Utah Bigfoot

Butterfield Canyon Sighting

2012-01-23T13:27:00.004-07:00

Just got this today. I'd never heard this story before, but Dave Carver was on an internet radio show that I was listening to, and another friend of mine, Thom Cantrall called in and briefly related an experience he had in the 1990's.

I sent him a message asking for his story. He's never published it prior to this, so I feel pretty honored to have him let me relate it here.

-----BEGIN-----

It was late summer and the antlers were hard now, if still velvet covered… The beginning of what the Indians called the Moon of the Crying Elk, though there was no evidence of them bugling yet. In fact, the bulls still seemed to be running in bachelor bands as we saw three different such bands on this day.

It was in the early 1990s and my son in law had graduated from BYU the previous spring and had taken a position with a firm in the Salt Lake Valley and was living in the Holliday, UT area. Cabin fever was hard upon us when we decided a voyage of exploration might be in order. Why we chose the west side of the valley that day, I have no idea. Perhaps those in charge (our wives) had placed a time limit on us for our excursion as our previous outing that had begun at Provo Canyon had lasted until the wee dark, single digit hours of the following morning… they were prone to do that in those times for some perverse reason. I can’t say that those restrictions ever really limited our outings to any degree although that lack of limiting discipline might have been the cause of the two of us fixing our own dinners from time to time. Today was to prove no exception.

We traveled west across the valley on one of the streets that was a direct route… 4100 S. I think, in looking at the map... we intersected the main road on the west side of the valley near a powder company (Hercules Powder, perhaps?). From there we journeyed south with the idea of finding a likely looking canyon that would allow us a hike into its bowels. Several times in this area, we saw elk in the distance, including two bachelor bands, one of which held two exceptional bulls, the larger of which would have probably been a 320 class bull or better. Since all of these appeared in direct correlation to an ample supply of “No Trespassing” signs, we assumed that Utah elk had the ability to, if not actually read, at least to recognize signs! On one occasion we spotted a band of six Mule Deer bucks feeding on some green feed very near an old farmstead. As this area was lacking those hated signs, we decided to put a stalk on them, eventually closing to within bow range of the bucks. There were two in this band that I would have happily brought home. Both were 4X4s with extremely high and wide racks though still fully in the velvet yet.

We traveled on south past the great mine at Bingham Canyon to a point just south of there. There is a road there that turns up Butterfield Canyon and we decided we had time to explore this area before curfew… well… at least not MUCH beyond curfew… How far up that canyon we were, I, at this late date, cannot recall. I guesstimate about five miles. In glassing to the south, slightly past a large pile of rock that I guessed to be tailings, we spotted another bachelor band of elk. We could not see how many or what quality these animals were, but, since there were no signs to tell us otherwise, we decided to check it out. I parked my old Bronco, Widowmaker, out of sight of the road and we headed up a small draw…

It was not far up this gulch that we came to a split and my son in law took the south arm while I took the north. About twenty minutes later as I lay glassing a clearing that lay before me and between me and my son, I saw a shape in the small trees that defined the far side of the clearing. I lay very quietly in my place and watched closely, fully expecting a muley doe to come out of that brush as the glimpse I had had been far too dark to be an elk. Very suddenly, the dark shape darted from the cover it had been in while hiding from me and entered an even thicker, darker copse beyond. It was a large being… running on its hind legs… at least seven feet tall and possibly as much as seven and a half feet. It was massively built and very dark. Its arms were long, as they had to be and it was very cautious of me. I had no problem understanding what it was, though I was mildly surprised to see it here. I wondered why it had revealed itself to me with that sudden dash when I heard brush cracking and Lynn emerged from the thick cover. He had followed his branch to where it had become too difficult to continue, since we were not really hunting, but just out curing a fever, and had decided to move in my direction.

As had happened so many times before in our years of hunting together, his move was timed impeccably and worked to our mutual benefit. I did spend a bit of time looking for tracks which were evident only as disturbances of the leaves on the ground. I also took the opportunity to unobtrusively estimate the height of the small trees he’d been standing amidst while hiding from me to better determine a height estimate.

We then retraced out steps to ol’ Widowmaker and headed on home… first stopping at a Burger King along the way to preclude the “punishment” we had waiting for us on arrival.

