July 1973, Siskiyou National Forest, Near Holland, East of Cave Junction, Oregon

Preface: No bigfoot sighted but clearly I consider it a bigfoot experience because of what occurred at the end of this story.
In the summer of 1973, I was 20 and 3 friends and myself were squatting in a well preserved double walled cedar cabin, on an old mining claim, in the Siskiyou mountains above the Althouse creek about 20 miles to the East of Cave Junction and not far from the Oregon Caves. We had previously lived along the creek in another established mining claim for 6 months prior and loved the seclusion and the deeply wooded forests.

After we had settled in. I would go alone on long hikes becoming familiar with the area. There was a long and deeply eroded logging road that led to our cabin about a mile from the unpaved Browntown road. It was basically impassable by vehicle and we bought a donkey to haul our supplies and wood stove up to the cabin. 

One day I was hiking a ridgeline logging trail above our cabin about a quarter mile to my right. It was a beautiful clear and sunny Summer day. That area in the Summer tends to be dry and hot and manzanita and 2nd and 3rd growth Douglas Fir trees abounded. Signs the forest had been selectively cut years/decades before were all around me. As I walked the ridge I decided to start heading back and turned right on a steep old logging trail to walk down the sloping terrain.

The trail was blocked by a long section of a large felled tree. It was about 4 ft. high and about 4ft in diameter and I had to climb up and over to stay on the trail. When I scrambled over to the other side. I noticed some scratching impression on the ground about 8 ft. from the tree. Initially I thought it was an animal digging, but I squatted down to take a look because it looked like a footprint. I have a science oriented mind and curiosity, so I was confused. My mind told me this had to be an animal creation, a squirrel or something, yet it was very distinct.

So this is what I saw. It was apprx. 17-18 inches long but very wide. I saw 5 crisply made toe impressions about 1 inch deep very human like with a big toe and 4 smaller ones. I was able to neatly place my outstretch hand into the width of the print. I looked up at the fallen log and determined that whatever made this print jumped off the 4 ft high log and landed with a single foot directly down onto the hard packed ground. There was a slight forward thrust of dirt and the dirt at the toes were pushed forward accentuating the toes themselves. 

I was intrigued so I stamped my foot into the ground as hard as I could to see how deep an impression I could make, I couldn't. The ground was baked hard. Wait if there's one there has to be another, So I looked down the trail and I saw it. This print was about another 7-8 ft and was much less distinct. The 2nd print was more superficial and was a sliding print, but the impact was clearly a smudged footprint. I returned back to the first print. I was amazed at the detail. I have seen many, many animal prints bear, coyote, racoons and read tracking books. This print was the most perfect footprint one can imagine. 

As I looked at it I suddenly realized how fresh it was and at that moment I felt I was being watched. I stood up and looked around. I could not see through the trees. I heard nothing. The feeling of being watched grew much stronger and I became fearful. It was getting dark. I took off as fast as I could down the trail to the cabin. When I arrived I told my girlfriend. She wanted to see it immediately, but it was almost night so I agreed to take her up the next morning. As soon as we awoke we walked up to the spot. Both tracks were gone. They were plainly wiped away. Not just the distinct one but the one further down the trail was gone too. Something/someone had brushed both tracks out of the ground. I could see the swishing motion in the dirt. 
I thought something was watching me after all. 

Compared to others it may not be a compelling story but for me it is a mystery. I must say prior to this experience we had heard a number of close encounters with sasquatch in the area from friends. One young lady camping along Althouse creek said after her fire went out. Something big walked up to her perimeter and stood there for a few minutes before retreating into the woods. She could just barely make out the shape. It was very large and made no sound, but she could hear it approaching and was deathly afraid. After it left she went back up to the people she was visiting. 

Teepee John we called him cleared a spot for his teepee along the side of the mountain with a stream very close for water. He was there a couple weeks when one night something grabbed his teepee near the top and violently shook it. The next day he took it down and left the area.
The small family which reopened the Browntown claim in 1971. Told me something made some incredible sounds when they were rebuilding their large cabin. It hurled their 55 gallon drum full of diesel fuel 20 ft one night. They stayed and I don't remember any other incidents from them.


There was an earlier incident which I had dismissed as a bear that I now have doubts about. When we first moved in the 4 of us were walking down the eroded logging road. My girlfriend was walking a little faster ahead of our small group. When she rounded a bend she sighted something. She stated she saw a glimpse of something with black fur moving into the tall weeds next to the road. I was excited it had to be a bear. We hadn't seen one that year. Being a dumb kid I walked into the head high thick weeds after it. It was a downward embankment and I knew further down there was a small stream. As I was slowly wading through the high weeds about 25 ft from the road. I heard a deep menacing growl about 10 ft. ahead of me. I quickly turned and ran back up the slope. 

Later in retrospect, I wondered why would a black bear stand its ground on a hillside when it was trying to evade us. Also the growl was unusual. Black bears huff when threatened. I'll never know but we used to occasionally hear something walking in the woods around the cabin at night. Thanks for reading. 

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