Bigfoot sightings in the Uintas Tales of the "unusual" in the woods

[Bob]

I'd worry about the bean chimichangas for dinner

 

[Henk]

What should be really worrying Nick is that huge Cookiemonster that could just jump out that jar from above his current campsite.
Moreover an LP-monster (a far relative of Nessie) that used to be small when the Colorado was flowing but since the Dam was build got so much living space that it could grow to a threatening size, could just jump out of the water below and swallow him and his dogs in one go!

 

[Nick]

No cookie monsters but I did wake up with a bear in my sleeping bag this morning.

 

[Dave]

Luke was my favorite Skinwalker.

Oh wait, that's Skywalker. Luke was my favorite Skywalker.

 

[Nick]

Funny you say that. I swear I saw a storm trooper down around Gooseneck point. I told everyone on Facebook I switched sites because my dog needed more space to play ball but really it was the storm troopers. And maybe the skywalkers. But on the bright side it's really cold, I have nothing to burn, but I have really really good Internet access on my phone. Now this is camping.

 

[JulieKT]

Evidence of Navajo scouts visiting the area around Capitol Reef is interesting. One of my wife's ancestors is Ephraim Pectol who discovered what are now known as the "Pectol Shields" between Torrey and the Reef. There is quite a story to those shields with lots of debate about their true origins. Some researchers and experts attributed them to the Fremont while others have used inconclusive evidence from debatable carbon dating to suggest they are not old enough to be Fremont. Anyways, long story short, the most controversial part of the story, I think, is that the Navajo Nation came out and laid claim to them and the government sided with them, despite, according to my knowledge, having the least amount of evidence of all the tribes the shields were attributed to support their claim. As far as I know, the Navajo have opted to not make them available for display any more and so for the time being, all we have left is pictures. But that's a discussion for another place and time. I've been shown the site of their discovery though. It was pretty cool, but certainly not a place you'd expect to find any significant relics like that when compared to the surrounding areas.

Sorry for the tangent...now back to speculating Bigfoot and other mythical creatures in the wild...

That's pretty cool about your wife's ancestor being Ephraim Pectol. I learned about the Pectol Shields shortly after I moved to the area, and even went to locate the discovery site with my friend who worked at the Park. He needed to get a photo of it for illustrative purposes for a presentation he was doing. He had a copy of a 1926 pic of Ephraim and his two daughters (I think they were his daughters), each with a shield, posing on the small ledge underneath which he had found the shields, and knew the general area, so we poked around for an hour or so and then found it. I got to pose in the same spot with my dogs to approximate the old photo of the Pectols with the shields so it could be used in the presentation. My very miniscule role in the history of the Pectol Shields. That history, btw, has been very contentious and I think it might still be so. Kind of interesting to look it up.

But on the bright side it's really cold, I have nothing to burn, but I have really really good Internet access on my phone. Now this is camping.

Camping in the modern world, indeed.

 

[Nick]

Camping in the modern world, indeed.

Yup.

 

[Bob]

Ok, now I have proof Sas is real. This is what I found at the Outdoor retail store..... a guide AND hair samples:

 

[backwoodsBob]

Ok, now I have proof Sas is real. This is what I found at the Outdoor retail store..... a guide AND hair samples:

View attachment 25120

IVE GOT TO GET THAT BOOK!

 

[Bob]

I wanted the vial of Bigfoot hair, but the wife said NO...

 

[Parma]

Proof of a Yeti in Boston!
http://abcnews.go.com/US/blizzard-2015-yeti-prowling-streets-boston/story?id=28507215

 

[Parma]

Bigfoot smoke!
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1053890/pg1

 

[Nick]

Bigfoot smoke!
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1053890/pg1

I think you meant to post this in the bigfoot thread? Either way, that was actually kind of fun to watch. Interesting. I'm gonna move these posts over there now...

 

[Don]

(I didn't read this whole thread.)

20-something years ago I bought a gorilla costume for a halloween party (I was a disco-gorilla). But after halloween I still had this gorilla costume lying around. One of the first pranks my friends and I pulled using the costume involved a church campout in a singles ward in Utah county. We dumped some tents, exploded some fireworks (and maybe a dry ice bomb), made a gorilla appearance, and we got away clean. People were talking about bigfoot for a long while in the neighborhood. It went well, so of course we did it more; I took it on camp trips to Zion, Moab, the Uintas, and all over the Wasatch. That costume must have been seen in the wilderness by a couple hundred people. Most of them strangers who would have seen it from a distance (it didn't look believable up close).
I'm always amazed that people still believe something like bigfoot, and in retrospect I'm amazed that I didn't get shot wearing that stupid gorilla costume in the wilderness.

