Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County”

The Del Norte County chapter of Tribal Bigfoot is a montage of fascinating Bigfoot sighting accounts. In this chapter you can read about a tall, thin, golden-haired Sasquatch, a group of six Sasquatches that surrounded a pair of hikers, and many others. There are fourteen interviews featured in this chapter. All worth reading. You’ll also find some of Harvey Pratt’s fascinating forensic sketches illustrating sightings found in this chapter. The golden Sasquatch was especially believable because it is so unusual that someone would report seeing a Bigfoot with that shape and coloring. There are many very credible witnesses profiled in this chapter.

One of the sightings involved two young hikers in the Siskiyou Wilderness. They were on a hillside overlooking a lake in the remote backcountry when they became aware of two Sasquatches playing in the lake below. The creatures splashed water on each other, and had a grand time until they suddenly became aware of the two young men. Then they ran to get out of the water and to disappear in the forest near the shoreline.

Del Norte County Bigfoot SightingsAnother man accompanied friends to the Siskiyou Wilderness. His friends hiked into the wilderness to climb Preston Peak while he stayed near Raspberry Lake. He decided to take a hike and walked for nearly an hour. Just as he turned back he started hearing vocalizations. First there was the sound of a goat. These men had two goats tied up back at the lake – goats intended to be pack animals. The goat sounds were followed by a loud, long scream, some guttural sounds, and some gibberish which may have been a Bigfoot language. Next he heard “Hey, hey,” as if one of his friends was trying to get his attention. Startled and fearful, he raced back to camp to find the goats still securely tied up there.

This particular experience excited me because my goal is to be able to communicate with Bigfoot, and so the linguistic abilities of Sasquatches intrigue me. This one apparently had eavesdropped on the group, hearing them call to each other using the word, “hey.” The creature also mimicked the goats! It is extremely hopeful to know that they’re able to vocalize in imitation of others. This could eventually lead to an exchange of languages, once contact is made. Then we can find out what it is really like to live as a Sasquatch, to experience nature as a highly intelligent species living in the woods. I would love to know what they think about us!

In this chapter David Paulides stated several times that the Siskiyou Wilderness area is a prime area for Bigfoot research because it is between Highway 199 (which runs between Crescent City, CA and Cave Junction, OR) and the Bluff Creek area. He wrote: “The Siskiyou Wilderness Area sits in probably the best location in the world if you want to study Bigfoot. It is located between Bluff Creek and the end of the Go Road (the location of the Patterson-Gimlin movie) and the region in Del Norte County of Gasquet and Crescent City. This region is remote. There are no vehicles allowed and I have personally never seen anyone take horses into the region.” (Pg. 247)

I had an experience back in the summer of 2000. At that time I was exploring local swimming holes. My neighbor suggested a swimming hole eight miles into the wilderness on Clear Creek. To get there I had to drive six miles south from Happy Camp to the Wingate River Access. From there I turned right on 15N32, also called Clear Creek Road. Staying to the left at the fork in the road I drove eight miles west. At the end of the road there were a couple campsites and a sign installed by the Forest Service. There, we parked and hiked along a trail which was at least a mile long, to a place where there were some very beautiful swimming holes.

Clear Creek Swimming Hole
The swimming hole where the teens were playing.

A large group of teenagers were at the last swimming hole just before the bridge. The young people were jumping off a rock, laughing, and in general making a lot of noise. We crossed the bridge into the Siskiyou Wilderness. From that point there’s a trail (Clear Creek Trail) that crosses the wilderness. We looked at the creek over there, and hiked a little further in. I remember a Forest Service sign there that was shattered and splintered. My first impression was that a Sasquatch had done it because they didn’t want people in their territory. This was five years before I started my Bigfoot research.

Clear Creek Trail, 2007
That’s me, hiking on the Clear Creek Trail in 2007.

I started walking uphill on the trail leading further into the wilderness and got a very distinct feeling that something didn’t want me going there. The feeling was overwhelming and I decided to stop and go back downhill.

