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

[Outdoor_Fool]

Well the guy sounds like he was suffering some intense dehydration ("he was cold") and accompanying high altitude sickness ("terrible headache"). She may have been suffering the same but less so.

She had an uneasy feeling in her chest. High altitude sickness can result in varying degrees of of pulmonary edema or swelling in the lungs which is accompanied by fluid buildup. Even a slight decrease in oxygen-transfer ability can cause "stress" or anxiety. Add the affects of lack of oxygen and the stress/anxiety may increase.

The dog? Who knows? Maybe it's first time with a nearby grizzly (WAG). She says it was a cattle dog, with no fear of anything. I haven't spent years around cattle dogs but the times I have I seem to notice a lot of, what, nervous energy and a slightly neurotic pattern of behavior? The dog also could have been suffering from altitude and pulmonary edema.

The 7-foot tall, glowing eyes, upright, long tail thing? My first thought was a moose until I saw the "long tail" part. Moose are notoriously difficult to see at night (even in headlights), except for their eyes. I'll assume the eyes were glowing from the reflected light of a headlamp. Seven foot tall, check. Upright? Now does she mean upright as in standing on all fours or upright, as in standing on 2 hind legs? If on hind legs and near 7 feet tall, then only humans and large bears do that, at least in that country. Neither has a long tail.

I also thought dark horse from her description, it even has a long tail. There's a lot of horse use in the Winds, especially during hunting season (September - October), and they do stray away from camp at times. I will assume that even in her physiologically-altered state that she could recognize a horse/mule.

My guess? Who knows but I'll use Occam's Razor and bet (from a distance) that dehydration and altitude sickness drove most aspects of this wild night. Couple that with sleep deprivation and maybe this is what results.

Regardless, it sounds like a strange night and highly stressful.

 

[DrNed]

Well the guy sounds like he was suffering some intense dehydration ("he was cold") and accompanying high altitude sickness ("terrible headache"). She may have been suffering the same but less so.

She had an uneasy feeling in her chest. High altitude sickness can result in varying degrees of of pulmonary edema or swelling in the lungs which is accompanied by fluid buildup. Even a slight decrease in oxygen-transfer ability can cause "stress" or anxiety. Add the affects of lack of oxygen and the stress/anxiety may increase.

The dog? Who knows? Maybe it's first time with a nearby grizzly (WAG). She says it was a cattle dog, with no fear of anything. I haven't spent years around cattle dogs but the times I have I seem to notice a lot of, what, nervous energy and a slightly neurotic pattern of behavior? The dog also could have been suffering from altitude and pulmonary edema.

The 7-foot tall, glowing eyes, upright, long tail thing? My first thought was a moose until I saw the "long tail" part. Moose are notoriously difficult to see at night (even in headlights), except for their eyes. I'll assume the eyes were glowing from the reflected light of a headlamp. Seven foot tall, check. Upright? Now does she mean upright as in standing on all fours or upright, as in standing on 2 hind legs? If on hind legs and near 7 feet tall, then only humans and large bears do that, at least in that country. Neither has a long tail.

I also thought dark horse from her description, it even has a long tail. There's a lot of horse use in the Winds, especially during hunting season (September - October), and they do stray away from camp at times. I will assume that even in her physiologically-altered state that she could recognize a horse/mule.

My guess? Who knows but I'll use Occam's Razor and bet (from a distance) that dehydration and altitude sickness drove most aspects of this wild night. Couple that with sleep deprivation and maybe this is what results.

Regardless, it sounds like a strange night and highly stressful.

@Outdoor_Fool You've hit the nail on the head. Vision (and memory, for that matter) is given way too much credibility. Even under normal circumstances they're suspect. Add a little physical and mental stress and the brain can concoct just about anything.

For example, we all have an anatomic blind spot. The area of the retina where the optic nerve comes into the eye has no receptors, but do we go around with a blank spot in our vision? No, because the brain fills it in. We all, literally, see things that aren't really there. This blind spot can be functionally increased under stress.

Also, watch any sporting event and depending on your perspective you and thousands of other people can see the same exact event, but interpret it differently. Seeing something does not, in fact, make it reality.