 

[Mountain Runner]

In September 2015 the boyfriend, dog, and I took a three day weekend to go to the Wind River Range outside of Pinedale, WY. We arrived late at night and spent the night in the back of the truck at the trail head. The next morning we hiked 10 miles to camp at Lost Lake.

Lost Lake is a glacier lake with large rock cliffs and an incredible view of huge craggy mountains. We set up camp next to the water, it was an amazing day.

When night fell things got strange. I had an uneasy feeling in my chest, I didn't say anything to the boyfriend. The dog kept pacing in circles, we both laughed about it blaming it on her 13 years of age. We watched our small fire burn out and retired around 9:00pm. I feel asleep immediately.

I woke up to the dog crying outside the tent. The boyfriend was sitting up in his sleeping bag. I asked if he was ok. He said he felt strange. I let the dog in the tent (I make her sleep outside... I know, bad dog owner... call the ASPCA.) The dog was acting strange, she was shaking like she was scared. I put her between us to warm her up and calm her down. She stared into my eyes with the whites of her eyes showing. She's a cattle dog, not afraid of anything. I started to feel anxious.

The boyfriend said he was cold and had a terrible headache. I gave him some Tylenol out of the first aid kit and took a look at the time, 2:00am. He showed signs of altitude sickness and hypothermia. We live at 8000 ft, we were camping at 10,500 and the temps were in the upper 20's... it didn't make sense to me. We're used to this climate, I felt fine.

The dog looked alarmed. She stopped breathing like she does when she sees something. Her ears perked up and she stared out the door of the tent. 20 min later the boyfriend said he was burning up. He wanted out of his sleeping bag. I made him stay in his bag thinking it was hypothermia. I told him he would be okay. I got out of the tent to make him a hot drink and the dog went wild. She ran out of the tent and stood beside me growling in every direction. I shined my Spot headlamp everywhere with nothing in sight. I told her it was ok. She wouldn't listen.

The boyfriend started saying we needed to leave. He got out of the tent and started to frantically pack our camp. I pleaded with him to calm down (I've never seen him not mellow. He is the voice of reason in our relationship. I'm usually the one to overreact. We are both EMS and SAR trained, this was bizarre behavior.) He kept saying, "We need to get out of here." 2:45am we started our 10 mile trek back to the trailhead where our truck was parked.

I'm normally in the front when we hike but this night I was a Shepard and stayed in the back keeping the boyfriend in the front and the dog between us. We walked silently for an hour.

I've never been afraid of the woods. I've had things happen and I've been afraid of situations but never of the woods. That night I was terrified of the woods. I stayed calm.

3 miles into the way back a stick popped. The dog stopped in front of me. The boyfriend started shinning his headlamp to our left. A dark mass moved 30 ft from us. I put my light on it but couldn't see the body. The eyes looked at us and stopped. I grabbed the bear spray, I was convinced it was a bear. We yelled at it, "get!" "go on bear!" but it stood there.

My light was on it's body but all I could make out was it's size. It was 6-7 feet tall. It moved towards us after what felt like an eternity of staring at glowing eyes, it was upright, with a long tail. Once again it stopped, this time 20 feet from us. I still couldn't make out what it was. The eye's closed, it looked like it crouched, and it was gone. The dog stood behind us, shaking and silent. We began to walk quickly keeping a light and eye behind and ahead of us. We didn't talk.

At dawn a bow hunter was running towards us up the trail. I said hello and he stopped and looked into my eyes. He nodded and said "It will be okay". I was exhausted, terrified, and still shaken by what had happened a couple of hours before. His reaction scared me even more. We must have looked to be in bad shape.

We got back to the truck around 7:30am. The boyfriend still not feeling well and the dog looking like she was about to die. I drove us 4 hours home. It took 2 days for the dog and the boyfriend to feel well again. I don't know what happened to us in the woods that night. I don't feel like what we saw was an animal. It felt like something demonic took hold of my family that night.

We talked about that night for the first time a couple of nights ago. The boyfriend said he had felt like something had taken him over, like he didn't have any control over his thoughts or emotions. He said a voice told him to leave our campsite. He said he would have left with or without me.

I haven't told this story to many people, mostly for fear of sounding insane. What we saw wasn't a mountain lion, it was huge. I have nightmares about the eyes. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[Nick]

Welcome to BCP @Mountain Runner. That sounds like a horrible and terrifying experience. I don't have anything useful to comment on about it, but thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[slc_dan]

In September 2015 the boyfriend, dog, and I took a three day weekend to go to the Wind River Range outside of Pinedale, WY. We arrived late at night and spent the night in the back of the truck at the trail head. The next morning we hiked 10 miles to camp at Lost Lake.

Lost Lake is a glacier lake with large rock cliffs and an incredible view of huge craggy mountains. We set up camp next to the water, it was an amazing day.

