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jude
Approved
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 167
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 Posted: May 6th, 2008 11:42 AM |
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Anything to share?
Maine Expedition 08
"[A]t the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes--an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive, and the most ruthlessly skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense. The collective enterprise of creative thinking and skeptical thinking, working together, keeps the field on track."
-- Carl Sagan in The Demon-Haunted World |
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JJG
Approved
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 35
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| Posted: May 8th, 2008 04:47 PM |
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Here is what I can share. Sorry It's a little verbose.
This is a very remote area. The first night of the exp (Thursday) base camp was on a ridge overlooking the lake a couple miles away. The area around the lake was the basic target area. At this time the road leading down to the lake was not passable due to snow. I should know since me and my friend were high centered on it and had to be pulled out. Had I not missed the turn to base camp this never would have happened. Anyway we got back to base camp late in the day and only had time to say hello to everyone and get our camp set up. I'd say about half of the expedition had hiked down a jeep trail and made camp at or near the lake.
On to some action...Later that evening around the base camp fire we were listening to the action below via radio. Two of our guys had positioned themselves on the jeep trail near a creek. They heard movement from both sides of the trail and at some point one of them was hit in the back with a rock. They didn't see what threw the rock, but it would have to be something with a thumb. And like I said the road down was not passable. We were the only people in the area. I hope they post their account of this incident. I'm sure they could add a great deal of detail. As I said, I was listening over the radio and I talked with them the next day for a recap.
Friday morning our benevolent leader was able to coerce a townsman to drive his tractor up and plow the road. Roughly 150' of 3'-5' snow. So we were the first people to make our way down by car in a long time. I should state that it was warm during the day almost summer weather, but at night it got quite cold. Around 5'oclock the road was clear and we broke our ridge base camp and made our way down to the lake. A smaller group camped a ways back from the lake due to road conditions. During the day some interesting tracks were found, but nothing earthshaking. A class was given on how to identify game trails and animal sign.
Thursday or Friday night I don't remember which, we wood knocked and atleast one distant return knock was heard. Hopefully others can fill in the blanks on that. I wasn't part of that group.
Friday night we were out in force with thermal cams at the ready. We knocked and didn't get any response. So we call blasted and didn't get any return calls. I did see a bear through the thermal viewer. We all went back to camp and hung around the fire which happened to be between our tent (Nick & Josh) and our neighbor Steve's tent. I was beat so I went down around 1:30am. Apparently Nick was the last one up and he turned in around 3am.
Some action...I woke up to the sound of something walking about 75 feet away. I was very tired and groggy, but listened intently and determined it was a deer. Back to sleep. Then I awoke to the sound of something bigger. I was laying face up and it came from my right at a distance. It was bipedal and it walked like this. CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH pause and then like it was tippytoeing crunchcrunchcrunchcrunch. It repeated this several times and seemed to move off into the field behind us. Back to sleep. Then I awoke to it coming from the field and much to my joy, disbelief, and groggy confusion, it made it's way between our's and Steve's tent and into the woods. Upon daylight inspection there was a game trail and fresh dear beds in the direction it went.
I know what you are thinking. Why didn't I do anything? You don't know my frustration...I FORGOT to turn my recorder on when I went to bed. When I heard it the first time there was a mantra in my head that went TURN ON YOUR RECORDER, TURN ON YOUR RECORDER. It was within arm's reach, but I didn't want to make a sound. I was listening so intently, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Never again will I be upset when I read someone's account of not knowing what to do when they think they hear one in their camp. I understand now. If I'm fortunate enough to have the opportunity again I won't lie there like a slug. My recorder will be on and I will try to get a glimpse. It was suggested that if this happens in the future and you need to move without showing your awareness, make a sleep sound like a yawn while rolling over and this might not seem unnatural to them. Anyway, I learned a hard lesson. Amazingly between each incident I was able to fall instantly back to sleep.
In the morning I got out of my tent and saw our other neighbor Dan and asked if he had heard anything. You should know he was in a pop-up trailer. He said he didn't hear anything. I said I heard something walking around, but maybe I dreamt the whole thing...Suddenly my tent flap bursts open and Nick excaims "I heard it!" and proceeds to describe exactly what I heard without ever hearing my account of it. So I wasn't dreaming.