I do think there are people who promote the "Big Foot agenda" (is there really such a thing?) for their own reasons. Most people though, who say they saw something, I believe, really did see something, but unfortunately, their own physiology worked against them either creating something that wasn't there or interpreting something that was there into something else.

My intent here is not to make light of anyone or their experiences, but to explain how anyone could actually see something that isn't really there.

@Mountain Runner I would love to hear more and ask questions about your experience.
Thank you.

 

[Wyatt Carson]

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.

Yes, the mind is definitely a place of its own. My own scariest time in the woods was definitely a mind thing. When I was four years old the neighborhood boys and I were roaming the woods like we always like to do, the same woods I would illegally do my first planned solo over nighter in later that year (law enforcement would call me a runner in subsequent years). The previous night's storm broke off a huge tree and we were gathered around the splintered thing marveling at the incredible power that did that thing.

We were like 3 feet tall and the world seemed very surprising. One of the kids thought he saw something. He looked scared. One of the other boys thought he might see it too but could not tell if it was staying put or moving right at us. It was kind of contagious. We made it to a friend's house and his mother told him to go out into the yard and pick up his toys. He told his mother NO! She looked at all of us like we were crazy. I was afraid to go home by myself. LOL

I think our amygdalas had been secreting the Flight or Fight enzymes, you know the panic causing chemicals. We all got over it because the outdoors and those woods were much more pleasant than suburban hell...

 

[Bob]

Welcome ................................. ah.................... nice skinwalker experience

 

[DrNed]

I think our amygdalas had been secreting the Flight or Fight enzymes, you know the panic causing chemicals. We all got over it because the outdoors and those woods were much more pleasant than suburban hell...

I realize this is a BP forum and not a neurophysiology forum.

It's been many years, so If you can trust my memory and my 2.9 GPA I share the following In the spirit of trying to share correct information, the amygdala doesn't secrete hormones or enzymes. It receives input from eyes, ears and other sense organs directly and via the cortex.

The "memory" of stressful events is stored in the amygdala. This allows our physiology to be more efficient. Meaning, if a similar stimuli is given the amygdala knows how to respond based on previous experiences.

I believe the amygdala has connections to the hypothalamus and adrenal glands - that's where the hormones come from.

Phil: "Did you want to talk about the weather or were you just making chit chat?"
Mrs Lancasater: "Chit Chat."

Carry on!

 

[Wyatt Carson]

I realize this is a BP forum and not a neurophysiology forum.

It's been many years, so If you can trust my memory and my 2.9 GPA I share the following In the spirit of trying to share correct information, the amygdala doesn't secrete hormones or enzymes. It receives input from eyes, ears and other sense organs directly and via the cortex.

The "memory" of stressful events is stored in the amygdala. This allows our physiology to be more efficient. Meaning, if a similar stimuli is given the amygdala knows how to respond based on previous experiences.

I believe the amygdala has connections to the hypothalamus and adrenal glands - that's where the hormones come from.

Phil: "Did you want to talk about the weather or were you just making chit chat?"
Mrs Lancasater: "Chit Chat."

Carry on!

Thanks man, good observations. I was trying to keep the concept simple but enjoy the details like that too. Your post about the "blind spot" made a lot of sense too.

But when that happens for whatever reason it can cause that panicked feeling in some. Some fight, some run off and some just run around in circles flailing around in fear. It did for me and the boys when we were four years old and was very powerful and we really didn't see anything real but it was real for us at the time and place. Must be a pack defense thing gone awry.

my point was best served by Milton's line from Paradise Lost.

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..

 

[DrNed]

But when that happens for whatever reason it can cause that panicked feeling in some. Some fight, some run off and some just run around in circles flailing around in fear. It did for me and the boys when we were four years old and was very powerful and we really didn't see anything real but it was real for us at the time and place. Must be a pack defense thing gone awry.

I wrote a whole narrative on the fear response and realized not only was I getting way off topic, but it was sure to bore everyone.
Sorry man, I got totally sidetracked.

Your quote said it best.

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..

 

[Aldaron]

The thing that always fascinates me is that most people don't understand or recognize the weaknesses of their perceptions. Most people will fight to the death insisting that they know what they saw. When the fact is, perception is so unreliable that we can almost never be truly certain about what we've seen or heard. I think a season of something like Brain Games should be mandatory viewing to teach people that you can't trust your brain. It would certainly make my job easier.

