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dougfoot
Unregistered
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 157
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 Posted: August 6th, 2008 09:59 PM |
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| Did anything interesting happen during the Colorado expedition? |
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Scott Smith
Approved
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 224
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| Posted: August 6th, 2008 10:54 PM |
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Dennis can you give a report on what happened?
Arkansas Investigator
2008 NM, CO, OK, 2009 OK, CO Expeditions
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cowboyman
Unregistered
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1217
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| Posted: August 6th, 2008 11:50 PM |
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Yes Dennis, inquiring minds want to know!
" Some wonder if it is, others study how it is".
( Texas Expedition 2008) |
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Steve Pace
Approved
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 84
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| Posted: August 12th, 2008 01:33 PM |
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No colorado reports yet!? come on somebody! at least give us a little summary! the coloradans are dyin for some info!
sensation and perception are not objective |
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Stiyaha
Unregistered
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 7
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| Posted: September 15th, 2008 08:39 PM |
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| I guess that means nothing happened. |
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PBYodeler
Administrator
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1778
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| Posted: September 15th, 2008 09:04 PM |
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It doesn't mean nothing happened. It means that most of the people that attended aren't members of the forum or just don't want to share their experiences with everybody. Although they are encouraged to post a report they have absolutely no obligation to do that.
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Stiyaha
Unregistered
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 7
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| Posted: September 15th, 2008 11:05 PM |
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| Whatever you say. |
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BethinFL
Approved
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 807
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| Posted: September 16th, 2008 10:22 AM |
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| Isn't the planner or leader of the expedition a forum member at least? It just would be nice to see SOMETHING about the trip. |
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Scott Smith
Approved
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 224
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| Posted: September 22nd, 2008 08:56 PM |
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I will see the organizer of the Colorado exp in a few days on the Oklahoma exp. I will ask him to post a report. We had some activity. I was able to get some sounds on my recorder. I had no first hand experiences. There is some stuff about it on www.stancourtney.com two of the sounds are what I recorded.
Arkansas Investigator
2008 NM, CO, OK, 2009 OK, CO Expeditions
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gator1
Approved
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 51
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| Posted: October 1st, 2008 02:32 PM |
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| OK - We have great reports from Wyoming, Oklahoma,..........Is anyone going to share anything on Colorado????? If nothing happened that is fine, but as a future squatch hunter I would like some feedback on MY great state. Sorry to be the impatient guy - just curious to hear something.......Gator1 |
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Dennsco
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 11
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| Posted: October 3rd, 2008 06:12 PM |
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Hello everyone, sorry for the delay in posting in this Colorado forum. I simply do not frequent these boards and did not realize it was up. I will put together a report and post it here, a lot of the content will be taken from the official Colorado post report. Check back soon.
Best
Dennis Pfohl
Investigator BFRO
Organizer 09 Colorado BFRO Expedition |
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Dennsco
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 11
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| Posted: October 4th, 2008 12:40 PM |
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Colorado BFRO Expedition 2008
After-Action Report
1. Intro/Overview
The Colorado BFRO Expedition took place 24-27 August 2008 in a remote area in the eastern portion of the Flat Tops wilderness. Approximately 38 people in total including several guests and spouses attended the expedition. This area is a very scenic and heavily wooded with old growth pine, aspen groves, lush plant life, and an abundance of water. The weather also cooperated and was really pleasant with a few brief showers. This area was selected based on recent Class A and B reports of Sasquatch activity in the area, and because of its vast wilderness that has the potential to hide and sustain a population of primates. The first days of the expedition were relatively quiet, with little indication of Sasquatch presence or activity, other than possible responses to our call-blasting activities. We had search parties out at day looking over the terrain, draws and water sources for sign and at night doing the typical things we do that included area reconnaissance, call-blasting, wood and rock knocking, and trolling. The pictures below shows the base camp area.
Our equipment consisted of call-blasters, digital voice recorders, parabolic microphones, video and still cameras, game-cams, and thermal and night vision optics. We had received the thermal/game cam unit (from the BFRO) that contained two thermal units, but we had problems with the video output cables and could not record any thermal images. However, we could view rather well through the thermal devices. There was a Peruvian sheepherder with his wagon and 300-500+ head of sheep, with huge dogs that eventually worked their way up the canyon to a position across the road and pond from our main base camp on Saturday morning. The annoyance was that as anyone can imagine free range sheep at 300+ heads can be extremely noisy! They got within a few hundred yards of the back of the main base camp but never got any closer. This could have had an unknowingly beneficial effect as they may have provided a noise cover for our activities.
The first two days of our expedition achieved minimal results, although we did record some distant responses to our call-blasting and did hear some rock-knocking in the high country near camp. On Saturday evening, our three wood knocking/whooping teams deployed within a mile of camp obtained results that included stalking, substantial rock-throwing and visual sightings through the thermal units reported by two individuals at different locations.
The following report will describe process and techniques used by the expedition participants and will attempt to document the day-by-day details and accounts as recorded by the participants. In addition, it will provide a limited analysis of the recordings and eye-witness accounts.
