Possible Bigfoot Habitat Destroyed By Forest Fire
I’m sorry to report that an area of the forest that I considered to be a likely Bigfoot habitat near Happy Camp has been incinerated by a recent forest fire. The Little Grider Fire ignited on top of a hill right next to the one I live on on July 14, 2007.
A lightning storm three days before brought over 1200 lightning strikes to the Klamath National Forest. By the next day fire fighters were working to control about 55 fires. The Little Grider Fire probably smoldered a few days before bursting into flames. The only other explanation is that it could have been intentionally set, but that’s very unlikely and locally, nobody seems to believe or talk about that theory.
Here in Happy Camp, we’re used to having fire fighting activity during the summer – but usually the fires are far enough away from town that we’re not terribly concerned about anything but air quality issues. This year, however, the fire was less than a mile from town between my home and Little Grider Creek.
I was out of town for my birthday on July 13. When I arrived home the next evening at 11:30pm, I was shocked and worried when I saw the forest fire nearby. I contacted a local deputy that night and talked to other local residents while we looked at the fire map outside the post office after midnight. The deputy said evacuations were a strong possibility but that I’d be safe at home that night.
The next few days were full of town meetings, packing, storing valuables, and expecting the worst. But many prayers were answered when a heavy rainstorm stalled and put out most of the fire a few days later.
Still, the fire fighters did a lot of back burning in the area, to decrease underbrush and make the forest around Happy Camp more fire-safe. My partner complained about the animals of our forest whose habitats were being destroyed, and about the air quality, which was wretched. Our valley was full of smoke for days. I’m glad to say that’s over for now and the crews that remain in town are doing mop-up on the Little Grider Fire. The only local people evacuated were those living about ten miles south of town near Elk Creek Road, who were in the path of another fire. Those people are also considered to be Happy Campers though they live outside of town.
I’m very disappointed that this fire spread as far as it did, because I believe that Bigfoot lived in the area. Hopefully if so, they survived in caves, or moved on before the flames reached them.
There have been at least five separate Bigfoot sightings in this area during the last five years, so naturally I had my eye on the nearby forest and have traveled through many times, hoping to see something while driving on the old logging roads.
The map shows the area of the Little Grider Fire, about half-way through it. The stars are Bigfoot sighting locations nearby. Here’s a list of some of those local sightings:
1. A man claimed to have seen a Bigfoot on the hill above Buckhorn Road in 2005. He later recanted.
2. Other sightings also took place on Buckhorn Road in 2005. An unusually large Bigfoot footprint was found half-way up that hill later that summer. The reporter had two separate sighting experiences within a month.
3. An unconfirmed sighting reported to me took place at a picnic table near the airport. A man said he was eating lunch and noticed young Bigfoot (possibly more than one) playing in the forest nearby. I don’t know the year this happened, so it may not have been recent.
4. In 2002 a local teenager was driving down Highway 96 when he saw a large dark creature run across the road near Little Grider Creek.
5. In 2005 a Southern California minister said he saw a large dark creature jump down onto the highway in front of his car, then stand and cross the highway in only two strides.
I don’t want you to think that this fire destroyed all our local Bigfoot habitat; there have been Bigfoot sightings in other areas nearby, and you can tell from the photo above that the Klamath National Forest is vast, with many thousands of acres of possible Bigfoot territory. But this area of the Little Grider Fire was what I considered to be our best local hot spot because of the number of sightings in the area.
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Thank you for adding me to your blogroll. Happy to see that you are back!
Wow, I am happy to see that you are ok. I can only image how frightening that must be.
Comment by aura — August 9, 2007 @ 8:03 am
It was terrible to have to pack. I didn’t know what to take and what to leave. Making decisions, knowing what limited space we had, was very difficult.
Comment by lindajm — August 10, 2007 @ 10:39 pm
Hi Linda,
I went for a walk the last couple of days. I have’nt been up on that hill since I got back from New York.
The fire burned all around it, but not at all around where all the bigfoot sign are. I went up and walked the whole area. There are still hand and footprints all around there, so it looks like they were there this season.
