Just an old story from my childhood

My Dad and I were picking berries on an old mountain road one day, when we heard a large animal moving through the berry patch further up the road. We assumed it was a bear at first, and listened to see if it was coming our way, while we made a bit of noise. It did not come directly our way, but remained just out of sight. Kind of odd we thought, but a bear at a reasonable distance is nothing to be too awfully worried about, other than it's odd for a bear to hang so close to people. We continued for about 30 minutes or so, picking our fill. When it was time to get going, my Dad thought it very odd that the bear was still there in earshot of us. He decided to see if we could get a glimpse of the bear before leaving, and got his pick off of the ATV as a means of protection.

We began to walk up the trail (the trail was not passable beyond where we parked), making a fair bit of noise as we went. We did not want to sneak up on the bear, just alert it and hopefully get a glimpse of it. As we began to close in on it, it began moving up the trail. My Dad knew that the bear would be moving out rather quickly now, because a bear can run very fast despite it's lethargic nature. We continued walking after it, more quickly. It was following straight up the road, which is odd behavior for a bear. They do not like traveling on roads usually. They prefer to run down over a hill when confronted, and they can do this very fast. As we were following it, we started to notice saplings at first that had been broken off about three feet above the ground. Small ones at first, but the size seemed to be getting bigger. I thought this was very weird, because a bear can break a tree off near the ground, but not above the ground as these were done. It began to pick up speed, and we began to chase faster. Oddly, we were able to keep up, but not ever get within sight of it. A bear should've been able to outrun us easily, but this animal kept just out of sight and on the road. We began to see trees about 4 inches in diameter broken off well above the ground. The cracking of trees breaking, began to get scary. Then, it stopped. Whatever was doing it, has taken to a dead run, and was making a ton of noise as it's feet pounded against the ground. It sounded like a person running, a big person. We broke out into a sprint, and chased this animal the rest of the way up the mountain, expecting to see a bear over the hill when we crested it. We saw nothing. It was as if the animal disappeared. No more noise, no tracks, nothing. We searched the trail high and low for a track, any track, and came up empty.

My Dad remains convinced to this day that it had to have been a bear, although it was an odd bear. I however, think we chased a sasquatch up and over that hill. Where he went, I do not know. Why he remained just out of sight almost as if to bait us, I do not know. I do know that no bear would stay following an old logging road, and not leave a single track. There were many places to leave one, and a bear never runs uphill when confronted.

We went back home and I told the story to a few locals. The oldest of the three smiled, and said, "sounds like you found yourself a sasquatch". I started to laugh a bit, not wanting him to think me crazy. I replied to him and he offered to show me "proof". Off we went, up another mountain which was beside the one we had seen the animal on.

After a long ride on the ATVs, we parked and went walking off the side of the ridge. We came to a massive stone structure, hidden in plain sight in the middle of nowhere. It was about 10 feet tall, all stone, and appeared to have been built by an intelligent being, possibly native American I thought. He climbed up onto the top, using small foot holes that had been carved into one of the pillars. When we got on top of it, you could see the entire valley from it. He said he thought it was built by what he called "them". He told me of how in his 68 years, he had seen "them" several times. Yes, a 68 year old mountain man can still climb rocks. Turns out, people didn't want to listen to him either, so he never told very many people about them, or about that rock. He eluded to the fact that no human, even working together could've stacked the boulders we were sitting on. He thought it served the purpose of being a lookout for "them" to keep an eye on their valley. Other than having foot holes designed obviously for climbing, and the fact that they were stacked on pillars, there was nothing else on the boulders. No writing, no markings, nothing evident that made them appear shaped by a being. He warned me never to go to those rocks alone, or at night. He was alert, while there, to say the least.

The last thing he told me about them, was that they had most likely chosen me, and that I would see them again. He said he had been face to face with one, and that it had given him something. He handed me a big piece of flint, that was in the basic shape of a knife, about 9 inches long, and said it gave that too him 30 some years ago. It was much larger than any of the native American tools I had ever seen, and looked like a tool for stabbing, as much as cutting. He told me to keep it, and show it to them if they ever approached me. He told me to keep my eyes and ears open, because I would run into one of them when I least expected it.

His overall description of them, was a few feet taller than an average man. Very robust with large limbs, hands, feet, neck. Long woolly type hair, multicolored and very concealing. He claimed they could hide themselves better than any human with just the fur on their body. He did give one very important detail, which was the fact that they did not have claws of any sort. Just large blunt fingers and toes. He also said they had eyebrows, which is something other ape like creatures lack, although he described these as not being an ape at all. He also said they can talk, although not in any language that we understand.