2. Objectives and Procedures
The objective of the expedition was to document activity and potentially collect evidence, in the form of tracks, vocalizations, tree-breaks, visual sightings, video/still imagery, and other physical evidence of Sasquatch presence in the selected search area. This area is a remote area in the eastern portion of the Flat Tops wilderness and has a history of historical and recent Sasquatch activity documented by reports. In addition, an important aspect of this expedition was to educate and train new attendees on the procedures we will use and how best to employ them, based on the BFRO’s collective experience over the past several years. Our procedures included a combination of the following:
Select a site that has had recent Sasquatch activity; analyze the BFRO database/flats and other local reports
Establish a relatively remote (private) base-camp in an area of known activity
Employing general scouting and trolling techniques that would announce our presence and potentially help draw them to our vicinity or base camp location
Call-blasts in drainages near and adjacent to base camp to attempt to gain a response. (Note: call-blast recordings included recorded Tahoe Scream, Illinois Howl, and voice vocalizations (Stan Courtney) projected through a megaphone. Team assignments included an event controller, a call-blaster operator, designated recorders, and one designated radio operator.
Wood knocking and “whoop” calling (voice) techniques employed by remote teams
Posting recording devices that included game cameras and digital audio recorders
Deploying human listening teams at base camp and remote locations using recording devices, cameras, night vision and thermal optics
Communications were via FRS radios fixed on quiet mode; chatter was minimized by assigning only one radio operator per team.
Timely analysis of data received to include daily debriefs of eyewitness and team accounts
Follow-up investigation of accounts where possible
3. Events, Observations, and Analysis
This section will contain the day-by-day sequence of events and activities undertaken by the Colorado BFRO expedition participants. It will also serve to document individual/group accounts and specific findings.
3.1 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Early Thursday
The base camp location was secured on Tuesday to ensure that we would have sole access to the location selected as it was located in the National Forest. Our expedition leader, Dennis Pfohl, along with selected participants arrived on Tues and Wed and established the base camp. The remainder of the expedition members arrived Thurs and Friday. The activities on Thursday were limited to general reconnaissance of the area, selected call-blasting and wood-knocking. At least one potential rock knock was identified, along with possibly two inconclusive distance responses to the megaphone vocalizations (by Stan Courtney). It should be noted that Stan also recorded a vocalization on Tuesday night near base camp; this vocalization is still being analyzed to determine if produced by a known origin.
3.2 Friday
Friday activities included more reconnaissance of the area, evening trolling in designated drainages near base camp, and call-blasting. The call blasting occurred several miles to the west of camp on both Dunkley Pass and Ripple Creek Pass overlooks. These points were selected due to their proximity to the heart of the Flat Tops Wilderness. No vocalizations were recorded or heard at Ripple reek Pass; some possible responses were noted at the Dunkley Pass location, however, a near-by sheep herd along with dogs made it difficult to capture any conclusive vocalizations. In the vicinity of the base camp location and adjacent drainages, teams conducted trolling activities near camp; no significant activity was reported by these teams.
3.3 Saturday
One small group took a hike up to the top of the nearby Flat Top Plateau with elevations above 11k msl. (Pic Below) During the hike Todd points out to the group the direction in which he heard distinct wood knocking during the previous days hike.
Saturday activities, specifically evening activities consisted of the deployment of one call-blasting team accompanied by a listening team to an adjacent drainage. Illinois Howls along with a series of megaphone vocalizations were employed. No vocalizations were noted and the team returned to base camp around 1000-1030 pm.
In an attempt to focus on activity near camp, an array of three teams were deployed within a mile of camp starting at two meadows near camp and then up the road well above camp. This activity, coordinated by Brooke, (Wyoming BFRO) would use a choreographed series of whoops and knocks generated by the team members to attempt to replicate communications commonly used by Sasquatch as documented by witnessed accounts. Brooke took part of the group (Team 1) to a listening location in the middle of a large meadow about 300-400 yards from base camp. Another group consisting of all new or first time attendees, along with a guy who was rather skeptical, took up a position on a knoll above the main base camp to listen and wood knock when they were cued (by FRS radio). A third group led by another experienced member had a married couple with them that were on their first expedition, they drove up a nearby access road and set themselves above the meadow to listen for responding wood knocks or howls. They had one of two thermal units. The other thermal was with Brooke in the meadow.
