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(edited)
From David Pardue:
Thanks to all at the BFRO for the best time I've had in my life.
Never thought I would be within a few yards of a bigfoot, up close
and personnel! Look forward to future trips with the BFRO. Your
fellow bigfooter, David Pardue
From Steve Willis:
Come on Dave, share the wealth with those of us who couldn't attend!
What did you see/hear?
From Pardue: We had it all happen at once sat night. my team NC
(3) people got run out of a trail by mult biggies. returned with
13 others, got howls, rocks, and sticks thrown at us. they were
yards from us. i will let the others tell you the rest. fear meter
was off the chart!!!!!!!!!!
From Chris Peterson:
Amen to Pardue! What a blast! All of my previous days on these two
expeds were suddenly worth it! Funny thing was, I didn't have any
fear this time. Then again, I didn't experience the hair-on-end/instant
dread that the other 3 NC folks experienced when they first went
up that holler! (I was about to go to bed at the campground when
the 2nd trip up was forming, and got swept up in the excitement.)
So, even though rocks and rotten logs were being hurled (accurately,
very accurately!) within 25-30 feet of me (or 10 feet, the time
I was about to go pee, that one was directed at me, not even the
apes don't want to see Little CP? ) I didn't have fear! And we heard
some faint urngh urngh urngh grunting, too. Nope, for me, I felt
pretty darned peaceful and satisifed. This is what we came for,
it's what we came up this holler for, it's what we called them in
for, and here they are! Doing what they do! Dang, they're so real.
: ) I'm just jabbering informally now. More later. Oh, and at the
end of that hour or so of fun? We found a stick structure on the
way back down, said to be fresh by those who were checking left
& right on the trip up.
Didn't smell 'em, didn't touch 'em, and I, personally didn't see
'em, even the eye shine, but I know they were there. The next day
we saw some things that made us suspect one was watching us from
15' away, right in front of us in the creekbed. And while we were
having that chaotic/tense hour in that dark little holler? Off in
the far distance, a powerful Ohio-type howl went off. Far away,
but you could tell it was strong. Perhaps related to the first night
of coon hunting season? The dogs were out.
From Kari V.:
This was a great experience for me. I was a little skeptical before
going. I am a believer now. When we (the North Carolina group) went
up into the holler, I did a tree smack before climbing the trail.
Now I am not sure I should have done that cause it seemed that the
big guy wasn't too pleased with us being there. We got to the top
and no longer did we shut out the lights and sit down. We heard
a howl and a tree smack. Then a rock came flying down @ Tracker
and we all got that strange hair raising feeling. I could hardly
walk down the mountain. We got back and gathered 10 more people
to make 13. We went back up and got a hair raising but wonderful
show from the big guy.
Thanks to BFRO I am a true time believer.
From Patty Lee:
Although some of you know (not all of you do), I did see a biggie
15 feet from Olof off the path. Seconds later there was a rock thrown
at him and he came hurrying towards our group. I was hesitant to
say anything because I wasnt sure if what I was seeing was what
I WAS SEEING. When Olof returned to the area the next time (15 minutes
later or so)- the figure was gone....leading me to believe the figure
was not a tree with arms and legs covered in hair. ehem. I saw eyeshine
and a tree swaying above the area Olof was in. I believe the rock
that grazed the tree came from that BF. There were at least 3 in
this area. It was dark in there. We went back to the area the next
day to video the terrain. We found possible toe imprints in a bunker-like
area in the creekbed 15 feet from our position. That is where we
believe the rock came from that was hurled at Chris (CP). There
was no leaf litter. Other areas along the creekbed showed trampled
down leaves. More details to follow..I hope Olof puts his video
of the area on here. You will all see what I'm talking about. All
in all a very exciting time.