Cryptozoology

Cryptozoology is the study of mythical creatures and it fascinates the hell out of me, especially the Big Three:

Bigfoot

Loch Ness Monster (I was crushed to find out this picture had been faked).

And the Yeti.  Bumbles is so CUTE!

But Sasquatch/Bigfoot, that's my main cryptozoological interest.  Northern California and the Pacific Northwest have always been a hotbed of sightings, although all 50 states and Canadian provinces have reported sightings of a big, hairy apeman.

The above still photo of Bigfoot was taken from the famous Patterson/Gimlin film from 1967, shot at Bluff Creek, California.  When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, I went to the movies with my friend Sheila for her birthday.  Back then, they used to show a film short prior to the main feature.  That was the first time I'd ever heard of Bigfoot, when the Patterson/Gimlin film was shown in the short.  I was fascinated from that point forward.

When we lived in California, the ex and I used to head north to Humboldt County, on 'Bigfoot Expeditions'.  They weren't real searches as we never got out of the car, and kind of hoped one might cross the road.  I know it seems unlikely that an unknown ancient apeman species has gone undetected but after seeing the dense woods, shown here at Berry Summit on the way to Willow Creek, I can believe it.

Plenty of woods in which to hide; plenty of salmon in the rivers...this is the Trinity River on the Hoopa Indian Reservation in Humboldt County.

This is Bluff Creek, although the actual location of the Patterson Gimlin film is quite a few miles away, deep in the woods.  I shot this from the road.

Bluff Creek

Of course the locals have capitalized on the phenomena.  Avenue of the Giants.

Willow Creek.

The local Hoopa, Yurok & Karuk tribes know the creature as the Oh Mah.  I remember asking the proprietor of the cottage we rented if she ever saw one.  She said no, she didn't, but her daughter had one cross the road in front of her, just east of town in the Trinity Alps.  She also told me that people in the area see them all the time, but don't report it for fear of ridicule by the outside world, but mostly to protect the creature from hunters.

Oregon & Washington State have laws on the books about the illegality of harassing or killing a Sasquatch.

This is the place we owned in Neilton, on the Olympic Peninsula.  It came with 7 acres of dense woods that backed up to the Quinault Indian Reservation.  I only spent one night here in the year we owned it, and I admit, I got the heebie jeebies about the possibility of a Sasquatch looking in the windows late at night.

 The truth is out there....