With the sheep bahhing and mewing up a storm to our north, the teams started wood knocking and howling around 10:30pm. The first interesting radio calls came from the group up on the knoll above base camp. They had performed several whoops and then reported a large rock, about the size of a bowling ball landing a few yards to the east from their position. They also reported hearing brush popping and moving sounds behind them and up the hill in the tree line. We radioed back to hold position and not to panic or become visibly nervous to the best of their ability. They then experienced a few more thrown rocks in the direction but they were much smaller size; none of the rocks getting real close to them at any time. We then arranged to deliver a thermal unit to that group from the meadow party, but as the deliverer of the cam went up the hill it got quiet. About 5 minutes into these events, Team 3 that was positioned up the mountain and above the meadow reported a visual sighting through the thermal optics of what was believed to be a Sasquatch. The leader of the group handed a thermal to one of the first time attendees as they stood outside the jeep off the dirt road, and, as they, the group leader and several others concentrated on the radio and listening post in the other direction. Nikki started to look through the thermal at the nearby tree line across the road when she reported to the group that she had just witnessed a large upright figure run from her left to her right before disappearing behind a large pine. She remarked that it looked large with a hunched forward, no neck, heavy looking shoulder area, and it ran silently and very swiftly with very little arm swing. It then peeked out one time from behind the tree and she never saw it again. One of the group members then walked up to the location in the trees guided by Nikki but did not find anything. We asked them to return to camp after an hour looking and seeing nothing. The following is Nikki's report:
“I was a part of team 3. We were near the road in a small clearing surrounded by trees. We were waiting to do wood knocks and whoops when Mark handed me the thermal cam. I had just received instruction on how to use it and was starting my scan by looking to the left side of us towards the trees. I was holding the cam still while I was getting used to how things looked (The differences in the trees and stuff). About 10 yards into the trees a large form ran across the screen. It was upright running on two legs. It was very large and slightly hunched over. The shoulders were wide with its head sitting directly on top. I tried to follow it with the cam but it disappeared into a thick group of pine trees. I was surprised because it was unexpected and I told the team that I saw something. Ray heard me but the others were on the radio so Ray got their attention and said I saw something while I was still looking with the thermal cam to see if I could see it again. The most surprising thing was that it was so large and yet made no noise. I would say it was taller than my dad who is 6'4"and it had a wide build. That is what surprised me the most, how quiet it was. Neither I nor anyone in the group heard any noise as the creature ran past. About 5 minutes later when Aaron made the whooping noise I saw with the thermal cam a head peek out from behind a tree across the road and then dart back behind it. The tree from which it appeared behind was about 20 yards away. Our team continued to take turns with the thermal cam and while Ray was using it to scan the trees across the road about 5 minutes later something ran through the trees and weeds on the right side of the team. It was very close to us. Everyone on our team heard it but no one saw anything on the thermal cam. The team decided to have three of us stay and walk back to camp while the other two drove back. About 10 minutes after Aaron and Mark drove away, I smelled a horrible smell. It was a mixture between dead rotten animal smell and skunk. I was in the middle of the road closer to the trees on the other side of the road while Joel and Ray were in the field about 5 and 7 feet away from me when I smelled the smell. I stepped closer to them and away from the trees across the road because I thought that was where the smell was coming from and asked if they smelled anything. They did not and Joel said it was probably his bug spray that I smelled but when I walked back toward the direction of the smell it was gone and I did not smell it again. Joel stayed in the same spot and the wind hadn't changed direction and I was unable to smell it again so I don't think it was Joel. I am not sure if Joel tried to view the area with the thermal cam or not. While walking back to the camp we heard twigs snap on the right side of us then on the left and then on the right again. Each about 5 minutes apart and all three of us heard this. It seemed to me that something was following us back to camp. The next morning Ray, Mark, Dave and I went back to the site and found fairly fresh elk bones (two shoulder blades and part of a leg. Not an entire carcass) in the area of the first sighting and matted grass and weeds near the tree that the head peeked out from. Ray stood in the spot where the matted grass was and he had to raise his hands above his head as far as he could to just barely reach above the branch which the head peeked out above. Ray is 5'10".”
With all these events unfolding quickly we waited another hour for more activity but after relative quiet, and no return wood knocks or vocalizations, we instructed the team on the knoll to return to base so we could debrief the groups. At around midnight everyone was heading back to camp, the team up on the knoll was inbound when they radioed that one of the group members was just hit square in the back by a small rock from somewhere behind them. This guy was one of the least "believing" in the subject and had come along last minute with an invited guest since they were good friends. He was visibly shaken and flushed when he returned to base camp. Needless to say I questioned him afterwards and he has changed his mind on the entire subject now. They did not witness anything with the thermal optics.
In addition to this potential visual sighting, Sybilla had a possible sighting through the thermal optics Saturday night as well. She is from the Texas BFRO. As an investigative team was moving back from the knoll near base camp where all of the rock throwing and stalking had occurred, Sybilla operated the thermal optics in an attempt to observe the investigative team from near the base camp location. She observed a thermal signature that was above the investigative team watching their activity. Her report is as follows:
“After all the teams came in from the field, we debriefed around the campfire. From the experiences that were shared it was apparent we had drawn them into the base camp area. Dennis suggested that the majority of us get in our tents and get quiet, but also threw it out there, that if anyone wanted to stay up and quietly observe the areas above and below the base camp area, that would be fine. I volunteered, grabbed a thermal and invited two others, Dan and Todd, both newbies, to join me. Dave grabbed the other thermal and formed a group. I started by scanning the pond area that was southwest of base camp, then moved to the eastern side of camp where the newbie in Team 1 had been hit in the back as he came in. I fired up the thermal and started scanning the knoll directly behind base camp panning slowly from left to right, up the knoll and into the tree line. Bamo! Standing between the trees was an glowing figure. It then unhurriedly moved behind the tree to it's right. I had seen an elk thermal signature earlier in the expedition, and what I was viewing had a vertical presentation. I continued to watch and it began peeking from the right side of the tree. It continued peeking from either side of the tree for several minutes then appeared to hunker down, out of sight. As we were standing there we scanned the area several times and were joined by Dave's group. I decided to stay where I was with my team because I had a hunch it was still hunkered down there a long the tree line. I figured it might be interested in his team as they walked out of camp. Dave's team of seven walked out of camp along the path taken by the team that had been on the knoll. I watched them depart then started watching the tree line again. As they reached approximately 150 yards away from base camp the glowing image was back. It had remained in the same general location but had moved right, slightly up the knoll. I watched it watching them for 10 to 15 seconds. It was partially hidden and I never saw it's full figure again like I did when I first viewed it. It then dropped down and out of sight for the rest of the evening.”