-----END-----

I will have to wait until this fall before I go up and photograph his location to go with the story. For now it is important for me to get the story on my blog so I don't forget about it.

Thom's Crypto Blog is here.

Film To Process

2012-01-17T08:55:00.002-07:00

Each of these boxes is full. I can process 5-sheets of film at a time. It takes roughly 40 minutes to an hour to process those 5-sheets. I have a bit of work ahead of me.

Logan Canyon

2012-01-16T12:47:00.002-07:00

I am finding new reports about Logan Canyon recently. One that I heard first-hand in November from the man who had the experience. He was participating in a town-hall for Animal Planet's show called 'Finding Bigfoot'. It was pretty interesting as I had not heard it before. I will include his report that he provided to the BFRO as well as the notes I took during the meeting.

Report # 29013 (Class A)  Submitted by witness on Thursday, March 24, 2011.

Driver sees a Bigfoot cross the road while snowplowing Logan Canyon

YEAR: 2005
SEASON: Winter
MONTH: January
DATE: 5
STATE: Utah
COUNTY: Cache County

LOCATION DETAILS: Going east out of Logan follow US 89 past Tony Grove turn off about 3 miles far east you'll see a sign for Franklin Basin. As you cross the bridge on 89 there is a turn off going north. It was in this area where the bigfoot crossed the road coming from the south . This is also the road that will take you to Cub river area in Idaho

NEAREST TOWN: logan, Utah 26 miles away

NEAREST ROAD: US 89

OBSERVED: It was early in the morning 12:30 to 1:00 A.m It was Jan of 2005, I was plowing snow on US 89 Through Logan Canyon, I was in my truck plowing snow I was near the Franklin Basin Road and saw something in the road. I flipped on the plow lights (now these lights are landing lights) they are very bright and I saw something walk across the road. It was large, Tall, and hairy it stood about 7 ft tall. It looked right at me.and continued to walk across the road. I didn't stop cuz of the snowy conditions. When I stopped back in the morning all tracks were covered in new snow. What sealed the sighting for me was that morning on the radio I heard of someone reporting a sighting up cub river in Idaho. The Franklin Basin Road connects Logan canyon To Cub river in Idaho. My family thinks I'm nuts but I know what I saw It was not man. I hope this helps.

OTHER WITNESSES: no

OTHER STORIES: That morning I heard on the radio of someone reporting a sighting up Cub river in Idaho.The areas are connected by the Franklin Basin Road which runs from Logan Canyon to Cub River.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 12:30 to 1:00 AM. Snowy conditions Lighting was bright I turned on 2 landing lights with which our trucks are equip with so I had the creature lit up
ENVIRONMENT: River. Canyon area where the bigfoot crossed the road it is open and visible Just east of the bridge

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Todd Strong:
I interviewed this witness and found him to be very credible. He has years of experience driving a snow plow through rugged mountain canyons and had no particular belief or experiences with Bigfoot before this occurred. The lights mounted on the snow plow were much brighter than average headlights and easily lit up the road several hundred yards ahead of the truck. While sitting in the cab of the truck the witness estimated his view was about seven and a half feet off of the ground and even with the animal's eyes. The animal did turn and look at him but didn't break its stride or slow down. The witness did check for footprints the next day but couldn't find any because of the recent snow storm.   Based on my field investigation of the area I determined there are plenty of herds of both elk and deer with miles of thick cover and water that can support a population of bigfoot. The area is known for bigfoot sightings. All of this combined with the lighting conditions of the snowplow lead me to believe this witness saw a bigfoot that night.   We interviewed this witness for the show "Finding Bigfoot" and he joined the cast and local investigators for a few days.

About BFRO Investigator Todd Strong:
Todd Strong has a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and is self-employed.  He is a Certified Visual Tracker; Level 1.  Todd has been an avid outdoorsman since childhood. Attended the following BFRO expeditions: Utah 2007, Northern California Spring 2008, Olympic Peninsula Washington 2008, Northern California Spring 2009, Northern California Fall 2009, Wyoming 2010, Olympic Peninsula Washington 2011. Todd was the Expedition Organizer for the Utah 2010 expedition and is organizing the Utah 2012 expedition.