"Cold hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colours from our sight,
Red is grey and yellow white,
But we decide which is right.
And which is an illusion." - Moody Blues
​

 

[Wyatt Carson]

I wrote a whole narrative on the fear response and realized not only was I getting way off topic, but it was sure to bore everyone.
Sorry man, I got totally sidetracked.

Your quote said it best.

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..

I have enjoyed your discussion, even the tangents seem pertinent. I like your little sidetracks.

I can easily understand younger kids believing in some of this stuff but most lose those illusions quickly over their travels. Some of them do make good stories though and the genre seems to be popular still in these times.

 

[Deleted User]

The second incident wasn't necessarily a possible Sasquatch, it was just weird and unexplained. It happened in Cuberant Basin in the Uintas. If there was such a thing as a Bigfoot 'hot spot' in Utah, that would be it. Lots of sightings up around there, several by entire groups of people. All I saw were strange eyes doing strange things, no clue what it was, but it was... really really strange. Full write up of that strange experience in my trip report from that trip here:

http://backcountrypost.com/threads/cuberant-lakes-basin-uintas.460/

With that said, I still can't convince myself that such a creature exists. I just can't accept that there wouldn't be solid proof of it. It just seems totally impossible to me. But I still would probably never solo camp in Cuberant Basin.

Sorry to pop in. Saw this in a google search, read the thread, and decided since I was in it, I would give my two cents. Probably not even worth that, but at least you will know Nick is not full of shit about this. The eyes thing really did happen. I'd take a polygraph or swear on a stack of bibles for those of you who need that kind of verification. This is not the only strange thing that has happened to me in Cuberant Basin. I have been out there every year since 2009, and every year save last year, some strange stuff has occurred visiting this area. The history from Sasquatch sightings, to the Bardsley kid vanishing in that basin and never being found in 2004, makes it even more baffling when you try to sort it all out. I'll give the readers digest version of the incidents and add to the one that Nick posted to save time.

2009- Hiking a pond with lily pads and no fish in Cuberant Basin, my friend Robbie notices a deer leg, in tact, like it had been pulled off the deer. All the meat was on it. You could have skinned it and taken the meat it was that fresh. Chris who was on the 2010 trip Nick posted also saw this. We all felt like we were being watched, and did not want to meet what was responsible for the deer leg. On the way up to the next pond, we saw the largest "hair ball" for a lack of better term we had all three ever seen. It was all grey hair. Size of a bush in your yard. Everyone to this day can't figure out what the hell that was.

2010: Nicks post.

What Nick forgot to mention in that post was that when we got to camp, we fished and both caught nice pan size brookies which we kept and were going to eat for dinner. But the eyes thing kind of rattled us both. I know I was happy when my crew rolled in there with 4 more dogs. We decided trout for breakfast would be great so we left them on the stringer and finished our evening and all turned in. I got up in the morning to go down to take care of the fish, but they were gone. The best part is the stringer was taken out of the ring that you loop fish on. As if someone politely taken the fish, but put the stringer back shore. If it was anything known out there to be held responsible, it would have taken fish and stringer. The way I had them on there there, no way they were getting off. if they did, the stake would have still been through the loop on the stringer. It wasn't. Its like someone or something with dexterity took the fish and left the stringer. I still to this day cannot figure that one out.

2011- We had wood knocks that scared deer into our camp. The deer did not seem afraid of us at all. Its like they were using us as protection from something. They eventually moved on in the dark to the meadow SE of our camp.

2012- I took three friends for their first time into this basin. After a violent day of thunderstorm naps by our whole crew, skies cleared as they do in the evening in the Uintas and we all sat up for some adult beverages by the fire and a bright full moon. We all turned in about 2 AM. I awoke about 3:30 AM to just a horrible smell coming from outside my tent. Something tried to lift the rain fly on my tent. I rolled over to see the silhouette from the full moon of what looked to be someone or something on two feet with arms standing over my tent. I coughed really loud and whatever it was seemed to leave our camp. The next morning I asked my friend Jason and Jeremy and his lady Flor if they were up about at 3:30 AM. Jeremy and Flor said no, they were asleep. They had a German Shepherd with them which did not bark or make one sound during all of this. Jason has the Marmot Limelight tent with the plastic window on the rain fly. He said about a bit after 4 AM, he heard something trying to open the zipper on his rain fly. He looked up at the plastic window and could see a very dark face looking in it. He is Buddhist, and always travels with meditation balls, started rotating them in his hands, making the vibrating sound they make and whatever it was left. I heard him do that, so I can vouch for him making noise with those.

