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BCsquatch
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 205
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 Posted: October 14th, 2009 11:27 AM |
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Please post your experiences and questions about this expedition. I will be working on a final expedition report. Please send anything you found significant to me directly.
(Edited by BCsquatch)
Blaine McMillan
BFRO Investigator
Western Canada
From an Island in the Pacific |
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Tretiak
Unregistered
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 171
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| Posted: October 18th, 2009 12:32 PM |
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How did the expedition go? Any signs or events?
"So close,....... yet so far!" |
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Yeomra
Approved
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 52
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| Posted: October 20th, 2009 10:45 PM |
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| I'll be posting one soon... |
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Yeomra
Approved
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 52
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| Posted: October 21st, 2009 08:58 PM |
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Here is my report:
Vancouver Island North BFRO Expedition 2009
Wednesday October 7
BM and I head to the site and set up camp. I did a small amount of exploring while gathering firewood. Built a fire and ate dinner. BM demonstrated a wood-knock. It was awesome – loud and reverberated through the mountains. We did a few more knocks as the night wore on and BM also did a whoop. Learned how to use the toys, watched a couple of mice fight while using the thermal imager. Very cute. It was after midnight when we retired to our tents. I woke up later that night to what I thought were heavy footsteps. Had the impression something was standing behind my tent to the right. Heard something walk away and then thump-thump-thump on what was probably the cooler BM left on the picnic table. My heart was racing! I was more worried that it was a human than a sasquatch. Did we attract one to our camp with the wood-knocks and whoops? But like I told BM in the morning, it is a fools errand to lay in your tent at night and assume you know what is making noises outside in the dark. But I swear I heard heavy footsteps. Could have been a sasquatch, could have been circus elephant, maybe a mouse. A ground check the next morning revealed no tracks.
Thursday October 8
Partly sunny, about 18C
Went for a short hike with BM along the logging road and down some trails. Found a possible partial track in the loose dirt of the road that showed three toes. Photo doesn't show it well. Got excited over a deep track I found until BM explained that it was of an elk. My newbie was exposed. Took photo for reference, never to mistake an elk track as possible child BF track ever again! Found huge pile of bear scat. One big bear in the area.
AB arrived just before noon.
As AB got himself ready for the expedition BM and I went out to explore a river. Found deer and elk tracks, old vagrant camp. Possible sasquatch track imprints by the side of the road. Nothing to distinguish them as tracks except that they were deep and in a line.
AS arrived around 3pm.
At 6pm BM, AB, AS and I set out for the first remote site. On the way there we located CK and SG at a different camp. Brought them back to our camp and had them set up there. Since there were so few of us on this expedition we decided to put everyone in one home base.
At remote site we did wood-knocks and whoops but elicited no response. Nothing seen with star scope or thermal imager. Slept that night in the passenger side of the truck – not recommended. Yellow play-doh that SG set out for fingerprints was touched by a little critter with claws. Probably a squirrel. As far as anyone can tell, not much happened that night.
Friday October 9
CK and I investigated a spur road as a possible site. The road didn't go very far in as it was shown on the map. CK and I descended into a small creek area to look around. CK found what could have been a large, deep track. There was water and leaves in the track but a clear heel imprint could be seen. Toes were not visible. Thinking back, we should have taken a closer look. Investigating the area further we found elk bones scattered about and then by the river we found the elk kill (skin and bones). It's skin was pinned under a large log. Two ribs were on top of the log. Could have been a bear or wolf kill but how did the skin get trapped under the log? Could have rolled over it in higher water but that seemed odd. Was the log placed or did it occur naturally? Tough to say.
Finishing our excursion, CK and I drove back to meet with the rest of the group who were investigating tracks in a rocky mudflat by the lake. Several good prints were found, all about 10-11 inches in length. Appeared as if a Juvenile was wandering about the area while Mom and/or Dad stayed on the rocky portions of the flat (pure speculation). Three of the best tracks were cast. This was in the same area that BM found tracks a few weeks earlier. There were the old tracks and then new tracks. This place was accessible by two paths and by water and was very close to one of the satellite camps we were going to use. Also in the area were many boot tracks, elk tracks, a bear track and an elk kill in almost it's entirety. Absent were obvious bare-footed human tracks.
On our way to the remote site that night, BM noticed from the road an X structure a little ways into the woods. We stopped the trucks to look and it was a very impressive X, very large. Definately didn't look like a blow over. A tree twist was also evident. A few metres away I found another X structure. The broken trees used for this had been placed, there were no stumps in the area for the tree to have come from.
