The September 2000 BFRO expedition in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Washington state) provided an opportunity to test BFRO research methods.

One method for determining the presence of sasquatches in a given area involves setting out certain fruits, in particular ways, in specific situations. The method is designed to yield evidence: Residual evidence such as tracks, or physical evidence such as saliva or hairs.

At one point during the expedition small piles of fruit where left at various spots in the general area. All of the spots had soft or wet soil. One of the fruit piles was set in the middle of a shallow puddle of fresh rainwater. The underlying mud in the puddle would allow for clear tracks of any animals attracted to the fruit pile.

The puddle was surrounded by an area of hard packed soil -- fine gravel that would not permit tracks even when wet. As the rainwater seeped into the ground, outter rings of increasingly softer mud would be exposed.