As I made my rounds I learned that the camp occupied by John and Todd (the guys who had the rock thrown at them) had a visitor. They had put out several apples for bait. One was taken. They impaled one apple on a sharp broken branch of a large downed tree. It was cleanly removed without out a trace except one. The stem had been carefully plucked out of the apple and left gently on the log. Again no bite marks, the stem was pulled out cleanly and left intact. I should add that their camp was in the direction of where the footfalls Nick and I heard originated from. Coincidence? Upon further investigation no one from our group was walking around our camp at that time, and there were no other campers in the area.
Saturday afternoon we hiked around and at the end of the day a track casting class was given. Several expeditioners made their own casts of what is believed to be a Cliffsquatch. We set up the thermal cams around the area the footfalls were heard and to the best of my knowledge we didn't capture anything on video. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I didn't hear anything walking around that night.
Also, Sat night there was a group staked out along the river with a thermal and they heard a whistle. Possibly more.
That's all I can remember right now. I should probably get back to work.
Josh
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wildmanmarty
Unregistered
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 531
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| Posted: May 8th, 2008 06:21 PM |
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Thanks for the report, Josh. I don't know about anybody else, but you can't be too verbose for me when writing report. It just leaves me hungry for more.
How old would you be, if you didn't know how old you are? |
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andre the great
Approved
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 47
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| Posted: May 8th, 2008 07:35 PM |
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| Right on Josh for the info. I've been waiting for someone to report. As protocol do you guys keep the area a secret or can you indulge the viewer a little and give us locations or general info. Being in NorCal the B.F. has a wide range up here. |
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jude
Approved
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 167
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| Posted: May 8th, 2008 10:02 PM |
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Thanks Josh -- after each weekend I think a bunch of us haunt the boards waiting for the experiences to be posted from that weekend's expedition group. I echo wildmanmarty in that you can't be too verbose when communicating the details of an expedition. I hope other expedition members will chime in with their experiences as well.
I resolve to post quickly and with details in June when I get back from the Maine trip.
andre -- the locations need to be kept very vague in the public reports.
Maine Expedition 08
"[A]t the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes--an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive, and the most ruthlessly skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense. The collective enterprise of creative thinking and skeptical thinking, working together, keeps the field on track."
-- Carl Sagan in The Demon-Haunted World |
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JJG
Approved
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 35
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| Posted: May 8th, 2008 10:10 PM |
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Andre,
I can't disclose any specific locations. You know the general area by the expedition description. Sorry but rules is rules.
Josh |
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andre the great
Approved
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 47
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| Posted: May 8th, 2008 10:42 PM |
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| oh okay, my bad, it's cool Josh...don't want you gettin into any trouble. So Josh was this your first time? I've never gone, was it what you expected and worth the money? As I guy who's never gone, but would like to go with my bro. what was the overall atmosphere/vibe? |
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JJG
Approved
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 35
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| Posted: May 9th, 2008 11:20 AM |
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It was my 4th expedition. Totally worth it. The people are great and welcoming to newcomers. You can do as much or as little as you like. You don't always get BF action, but I'm batting .500 on my expeditions. Even if you strikeout you still learn so much and the locations are always awesome.
If you are at all into this subject and you enjoy the outdoors, you should go without hesitation.
Josh |
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RealNewby
Approved
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 139
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| Posted: May 11th, 2008 07:52 AM |
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Thanks to all for posting their experiences for us to live vicariously through each of you. One thing I'm having a difficult time visualizing is the conditions. Josh indicated there was 3 to 5 feet of snow that had to be removed for access, so I am correct to assume the entire place was covered with that much snow?
That would make the trip much more difficult from a camping perspective, but foot prints would be much easier to spot. Obviously those prints wouldn't be casted, but if there were night time visits to the campsite, it should have been quite apparent.
Once again, thanks for the posts.
To squatch, or not to squatch? That is the question. |
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sneeky
Approved
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 47
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| Posted: May 12th, 2008 12:15 PM |
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I'll add a little. There were 5 places on the road with snow that had to be dug out. Places where the road went through deep ravines with thick pines that hadn't let the snow melt. There was no snow anywhere else except some very high ridges two hours of hiking away.
