Geographical Index > United States > Washington > > Report # 8904
(Class B)
Submitted by witness on Thursday, June 24, 2004.
Nest-like shelters found by campers while hiking hillside near Dayton
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YEAR: 92
SEASON: Summer MONTH: May DATE: end of may STATE: Washington COUNTY: LOCATION DETAILS: follow tucannon rd past the first bridge then take a right at the second bridge. go about 1/4 mile and we were camped at the same campground on the south side of road. NEAREST TOWN: dayton NEAREST ROAD: tucannon road OBSERVED: We were camping in the Tucannon area during Memorial Day weekend. Things happened that didn't make much sense.
The first was while out hiking on the other side of the river, we came across two lean-to made out of branches. One was very, old possibly years. I say this out of the moss growing on it. The other was about 50 feet away, and was newer, less than a few weeks old. It still had some leaves on the branches. I didn't think much about it because I had to make the same thing in boy scouts. I looked around for a fire pit but didn't find anything.
The next day myself and a couple of friends climbed the mountain across the road from us. The girls quit after about a third of the way up but I kept on going. After about an hour I reached a small level spot and sat down. As I looked around I spotted another lean-to about 40 yards away. This old had been exposed to the weather and nothing was left but the bare wood of the branches. Still no fire pit either. After resting for about ten minutes I started to climb again. Thats when I heard a grunting noise. It seemed to be coming from east of were I was at.
The noise was loud, like a person talking to some one across a football field. I tried see where it was coming from but unable to. I got a real bad feeling and started to climb down. The grunting started again after I moved. What took 2.5 hour to get up took 30 minutes to get down. I have been hunt for years now and have never hear anything like that.
ALSO NOTICED: about a mile up the road just off the road found a tree with broken branches. They were broken about 13 feet up and at right angles. OTHER WITNESSES: two other adults and three kids for the leanto. Just myself on the climb OTHER STORIES: the pictures of the bed on the home page sent shivers down my spine. They are exactly like the ones I saw. TIME AND CONDITIONS: afternoon for both ENVIRONMENT: across the river, wooded, not two deep but unable to see more that 75 yards or more on one side with steep slope against the hill side on the other.
the hill climb was intermittent trees and bushes until I got to were the noise started. Then started to get thicker.
Follow-up investigation report:
When I spoke to witness over the phone he was very knowledgeable about the areas that were visited.
The structures he found were similar to the ones that he and others built when in the boy scouts for merit badges. One of the stuctures was fairly old, needles had turned but still on the branches. The other one found was a bit older. The branches had no foliage on them. They were about 7 feet in length. No fire rings or pits were found near them, but he did notice a bed of leaves in one and other forest debris in the others, as though something had been using them.
He heard grunting noises as he walked back down towards the road, every thirty to forty seconds, no screams , howls or moans. As he retreated back to the group, he noticed that he was being followed. Heavy steps were behind him. He never smelled anything. When he stopped, it would stop.
"I have hunted this area for the last eight to nine years and have never heard anything like this before."
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