Now, while reading this book, the memory of this experience came back to me. Was a Sasquatch there guarding the wilderness? Was he watching the teenagers playing in the swimming hole? Did he send me a mental “stay away” message? I’ve been back several times since then and have not received the same mental warning. Maybe a Sasquatch was on the hillside, worried that I’d see him if I continued further along the path.

I’ve always known that the Siskiyou Wilderness is the place to go if you want to be near Bigfoot. It isn’t used as frequently as the Marble Mountain Wilderness. You can read more about the Siskiyou Wilderness in The Klamath Knot: Explorations of Myth and Evolution by David Rains Wallace. This book won the John Burroughs Medal for Nature Writing, the Commonwealth Club Silver Medal for Literature (1984), and was named one of the twentieth century’s best non-fiction books by the San Francisco Chronicle.

David Rains Wallace mentioned Bigfoot in his manuscript. In the epilogue he wrote:

“I admit, on re-reading the book, that the Klamaths’ local giant, Bigfoot, sometimes seems to play the 400-pound gorilla in what might have been more a straightforward evolutionary tale. Still, it’s one thing to read a book, and another to write it. I wrote as a backpacker sleeping in the woods, and my perceptions were not always straightforward. I didn’t see Bigfoot or evidence of his existence, and I did see reasons why a nocturnal, boreal wild hominid would be an evolutionary anomaly. But I also had experiences which made me wonder about consciousness, a subject which remains mysterious, and which includes phenomena like Bigfoot sightings.

The main such experience was my sudden illness on Clear Creek in the Siskiyous. Exhaustion or a backcountry microbe may have caused it, but the mental effects were more striking than any other illness I’ve had. They included not only the terror and historical visions I described in the book, but something I didn’t. Lying in the dark, I couldn’t close my eyes because intensely vivid faces would appear, mouthing incomprehensible words. The faces seemed so real that I had trouble reassuring myself that they came from my mind, and I afterward saw them at other camps, as though I’d been sensitized to something. The rational explanation was that I was sensitized to my experience in the forest, but I couldn’t dismiss the possibility that I was sensitized to something in the forest. It made me wonder where the mind ends and the forest begins.” Epilogue to The Klamath Knot: Explorations of Myth and Evolution, Twentieth Anniversary Edition, pgs. 146-7.
Clear Creek Swimming Hole
Another Clear Creek Swimming Hole
Rattlesnake on the Clear Creek Trail
A rattlesnake next to the Clear Creek Trail
Clear Creek, February 2006
Clear Creek, February 2006

Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter One: “Historical Bigfoot”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Two: “The Bigfoot Map Project”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Three: “Associations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Four: “Extreme Sighting Locations”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Five: “Santa Cruz County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Six: “Amador County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Seven: “Trinity County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Eight: “Siskiyou County”
Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County”

8 Replies to “Tribal Bigfoot – Comments on Chapter Nine: “Del Norte County””

  1. April 15,16,17,in 2012 heard 3 screeches, 2 mournful howls, one loud roar, chitter/babble, one wood knock on our wooded street. It’s on a very steep hillside and we are the only house on the street so far….woods everywhere, with a cul-de-sac at the bottom of hill. We are located in Western North Carolina just inside town limits of Spindale, NC. We have seen many deer, fox, groundhog, rabbits pass through often. From the intensity of the sounds, I picture a big barrel-chested male bigfoot but never did see it. UNTIL… February 27 when off in the distance I heard two screams….March 7 of 2013 as we came down the road to our home I glanced down to the cul-de-sac. At the edge of the blacktop I saw what I first thought was a black, rough-textured tree with it’s top missing. BUT, I soon remembered that no trees are in the close proximity of the cul-de-sac at all and our trees are mostly light gray or tan. Then I realized I was seeing a bigfoot but not the huge sort that is barrel chested and more ape-like. It was very tall……close to seven feet…very straight standing. It was covered with shaggy black hair and standing very still sideways staring up the hill off the side of the cul-de-sac area. Suddenly, as we began our turn into our driveway about 300 ft. away up the hill, I saw “eyes!!!!!”

