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Couple experience large rock thrown and possible bluff charge in Inyo National Forest
The witness and a companion hiked to a high-elevation lake to fish and stopped to rest on the trail. A large angular rock landed near them after they heard it moving through the air, followed by a loud grunt, a foul odor, and heavy footsteps approaching downhill. Fearing a bear, they fled down the switchback trail while the footsteps cut straight downhill behind them for about five minutes before stopping. They abandoned personal items, returned to the trailhead, and left the area.
Wilderness campers have an unknown visitor in the Trinity Alps of Northern California
The witness was lying awake in a tent at a remote lake camp around 1:30 a.m. while three companions slept. He heard footsteps circling camp, smelled a strong animal odor, and saw a large shadowy figure lift his backpack above the tent and appear to try to open it. After he yelled, the figure dropped the pack onto the tent and left camp on foot as the others woke and heard its retreat.
Husband and wife have a possible encounter in a KOA campground north of Crescent City
A couple camping on an isolated site finished dinner and sat by a campfire when the wife felt watched and fearful. The husband searched with lights and briefly saw movement in the trees about 30 feet away, including what looked like a large dark lower leg. While inside the trailer the wife heard two to three whooping sounds from that wooded area.
Young man claims possible sighting at night near Lake Mary, outside Mammoth
The witness was staying at a cabin near Lake Mary and took two dogs for a night walk. The dogs began growling and pulling toward sounds of rustling leaves and breaking branches. The witness shone a flashlight and saw a huge ape-like but human-built figure about 200 feet away watching and swaying between trees. After a minute or two the figure turned and walked away, and the witness hurried back to the cabin.
Campers Hear Unusual Evening Sounds
Two campers spent a rainy night at a campground after noticing a skunk-like odor on arrival. Through the night they heard ape-like hoots, single-note whistles, repeated wood-on-wood whacks from several directions, heavy two-legged footsteps, and nearby rockslides. They saw nothing in the dark and left the next morning, noting the steep bowl-shaped hillside could carry sounds from far uphill.
Possible nighttime encounter, food taken from hunters camping near Tuolumne
The witness joined a small group for an overnight camp to practice outdoor skills. In the evening the witness walked east of camp, noticed a strong foul smell and heard vegetation breaking nearby before running back to the group. Overnight the campers were awakened by sounds around the camp followed by a loud crash, and by morning the food hung high above ground was gone, the supporting limb was damaged, and a foul smell lingered. The group then packed and left the area.
Quad riders find fresh footprints, encounter overwhelming stench near Stumpy Meadows
The witness was riding an ATV with her husband on a forest road and stopped alone to wait for him. She reported a very strong foul odor, a feeling of being watched, and hearing a branch break. When she started to leave she noticed very large footprints over their fresh outgoing tracks. Her husband saw the prints but attributed their size to dust and reported only a faint dead smell.
Family Encounters Red Eyes and Unusual Smells
The witness group was camped in a Sierra County campground and walked to an outhouse at night with a small flashlight. The witness shone the light toward the outhouse area below the trail and saw two red eyes that appeared to crouch down, then quickly returned to camp. A foul odor noticed around the outhouse lessened when others checked shortly after, and the next morning the group found small uprooted trees and no odor, estimating the eyes had been 7 to 8 feet off the ground.
Hunters have strange experiences and make an unusual discovery
Two companions were hunting deer on a family property near Pine Mountain when they found a footprint and other tracks near a pine overhang, noticed a localized strong skunk-like odor, and saw a pile of fresh acorns with no oak nearby. As they moved uphill using alternating advances, each heard an unrecognized whistle and the sound of a large boulder rolling, with neither attributing the sounds to the other. Both reported a feeling of being followed uphill.
Campers hear late night scream near Woodfords
The witness was asleep in a tent at a remote lake campground when she was awakened by a loud scream that rose from low to high pitch just outside the tent. She heard something heavy run away up a gravel road. Companions camped a short distance away also heard the scream, and one who went outside reported a very strong bad odor, while the witness's dog reacted strongly inside the tent.
