Geographical Index > United States > Ohio > Washington County > Report # 26830
(Class B)
Submitted by witness on Sunday, November 1, 2009.
Group finds possible Bigfoot track in Wayne National Forest - w/photos of track and cast
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YEAR: 2009
SEASON: Fall MONTH: October DATE: 31 STATE: Ohio COUNTY: Washington County LOCATION DETAILS: Wayne National Forrest NEAREST TOWN: Marietta NEAREST ROAD: sr7 OBSERVED: After getting online to your site we decided to go to a known sighting area as an afternoon excursion since the day was nice. After walking up several steep inclines and falling often we came up to another ridge that was very difficult to climb for us. We spotted a foot print actually my boyfriend did. I knew he had found something when he called for me to come quick and climb up the last area. I climbed up and there it was a foot print. I did not really believe in Bigfoot but now we are having second thoughts. Mind you we drove two hours one way, and walked for at least hour up hill off the trails. We even went back the next day which was today 11/1/09 and made a cast of the print. Of course it was not as deep as yesterday but we still took the print and have pictures from yesterday on the cell phone. ALSO NOTICED: The track was fresh, we smelled a strong musky scent as we climbed up that last ridge. OTHER WITNESSES: 3- Climbing the ridge OTHER STORIES: Just on your site as we said before it was really just an excursion for the day we normally just look for unique rocks and just hike every great once in a while. TIME AND CONDITIONS: sunny, chilly, around 4:30? ENVIRONMENT: Pine forrest, leaves on the ground it stopped raining as we had arrived
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Russ Jones:
I spoke at length with this witness and her boyfriend. The boyfriend is a construction superintendent, the girlfriend is an accounting/office manager for a construction company. Their son chose the location, which in addition to being 2 1/2 hours from their house, is a large National Forest with a history of bigfoot sightings. In addition to their statement I can add that per a GPS they were 1 1/2 miles back in, off the horse trail. As they were walking in they came upon a lady walking two dogs. They noticed that the dogs were acting skittish and one of them, a black lab, had the hair on its back standing up. They asked the lady what was wrong with her dogs and she replied that "something had spooked them". The 13 year-old son got nervous as they were going up the last hill and refused to go any further saying that it is "really freaky up there". That ridge is where the track was found. The boyfriend weighs 205 lbs. and when jumping up and down could not leave an impression to match the track. The track was roughly 14 1/2 inches long and 2 inches deep in the soil and very fresh. They looked for other tracks but were unable to find any due to leaf litter. They also noticed that the forest was strangely absent of the normal forest noises and there was a strange musky pungent smell. They were so excited by the find that they drove all the way back the following day to cast the track. That next day they encountered horses on the trail and the forest sounds were normal. They also noted that the horses were not leaving tracks on the trail.
Prior to their experience the couple was very skeptical of the bigfoot phenomena. It speaks volumes on how impressed they were with the track that they drove 5 hours and hiked 1 1/2 hours two days in a row just to cast the track. Although it may be hard to see from the photo and the cast, the cast does appear to have dermal ridges. The cast may be further evaluated in the future. I have plans to meet the witnesses, hike to the region and examine the cast. With deer season and the severe winter snows this year, we have yet to get together.
About BFRO Investigator Russ Jones:
Dr. Jones brings a background of hunting, trapping and outdoor experiences together with undergraduate and graduate education. He is a master naturalist and has attended numerous public and private expeditions. He has led expeditions for the BFRO in Ohio and West Virginia. He has written two Bigfoot books, the last “The Appalachian Bigfoot” was an Amazon best selling book. He hosts the Wide Open Research Podcast on the Untold Radio Network. Dr. Jones may be contacted at [email protected]
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