Jason, the group leader for the team on the knoll (Team 2) above base camp provided the following detail on the wood knocking, vocalizations, and rock throwing incidents:
“The evening of July 26th was the most interesting night during the trip and one for a bookmark of my life. On this evening, I went out with two men and a teenage girl, which had had a previous unsettling encounter with Sasquatch. While I don’t recall the exact times, I will try to summarize as accurate as possible, so much was happening it’s difficult to remember everything. We walked out to a small knob about 600 yards from camp into an open grass covered hillside. We left out just before sunset (about 2000-2100hrs). Upon arrival to the hillside, we immediately heard a strange “chuckle” like sound within 1 minute of our arrival, coming from the dark timber below the base of the hill, at the bottom of the “meadow” of which two more teams were located. The “chuckle” was a strange un-describable sound that sounded like a chuckle mixed with babbling, it was very loud and easy to hear. It was still light outside and nothing was seen. A few minutes after the “chuckling” noise, another large stick breaking was heard from the tree line up the hill and behind us. The teams began “knocking” after darkness fell and several different responses were heard immediately. Some only 100-200 yards away in both the timber below and the timber behind us, as well as responses heard as far away as approximately 4-5 miles away. Of course, the coyotes were responding as well, but many, many responses were obviously NOT coyotes, and several wood knocks were also heard. After being onsite about 2 hrs, a HUGE rock (approximately bowling ball sized) landed with great force about 10 ft to my left. While my Generation I night vision monocular wasn’t very effective in the extreme darkness, I could see to the tree line and saw absolutely nothing in it, which means the rock coming from behind us, had to be at least 80 yards! We continued to hear stick snapping, growls, woops, and wood knocks both below and behind us. The activity increased severely with every “whoop” that was done by the young lady in our group. They were DEFINITELY responding to her voice and she was becoming increasingly nervous and upset. However, she continued to perform the “whoops” with incredible responses, despite her nervousness and our inability to locate the Sasquatch or Sasquatches in this extremely dark environment. The wind was gusting off and on and made locating these noises and even hearing them very difficult, it was even difficult to hear the radios. Approximately 5 minutes after the large rock landed to my left, another rock was thrown to the right of Larry. At this point it was getting quite “hairy” and we couldn’t locate where the rocks, noises, and stick knockings were coming from. The young lady with us (Amanda) was getting increasingly upset and was setting on the ground and considering running into the dark, back to the camp. We couldn’t allow her to do such a thing for safety reasons and hadn’t received permission to return to camp. We requested a pair of “thermal binos”, which were being sent up by Martin and Mark.
After what seemed like forever, Mark and Martin had arrived and had walked through the trees where the rocks had come from. This was partially my fault, as I had thought the second rock had come from below and warned them to avoid the timber below; as a result they went way high and almost over shot us. We immediately scanned the area with the “thermal” and saw nothing. The activity immediately stopped upon their arrival and the wind stopped as well. We decided to send some guys with the thermal to the top of the hill where the rocks had come from. I stayed behind with Amanda and her father, as she was quite upset. Mark, Martin, and Larry went into the tree line with the thermal and saw nothing. After several minutes they returned and we decided to return to camp. As we left in a “Ranger file” towards camp with Martin at point with the thermal and myself in the rear, we began hearing sticks snap and rocks shuffle behind us as we walked. I called it in to base camp that I believed we were being followed at which point we were instructed to stop and wait to see what happens. The sounds stopped upon our “listening halt”. We began walking again and Mark decided he wanted to “trail” us by 50 ft or so. I told him “Be very careful, this thing is right on our asses”. It was only 45 seconds later that I saw what I thought was a moth fly past my right ear and hit Larry in the back. He arched his back and said “I’ve been hit” and he turned around to look at what hit him. It was clearly a rock that had hit him and not the moth I first thought it was. I thought to myself, my god this thing is close, it’s angry, it wants us away, and it’s a damn good shot with these rocks. I also couldn’t help but think " if, this isn’t a Squatch, how could anyone even with the top of the line night vision goggles be able to throw a rock and hit its mark in pitch black darkness?" I knew from military experience, that such a feat with night vision goggles is impossible, because it hangs off your face and never gives you a clear depth perception of things, making this impossible, unless this person can see in the absolute darkness without technological assistance. The noises continued to be heard until we were about 50 yards from the first tent we reached at the camp. Upon arrival to camp, we all discussed and interviewed about the nights activity. We all went to bed around 0300hrs. About 15 minutes after going to bed (I was the last near the fire pit to bed), I thought I saw a large figure walk in front of the rear of my trailer, heading towards Stan’s car. I wrote it off and chalked it up to the incredible evening and I was still a bit on edge.
