In May of 2011 we were in International Falls, Minnesota for two investigations, a fabulous coffee shop and a private residence there. While chatting with a friend who lives in the area, he told us about his experiences with Bigfoot. In the Nrthwoods. The glimmer of a Bigfoot expedition began to tickle my brain. Excited? Oh ya, and so, me being me, I questioned and questioned our source until he told us everything he possibly could and we all were left with an inkling to search for Bigfoot. I have always followed the stories about Sasquatch, and so this information was very exciting.
The SIM Crew is busy, and we all have day jobs, and so we sort of pushed Bigfoot to the back of our minds, until this past spring. Two of my crewmates, Mae and George often go to International Falls, this is Mae’s hometown; when they were up there over Memorial Day they and our eyewitness, went out into the woods and put up a trail cam, and heard, unknown animal noises. They told us it sounded like the sounds that the Bigfoot hunters on TV say Bigfoot makes. Well, after this? We all knew we had to go in search of Sasquatch, and thus we planned our expedition for the first weekend of October.
We felt we would be early enough to miss snow and cold, but Mother Nature? Laughed. On the drive up to the border the snow fell at a good clip and the winds howled. In the midst of that crazy weather though, we were privileged to spot numerous Bald Eagles on the drive up, BEAUTIFUL, and astounding; I had never seen so many of these majestic, gorgeous birds of prey in Minnesota. It seemed like they were watching over us as they were there, in many spots all the way to the Border.
The weather was bad, but we weren't to be deterred and once there we made trek into the great forest to find Bigfoot. Our guide on our adventure was our eyewitness, who was excited to show us where he had seen Sasquatch on numerous occassions. He took us to the locations where he had seen the creature, and we spent time at each place. The Northwoods are beautiful, and it was easy to spend time out in the wild, even in the inclement weather.
Our first location was in the thick woods. There was a path to begin, but just a few feet into the trees it ended and we had to bungle our way through the thick vegetation. The trek was difficult, not only were branches reaching out to keep us back, the terrain was uneven as well, all making our first foray into the search for Bigfoot quite tricky. We didn’t see or hear anything for our time here so we moved to the second location.
In the second location it was easier to maneuver, and we hiked along, our ears listening intently for any abnormal sound, our eyes searching the trees for movement. We finally came upon the Rainey River, which separates the US from Canada. We stopped there and looked across the water at Ontario. Though a separate country, it sure didn’t look any different than our own. After a time we trekked back to our vehicles and proceeded on to the third and final destination.
I guess you might say we saved the best for last, as it was in this place we found huge footprints, from Sasquatch? We have no idea, and we tried shooting photos, see the one below, but the light was not optimal and what we saw so clearly with out eyes, is difficult to see in the photo.
The strides were large and followed along side a creek, now dry from our unusually dry summer. The site was beautiful; a clearing made by the creek, which headed south. In place of water, the creek bed was overgrown with beautiful long grasses that swayed back and forth in the wind. We followed the prints as far as we could, but as with our first location, this terrain was uneven and difficult to traverse. We were losing light, and the weather had turned once again, and sleet began to fall. For safety reasons, we decided to complete our expedition and head back the 30 or so miles back to International Falls.
Though I knew we had to go, I didn’t want to leave this place. I stared out into the long grasses of the twisting and meandering creek and wondered if Bigfoot was there. Was he watching us? Or maybe he had passed this way hours before or even days before. I wanted to follow that creek, but it was not in the cards for this trip. Jerry was calling me and so with one last look at that beautiful place I turned back with a sigh, wishing that I could just have another hour or so. I wanted to look Bigfoot in the eyes. I wanted to see one, I knew they were near, I could feel it. We were so close, but yet so far.
We planned a community meeting I titled “the Bigfoot Conversation” in International Falls for the next day at the very same coffee shop we had investigated before. We were live on the radio during this event, and as we had hoped, many locals came to the coffee shop and told us their experiences with Sasquatch. The stories came from folks who were normal, and well educated. These weren’t people who would tell tales, or fanatics. These were honest, hard working people. And their stories? AMAZING. I chatted with a man for quite some time who told me stories of not only Bigfoot, but of UFO’s as well, but that? Is for another blog.
Is Sasquatch real? In my mind he is as real as you and I, and I want to meet him or her. I want to look into their eyes and what? I don’t know, maybe give them a hug? Oh that’s such a Stephie thing to do, but really, I want to see them. Our eyewitness told us he saw what appeared to be a family of them; so we know that they hang out in groups sometimes. I think this journey has whetted the SIM Crew’s appetite; there will definitely be another Bigfoot Expedition in the Borderland wilderness, and hopefully we will experience a SASQUATCH.
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| Jerry and I, searching for Bigfoot. |