Personal notes taken from the Animal Planet 'Finding Bigfoot' town hall meeting where this story was first related:

Joe Phillips – January 2005, Snow plow operator in Logan Canyon, Franklin Basin area, came across curve, creature walked in front of plow across road, saw it in his 'landing lights'. Looked at its face eye-to-eye while he was sitting in the cab of his plow. Also mentioned a report from the Cub River Canyon, seen at about 25-30 yards. Dave Carver has his contact info. Wouldn't be too hard to track him down from UDOT.

-end

This morning I went up Logan Canyon to this location to photograph. I did a few calls, got no returns and exposed two 4x10 negatives. When I got home I mapped out on Google Earth the distance from the beginning of the Franklin Basin Road to the top of the Cub River Canyon Road. That distance is 16.25 miles. I am not sure where on the Cub River Canyon Road the sighting was earlier in the morning, but at the very least it is a distance of 16.25 miles. A Bigfoot could easily cover that distance in that period of time. If we say that in January something would be 'visible' in the morning light by about 7am, then that gives said Bigfoot at least 18 hours to travel 16 miles. Even in deep snow down that road it would be completely possible. I contacted Todd Strong about my experience there this morning and he gave me the indication that he believes a Bigfoot can travel three-times as fast as a human can. I would not doubt that figure.

I am realizing that I have quite a back-log of undeveloped film from the past year. I will be taking my JOBO film processor to BYU this week and start processing my film in the mornings in an attempt to catch up and make some scans/prints.

I should start having new images within a month or so for the blog.

Thanks to those who continue to show interest! Pass the link along if you are so inclined!

Catching Up

2011-11-26T08:16:00.007-07:00

So apparently there really ARE people who read the Utah Bigfoot blog. For those of you who just can't get enough of things 'Bigfoot', here is an update to what has been going on since August.

A LOT.

Here are some highlights:

-Had dinner with Dr. Jeff Meldrum before his presentation at Utah Valley University on November 11th.

-Have been out photographing at least a dozen times in new locations with new stories. I have not processed any of the film yet. There is too much dust in my home while we are finishing the basement to let film dry. Dust is bad for film-based photography, so I have a back-log of about 75 negatives to process.

-I purchased a very big enlarger for use on my Bigfoot project. It is a Durst L184 and can print negatives up to 10x10 inches. The enlarger is over 9-feet tall and weighs over 400 pounds. Seems appropriate for this project I think. The largest camera I have is an 8x10, so this will enlarge those negatives very well. For the Utah Bigfoot project I am shooting 4x10 negatives and I will use this enlarger to make prints that will start at 8x20 inches and get larger. I need a big enlarger to make big prints for my Bigfoot project. I have tentatively named the enlarger 'Patty'.

-Last night (November 25th), the crew from Animal Planet came to Logan to hold a town hall style meeting. The gang from 'Finding Bigfoot' was in town filming an episode and locals were coming out of the woodwork to meet Bobo and friends. About 50-60 people were there and I counted 18 hands raised when the group was asked who has had a visual sighting of Bigfoot.

Each of those people was allowed to stand and relate their story for the camera. A few of the stories I had heard, but most I had not. We got e-mail addresses and phone numbers for many of these individuals to follow up on later. I also met Dr. Lynn McNeill, a professor of folklore at Utah State University in Logan. She has a large archive of local folklore brought in by students, a significant and regularly occuring portion of which are stories of Bigfoot. I am sure I will get more story locations when I get a chance to visit the collection on campus.

For those of you who have requested to see the finished footage of the two interviews we did back in August, I am sorry to have to say that we are going to sit on it for now. We have a larger project in mind and we are not ready to make the complete interviews available. Sorry to be such a tease...

Huntsville Interviews

2011-08-26T14:01:00.001-06:00

Last night I went up to Huntsville, Utah with Dave Carver and a bunch of other folks to listen to two women relate some experiences they have had. I shot over 90 minutes of video, but I had to distill it down into something that would 'tease' the viewer. I will go and make photographs at the locations these two women have described.

Patterson Film

2011-08-23T16:52:00.008-06:00

Ok, so it's good to occasionally step back and review just what it is that originally sparks our interest or plants a seed of fascination. For me with this whole Bigfoot thing, it has to have been either the stories my father would tell us, or the footage shot by Rodger Patterson in 1967.