Sorry I got so emotional over disclosing the information. I just don’t want an glory seekers bothering them. I know I have stayed off line a lot, but I am really excited about my new site. Could you put the URL in the box for me? I don’t know exactly how to do that yet.
I thought they were in the yard once this late summer. The dogs acted in that strange way they do when they are around. I love your site and I wish you all the luck. Let’s go out sometime and take some pictures.
Tara, the Happy Camp bigfoot lady.
Comment by Tara — October 22, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
I was in the general area of Happy Camp in September of 2007 doing site location for a book I’m writing.
We found an extraordinarily large track off of a gravel road of of 48 between Happy Camp and Obrien, Oregon – Just on the California side.
I agree with the writer who said not to worry about Bigfoot habitat and fire – I would agree.
They are too smart and too “mobile” to worry about fire consuming their habitat.
Anyway – Track was headed due east – Measurement of the length was just a partial – Partial length appeared to be 12 and a half inches from the toes to where the foot bends – Possible second step that turned a portion of a thick branch into powder was 24 to 25 inches – Width of the track at the toes was a whopping 11.5 inches and the depth was a couple of inches in soil that neither I or my friend could even dent – Both of us just under 200 lbs.
The maker of the track had stepped off of a gravel road and apparently put its’ weight on the front of it’s right foot which sank into the hillside and created a sort of a “step”…..This was the “partial” track – It was 5 to 6 feet off of the road and the possible second step was 11 to 12 feet off the road and literally crushed a portion of a thick branch (both ends of the branch were in place – Only the “middle” was crushed and the length of the possible step was 24 to 25 inches…..
The width of 11.5 at the toes is definite – Print was very clear in the soil and all five toes were visible – It was a very “human-like” footprint – Except of course for the size.
Comment by English Des Champs — December 23, 2007 @ 11:20 pm
I went to check out with a friend a area he found walking in the woods. about 10-15 deer dead. All broken legs and necks all piled on top of each other. He lines up big foot camp sightings in other states. He asked me not to tell anyone about this area in R.I. So, I’m just telling you what I seen. We went walking quite a ways in to find the area. There it was all the dead deer were flat and patches of hair all over the area. I noticed very large mounds of dirt all over this area. The mounds were covered with grass and moss. while looking around , We saw skulls of deer ,cleaned and piled on to of each other ,like blocks.7 skulls. It was like children played with them. We found clam shells all opened up and all cleaned none were broken in pieces. While looking around ,we heard a noice ,deer running a side us then passed us. It was if something was chasing them. We didn’t see Big Foot that day. I didn’t have to, I am now a true believer on what he left for me to see. I was told not to tell anyone about this place but I’m not telling you where it is in R.I.
Comment by Cheryl — June 22, 2009 @ 11:43 am
Cheryl’s commentis disturbing, sort of, but very fasinating. I have never heard of anyone finding a camp with food left. Someone should really look into it.
Comment by Tara — June 22, 2009 @ 12:14 pm
I have long been interested in the Bigfoot or legendary
Sasquatch. I was born in Oregon but moved to Yreka, California when I was in grade school. My Dad used to
work for the US Forest Service. He used to come home from work and tell us all about Happy Camp. He also had stories to tell about Bigfoot. This was almost 50 years ago. I’ll never forget the stories he told. The “Bigfoot” does not like construction crews coming in on their territory. They were known to be the culprits of destroying equipment and throwing 50 gallon drums down mountain sides. Very large footprints were everywhere. Nobody liked to talk about what they saw because people would not believe them. Sound familiar? Since I have purchased many books on the
subject of Bigfoot, I have become very knowledgeable. People that do not believe in Bigfoot
think it’s a hoax. I don’t think they have that many hairy costumes to go around for hoaxes. And, not that many people want to go far and deep into the mountains of the Happy Camp area just to create a hoax or a joke. People remain ignorant until they educate themselves or have actually seen them. I have found them to be fascinating creatures. I was reading that Roseburg, Oregon has a law that you cannot shoot a Bigfoot. It looks like we are getting somewhere. Thanks for allowing me to give you this information.
Comment by Judith Osborne — June 23, 2009 @ 3:01 am