Northern Arizona 2005

My friend owns some property in Northern Arizona, and in September of 2005 he asked me to watch the place while he went on vacation for a few days. I spent the time feeding the animals, and hiking in the woods around the place. Occasionally I'd hear strange noises while in the forest,and I'd get an uneasy feeling sometimes, but chalked it up to my imagination. When my buddy, and his wife got back I told him about some of the sounds. He told me not worry about it. He then asked if I wanted to stay on as a part time helper. I would get my own place just for a few hours of work per week. Nothing was going on in my life at the time so I jumped at the chance. Now, a man's gotta eat, so I found a part time job in the closest town cleaning floors at night. My nights were spent cleaning floors, days hiking, and helping around the ranch. That's when the really weird stuff started to occur. About mid october,I was out hiking through a narrow slot canyon when a rock comes sailing over the edge, landing about ten feet in front of me. Looking up to where it came from, I saw a large dark figure dart away before I could get a good look. I was near the end of the canyon, so turning back would have left me open to an ambush if whatever it was turned out to be hostile. Plus the slot opened up near a road, which meant the slight possibility of help. As I got closer to the end I started to hear rocks clacking together. It sounded like at least three sets. Exiting the canyon they stopped altogether. Needless to say I was spooked. When I got back to the ranch, I told my friend about what had happened. He gave me an odd look, told me never go there again. Said even hunters avoid that canyon.
The next day, before going to work in town, I had to do a few chores. One of which was helping fix a fence at the far edge of the property. As we loaded the truck, I noticed my friend had a rifle in the front seat, and a pistol on his hip. He said the were just in case. In case of what, he never said, but I was starting to understand. We got to the fence, and saw it wasn't knocked down. The posts had been ripped straight up out of the ground. My buddy got a worried look on his face, said we need to hurry. Every few seconds he would stop repairing, look around, and sniff the air like a hunting dog, then continue. Right as we were finishing , he did the stop, and sniff again. That's when I smelled it. Rotten cabbage, mixed with a little skunk, blowing in on the breeze from a clump of trees about 50 yards away. "Get in the f***ing truck! We gotta get outta here, NOW!". When we got back to the house, I asked him what the hell was going on out here. He asked if I believe in Sasquatch. I do. Ten years earlier, right after he bought the property , he had an encounter. It didn't go well. Long story short. He shot at, and wounded one. Since then they've been messing with him. Tearing up fences, chasing horses, maybe even killing cows. Well, `I got pissed, and told him this was some pertinent information he neglected to tell me. I had been hiking all through the hills with nothing but a .22 pistol as protection. "They never really get close to the house, and I figured they'd leave you alone, because you're not me.". Why haven't you told anyone? "They'd think I was just crazy.".
A few hour later, I left for work, with a worried mind. Finishing early I started home. It was about 2am, and there was a full moon. As I was headed don the road about a mile from my house, I had to slow down to a crawl, avoiding the ruts. A jackrabbit ran in front of the car, followed by a hunched, hairy creature on two legs. It stood up in the headlights, turned baring its teeth and growling. The creature was less than 15 feet in front of the car, and when it stood up was maybe less than 6 feet tall. Tannish brown hair was covering it, there was the same skunk, and rotten cabbage smell. After a few seconds it turned, and ran back into the woods. I stayed out there for a few more weeks, but just couldn't shake the uneasiness. And eventually moved into town. I still go out to visit my buddy, and his wife. I always go during the day, go armed, and NEVER stay after dark.