YEAR: 2009

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 15th and 16th

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Clallam County

LOCATION DETAILS: [Omitted]

NEAREST TOWN: Sequim

NEAREST ROAD: 101

OBSERVED: This past weekend I was backpacking in the Buckhorn Wilderness Area, on the Olympic Peninsula, WA. We hiked about 2 1/2-3 hrs to a small alpine lake. During the first day, after we made camp, my buddies and I were goofing off throwing large rocks (which may have attracted it???).
That night, I would guess around 3:30 am, I heard a faint knocking in the woods.I laughed at the idea of it being a bigfoot at first, and then it got closer, and closer, and closer until i knew something was out there. It got around 100 yards away from the camp, and went on for about an hour! At the end of the hour I thought I heard return knocks on the adjacent ridge, but can't be sure it wasn't an echo.
The following morning I told my fellow campers what I heard. We found cougar tracks around the area, and they attributed the noises to that, but I knew it was no cougar banging things together.
The last night in camp, everyone was a little on edge. One because I kept insisting on what I heard, and two because there was a cougar in the area. We heard a stick crack in the woods, and figured it was a good idea to go in the tent for the night. A few hours later, around 1:30 to 2 am two of use heard something walking along the rocks down by the lake (50-75 yrds). Shortly after that we both heard something hit the tent. I don't know what it was, possibly a small stone.
The next morning, we woke up and went to where we heard something walk across the rocks, and found tracks! At first I thought black bear, because of the size (not huge for a "bigfoot"), but a closer look, I realized it was not a bear. There was no front paw tracks, no claws, and they weren't the shape of a bear. It looked a lot like a person's foot but, when I stood in the mud next to it, I sank 1/4 in into the mud. These were probably 2in in the mud! So what ever it was, it was heavy! I would guess around 400lbs, since I was 185lbs.

There were 6 or 7 tracks total. I took a few pictures, and would love to forward them on to you guys to get your opinion.

ALSO NOTICED: One the way down the mountain, we took a short cut. I saw some unusual scat. Not placed with any native animals that I know of.

OTHER WITNESSES: 1st night no. Second night one other witness to the noises and tent contact. The last day three people say the tracks

OTHER STORIES: No from first hand experience. But Western Washington is a known hot spot.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: late night/early morning. Conditions clear, and chilly.

ENVIRONMENT: Forest, mountains, mossy, by a creek, and a small lake. In between two ridges

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Derek Freel:

I spoke to the wittiness a few days after the encounter took place. He gladly forwarded the photos to me, and explained in great detail his experiences. In the photos, the witness used his hand for a size reference. He notes that his hand is 8 inches long. Plans are in place for a group of Washington State BFRO Investigators to join the witness in the area so that an extensive investigation can take place on-site. For these reasons, we have omitted the exact location where the incident occurred. We will update this report when more information becomes available.

About BFRO Investigator Derek Freel:

Derek Freel grew up near Okanogan, Washington, and currently lives in the Kennewick area. He has studied the subject of sasquatch for many years, and was very lucky to have encountered the animals on several BFRO Expeditions. Derek is taking an active role in bringing these animals into mainstream science. He attended the 2005 Washington Expedition, 2006 Redwoods Expedition, 2006 Oregon Expedition and the 2006 Washington Expedition.

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