I was the one hit by the rock. Without writing a whole book here, it was pretty convincing. We were sent into an area that we had heard some reply wood knocks with instructions to use no light, not even red head lamps. It seemed to work because we had about 1 1/2 hour of activity and noise all around us. The three events that are hardest for me to explain are: We heard 5, human sounding whistles coming from the area that we heard something bipedal walking, approximately 30 yards away. It was 1:00 a.m. and I've never heard anything, bird or animal make that kind of whistle, let alone at night. The second was a clear rock clack, two rocks being hit together, about 20 yards away in the opposite direction. And finally a small rock was thrown at my back and hit my water bottle sitting in an outside pocket of my pack. It was big enough for me to feel the impact and loud enough for both of us to ask "what was that?" We were in the middle of a dirt road with nothing above us and the impact was harder than something just dropping. If I had to make a wild guess I would say it was the size of a golf ball. I got to do this. 
Todd |
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Thriftstore Vampire
Approved
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4
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| Posted: May 12th, 2008 02:29 PM |
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Andre,
As a participant who approached the whole "organized expedition" thing with low expectations, I have to say that I was pleasantly suprised.
If you look at it from a practical standpoint, the experience more than pays for itself when you consider all the hands-on, practical knowledge and field experience that you will gain. That goes without even mentioning the contacts you will meet and stories you will hear. Let the nay-sayers whine and complain and consider the positives.
At some point during the weekend, I remember thinking to myself, "This is one of the coolest things I've ever done". To me, that alone was worth the (comparatively) small fee.
Like Josh said, you can do as little or as much as you want. If you properly prepare yourself before hand and step up to responsibility as it arises, you will find that the possibilities begin to present themselves, showing you the path down the road from a mild interest to complete obsession. Beware!
Thanks EVERYONE. I'm sure I'll be seeing all, or most of you again soon.
-Scott
PS: I'd also like to add a special thanks to Matt **********. Not many people in his position would be willing to sit down with someone like me (basically a nobody in terms of BF research) to discuss his rather infamous reputation, the history of the BFRO, it's detractors and the people who have made it a success. Matt is in a position to be bitter, but I found him suprisingly open, optomistic and still excited about BF research after all these years. Thanks for your time! |
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JohnSal
Approved
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13
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| Posted: May 12th, 2008 03:18 PM |
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I was the other person on the road the first night with the rock being thrown. There were several things that happened during that time frame which most could be explained away in a debate. I would have to say that I cannot explain away the three things that have been mentioned. The Rock Clack, whistles and the object striking my friends water bottle. I would like to add a few more things from that experience. This was a night when there was a New Moon (meaning no moon). The road was very dark and when we were walking towards the wood knocks, or the direction of the wood knocks we heard nothing that caught our attention other than normal forest noises. We rounded a corner in the road and we could now hear the stream which was making it hard to hear anything other than ourselves. As we walked further the canopy of the forest was closing in and made the road as if it were a cave. In other words my friend was disappearing from view at about 3 feet. Visibility was poor already but now we were blind all together. Remember we were asked not to use lights of any kind. We paused there and decided we couldn't really do any good there because we could not hear or see. We then turned around to start heading back in the direction we had just traveled. We had decided to make a few steps at a time and then pause for long periods in order to listen and wait for the thermals. It was after we rounded the corner and could no longer hear the stream is when it all started. The noises started from high and to the right and in front of us (so in other words we had been followed if you choose to believe in the noises). Then after a time we heard activity down to the left and behind. It was impossible to see anything beyond a few yards. Now granted like I said before. All of what we heard could be rationalized away as critters of the forest. Me personally, there were a few that I was having a tough time with because they did not sound like critters. When we paused for the longest time there was a tree in front of us that was being moved ever so slightly. I noticed it because it was visible against the sky line. My friend actually crouched to get a better look and also saw it move. There was also a low pitched moan that was heard but who knows what that could have been. The last noise I heard was foot fall going back towards the stream about 15-25 minutes prior to the thermals showing up.
We had also set out some food that was taken from out camp two nights in a row. The food did not appear to be consumed on the spot. Who knows with out pictures though (I am poor so I don't have a trailcam). I am asking for one on my birthday now.
I for one had a blast. Yes, my heart was racing down there on that road but I never felt threatened, more jumpy than anything. I met several people whom I wish to see again someday on a future expedition. I have never felt so welcomed. Tons of wonderful stories, instructions and a couple classes were done. I am already signed up for my next one.
John...
Squatching in Northern Utah... |
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