During the early morning hours after the participants had gone to bed, there were some reports of activity that include slapping of two vehicles, sounds of something rubbing against one of the tents, vocalizations that alerted the sheep and sheep dogs in the vicinity, and sounds of walking vicinity the base camp area. Sybille was awake during this activity and noted the following in her report:
“I finally crawled in my tent around 2:00am but didn't sleep till sometime after 6:00am. There were so many sounds going on in the camp area. Not long after laying down I heard something behind my tent and between Dennis and Shannon's tent. That went on for at least 15 to twenty minutes. The sheep and the woods would go eerily quiet at times, then the woods would be full of sheep sounds. I heard several wood knocks that sounded like they came from the area of Dave's campsite. But the real kicker was around 5:00am when I heard a what sounded like a primate/Gorilla barking sound. It had been really quite right before this vocalization. Afterwards all hell broke loose as the Great Pyrenees and the sheep went nuts for what seemed like thirty minutes or more. It occurred to me that the vocalization was intended to cause fear and confusion in the herd. And it worked. As I was laying there listening to the cacophony of sounds I suddenly heard another sound that instantly sounded like the chatter I have heard in the Sierra Sounds CD. It wasn't loud but it stood out because of it's low tones. Later on that morning I compared notes with the group and Todd Perteet had also heard the "barking" sound and the chatter. It was an incredible night of sounds and activity, and I was so grateful that Stan Courtney had it captured for us.”
As a post expedition input, Todd provided the following account of the early Sunday morning hours around base camp. It should be noted that much of the noise that Todd had heard was picked up on the digital voice recorders that Kurt and Stan had running through the night, specifically some unidentified howls, chatter, and the escalation of noise by the sheep and sheep dogs.
At approximately 02:30 I went to my tent to sleep. Of course, the excitement of the night was still in the air and I could only lay there and listen. I could still hear some of our group stirring in camp for a while and by maybe 03:00 it sounded like everyone was finally down for the count. As I began to doze lightly, I was brought back to full consciousness by "voices." Initially I assumed it was simply some of the group that was still awake and talking amongst themselves. But as I listened it became clear that they weren't speaking English, or even human. It wasn't like anything I'd ever heard and at this point I was very alert. A voice would come from one spot and would be immediately answered from another. I remember laying there thinking "These things are talking to each other." It wasn't loud, about the level of soft talk, and it was clear that they weren't very far from my tent. I could only describe the sounds as resembling the Samurai chatter, but not exactly. A garbled, alien-sounding dialect. During this time I also heard footsteps within approximately 10-15 feet of my tent. The thought crossed my mind to take some notes and check the time but knowing how light-sensitive these creatures are I dismissed the idea. I also assumed that Stan, Dan, Scott, and some of the others would get recordings of all this and be able to reconcile the times through that. It was unclear how many were there, but at least two. This was intermittent and I would estimate hearing them a few times over the span of an hour. Additionally, I heard faint wood knocks that seemed to originate from the south or southeast of camp. Another thing that I found interesting was that the sheep and dogs were not reacting even though they were in close proximity to camp. After laying there in relative silence for quite a while, the next thing I heard was a very loud series of gorilla-like sounds from multiple sources. That's when the sheep and dogs went nuts. As everyone heard, that went on for a while. It was difficult to distinguish what sound was what, but I did hear them "talking" again at certain times. I was thinking that we screwed with them and now they were returning the favor. The shepherd eventually showed up and began moving the herd away from camp and that was the end of the unidentifiable sounds.
There was also two possible vehicle slaps during the early morning hours after everyone went to bed. One on Stan’s car and the other on a white full size rented van from a repeat attendee. Stan said that sometime during the night he was awaken by a very loud slap on the side of his Toyota but saw nothing in the blackness. He thought it was another member messing around with him but everyone was accounted for in their beds so it highly unlikely. Stan’s report as follows:
“Having my car slapped at 4 a.m. certainly was a new experience. I wish I had been a little bit braver to take the blanket off my head and look out. I guess a different set of nerves takes over when you are awakened. It didn't help that the hand was only about 5 feet from me.”
The other was on Martin’s white van. We inspected the van Sunday morning and found and photographed what appears to be a large palm pad and several long fingers imprinted in the dirt on the upper side of the rear corner of the van. Due to the van being white and the minimal amount of dust on the paint it was difficult to photograph the print with any real clarity.
The following picture shows Dennis pointing out the large print made on Martin’s van to members of the expedition on Sunday morning.