2013- Strange howls, not coyote, all weekend, day and night in the upper part of the basin. It never stopped the whole time we were in there.

2014- I actually went twice into this basin that year. Both times wood knocks and howls. We knocked for fun on the second trip, and got multiple responses well after we did ours. We were sitting down at the fire when the return knocks would happen.

2015- I did what Nick said he never would do- I soloed Cuberant #3 for a night. Partly to break me of the fear of the eyes thing, and I had no one that could come in with me on Friday. This was the year that nothing happened out there. Chris came in on Sat and I had company and two dogs with me then. But I spent all day Friday, Friday night, and Saturday morning in there before Chris rolled in about noon. Quiet as a tomb.

I have a ton of other stuff that has happened that I cannot explain in other areas and ranges I have visited. Not going to go into that here. Just wanted to share the history I have had with Cuberant Basin. What is in there? Hell if I know, I don't have all the answers. Do I believe in Sasquatch? Undecided. I am no scientist, nor am I a "Bigfooter." I have met some of those folks and I'll let them do their thing. My interest in solitude and photography out there. What I do know is what I have experienced, and I have witnesses to all these events in Cuberant. Stack that with the history and you would be scratching your head and saying "WTF" too.

Nice site Nick. Hope you and yours are well. Happy Trails everyone.

 

[SKLund]

My report:
http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=6706
Since I posted that I dismiss the idea of BigFoot existing. I think my memories of that time were greatly influenced by youth, weed, inexperience, and the stress I was under at the time. BigFoot does not fit into ecosystems where it is purported to exist. Human experience and judgement of such events is under influence of numerous factors that prevent strict objective observation. Is this worthy of scientific investigation? Yes. Will it be? No. No one is going to provide a grant for this subject of study. That said, I am not refuting anyone or calling them a lier. They could in fact believe what they saw is true. The problem is that it is not.

 

[Outdoor_Fool]

I'm not a believer but research is being done.

http://www2.isu.edu/~meldd/fxnlmorph.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2012/09/idaho_state_professor_publishe.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bigfoot-anatomy/

http://idahostatejournal.com/member...cle_9123b55e-a47f-11e4-bc8b-5746d2cac692.html

 

[SKLund]

I'm not a believer but research is being done.

http://www2.isu.edu/~meldd/fxnlmorph.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2012/09/idaho_state_professor_publishe.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bigfoot-anatomy/

http://idahostatejournal.com/member...cle_9123b55e-a47f-11e4-bc8b-5746d2cac692.html

I guess the problem I have is that it's Jeffery Meldrum. He seems to be one of the very few accredited scientists doing this and he appears to want (and gets) all of the attention. There has to be a few (or at least one other) out there gathering evidence for science to work.

 

[Deleted User]

My report:
http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=6706
Since I posted that I dismiss the idea of BigFoot existing. I think my memories of that time were greatly influenced by youth, weed, inexperience, and the stress I was under at the time. BigFoot does not fit into ecosystems where it is purported to exist. Human experience and judgement of such events is under influence of numerous factors that prevent strict objective observation. Is this worthy of scientific investigation? Yes. Will it be? No. No one is going to provide a grant for this subject of study. That said, I am not refuting anyone or calling them a lier. They could in fact believe what they saw is true. The problem is that it is not.

I'd say what ever left that track knew you were coming and bailed. With no other activity at that location, seems you were in good shape. Did you take a picture of the track? Thanks for sharing.