We headed up the old logging road to a point where a bridge had been washed out/taken out and camped about 500m away from that point. We heard no response to any wood knocks or whoops. We took a dark walk up to the wash out and sat around for a bit quietly talking. Upon our return to the camp site I heard two quiet whistles from the SSW direction at around 8-9pm. This was the direction we had just come from. CK heard the second whistle but no one else heard either of them. I thought my recorder was on but no!! Damn! About an hour later I heard another whistle from the NNE direction but I hadn't figured out that my recorder wasn't on at that time. I really feel like I missed a good opportunity there. I did, however, ensure the recorder was on by the time we got to bed. AB and AS took a ride on AB's truck with a Gen scope and thermal imager to drive around for a bit before heading back to main camp to spend the night sleeping there. Listening to the recording of that night (which is mostly of just me snoring), about an hour in (between midnight and 1am) there is a noise like an object striking my truck and then 5 minutes later a repetitive clack-CLACK sound like two rocks being struck together. Still going through the audio, might have more to report later.
Saturday October 10
Morning - returned to base camp and ate. SG, AB, AS, CK and myself went off to investigate sites for the night excursion. We found a road along a clear cut that had an excellent view of the valley and decided to return to this site for the night. AS used a rake to create a soft patch of earth and put apples in the middle. Hoping to score another Skookum cast we returned to base camp to get ready to go. Upon our return the apples were gone! Close inspection of the site revealed raven tracks. Sneaky birds! (I love ravens, they are very smart).
That night we built a fire and scanned the area with the Gen scopes and thermals. We had a large area to cover and it took some time to locate and memorize all the warms rocks and stumps in the area. There were many rock-squatches and tree-squatches that had to be ruled out. Again, no clear response to the wood-knocks or whoops, although BM said he heard a low, distant moan at one point. Nothing took the bait (more apples and a squash) at a site down the road from the camp and the trail cam picked up nothing (as far as I know).
The next morning we packed up the satellite camp and base camp and called it a weekend.
While we had no overt interactions or encounters with any sasquatch, I do feel that it was a productive event. This was my first expedition and I was not disappointed. We did see structures and tracks and I heard those whistles that may have been sasquatch. I personally learned a lot from the other attendees. The three more experienced squatchers (BM, AS, and AB) were virtual encyclopedia's of sasquatchology and it was a pleasure picking their brains and learning from them. I'll never view the woods the same way again. I'm not a green-horn when it comes to the forests and mountains but I was no where near as experienced as these fine folks.
Things I'd do different: have a nap in the afternoon and stay up later in the nights; ensure the recorder is turned ON when we wander about; take more notes and pictures.
I'd like to thank BM for all his hard work and support for this expedition. He really went the extra mile to ensure everyone was taken care of. His attitude was objective and professional and he lead with clear direction and example. He also let us excitable newbie's off the leash to run about and sniff the bushes. Nothing beats bush-whacking and searching for sasquatch clues and I can't wait for next year. I'd also like to thank the others, SG, AB, AS, and CK for their positive attitudes, stories, information, and track casts (thank you very much for bringing those AS, looking forward to the copy of the clear one from SG, and thank you very much for letting me keep one, BM!). All in all, I have to say that a very good time was had and I feel very privileged to have had such good company.
No, we didn't solve the mystery of the sasquatch but I did learn a thing or two about myself and that was worth the cost in itself.
Thank you all. |
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monongahela
Approved
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: October 21st, 2009 09:53 PM |
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Nice report Yeomra, thanks for sharing. Hope you find some interesting stuff on your audio recording!
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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RicknMs
Approved
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 31
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| Posted: October 22nd, 2009 07:32 AM |
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| Thanks for posting your report,Yeomra,I enjoyed reading it. Sounds like it was a pretty good expedition. Maybe a Class A for you next time! |
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ladyliza
Approved
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 95
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| Posted: October 23rd, 2009 02:34 AM |
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Thank you for sharing.. I enjoy reading these reports
Northwestern Pa, McKean County |
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Yeomra
Approved
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 52
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| Posted: October 27th, 2009 12:49 AM |
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Update on the audio:
Whoohoo!! I was wrong! I DID get the whistles on record and there were more than I originally heard. For some silly reason, probably because I didn't fully understand my digital recorder, I listened to the second half of the recording first. Here is how it went; I call it "The Night of the Dead End Road":
We set up camp about 500m or so from where the road was taken out. At around 9pm we gather together and walk up to the dead end. I turned on the recorder and set it upon the roof of my truck and we leave;
17:~ - our voices and footsteps recede into the distance and are no longer heard.
21:44 - BM lets out a whoop.
24:14 - we bang off a double knock.