Here is input provided by Jason recapping the morning discussions that transpired after the Sunday early morning activity:
“After waking at 0600hrs on the morning of July 27th, to the sheep baying and the dogs barking, I saw that someone was awake and walking to the fire pit, I decided to go back to bed. I also heard the sheep moving across the hill towards the area that we had been the previous night, sadly I knew then that searching the area for tracks would be a waste of time as it was molested by the sheep. I would later learn that Stan had caught a strange, loud, “gorilla like”, scream, that was mocking the sheep dog’s and probably was what woke me up initially. I awoke at 0830hrs to hear people talking about many strange things that happened during the night. What follows is a summary: I first learned that something had shaken Stan’s car while he was sleeping, the camp 30 yards past that, was molested during the night, Martin’s van 50 ft to the right of the molested camp was “slapped hard” during the night and left a large left hand print on the upper corner (Which was photos were taken) and then it went onto Mikes large “outfitters” tent camp and raised holy hell. Mikes account was that the creature was present at the back of the tent when he went to bed, but he thought it was a dark tree shadow until it began making noise and swaying back and fourth. The Squatch then ran its finger along the top of the tent “Making a zipper sound on the canvas”, upon which Mike yelled for his friend Dave to wake up (as his dome tent with Dave and his wife were sleeping- Dave slept in the bed of his truck, Ron and his wife were the ones in the dome tent), because it was only feet away from the dome tent. Unfortunately, Dave didn’t wake up. Mike was understandably nervous then and during the interview. What was really upsetting, was that upon awakening later, Mike noticed that the door of his outfitters tent had been open and was completely unzipped, this was upsetting because Mike was the first to awaken at that camp and only leaves one rather large peeping tom. We also found that a tent tie down had been knocked off the stake and found a large set of footprint in the grass directly behind his tent with approximately a 6-7 foot stride.” I heard the Squatch jingled the zippers at the bottom of the tent and did not unzip it.
It should be noted that several voice recorders picked up unusual sounds, vocalizations, and what sounded like bipedal walking in the vicinity of camp. These sounds also contain a significant increase in sheep bahhing and dog barking sometime between 3:30 and 5:30 am on Sunday morning. Here is additional input provided by Stan regarding some the recordings he captured:
Sound Clip 1
http://www.stancourtney.com/sounds/....22.2008_01.mp3
It was almost dark when I arrived at the site on Tuesday evening. I was concerned about driving down the rutted dirt road with my Toyota, not knowing for sure if I was at the correct location. So I drove back down the road and slept in my car at a small gravel pit. These sounds were picked up at 0330 a.m. I am not quite sure if they are coyote or not.
Sound Clip 2
http://www.stancourtney.com/sounds/....26.2008_02.mp3
This sound clip was just before daybreak on Sunday morning. There were a lot of sheep on the hillside near our camp. At 5 sec. there is a loud vocalization I believe designed to stir up the dogs and the flock. I can't really describe the sound, not a howl, just strange. Then at 50 sec and 53 sec two words were spoken.
Sound clip 3
http://www.stancourtney.com/sounds/....26.2008_03.wav
This sound clip was recorded at about 04:30 a.m. Sunday morning by Scott of Arkansas. I appears to be a grunt and either a branch break or a hand slapping a vehicle.
Sound clip 4
http://www.stancourtney.com/sounds/....24.2008_03.wav
This sound clip was recorded at about 04:00 a.m. Thursday morning by Scott of Arkansas. Other members had mentioned that they heard an animal running close to the knoll behind camp.
Other Sound Clips: Kurt’s Telemike and voice recorder ran for four and a half hours between 2:30 and 7:00 AM Sunday morning and picked numerous sounds that included unusual sounds, vocalizations, and what sounded like bipedal walking in the vicinity of camp. Noteworthy were the obvious escalations of sheep bahhing and dogs barking that were associated to the unusual howls or vocalizations.
3.5 Sunday
Sunday activities include a day-time reconnaissance of the locations where the rock throwing and visual sightings occurred, along with wrap-up discussions and pack-up of the expedition. This included the collection of game cameras and voice recorders that were deployed in the vicinity of the camp. Probably the most unusual event of the entire exp was found Sunday morning. After the exciting events of Saturday night everyone was taking inventory of the campsite on Sunday morning and starting to pack up camp. One of the new member participants had an unusual way of disposing of human waste. We usually dig a hole and bury but he carried out his waste in white plastic trash bags. Earlier in the week he had kindly helped to put up a tarp and made a privy for the ladies in the group to use when need arose. He had placed a 5-gallon bucket as a toilet lined with white trash bags. Sometime during the past few days he had removed one of the bags and placed it on the other side of the tarp away from the privy, so he could haul it out on the last day. Sunday morning he went to dismantle the privy and found that the bag of waste was gone, it had been there the night before. He asked everyone in camp and no one had seen or moved the bag....understandably so. Make up your own minds on that one, but we have to wonder if a Sasquatch had taken the bag thinking it had a prize? Perhaps it did so before the incident on the knoll above the camp and was letting them know he was not happy with the gift? Here is Jason’s account:
“After following this trail of mischievousness, I walked towards the “outhouse” for my morning business. It was then that the strangest thing of the trip, for which will be marked (ironically) as an expedition highpoint, as we all were packing up to leave. Upon arriving to the “Happy Crapper”, I noticed that the large 30lb bag of fecal matter, of which I had removed 2 days before, was gone! I had made a habit of checking for this bag, as I had noticed the double bagged mess had sprung a leak in the inner bag, but was being held by the outside bag. This was an obvious concern of mine, as I had to haul it out and didn’t want it leaking on the way to the dumpster. The strangeness continued. The brush around this area is waist to chest high and has many snags that it would get torn open, had it been drug off by coyotes, bears, etc. Upon further inspection, Mark and I were able to find another large set of footprints (impressions) with a 6-7 foot stride, leading towards the lake and the sheepherder’s camp in another direction of which people hadn’t been! What sort of hoaxer/ thief would want to take such a disgusting trophy? I find it very funny and was one of the stranger things I’ve ever seen in my life.”