Here is an interesting piece of animation using the original footage. It has been stabilized so that the camera shakey-ness has been removed and we can get a clearer view of just what it is that ambles across the river.

Patterson/Gimlin Film, Bluff Creek, California - 1967
Image stabilization by M.K. Davis - 2011

I'll leave it up to the viewer to decide just what the heck that thing is.

If you click on the video it will open up a new window and show you the images at a larger size. It's pretty cool.

Idaho - Bear Lake Hot Springs

2011-08-15T22:19:00.002-06:00

Last week I met a man at Dave's Bigfoot Show who related an experience he had up near Bear Lake several years ago. I asked him to write down his experience so that I could go and make a photograph later this fall. Here is his account.

It was early August as I remember because I was dreading the summer ending and heading back to school. I was 14 years old at the time ( this occurred in 1992 ). My cousins family had invited me to go camping at Bear Lake.

I had never been to the lake and thought this would fun. We headed up to the Bear River Hot Springs located just on the Idaho side of Bear Lake. It was the first night of camping out. My aunt and uncle ( Barbara and Reed ) along with my cousin ( Blake ) were all sleeping in a small 15ft trailer they pulled up.

Myself, Sherry, Dustin and Greg were all sleeping in the tent that was across the fire pit from the trailer ( aprox 20ft ). About 30 to 40 ft to the south of the trailer was an old storage shed that was located on the property. We were camping aprox 200-300ft away from the beach at the time. We had all been up late and decided it was time to go to bed. Me being a little claustrophobic decided to sleep towards the entrance of the tent hoping it would make me more comfortable.

I remember laying there for about a hour trying to fall asleep. I was staring at the stars and the surroundings outside when a large creature walked from behind the trailer to behind the shed. It was dark, all I could really see was the silhouette of the creature. It immediately turned and walked back from behind the shed and back behind the trailer again. Within 10-15 seconds it walked back again from behind the trailer to behind the shed. This time however it stopped halfway in between and turned and looked over our way. When the creature turned it turned from the waist up. Not with it's neck. Also the creature had a very distinctive walk. It walked in long strides and with his hands curled back behind him.

I could see that the creature had what seemed to be all one size of legs and arms. They looked more like tree trunks than human arms and legs. The creature stood about 7-7.5ft tall. When it passed by there was a horrible stench that disappeared as soon as the creature left. As soon as it was gone and I was able to compose myself I woke Dustin up and told him what I had seen. He laughed and joked and said "it sounds like you seen bigfoot."

I did not know who or what bigfoot was at the time. We stayed up a little and talked about what I had seen and he reassured me there was nothing out there and it was probably someone using the restroom or something. I could not sleep the rest of the night and when morning came I woke Dustin and we went and hunted around the trailer.

We found several large footprints leading back and forth between the trailer and the shed. We showed my aunt and uncle and they informed the managers of the hot springs. They called either the DWR or the Forest service who came out and took plasters and my story. After they were done I asked to call my parents and they came and got me within a few hours. To this day my cousin does not like to talk about what I say at Bear Lake that summer.

I believe to this day what I saw that night was bigfoot.

Mount Timpanogos - Summit Trail

2011-07-31T22:16:00.007-06:00

Summit Trail, Mount Timpanogos, 2011, Michael Slade

July, 2004

My family and I took a hike to the falls behind BYU family camp located in Aspen Grove, Ut. Which is I think in Utah county. On the way back we missed a turn on the regular trail and were soon on a game trail. We had traveled about a mile down this trail when it became almost impassable. I looked down to the right and recognized that we had passed the family camp and could see the end of the State Campground. We were at the far end of the campground and about 1/2 to 3/4 miles above it. I decided to take a game trail that was very over grown down the mountain side to trek back to the camp. It was about 3:00 pm and I was concerned that we would be caught on the mountain at dark. With me were my wife 50, my son 7, and my daughter 11 at the time.

