YEAR: 2008

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 21

STATE: Minnesota

COUNTY: Hubbard County

LOCATION DETAILS: We were camping in Gulch Lake Campground in Paul Bunyan State Forest.

NEAREST TOWN: Laporte, MN

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 200

OBSERVED: We went on an all girls camping trip June 20 - 22 of 2008. We were up having a fire, making smores and having a few drinks. There was a total of 6 girls on the trip. Everything was fine until we went to bed at around 3:45 in the morning. 4 girls slept in one tent while my best friend and I slept in another tent. About 15 minutes after we finally got settled in we heard some loud screaming/grunting. I knew that I had never heard anything like that before. My friend and I were totally silent and listened again. We heard it again but it was moving fast thru the forest. We agreed that after that we would not be able to sleep by ourselves. We left our tent, grabbed the hatchets from our campsite and slept in the tent with the other girls. I did not sleep at all that night until after sunrise. I was scared out of my mind! I stayed awake with the hatchet in my hand for the rest of the night and the following night. Later on that same evening/morning I heard something walk thru our campsite but I didn't even move. I was too scared. In the morning I thought I heard our cooler open but I was much too tired and thought it was one of the girls. When I got up all of our water was gone out of our cooler, but the beer and food was left. We never woke the other girls up that night and we didn't tell them until morning. I was on high alert the second night but didn't hear anything except what might have been a small raccoon or something rustling around in the brush. I know what we heard was not any normal animal. I was really scared and I will never forget it.

ALSO NOTICED: We were missing water out of our cooler in the morning and also heard something walk thru our campsite.

OTHER WITNESSES: There was one other witness that heard the noise other than myself. We were with 4 other girls but they were all sleeping. In the morning, another girl claimed to have heard wierd noises the night before.

OTHER STORIES: My dad grew up in the area and his friend was a logger. He said that over 20 years ago his friend claimed to see a man like ape creature run across the road early in the morning before sunrise on his way to a logging camp for work.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 4:00 - 4:30am. It was perfectly calm and quiet outside. It was very dark outside. I would say pitch black.

ENVIRONMENT: It was in a pine forest with nearby lakes and swamps.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Andy P.:

I spoke with the witness by phone and have the following to add to her report:

- The night was very dark and calm with no wind at the time of the encounter.

- There was only one other group of campers in the campground that night, a family with children who had gone to bed long before the incident and who's camp had been dark and silent when the witness went into her tent.

- There were two vocalizations, the first came from the east, beyond the other camp. She estimates it at less than 100 yards away, but can't be certain. That vocalization lasted for two to three seconds. The animal making the sound was still during the call.

- The second vocalization came a few seconds later lasting for four to five seconds. It started in the same location as the first but moved very fast to the north. She doesn't think a person could have moved that quickly.

- Both calls were very loud and contained both a high pitched scream and grunting. The scream portion sounded a lot like the 1978 Whoop-Howl from Snohomish County, WA, but it was higher in pitch.

- The foot falls she later heard in the camp were heavy and sounded bipedal. None of the other girls had been up.

- The water that was taken from the coolers was bottled water. The other food that was not touched included lunch meat, hot dogs, donuts, and tuna salad.

About BFRO Investigator Andy P.:

Andy P. lives in Minnesota. He is a professional writer with a degree in English and Biology. His interest dates back to his first sighting in 1985.

He attended the following BFRO expeditions:

- 2006 Wisconsin I
- 2007 Michigan
- 2008 Michigan
- 2008 Minnesota (private)
- 2009 Wisconsin
- 2009 Minnesota (organizer)

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