Upstate New York, September 2020

Hi Lynn

Thanks for giving us a platform to share our story.

I was hiking in Adirondack Park in New York state with my wife recently during Fall 2020. This state forest is a 6 million acre wilderness which is bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier and Grand Canyon national parks combined. 57% is privately owned and 43% is government owned but much of the private property is small cabins, trailer park homes and small houses surrounded by generous wilderness. We were the only human beings at the trail head in a fairly remote region of the park. We hiked just before dusk that evening. We also noticed how the forest where we hiked through was almost completely silent during our entire trip, save the experience below.

As I climbed a small hill I noticed what sounded like a little army of squirrels rummaging around on the forest floor. Something seemed to be kicking up leaves and other debris. But I began to hear heavy foot steps and light, distinct, powerful-sounding grunts as I got closer. I could feel it was a big animal but had no idea as to the type. When I reached the top of the hill I did not see anything. No large animal. No small animals. Nothing. An opening of a good 30 meters extended from one side of the trail and I could see about 200 yards into the distance on the other side of the trail. 

I proceeded slowly. The forest floor activity seemed to make its way high into the canopy. Again; it sounded like a small army of squirrels collecting acorns, jumping from branch to branch and causing mild mayhem up there. I could see none of the activity as the forest canopy grows incredibly thick about 40 meters up. 

Everything felt odd. I felt like someone was there but could not see them. It was like someone sitting in the next room and not seeing them with your eyes but sensing their presence. You feel that they are there and know that they are there.

My wife trailed me by about 15 feet. She stopped and felt the same presence but like me, saw nothing with her eyes.  We then heard a loud, clear grunt that sounded similar to a large male gorilla. The sound appeared to be like a casual exhale; nothing about it felt threatening or intimidating. My wife asked if I heard it. I verified. I double-checked with her to explain it. She noted that it sounded like a big gorilla grunting. We both still saw nothing, even though the grunt sounded like it was no more than 10-15 feet from her.

The racket increased in the canopy. A foot long piece of bark flew out of the trees and landed about 2 feet from my wife. 

Note that we never felt scared, threatened, intimidated or even alarmed during this encounter. This Sasquatch or Sasquatch family gave off a chill vibe. I cannot put it into words. It almost felt a little playful, like we were being pranked. You'd have to have been there to feel the experience as we did. My wife and I have also circled the globe for a decade, hiking in tropical forests, on the steppes of Central Asia and in the deserts of the Middle East. We spent nearly 2 months in an off the grid location deep in the jungles of Costa Rica living in a hut with outhouse, no running water and a bevy of venomous snakes, poison dart frogs and bullet ants all around. We are hardly fearless but do not scare easily as we've had plenty of uncomfortable experiences during the past decade to clear much of our negative mental baggage.

So as we relax and observe, a series of tree knocks begins just behind the wood line to our left, about 30 yards away. Loud and clear, you absolutely could not mistake these knocks for anything else. Imagine the sound of a jacked-up dude slamming a stout pine tree with a baseball bat. The knocks even changed cadence a few times. This went on for about 5 minutes. Right in front of us. But the forest was too thick to see anything. My wife and I just stared at each other, as our minds seemed to be catching up to what our ears could hear but eyes could not see. I gave in to my urge to record the knocks - against my better judgement - and the split second I pulled out my phone, the knocks stopped. I put the phone in my pocket and the knocks started up again about 10 seconds later.

Eventually all the activity stopped and we made our way out of the park. We did not see a soul on the trail head, nor did anyone visit that trail after we arrived. 

A few notes: my wife and I heard wood knocks in the same park about 2 weeks prior but from the distance of a mile or so, as the knocks were quite faint. I also noted possible structures in a few other parks in the Southern Adirondacks, along with young, 7 inch-diameter saplings being either ripped out of the ground or twisted violently at the base. An individual nearby - same town, of approximately 500 people spread out among a mountain wilderness - had running interactions with a Sasquatch over a series of years.

I was open-minded to cloaking and dimension-hopping but wasn't quite sure if Sasquatch could do either; hearing what sounded like a 500 pound silverback gorilla grunting within 10 feet of you without seeing a darn thing quickly convinced me otherwise, let alone the bizarre behavior in the canopy.

Ryan