4. Conclusions
Based on a combination of events that is believed to be typical of documented Sasquatch behavior, attendees of the Colorado BFRO expedition believe it was a success. Through the use of proven techniques and procedures, many of the expedition objectives had been accomplished. The objective of the expedition was to document activity and potentially collect evidence, in the form of tracks, vocalizations, tree-breaks, visual sightings, and video/still imagery, of Sasquatch presence in the selected search area. Using procedures established by the BFRO on many past expeditions, our participants heard responses to calling, experienced vigorous rock throwing activity, wood knock responses, vocalizations, and a camp instrusion; and experienced possible sightings through the thermal optics (witnessed by two different people at two different locations). Brooke was instrumental in organizing the three teams that generated the Saturday night activities. No images were captured via camera or video recording devices, however, the evenings activities we witnessed by multiple participants at three locations. Multiple audio recordings were captured; analysis of the audio recordings is on-going. Stan Courtney graced us with his presence, and he did a fantastic job with audio recording. Several nights of call blasting had produced possible distant returns, but mostly to Stan’s own unique howls using a megaphone! We might have one or two recorded but are still in the process of reviewing data.
The following sub-sections address some addition discussion or conclusions regarding the specific accounts or data received on this expedition.
4.1 Rock Throwing/Intimidation Encounter (Saturday Night)
On Saturday night, members of Team 2 experienced rock throwing, vocalizations, and wood knocks that were apparently in direct response to our whoops, knocks and trolling activity in the area. Although it was dark, members of the team heard and saw this activity first hand; one member was hit by a stone in the back as the team headed back to base camp. This activity is typical of great ape behavior and has been documented on numerous occasions to be directly related to Sasquatch activity.
4.2 Recorded Vocalizations (Tuesday through Sunday)
Numerous unidentified vocalizations were recorded on several of the digital voice recorders used by member of the expedition. The majority of these recordings were collected and analyzed by Stan Courtney using remotely positioned recorded to the rear of camp and during call-blasting activity in the surrounding area. The origin of these recordings continues to be inconclusive although analysis of the content continues.
4.3 Possible Visual Sighting through Thermal Optics (Sat PM)
There were three visual sightings reported at two different locations on Saturday evening using the thermal optics. Two of the visual signatures were at the Team 3 location reported by the same person (Nikki Hohl), observing what she firmly believe to be a Sasquatch or primate like signature above their location.
Nikki and Ray discuss their thermal cam sighting from the previous night with Dennis.
Sybilla also had a possible visual signature of a Sasquatch through the thermal optics Saturday night as well. As an investigative team was moving back from the knoll near base camp (Team 2 location) where all of the rock throwing and stalking had occurred, Sybilla operated the thermal optics in an attempt to observe the investigative team from near the base camp location. She observed a thermal signature that was above the investigative team watching their activity. As no recording capability was available, these thermal signatures were witnessed only by the individual holding the thermal optics. However, the presence of activity in the same area that included rock throwing, vocalizations, and wood knocks and witnessed by multiple sources does strengthen the case of a likely visual encounter.
4.4 Possible Early Morning Camp Intrusion (Sunday AM)
There was substantial activity reported by numerous participants at multiple locations in the base camp area between the hours or 3:00 and 5:30 AM. Individuals reported that they heard bipedal walking in the vicinity of their tents; an object rubbed along the side of one tent and a tent door zipper was jiggled. In addition, two vehicles were slapped; a very large hand print was noted in the dust on one of the vehicles.
Two pics from Martin's rented van, one showing the handprint with a human hand in comparison. The other is a close up shot.
These images were enhanced and changed to Black and white for easier viewing of the mark. The white paint of the van made it difficult to photograph. The hand in the comparison photo spans about seven inches from the tip of the index finger to the tip of the thumb.
In my opinion, and it is subject to correction of course, but this mark seem to show the distal base of a palm near the center bottom of the pic, extending up towards the tip of a pinky finger on a left hand wrapping around the corner of the van but much larger than my own and measured over 11" in length. Other finger tips can be seen in a row across the center in the proper positions. Due to the dirt, dust and overall poor condition of the print we felt it was not possible to get dermal ridging off of the vehicle.
Digital voice recorders placed at various locations within the base camp area recorded the walking sounds and some of the unidentified vocalizations. Also recorded was a significant increase in noise of the sheep heard and sheep dogs in the vicinity of the camp, as if sparked by a intruder and/or the intruder’s vocalizations. Although game cams were deployed in the camp area, no images were recorded.
5. Lessons Learned
Some of the lessons observed and learned involve personnel as well as technology issues. With regards to personnel, we had a good group of experienced and new participants who contributed to the expedition. No personnel issues occurred other than the group size which I believe we were able to manage effectively. And as I am sure most of you who have been out there have experienced something going wrong with technology just when you need it most we were very aware that we could have potentially had some good thermal video had we had the correct adapters to plug into a camcorder but yet again we can add to the growing list of stories of sightings I guess. Make sure you have everything in order before any future expeditions and be certain to have all your vital equipment in order one simple plug adapter could have made the world of difference! Here are some observations and lessons learned:
Technology. Equipment failures and system interoperability issues will always occur but can be minimized. Sufficient batteries, FRS radio fixes and proper cabling for thermal cameras were some of the issues observed. Thermal recording devices are the most critical and must be tested the week before the planned expedition.