 

[Deleted User]

I'm not a believer but research is being done.

http://www2.isu.edu/~meldd/fxnlmorph.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2012/09/idaho_state_professor_publishe.html

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bigfoot-anatomy/

http://idahostatejournal.com/member...cle_9123b55e-a47f-11e4-bc8b-5746d2cac692.html

There are a lot of people researching this mystery. There is just enough evidence to warrant a further look by science. Which I support. Looking into understanding my own experiences, I found a larger mystery which baffled, and even spooked me a bit. I always was puzzled by all the people who disappear in our wilderness areas. If you are familiar with the mystery about people vanishing in our national forests without a trace, usually right under peoples noses, then you have a much larger mystery on your hands. Missing 411 was written documenting the similarity to these cases and the clusters of missing people that appeared when put to a map to see geographical location. The funny thing is when you put a map up side to side with the Missing 411 map to one of reported Bigfoot sightings, there is a very strong similarity in the pattern you see. I am not suggesting anything, nor and I a scientist or a Bigfooter. I just see similarities from my looking into the Bardsley kids case from 2004 in Cuberant Basin. I read Missing 411 Western Edition, and found it strange how similar all the cases were. The Bardsley case is in the book I have read. The only thing they ever found of Garret Bardsley was a sock in a scree field above Cuberant #4. His Mom positively identified the sock as his. He was never found. Kind of hard to fake real people who have vanished, without a trace, are never found, or found is such a strange manner that no one can explain how they got there or what happened. Forensic teams and S&R teams cannot explain these cases. A lot of them remain unsolved. Read the book. BTW, the author never implies Bigfoot is behind these missing persons cases.

Here is a map comparison between the missing persons cases in the Missing 411 books and reported Bigfoot sightings in the US. Not an exact match, but a very similar pattern out west IMHO. As you can see, the farther down the rabbit hole you tumble, the more bizarre it becomes.

 

[SKLund]

I'd say what ever left that track knew you were coming and bailed. With no other activity at that location, seems you were in good shape. Did you take a picture of the track? Thanks for sharing.

Naw this was 41+ years ago...deep in the mists of time. Too dazed and confused to take pictures.

 

[Deleted User]

Naw this was 41+ years ago...deep in the mists of time. Too dazed and confused to take pictures.

All good. I was just curious to see what it looked like.

 

[Tystevens]

This thread has been a fun read. I wanted to leave my own experience:

We once rented an old cabin way out in the Oregon woods where I grew up. No electricity or running water, deep in the dark woods. In the middle of the night, we heard, and then saw, cupboard doors opening and closing in the kitchen. Eventually, and after a couple people really freaked out, we found a rat in the cupboard who was the culprit.

Anyway, this highlights the perception/reality. I'm not a believer in the paranormal, but I have often wondered what I would believe if we hadn't managed to catch a glimpse of the rat. Several people definitely saw doors opening and closing.

I personally believe in all of these cases, there is another explanation; probably a laughable one. Unfortunately, we will never know what it was in most cases, just as I wouldn't have known if I didn't see the rat.

 

[Deleted User]

I personally believe in all of these cases, there is another explanation; probably a laughable one. Unfortunately, we will never know what it was in most cases, just as I wouldn't have known if I didn't see the rat.

I hope we find out what is making all these people vanish. I suspect something much more sinister then a rat is involved.

I have to respectfully disagree with your post. There is far more evidence and real missing people than just cupboard doors opening and closing.

You of course are fully entitled to your opinion. I just do not agree with it, nor do I just that easily write off what I have seen and experienced.

Just for the record, Bigfoot is classified under the study of "Cryptozoology." It is not a paranormal phenomenon or science. That would be ghosts and or aliens. I have never seen an alien. At least not to my knowledge.

 

[SKLund]

I've posted my experience here before so I won't do it again...The reports here are very compelling and interesting and I would not cast doubt on your experiences. However when the lens of science applies light to the subject, it's validity fails. Consider these reasons...

01) There are nearly 7 billion of us. It is far more likely that foot prints are human then anything else despite variances in size, etc. There are reasonable explanations for those. Same with vocalizations. Humans have the greatest range of vocalization of any known animal.

02) Preconditioning. The number of reports has skyrocketed since BFRO came into existence and have grown rapidly as "the big guy" has become part of popular culture. When we go to the woods, we take our preconditioning with us and make judgements on what we perceive based on that conditioning. Fear and uncertainty amplify these perceptions.

03) Environment. They don't fit anywhere. It sounds from reports that they are apex predators and that would place them in conflict with other apex predators for a limited food supply.

Bigfoot does not exist. We would know by now if it did.