They did understand that he was different and did not understand it's words, and it only said one. He said the word for me, and it sounded like "dane". I'm guessing this is either a greeting, farewell, or maybe a thanks. Not sure, but it was the only thing he claims it said, then it left.

wow, great story.
when and whereabouts? If you had ATV's it could not have been that long ago.
I believe they have been seen here around about in southern ohio. A friend of my husbands got so scared out hunting one day he never would tell his story, neither would he ever hunt again. Whatever it was it freaked him out pretty bad..
I also believe they might be interdimensional beings, who knows?

reply to post by Evolutionsend


Thanks for that! I love me some bigfoot stories and that was a great one! What area were you in, if you don't mind me asking? I would love to see a sasquatch.

It happened in West Virginia, about 12 years ago.

Pretty good story. Do you still have the tool and if so could you upload a pic of it?

reply to post by Badkro


It's in a safe at my Dad's house. I've carried it religiously when going anywhere outside his yard. I don't have a picture right now, but I'll be going that way towards Christmas. It's not particularly enlightening, except for it's size.

Thanks for the story I love the thought of these beings still living out in no man's land, just like the tribes of Brazil, not that I'd ever want to come across some though.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


Very nice story and to me it shows how little we know about the world we live in.Right next door to us marvelous things may exist,that we are too blind to see or we ignore them because they don't fit in in our lives.

Thank you for sharing and i look forward to the picture of the tool.

reply to post by Evolutionsend


Very interesting that you said it happened in West Virginia. I'm curious to know if it was anywhere near where the Mothman Prophecies took place in Point Pleasant. Have the older locals you spoken to shared anything having to do with the Mothman or whatever supposedly took place there? I wonder if there is any connection.

reply to post by itsallmaya


No on all counts. They don't believe in that "crap". They also don't believe any of the stories Russel told, but he told them not to hunt on those two mountains, and they still respect that wish after he's passed.

reply to post by Phantom traveller


He said they can hide very well, and that the one we chased was probably just out of sight when we lost it.

Nice story....

I have a report filed on the BFRO Website, about a similar encounter.
It was in Wetzel County, WV...and it wasn't all that long ago.

But my encounter was all vocalizations and just plain eerie sounds.
Nothing that I could physically chase.

I do believe there may be a species of human that has been undiscovered for centuries.
Either neanderthal, cro-magnon, or another type.

Always interesting to hear about stories from WV.

I pretty much grew up in those mountains....

reply to post by havok


yes I too grew up in wv. WE have those stories everywhere. I live in a remote hollow on border of WV and i do think there are creatures we don't understand. They are smart and stay away from the crazy humans. We now make it easier with our ATV's that make a ton of noise so they hear us before we'd ever get close. I just wonder if any are still alive. with all the building and logging and such.....not many habitats for them anymore. Sad I think because we should share this planet. Great story OP............brings back memories of my grandfather telling such stories......we have no proof like you though........I'd love to see a pic. of the flint thing.
:-)

reply to post by Evolutionsend


Awesome post, thanks. I love cryptozoology and have no doubt that Sasquatch/ Yeti/ Wildman/ Abominable Snowman/ Yeren and the Yowie exist. The Yowie in Australia has been sighted in certain mountainous regions in NSW, and one lady saw them near the back fence of her property and heard them making grunting sounds, even recognizing what could be considered syllables or a form of rudimentary language.
It is not implausible that a sub species of humans has developed and has managed to conceal itself by living far away from modern civilization. It is even possible that certain National Parks and protected areas may be to keep them safe from modern man. These may have been put in place to initially protect us, but I suspect that their numbers would be much smaller; (perhaps existing in family groups) and that once news of there existence was confirmed, it was more about protecting them from us? I do not think in any of the sightings, anyone was ever by hurt by one of them, in all cases the sighted creature tried to scare away the person, or conceal itself. If they do exist; and people have witnessed this all over the world, they have a lot more to fear from us in this modern world.

I love your story! I have heard several ideas of what bigfoot could be. Aliens, cave men, interdimensional beings. Maybe the reason it just seemed to vanish is because it slipped into another dimension? I hope you will let us know if you have any more experiences!

reply to post by LittleBit111


The explanation Russel (old man I spoke to) gave for their disappearing act was the camouflage effect their fur gives them. According to him if they lay face down you will not see one until you're almost stepping on them.

That is such an interesting read. You should have told me about this before!

Over the past few months I have taken to believing that there really is something to these sightings....

Ever wonder if maybe Neanderthal did not go fully extinct or maybe ( And there is evidence for this) Cro magnon man mated with neanderthal and created some kind of...Hybrid type species that some how is still around?

Highly speculative, I know. But these are the thoughts that roam through my head at times.