Group Size. Although our group was rather large, management of the investigative teams was handled and all came together as a team. In future events with a large group, suggest that designated team leaders be appointed and team members be assigned to groups based on attendees desires. This may help if people know that today they will be on call-blasting team and the next day they will be on whooping/knocking teams, etc. An additional alternative for a large group would be to establish two separate base camps with communications between the two.
Game Camera Coverage. We believe we had the camp probed several times that night but did not capture anything with the game cams we had set up around the site. We could only cover several tents and the kitchen area. One way to address this would obviously be to bring in more cameras inside and outside the perimeter and/or plan a person in a tree stand (20 ft high minimum) up all night with a thermal recorder to observe camp. The height of a tree stand might provide a better hide position for a human/thermal observation post.
Testimonials. We had several people in our group that had had significant experience with Sasquatch activity that included Class A and B sightings, vocalizations, and track finds. Many of these were in the Colorado area, in the Rocky Mountain west, and back east, some including past and ongoing research areas. The knowledge that was shared by these experienced members cannot be measured. Track casts, photos and other data was shared and discussed with attendees. We were blessed by first-hand accounts and data shared by Dennis and Shannon, Ed and Maria, Dave, Stan, and others. I believe that this exchange was extremely beneficial to the new participants, strengthening the BFRO position that these are real.
Call Blasting. Some of the new attendees had a tendency to talk and walk right after a blast is made, not understanding the impact (additional noise/chatter) to the high-end recording devices. Also, when call blasting, make sure that gain dial on your amp is turned up.
2008 Colorado BFRO expedition
(Edited by Dennsco)
(Edited by Dennsco)
(Edited by Dennsco)
(Edited by Bossburg)
Dennis Pfohl
Investigator BFRO
Organizer 09 Colorado BFRO Expedition |
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gator1
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 51
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| Posted: October 6th, 2008 11:52 AM |
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| Dennsco & Attendees - Thank you so much for the report and your efforts in the hills of Colorado - Sounds like there are some mischievious squatches up there as I expected. It's a great habitat for them for sure - thanks again! G1. |
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BethinFL
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 807
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| Posted: October 6th, 2008 01:08 PM |
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| Thanks for posting this report! Definitely sounds like a very noisy expedition. |
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gator1
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 51
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| Posted: October 6th, 2008 03:23 PM |
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| WOW! Sound Clip #4 of the report - Are you kidding me!?!?! I would have filled my shorts on the spot! That is creepy, UNREAL! G1. |
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nitro04106
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 18
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| Posted: October 7th, 2008 09:00 PM |
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awesome report , sounds like you guys had some fun and good action , awesome country and great recordings , the recording of the 53 mark sounds like the sherper yelling at his dogs and sheep to mellow up , you shoulda tried to talk with him and got his side of the story, i`m sure he has a few stories to tell, awesome stuff guys and gals...........best reports yet i wish i coulda done the one in maine, but had to work , i did get some tree knocks on a small vaca up on the maine canada border, which was a first for me, go get em..  |
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Scott Smith
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 224
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| Posted: October 7th, 2008 09:15 PM |
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Stan tried to talk to him but he didnt speak English. We didnt have anyone that could speak his language.
Arkansas Investigator
2008 NM, CO, OK, 2009 OK, CO Expeditions
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Savataba
Unregistered
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 127
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| Posted: October 7th, 2008 10:50 PM |
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So I was playing with the sound clip quoted from above
There seems to be a wood/rock knock about 27.5 seconds into the recording. |
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Stan Courtney
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John n Sherie
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Joined: Oct 2008
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| Posted: January 3rd, 2009 01:52 AM |
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| What a GREAT report. Thank you for everyones input, a very interesting experience to read. |
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Dennsco
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 11
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| Posted: January 4th, 2009 02:14 PM |
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I do appreciate all the comments. It was a great time with everyone. I do want to thank BFRO member Kurt Hovanac for writing the trip report, he did an awesome job summing up the expedition.
Also BFRO members David Petti and Dave Letendre for their contributions in making this a great expedition.
We do strive to make the most out of these expeditions in scouting the expedition areas, teaching newcomers, looking for signs and gathering any potential evidence. Also to provoking responses to our attempts at communication with these remarkable creatures, and hopefully make contact and document these events as well as possible.
I have found that along with the fascinating research we immerse ourselves in during these expeditions, there is also the great friendships and networking that occurs between people with similar interests in the subject as well. There is no value that can be placed on that aspect in my book!
Dennis Pfohl
Investigator BFRO
Organizer 09 Colorado BFRO Expedition |
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BAMA_BELIEVER
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4
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| Posted: January 11th, 2009 11:26 PM |
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| It sounds to me the the vocalization in sound clip 2 is saying " Wake up !! Lets Play !! " Wish I could of been there. |
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