Bigfoot Sightings

OBSERVED: When I was in college, I often went backpacking, with friends and sometimes by myself. On the spring break of 1980, I did not want to go to the beach; instead, I went to the Lake Xxxx area in the Kisatchie National Forest. I used the main trail and shared campsites with other campers the first two days, but I decided to go off-trail with map and compass the last two days of my trip. I had just broken up with a boyfriend and needed some thinking time. I was in a little valley between two hills. I had camped about 75-100 feet above the little creek in a clearing. The weather was nice and cool and the moon was bright, either full or near full. I set up camp, and after dinner I put out the fire, got in my tent and got in my sleeping bag. I had hung my food as you do for bear about 100 yards uphill from camp. The tent was placed so the mosquito netting entrance faced the creek and the foot faced in the direction our food was hung. I wanted to watch the deer and other animals come out to drink when the sun came up. Sometime around four in the morning, I heard something making noise in the general direction from where the food was hung, but it didn't sound like a black bear. It sounded BIG. I woke up an thought; "Don't make a sound. That sounds like a BIG wild boar rooting around an they'll tear you up. Don't move a muscle." I listened as the big thing slowly and heavily moved through the dense woods outside the clearing. A minute later I smelled something like a skunk, and I thought, "Great, now I have a skunk nearby too, don't move or it will get scared and spray the tent." I happened to be sleeping on my stomach. I heard the big thing splash across the creek and tromp partway up the hill. I poked up my head to see if I could see it. It came into sight in the moonlight on the other side of the creek, just on the moonlit side of a tree. It was hunkered over, looking at the ground. It dug a little hole and squatted, and after a minute it buried or covered the spot. For just a second I thought it might be a TALL drunk camper looking for a place to do Number Two. I thought the person might be drunk because of all the noise they were making. But I thought it was strange, because most people stick close to the trail, and I was going cross country, and besides, they had no flashlight. I could still smell the skunky smell. Later, I realized it was not a skunk and I was very lucky because I was downwind from it. Then it stood up. It was NOT a wayward human camper! It was at least as tall as a household door, and about as wide, and very hairy. It stood tall and stretched, then it walked uphill into the woods and out of sight.

Additional Things: I was completely terrified. I stayed rooted inside the tent till the sun came up. I had never been afraid in the woods before, but until the sun came up my heart jumped in my throat at the tiniest sound. I walked across the creek and saw some smeared marks but no distinct footprints. I did not find the potty hole but did find the tree it stood up near, and judging from the height of of a large branch confirmed my initial impression that it was about the height of a door. I was really nervous and just wanted to get OUT of there. I had planned to camp Saturday night as well, an then go to visit my family for Easter, but after that incident, I quickly broke camp, packed and cut the trip short, cut to the main trail and got the hell out of there.

Activities of Witness: Sober and sound asleep in my sleeping bag, in a tent with the mosquito net zipped up but not the rain flap.

Description of Creature: It was dark and in moonlight, but it was a clearly humanoid shaped, hunkered over at first while it was looking for a good place to relieve itself, but about seven or so feet tall when it stood up. Definitely very shaggy all over, but NOT human; and not a gorilla, either, because it walked bipedally away and uphill. No knuckle-dragging. I did not see its face clearly, and there was no eyeshine.

Other Notes: No, but please keep my name unpublished. The only person I ever told about this was my husband. But now I think I should contribute what I saw if it can remain private. You may call or email me privately if you have questions but I don't want to be published or be on TV.
WEBMASTERS NOTE: This is a common reaction of witnesses, and is actually expected. With all the hecklers out there who harass and badger a person for admitting they seen something, people that have never had an encounter, but are so quick to say that you must be off your rocker or on drugs to admit that there is something out there. So it is no wonder people keep quiet, and don't want to tell anybody anything. That is also why here at the GCBRO we keep ALL names and certain pertinent information of the location private. And sometimes we do include a little information, but it is a small bit of information for a big area, so we don't give away too much. We understand some of you would like to know more information about the location of the incident, the witnesses etc. But for the sake of keeping the witness private and the location secure from others, we delete this pertinent information from our reports.

Other (Informational or Encounter History in the General Area) Notes: No, although I have been back to the general area many times. At the time I did not think it was a Bigfoot. I guess because at that time people thought Bigfoot was only in the Pacific Northwest. I thought I had seen something like the Honey Island Swamp Monster. After years of reading Bigfoot reports an watching various programs, I now think it was a Bigfoot.

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