    He had turned his head only to look up our hill to see what was coming. I don’t remember seeing a nose or mouth. I remember seeing a dull greenish-yellowish face possibly due to sunlight, wide eye openings with long dark curly looking lashes(did not see eyeballs.)

    He never turned his body…just his head. His feet were all hairy. He had a tall head with flowing hair down his hidden sloped neck hiding his ears. He had a beard which was smooth and straight reaching his chest. He reminded me of a “Masai” from Africa or a very tall lean basketball player…..not at all what I expected. He seemed unperturbed by our presence. The hair on each side of his face was sort of golden for about an inch each side. Otherwise, the rest was black. I do not believe he was the one I heard back in April 2012. It was so thrilling to see!! I believed in Bigfoot bigtime after all the sounds I heard but seeing one in real life is absolutely thrilling!

    1. Barbara:
      I saw a Bigfoot in 1972 in a place called Philo, CA. he was over nine feet tall and probably weighed about eight hundred pounds. very exciting to know you’ve seen something like that. I’ve never really talked about it because most people wouldn’t believe me. But it is satisfying to know that you’ve seen something very few people see in their lifetimes. Also interesting to know something few people believe exists is real. Enjoyed reading your post.
      Brad

      1. I’ve taken yearly vacations to Hiouchi CA for the past 6 years. I’ve experienced more then my share of scary and unusual sightings.
        Panther Creek- tree/limb breakings that followed us and grew in intensity, me and my fishing buddy LEFT!

        Rattlesnake Lake- saw Bigfoot Teepees, broken trees from approximately 12 feet high, and an overall uneasy feeling that caused me and my party to leave immediately before it got dark.

        Klamath- me and my wife saw a sasquatch cross the highway right in front of us.
        I love the Redwoods and fear them at the same time.

  2. Topic; Bigfoot real or fake?
    First off i just want to say good story. Second I need to say! Just leave Bigfoot alone!! Why in the world would all the science people be tracking him? He hasn’t done anything to us people so why track him down and try to find him? Do you want him to end you like a trapped monkey, bear, or tiger, in the zoo or circus??? Then why try to even hurt him at all? I say just leave him alone and get a better hobby… So what if Bigfoot is different!!! We people and nature are different too!! So leave him alone he might be happy where ever he is at!

  3. no plans or others yet. I will have to wait and see when the snow is gone this year. I never thought of trying to make a recording of myself mimicing the sound I heard. That might be really interesting to do. If i do and it sounds anything like the actual sound I will let you know.Have your partner contact me about a posible trip. Also, I got on google earth the other night and there is now updated photos of the area i was in and there is a small lake and clearing very near wher i was. It is off the beaten path , probably within a few hundred yards of where I had my encounter, and would make a great base camp. mike

  4. Hi. Im the guy in tribal bigfoot that heard something while hiking with the goats near Preston Peak.. I noticed when I read the book that David got something wrong with my story. After listening to what ever it was that I heard for a few mins.( I ) yelled HEY! HEY! , not what ever it was that I was listening to.It did speak a jibberish ,but did not say hey, hey. It did scare the crap out of me and to this day the hair stands up on the back of my neck when I mimic the sound I heard to friends.(which i can do pretty well) I have listened to recordings of the sounds of every animal around here, bear, cougar, wolverine, etc that could have made the sound I heard and nothing is anywhere close. It was big, loud , high pitched, low pitched and scary.To this day I wish I would have sat there quietly and waited so I could have seen what it was. I am seriosly thinking about retraceing my trip this spring . When i look at the site on google earth I have noticed a small clearing or meadow that was very close to where I was. It would be interesting to spend the night there. Mike Cuthbertson

    1. Very cool, Mike! I would love to hear the sound recording of what you heard. (Even knowing it is you, and not the actual creature.) Do you have anyone to go with you on your journey? My partner might be interested in going.

  5. I too enjoyed Paulides book. I intend reading it again. Thanks for all the added photos. These photos add so much to your reviews.
    Linda

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