YEAR: 1991

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: April

DATE: 8 th.

STATE: California

COUNTY: Humboldt County

LOCATION DETAILS: Like I said earlier, there is this gift shop that is completely contained inside a living redwood tree on the highway 101 ave of the giants scenic route. About 5 miles north of that is a small day use area with a small parking lot and restroom. I believe there are several trails leading out of there. We took the one to the north. It's very heavily forested in the area and doesn't seem to get much use although I cant't be sure.

NEAREST TOWN: Two small towns close to Eureka

NEAREST ROAD: 101 (ave of the giants scenic route)

OBSERVED: I accidently wrote my experience down in the space that was supposed to be used to describe weather conditions. It was late afternoon, clear skies and good visibility although the tree canopy blocks out a good deal of sunlight from the forest floor.Look in the weather/time of day section for my report (sorry) I don't type very well and haven't the time to re-do everything.

ALSO NOTICED: dead silence.no bugs.nothing.prior to incident.H

OTHER WITNESSES: myself and my exwife.We were taking a short hike for the afternoon.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: In april of 1991 my exwife and I were on vacation headed to Crescent City, CA. The reason I remember the date is because I called my mom on that trip to wish her a happy birthday. Driving up the 101 we saw the ave of the giants scenic rout sign so not being in a hurry we took it headed north. Now I'm not sure ot the exact location but between two small towns maybe five miles north of where this gift shop that is actually carved out of a living redwood tree is (I hope that helps) there is a small parking lot off to the right where you can park and walk along some trails that I believe run parallel to the highway. I think the area is intended for day use only. well, we stopped and took a walk down this trail just to take in some of the scenery when about 200 yards down the trail my wife began to get this feeling something was off to the right. I told her it was her imagination when all of a sudden from that direction came this yell or howl that made my skin crawl. It!! started what seemed to be a good distance off in the thick forest and then moved rapidly closer. What startled me was the speed at which the source of the sound traveled. The howl itself sounded halfway between a human voice yelling "Ahhhhhh" and the high pitched sound of an elk. It wasn't an elk or human or bear as near as I can tell though and what ever it was moved very fast. We didn't see anything though but we got the distinct feeling weren't welcome in the area. As it seemed to get to what seemed to be around 75 yards away we ran back to the car and promptly left. We never could figure it out so we just dropped the subject. My ex is a superstitious sort and at first started trying to explain it away as a ghost which me want to drop the subject even quicker. But the issue has always unsettled me and when I heard some of the recordings of bigfoot screams on this or some other b.f. website, one in particular was exactly like what I heard that day. I still don't know what it was of !! or sure but I'll never forget it

ENVIRONMENT: very thick redwood forest with a lot ferns at least in the area we were in.

Follow-up investigation report:

I contacted him by telephone on 07-26-00

He had difficulty remembering the exact location, but I was able to piece it together from his landmarks, and quite a bit of questioning.

His encounter appeared to have taken place in the south side of the F.K. Lane Grove Trail of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, along the Avenue of the Giants, just north of the small town of Philipsville.

The Franklin K. Lane Grove (dedicated in 1928 to honor the former secretary of the Interior) consists of approximately 193 acres of ancient old growth redwoods. The grove is surrounded by many acres of undeveloped private and timber lands. The sighting location is in the very southern end of the 53,000 acre park.

*Encounter took place on April 8 1991, at approx. 2:00 p.m..

* claimed to have first heard the snapping of branches approx. 200 yards up the trail.

*first heard the calls/screams approximately 200 yards away, beyond where they had stopped.

*What ever made the sounds had gotten within approx. 100 yards of them.

*screams lasted about 45 seconds.

* found it difficult to gauge the distance of the howling, but said it closed the distance on them very quickly. He said "it sounded like a Howler Monkey, but deeper! similar to an elk bugle!"

*Heard screams over the near by engine sounds (chainsaw or motorcycle). a motocross track is located nearby.