Possible intimidation in the late afternoon reported by hikers in the Big Tujunga Canyon area
Two hikers returning up a dry creek bed in late afternoon smelled a strong foul odor and noticed a dead squirrel placed over a boot print. From a short distance away they heard loud banging like wood striking trees, saw treetops swaying, then heard very loud groaning and screaming vocalizations. The sounds paused while they walked away and resumed when they stopped, until they left the area.
Young couple encounter something large on Lake Hemet
The witness and a companion drove to Hemet Lake late at night intending a walk and sat by the car. They heard something large breaking branches and moving down a canyon behind them, then smelled a strong rotten wet-dog odor and felt watched, so they left. When they returned about an hour later, a large steel trash bin had been knocked over and had a large circular dent.
Fourteen inch by six inch tracks found
The witness was day-hiking alone in a remote wilderness area when they noticed a strong sickly-sweet, garlic-like odor they could not source. In the same area they heard a screeching vocalization they did not recognize as bear, mountain lion, or raptor. They also found large footprints near where they had eaten lunch, measuring about 14 by 6 inches, which they felt were not bear tracks but could not positively identify due to hard rocky ground.
Plinkers find pushed-over trees blocking a road and smell foul smell near Horse Mountain
The witness and a companion returned the day after target shooting in hills east of Arcata to find several trees broken across the road. The limbs were described as physically broken rather than cut. They also noticed a bad odor at the site.
Residents Awakened by Early Morning Vocalizations
The witness was woken by their mother after she heard a strange noise outside their Burney apartment. The witness waited on the porch and heard a very loud, guttural sequence of chirps and a scream, and noticed a pungent odor worse than skunk. No source was seen during a search, but the next morning a next-door neighbor said someone had been outside her elevated back window overnight.
Campers smell foul odor
Around midnight during a meteor shower outing, the witness was alone in a clearing, felt watched, then heard nearby rustling and ran back to camp. Shortly after, the group noticed an extremely strong sulfurous musky odor coming from a stand of trees. They pursued stomping and thrashing sounds uphill but never saw the source, and the pursuers fled after the sound and smell abruptly stopped.
Couple Has Frightening Encounter Near Lake Shasta
A couple drove to a remote meadow near Squaw Creek and camped overnight. After the campfire burned low at night they heard loud breaking branches, rushing movement circling and approaching the camp, and a loud howl-like vocalization, while their dog growled and a strong foul odor was present. They kept the fire large, shone flashlights into the woods without seeing eyeshine, and left at daylight, later associating the incident with Bigfoot after a friend's comment.
Two fishermen have truck shaken early one morning, outside of Auburn
The witness and a relative parked a heavy flatbed truck in a wooded area to sleep for a few hours before fishing at dawn. Around 5 a.m. something shook the truck violently side to side several times, waking both occupants. They smelled a strong rancid odor, saw nothing in the darkness, and stayed in the cab until daylight before leaving without checking for tracks.
A young man and friends had two consecutive night encounters with an unknown creature
In February 1977 five youths camped in two VW buses at a remote, densely forested campground in the Trinity Alps. On two consecutive nights around 10:30 p.m., something rushed down the steep hill behind camp and violently rocked the bus the witness slept in. The first morning packs were found strewn and torn open; the second night a large boulder was found wedged behind the bus tire and the other bus had shifted about five feet toward the river. The group reported seeing nothing because windows were iced over, noting only hillside skid marks, rushing noises, and a brief strong odor before leaving early.
Possible tracks found in snow and mud on family property many years ago near Lake Hughes
Four deer hunters stopped at a relative's ranch for lunch and fed hogs when horses in a back pasture became highly agitated for about 30 minutes. They found very large, deep tracks circling the pasture with a strong wet-dog and rotten-egg odor still present. They followed the bipedal trackway to a very steep hill where the steps ascended out of reach, tried and failed to replicate the stride and step-up, then left without ever seeing the maker.