Searching For Bigfoot: Southern Sierra Expedition Part 2

Southern Sierra Expedition Part2

October 17-19, 2008

By Rex Houdyshel

In this photo, Chad Biscardi, Rex Houdyshel, Chris Biscardi, and Drake Biscardi. In this forest, firearms are prohibited, so for bear protection Rex and Chris have their cans of bear mace and Chad and Drake have their knives. (photograph by Tom's grandson Chuckie)

I have been backpacking in the Southern Sierra Mountains for many years. This is where I taught my kids how to backpack. This is where I taught my church youth group how to backpack as well. But, I have never gone "bigfooting" here until last month.

On September 26 Java Bob, his son-in-law Kevin, and I joined up with my local bigfooting friend David Raygoza and his bigfooting friend Joe along with their Sierra caving friends Ken Gentry, and his crew, to go backpacking in a part of the Southern Sierras that I had never backpacked in before, (although I had camped once at the nearby drive-in campground. Ken's team had experienced some odd forest behaviors at their remote campsite and had invited us to investigate the area for evidence of bigfoot.

And evidence we found, highlighted by David's visual sighting of a dark creature crossing the creek south of our campsite on the afternoon of the 27th!

David's rough estimate of the creature's height was "way taller than us", perhaps 8 or 9 feet tall. Prior to this, in the morning, I had found an old, faint footprint 16 or 17 inches long (the extra inch at the heel might have covered a branch laying on the ground), with proportional bigfoot-like width; a left footprint. It was old and faint and a definite "maybe". I had found it on the eastern hillside just a few yards away from our camp. Early that same afternoon David, Joe, and I investigated the western hillside and moved northward, where David found scat that he said was not the usual bear scat he finds in the southern Sierras - it was more human shaped. He also found a footprint nearby, which we measured at 17 inches, and again it was a left footprint with proportional bigfoot width - practically the same footprint I had found maybe 1/4 mile away near camp. However, the one David found was a little clearer and more pristine than the one I had found earlier.

A few days later I heard Ken say that his group had found and measured a footprint on an earlier trip that was also 17 inches long! All three footprints found by three different people in the same remote area were 17 inches long!

When we returned to camp, Kevin had been trying some tree knocking at Bob's direction, and was getting some responses! It sure sounded to me like it was not a woodpecker and that something intelligent was responding back with quick tap, tap, taps. Along with all this, a couple of people said they heard ape-like growls north of camp.

It was a short time after finding all of this, that David had his sighting toward the south. Ken's crew was coming back from their trip northward - could they have flushed the creature southward, causing it to bypass our camp and then escape over the creek westward? I don't know. But this place was hot! It was happening NOW, and I wanted to return on another trip as soon as possible!

On October 17 we started "Southern Sierra Expedition Part2" This time, coming along with me were three of Tom Biscardi's sons (Drake, Chris, and Chad) as well as one of Tom's grandsons, 16 year old Chuckie, our energetic "gopher" (go for this please, go for that please)...

We met up together at the trail head sometime after 9pm and were on the trail by 10pm. About three hours later we camped for the night.

At first light we continued on, off-trail, to the remote campsite beside a creek.

It was then that we began to implement phase 2 of our plan. We set up camp and began setting up cameras and attempted to act like normal campers. It was our intention to become a curiosity to the nearby bigfoot creatures, if there were any.

We set up two trailtrip cameras on the eastern hillside where most of the reported activity seems to have been happening. We also set up an all-day video camera facing south from camp in the direction where David had his sighting.

We finally settled in and had breakfast. We set up camp and cameras, we tree-knocked. At this time, nothing unusual was happening. However, it did sprinkle with a light rain three or four times that morning. We continues our tree-knocking a little more, on and off, until lunch. No responses to our tree-knocks; no curious animals walking up the hillside.

I even went back to revisit my faint footprint from our previous visit. By now, it was now very, very, faint. It was so faint, that if I had found it on this trip, I would no longer be able to call it a “definite maybe”. By now, I would have only been able to say it was only a “possible maybe print”.

After lunch it was time to implement phase 3 - hike up the creek and then over to a remote area that Ken's group had been visiting on our first trip. Then we would go back down along the eastern hillside and drop back into camp, just like Ken's group did three weeks earlier, and maybe we would flush out a creature who might take the same escape route south of camp and go across the creek in front of the video camera. A long shot.

I've never been successful in achieving this kind of repeat attempt, but I still try. Anyway, we'll have fun hiking into reported bigfoot country and we'll see what we can find.

Our pace was slow hiking up unfamiliar territory without real trails. We got halfway to our goal and calculated that we would not have time left to reach this goal and get back to camp before dark, so we started back.

We got as far as a beautiful, remote waterfall, with nice views of the area and the nearby mountain top.

Along the way we found some scat - almost certainly bear scat but we took it anyway to get the opinion of our favorite bigfoot expert Tom Biscardi.

We also found a stack of four or five stones that resembled, although not perfectly, a typical backcountry trail-blaze marker called a "duck". I assumed it was put there by Ken's group. It looked very fresh, although maybe, it just looked clean because of the recent light rain.

At this point I would like to thank Chris Biscardi for saving my life. At one point near the top of the waterfall I lost my footing on the three inch ledge and the only thing keeping me from falling 50 feet down an 85 degree rock face was Chris' hand grip. Thanks Chris. The incident ended with Chris successfully pulling me up, but not before me yelling at him not to let go. Sorry Chris.

The trip downhill was much faster than uphill, and we made it back to camp well before dark.

We brought the video cameras back with us, but I have not reviewed the video tape yet to see if we got anything on them.

At dinnertime I switched security cameras and used the IR camera for nighttime video.

Time for phase 4 of our plan.

I wanted to capture our reactions to any night time noises, and also to leave the camera running long into the night until the battery ran out. We tried lots of tree knocking again, with no real responses. Some single noises that were most likely an occasional falling branch. We got out all of the night vision gear and used them to look around the area at night. We told stories until bedtime.

We went to bed thinking - nothing, no odd forest noises suggesting bigfoot activity. I was thinking, this "hot" place was now "cold".

But then – ‘’’SOMETHING WALKED THROUGH OUR CAMPSITE AT NIGHT’’’, in the predawn hours. Drake thought it was probably me. He asked me in the morning, why I got up and walked around, but I did not get out of my tent all night! And, I also vaguely remembered some walking around noises around the same time.

I have not reviewed the nighttime video yet, either, although it is very possible that the battery ran out before the time of our “visitor”.

In the morning Chris and I hiked up along the western hillside where David, Joe, and I had visited three weeks earlier, but could not find David's footprint or "non-bear" scat. However, there are lots of animal trails on that hillside and on my next trip I want to spend all day following all of those trails into remote forest and over all of these mysterious ridges, to see where they would lead us.

On our way back, Chris found a small little branch break, which I can only categorize as a "maybe". Back at camp Chad described a possible nesting area he had found.

We were now late on our exit schedule and I didn't have time to look at it. But, by Chad's description, it could have been a bear's area. So, "if it could have been a bear, then, without more investigation, we must believe it was just a bear", unfortunately.

This area was so hot three and four weeks ago, and I was anxious to get back before it cooled off. Now it would appear it had cooled off. We still had some strong indications that there was probably something in the area, but nothing nearly as dramatic as our previous visit.

I don't know when I will be back. Perhaps when Ken's group reports more odd activity, but I think they are done going out into this area for this season. So, maybe next year.

Those western hillside animal trails are calling me to explore them. Where will they lead me?

Written by Rex Houdyshel and posted by JavaBob

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