When night fell things got strange. I had an uneasy feeling in my chest, I didn't say anything to the boyfriend. The dog kept pacing in circles, we both laughed about it blaming it on her 13 years of age. We watched our small fire burn out and retired around 9:00pm. I feel asleep immediately.

I woke up to the dog crying outside the tent. The boyfriend was sitting up in his sleeping bag. I asked if he was ok. He said he felt strange. I let the dog in the tent (I make her sleep outside... I know, bad dog owner... call the ASPCA.) The dog was acting strange, she was shaking like she was scared. I put her between us to warm her up and calm her down. She stared into my eyes with the whites of her eyes showing. She's a cattle dog, not afraid of anything. I started to feel anxious.

The boyfriend said he was cold and had a terrible headache. I gave him some Tylenol out of the first aid kit and took a look at the time, 2:00am. He showed signs of altitude sickness and hypothermia. We live at 8000 ft, we were camping at 10,500 and the temps were in the upper 20's... it didn't make sense to me. We're used to this climate, I felt fine.

The dog looked alarmed. She stopped breathing like she does when she sees something. Her ears perked up and she stared out the door of the tent. 20 min later the boyfriend said he was burning up. He wanted out of his sleeping bag. I made him stay in his bag thinking it was hypothermia. I told him he would be okay. I got out of the tent to make him a hot drink and the dog went wild. She ran out of the tent and stood beside me growling in every direction. I shined my Spot headlamp everywhere with nothing in sight. I told her it was ok. She wouldn't listen.

The boyfriend started saying we needed to leave. He got out of the tent and started to frantically pack our camp. I pleaded with him to calm down (I've never seen him not mellow. He is the voice of reason in our relationship. I'm usually the one to overreact. We are both EMS and SAR trained, this was bizarre behavior.) He kept saying, "We need to get out of here." 2:45am we started our 10 mile trek back to the trailhead where our truck was parked.

I'm normally in the front when we hike but this night I was a Shepard and stayed in the back keeping the boyfriend in the front and the dog between us. We walked silently for an hour.

I've never been afraid of the woods. I've had things happen and I've been afraid of situations but never of the woods. That night I was terrified of the woods. I stayed calm.

3 miles into the way back a stick popped. The dog stopped in front of me. The boyfriend started shinning his headlamp to our left. A dark mass moved 30 ft from us. I put my light on it but couldn't see the body. The eyes looked at us and stopped. I grabbed the bear spray, I was convinced it was a bear. We yelled at it, "get!" "go on bear!" but it stood there.

My light was on it's body but all I could make out was it's size. It was 6-7 feet tall. It moved towards us after what felt like an eternity of staring at glowing eyes, it was upright, with a long tail. Once again it stopped, this time 20 feet from us. I still couldn't make out what it was. The eye's closed, it looked like it crouched, and it was gone. The dog stood behind us, shaking and silent. We began to walk quickly keeping a light and eye behind and ahead of us. We didn't talk.

At dawn a bow hunter was running towards us up the trail. I said hello and he stopped and looked into my eyes. He nodded and said "It will be okay". I was exhausted, terrified, and still shaken by what had happened a couple of hours before. His reaction scared me even more. We must have looked to be in bad shape.

We got back to the truck around 7:30am. The boyfriend still not feeling well and the dog looking like she was about to die. I drove us 4 hours home. It took 2 days for the dog and the boyfriend to feel well again. I don't know what happened to us in the woods that night. I don't feel like what we saw was an animal. It felt like something demonic took hold of my family that night.

We talked about that night for the first time a couple of nights ago. The boyfriend said he had felt like something had taken him over, like he didn't have any control over his thoughts or emotions. He said a voice told him to leave our campsite. He said he would have left with or without me.

I haven't told this story to many people, mostly for fear of sounding insane. What we saw wasn't a mountain lion, it was huge. I have nightmares about the eyes. Any feedback is appreciated.

Well written story, buuuuuut, I hope I don't sound insensitive when I say I don't believe it.

 

[DrNed]

Well written story, buuuuuut, I hope I don't sound insensitive when I say I don't believe it.

I'm glad you said it first. I too enjoyed the narrative, but being the first post by @Mountain Runner I am . . . skeptical.

 

[Nick]

You don't have to be a magical thinker to at least believe that Mountain Runner had a bad night in which things took place that they cannot explain. It might be all totally explainable through known science, but from the human perspective, things can go off the rails pretty easily and ultimately, perception is reality. I see no benefit to her to coming here and posting her story. So why bother? It's not like she's trying to get hits on her big foot hoax video.

 

[Nurrgle]

Skinwalkers are pretty great. So are Sasquatches.