24:38, 27:07, 27:20, 30:38 - strange "flutter" sounds like a bird is buzzing our site. Not sure what to make of those sounds...
58:25 - whistle
1:01:09 - steps approach, we return to camp.
1:03:48- whistle. I say "did you hear that?"
1:04:16 - whistle. CK heard this one, too.
I mention that it is about 10pm. I whistle twice, mimicking what I heard.
1:07:29 - BM vocalizes to try to elicit response. None recorded.
1:38:12 - sharp noise heard in background
1:38:20 - AS says "Thought I heard a wood knock"
I'm sure I heard a whistle from the NNE direction and commented a few minutes later that I did. Unfortunately, because I was sitting on the ground furthest from the recorder and because I tend to mumble I was not able to pick this up. The whistle sound was not obvious but I will go back and listen again. I have an idea about what time it happened.
I'm very happy I have this recording. Mostly it was of AS, BM, and AB talking about VI sasquatch, wolves, wild boar, wildlife corridors, poached elk, squirrels, and house cats. Interesting conversations to hear, to say the least. Funny thing, listening back to what was happening at that time. I pretty much had the thermal imager locked to my eye and my ears locked to the sounds of the woods. Man, wish I was still there.
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monongahela
Approved
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: October 27th, 2009 02:26 AM |
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Congrats Yeomra. Going on my own experience, and how amazed I was just to record a few distant wood knocks, I'm sure you have to be really thrilled about getting multiple whistles and a wood knock, along with some first hand "ear" witnesses. Great going.
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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Stusteelhead
Approved
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 38
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| Posted: November 4th, 2009 12:11 AM |
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| With both Island expeditions being fairly quiet, i was curious to hear peoples thoughts on the elevation of the expeditons for the time of year. I have noticed alot of the reports on the island seem to be in winter and early spring at lower elevations, when the deep snowpack has forced the sasquatch into the valleys in search of food. Maybe unlike bears they don't follow the salmon but instead hang in the high alpine feeding on berries and elk until the first snow start to fall. Any thoughts? Being unable to attend the expeditions this year I am not sure what elevation they were held at so not sure if this is relevant or not. |
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Yeomra
Approved
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 52
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| Posted: November 6th, 2009 08:03 PM |
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| The only thing I can tell you about what we discussed was that they might have been where the bears were - at the salmon runs. But unlikely that they stayed there. |
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Wahlgren
Approved
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 32
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| Posted: November 6th, 2009 09:57 PM |
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| This report from the expedition was a great read, very well written and truly exciting to be invited to follow the course of the events through the form of a personal diary. I can't wait to hear more from you and our expeditions, Yeomra. |
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monongahela
Approved
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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Yeomra
Approved
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 52
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| Posted: November 13th, 2009 06:56 PM |
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Thanks Monongahela for doing this. You picked out some things I didn't notice.
Do you think they are actual bird calls? That would be the most logical explanation. Do birds call at night (10 pm-ish). I also picked up some rock-clacking type sounds, twice. The first time was after midnight, the second time was dawn. I was pretty sure that was a bird.
Interesting analysis, thanks again. |
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Yeomra
Approved
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 52
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| Posted: November 13th, 2009 06:58 PM |
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| Oh, wanted to say Thank You to all the others who made nice comments about my expedition post. |
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monongahela
Approved
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: November 14th, 2009 09:59 AM |
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Yeomra, my pleasure, and thanks for sharing your recordings with the rest of us.
One can never be 100% certain whether it's a bird call. But based on my own recent experience, about 5 full nights worth of audio recording since August, I would lean toward thinking they are actual birds. I've been amazed at how many night birds I catch on my audio recorder, at all hours of the night. And there's normally nothing else on the recorder to hint that there might be a squatch in the area.
So Occam's razor and all...
I would be more intrigued with the rock clacks, frankly. That's not something a bird is normally capable of (maybe a crow, would, but not without a good reason). It basically takes thumbs to make rocks clack together with any real sense of control.
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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Yeomra
Approved
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 52
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| Posted: November 14th, 2009 07:06 PM |
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"Rock-clacking" may be a bit of an inaccurate definition on my part, I think. I'm sure I have heard this sound before. My GF has a large file of bird calls on her iPod that I intend to go through to use to try to identify . Still, I will send them to you so you can add them to your "not a sasquatch" file. If they aren't sasquatch, that is...(love the mystery!)
Again, thanks for you efforts, and, more so, your objectivity.
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monongahela
Approved
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: November 14th, 2009 08:09 PM |
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Not a problem, and feel free to send me anything you'd like checked out. That goes for others on this board as well.
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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