12:51 PM 05-28-99 Everything is going as planned we will be on the road in less than 8 hours!
6:00 PM 05-28-99 We met at Patrick's Creek Lodge, went over our project and protocols, shared stories, had dinner and assigned teams. Manuel brought a plaster footprint cast he got a few years back, and brought a bear print to compare. It's DEFINITELY NOT a bear print!!!! Autumn and Guillermo did a little "surveying" on their own this afternoon and went south on 199 to Walker Road and video taped a very interesting footprint. We'll investigate that print on our way back up on Sunday. We're all ready to go, and looking forward to a successful journey.
We did figure out that Kelly drove the furthest from Bakersfield, CA. He drove 643 miles to get here, and running a close second to "who drove the furthest?" was Guillermo. He drove 536 miles!!! Talk about dedication!
9:00 PM 05-28-98 We are packed, radios in hand, teams assigned, and we're on our way!!!!! Going north through O'Brien, Oregon to Happy Camp area. WISH US LUCK!!!!!!!
John Freitas
Crescent City, CA Project
Coordinator
Joel Borges
Crescent City, CA
Jeremey Maine
Ukiah
Brian Dischler
San Jose, CA
Meaghan Dischler
San Jose, CA
Autumn Williams, Cottage
Grove, OR
Guillermo DeHollander
Ellensburg, WA
Mark & Mara Stone
Madera, CA
Jim Hooper
Crescent City, CA
Kelly Berdahl
Bakersfield, CA
Lance McVay
Hayward, CA
Manuel (asesino) Solorio
Eagle Point, OR
Don LeBars
Jacksonville, OR
Jonathan LeBars
Jacksonville, OR
Scott LeBars
Jacksonville, OR
10:40 PM 05-28-99 We're headed to Snow Camp, Oregon. We've been doing some calls, and are stopping in this area for a while to do more sound surveying.
11:44 PM 05-28-99 Well, believe it or not we got stuck in the snow at Snow Camp!!! (imagine that!) We're going to do a few more calls and possibly go a little further, and if we don't get any return calls, we'll set up camp, and try again first thing in the morning.
12:00 AM 05-29-99 WE GOT 3 RETURN CALLS!! approximately 8 miles north of Snow Camp. Brian and Meaghan were one mile behind John (he has the speaker in the back of the truck doing the calls) and they heard 3 return calls. (screams.) Manny and Lance were one mile in front of John and heard the same return calls, as did Autumn and Guillermo who were about 2/10ths of a mile behind John. We're now setting a perimeter to try and pinpoint the area where the return call came from.
12:43 AM 05-29-99 Because there were campers in the area, we want to ensure the call we heard was in fact a Squatch, so we are moving 5 miles west of the original return call location. Because of the terrain of the roads, it is going to take us at least an hour and a half to get to the new location.
1:55 AM 05-29-99 Arrived in that area, did some calls, and had one single scream return call. Manny, John, and Lance heard it. The others were unsure. We checked the area but were unable to get any other return calls. We're heading south to set up camp. Tomorrow we're on our way to Hayfork where there have been at least 4 separate sightings within the last three weeks.
3:10 AM 05-29-99 On the way to our destination to set up camp in the Walker Road area (Redwood film area), the speaker mount broke, sending the speakers crashing to the truck bed floor. Ok, so we've run into snow, and had broken speaker mounts, but that DOESN'T stop us!! We'll be doing the speaker mount repair this morning, checking out the footprint that Autumn and Guillermo found yesterday, and heading south.
8:00 AM 05-29-99 John is on his way to repair the speaker mount and we're planning on leaving camp at 9:30. We should arrive in the Hayfork area no later than 5:00 P.M. (if everything goes according to plan).
10:45 AM 05-29-99 We found approximately five broken trees. All the breaks were approximately four to five foot from the ground.. Autumn found a hair sample, and Meaghan found one on another tree. The breaks appear to be at least two year old, due to the dead growth.. These samples will be sent to the Primate Research Center in Oregon when we return from our project. Unfortunately the print that Autumn and Guillermo found yesterday was a bear print. The distance from the print and the broken trees was approximately 150 - 200 feet back in a homestead area in an old apple orchard.
12:00 PM 05-29-99 Well, we are running late, due to the hair sample retrieval and will be on the road by 1:00 P.M. going to Hayfork. We had work on the speaker than we originally anticipated, but it appears it's in working order!
2:30 PM 05-29-99 We visited the Bigfoot Museum in Willow Creek and met up with some people who were very interested in our project. We played the sounds for them, however, the two ladies we spoke with had not heard that sound before. We were able to tour the new museum facility which will have it's Grand Opening for "Bigfoot Days" on Labor Day weekend.
4:30 PM 05-29-99 Met with Bob Everett (he is the contact person for the recent sightings in Hayfork) in Weaverville at the Bigfoot Jamboree. He provided us with detailed maps of the most recent sightings. We're going to move toward that area and blast out sounds.
6:00 PM 05-29-99 Met a local by the name of Jody (we are featured in the local newspaper today!!). Jody suggested we head southwest of the last sighting, as that appears to be the direction of travel. Jody may be joining us tomorrow as our guide.
10:25 PM 05-29-99 We're at the southwest corner of the area of the last sighting. (Near Hyampom about 10 miles south of Butter Creek Meadows). We're setting up a base camp, and we're going to concentrate on this particular area. We're blasting sounds from the camp. Because there is a full moon, and the light is great, some of us are going to get quite adventurous and walk through the woods.
9:00 AM 05-30-99 Unfortunately we had an uneventful night. We covered about an eight mile radius, but had no luck. We're going to stay in this area a little longer, and try and cover more area during daylight.
12:00 PM 05-30-99 We broadcast sounds at 12:00, 12:08 12:17 and 1:14. Didn't get any return calls, though.
3:30 PM 05-30-99 We broadcast sounds in the Indian Camp area (off Route 3) at 3:30, 3:43, 3:47, 3:53. Brian head a moan coming out the wooded area at 3:53 at Corral Road (Route 60) about half way down from where we were earlier, but after further investigation we were unable to locate what made the sound. We broadcast one last sound at 5:54.
7:00 PM 05-30-99 Due to the remote areas that we have been covering the cell phone reception was unavailable. We did check out the entire area of Hyampom and were unable to locate anything. We found an unidentifiable footprint, however, due to the poor quality, we did not take a plaster cast of it. Everyone is still just as excited today as we were Friday night. Still not giving up!! We're in Willow Creek now, and should arrive in Bluff Creek at about 8:00 p.m. tonight. We will be covering the Laird Meadow, Onion Mountain, and Bluff Creek areas. Hopefully the cell phone reception will be better, and we can keep you updated more frequently.
We are covering this entire project on video and may be reproducing it. We'll let you know at the end of the project. Also, we will be posting the map sights of our entire journey when we return Monday night with more descriptive information. Everyone on the project appreciates all the support!
9:00 AM 05-31-99 Unfortunately we have no updates yet, cell phone reception is unavailable. Will update as soon as possible.
6:00 PM 05-31-99 We worked the Dry Lake area after being turned back due to a locked gate on the road toward Onion Mountain. We "got some" (Kelly) good recording on the way back down the road that sounded interesting, but the group consensus was that it was an owl. We will have it analyzed anyway, who knows. In that same area we heard something crashing through the woods right off the road. We were unable to determine what it was, but the two things together rose our suspicions. There will be a final disposition of the whole mission either tomorrow evening or Wednesday.