Roughly a drop of 40 to 50 degrees since July. Any chance of me seeing foot prints or evidence from this witnesses sighting in July would be unlikely so I declined to visit the location right away.

Wachusett Mountain is a Skiing area located in Westminster, Massachusetts. It is a well known, long-time, winter attraction. The ski area maintains 27 trails and 8 ski lifts with a summit height just over 2,000 feet. Between November and April, Wachusett Mountain is heavily populated with skiers, snowboarders and families enjoying the outdoor activities. As the off season approaches and the winter crowd is gone. Its common for hikers, walkers and runners to make use of the peaceful mountain landscape, utilizing the many paved roads and dirt trails. Thankfully, the witness was able to provide me a detailed GAIA GPS Map, marked where each incident occurred over the 3 day period.

On July 24, 2024, I chose to visit these locations, where the witness saw the big dark figures on Wachusett Mountain. My reason for visiting this location at this time reflected the conditions most comparable to the previous year. After a two hour drive from my home, I parked my vehicle at the gated Mountain Road parking area at 1845 hours.

The National Weather Service forecast called for heavy rain and fog all day. That meant it was likely I would have the area to myself. Animals are often on the move during rain, so I was feeling hopeful that I might at least find fresh footprints if there were bigfoots around.

I walked up the summit road then descended from the summit in a wide zigzag pattern. Periodically using my Pulsar Thermal Imager I scanned the area. The area has many large rocks, and equipment used for snow making, and water lines, hoses. These mechanical items are mixed in with green floral and cannot be easily seen.

I made my way over to the Polar Express Quad, ski lift trail. That was one location indicated by the witness. The crossing of 10th Mountain Trail is where the witness reports seeing a dark shape, standing to the left of the ski lift tower. This area provides a great look-out location as you can view up or down the mountain. There's evidence deer have been through there. Although if you're a Bigfoot seeking cover, this is not the place. And no evidence thus far of bush food like berries.

This location sits about 1750ft in elevation. The time I recorded is 2025 hrs. The fog got heavier and the temperature dropped slightly. Moving along I decided to hike my way over to the location of the sighting on his 3rd day there. This area is where the witness stated; "On the military crest of the slope, right where the flat section of the trail has a sharp drop off I saw a large dark shape move from my left to the right for a few feet then made itself small like it squatted down. I saw what looked like a head and shoulders."

At this location the Witness would have a great line of sight on any animal moving left to right or squatting down. To make an accurate determination of what he was seeing would be difficult due to distance.

This made a good spot for me to sit quietly and view the area through my thermal imager. During my scan of the area I spotted deer. I observed one run into deeper woods. Proceeding on I continued my zigzag pattern down to Summit road. Once again following the exact hiking path our witness took.

He describes hearing a branch break to his left and a few feet later, a branch break to his right. This area provides good cover It is dark. The rain was falling and I was having difficulty penetrating the woods with my thermal imager. For the remainder of the walk I turned on my white lamp and walked the road side back, following the witness's map back to my vehicle.

I did not notice any odors. There were no signs of any animal kills. Limited berries were growing in these areas. However, the deer have been feeding there regularly. The area is secluded and there's definitely enough forest where a sasquatch could roam undetected. During the summer months only limited human visitors will be seen up there.

The ski slope area does not look inviting as a place for a bigfoot to hang around continuously, but some bigfoots could be living permanently in woods to the west. If so they would come over to Wachusett Mountain at times when stalking deer.

About BFRO Investigator Kevin Ducharme:

Bigfoot field researcher. Specializing in thermal imaging, behavior analysis, witness interviewing, data collection, audio identification and accessing remote locations. Calm, cool and collective best describes Kevin's personality. Consistently spending time in the field whether solo or in an expedition setting. "Being acclimated with the sounds of the forest is the first step in bigfoot research."

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