After leaving the bench we were on we pushed our way through the brush to the next bench. As we made it to the clearing my daughter and I stopped cold and she said, "Bigfoot!" What we saw was a footprint about 15 inches long and 6 to 8 inches wide. The imprint was at least a 1/4 inch deep in the hard dirt. My wife and son came up behind us and said the same thing. I jumped up and down to try and make an imprint (I weigh 220 pounds) and could only make a small impression. We looked around (a little because my family was frightened and I need to get them home) but we did not find any other evidence. When we got back to camp I thought I would go back and take a picture of the print. However, after looking back up the hill I wasn't sure I would find it again and my wife forbade it. We were all spooked.

Blue Diamond, Nevada

2011-07-22T23:50:00.004-06:00

Occasionally I will slip outside the strict boundary of Utah and do some research on an area that I happen to be visiting. Last Thanksgiving we visited some friends in Los Angeles and on the way home stopped in Blue Diamond, Nevada to take a photograph.

I had been interviewed on Bigfoot's Pad radio earlier that month and they told me about several sightings in southern Nevada. I decided to check out Blue Diamond and take a photograph based on their experiences there. You can hear more about their encounters in the podcast linked above.

Since then I have found a very small report that is not very descriptive, but it sheds a little more light on the area.

Multiple Sand Yeti Sightings, Blue Diamond, Nevada, 2010, Michael Slade

Oregonbigfoot.com file# 00425

  Date: , 2002 
Clark county, NV  
Nearest town: Blue Diamond 
Nearest road: SH 160
 Conditions:  
Time: early evening
 Location: Near the community of Blue Diamond in Clark County Nevada

  Description of event:

I saw a large fur-bearing creature walking up right through the desert sagebrush. The creature moved quickly from the brush and crossed the roadway into the sagebrush on the opposite side. The animal seemed to be ape-like but had a more upright posture and bi-ped(al) locomotion.

Layton - Habituation Site - now with photograph!

2011-07-22T23:06:00.002-06:00

This is where a man I've met with and spoken to several times has had several encounters and one sighting of a Bigfoot in Layton. He wishes to keep the location anonymous, so that's all I'm going to say about that here. He is using trail cameras and has called several different individuals in over the past few years. This last winter has been particularly harsh and he has yet to hear any howls or have any sightings.

The time he saw the creature it was standing under the eaves of the horse barn between the two feeders. He said it's head almost hit the eaves. It was swaying back and forth looking at him for several minutes.

Bigfoot Habituation Site, Layton, 2011, Michael Slade

Clarkston

2011-07-22T22:57:00.003-06:00

A Random Corner, Clarkston, 2009, Michael Slade

Original Source: Deseret News, Bigfoot: A Search In Utah, Wednesday, June 24, 2009

1970s — Some residents of Clarkston, northwest of Logan, reported that something took a midnight trip through their community, awakening and frightening residents

Riverdale Road, Ogden

2011-07-22T22:36:00.003-06:00

Creature Darts In Front Of Car At 3:30am, Riverdale Road, Ogden, 2010, Michael Slade

'Bigfoot' Sighted Now in Riverdale By Bert Strand, Standard-Examiner Staff  Ogden Standard-Examiner_ February 27, 1980

RIVERDALE - "I didn't believe in them, but I sure do now," exclaims a Clearfield man who says "bigfoot" ran through the headlights of his vehicle early Monday morning. Lee Padilla of 143 W. 650 N. said he was driving east on Riverdale Road about one mile west of Weber River about 3:30 a.m. when the 10 to 11-foot tall creature loped across the highway about 25 feet away.

LONG LEGS

"It had long legs, a head like a gorilla with long, dark brown, furry hair that was in layers. The thing was very graceful. I would say it would weigh about 600 pounds. It crossed the road from north to south and I would estimate it was running about 35 miles an hour. I saw it for maybe four or five seconds," said Padilla.
The creature kept his face faced in the direction he was running, Padilla said. When asked if the incident frightened him, Padilla answered with a slow "No." and then added, "I was more curious than anything else. It didn't pay the least bit of attention to me or my car." A check of the area Tuesday by Padilla, Jay W. Barker of North Ogden and photographer John Shupe failed to uncover any tracks. The highway sides, however, were solid grass and weeds and fields in the area were hard or planted in alfalfa and even the footprints of the men did not show, said Barker.

ONE FIELD

"There was one plowed field on the north side, but we didn't find any tracks in it," said Barker who also reported seeing the creature together with three other men and several boys three years ago in the Uinta Mountains. Padilla said after the creature crossed out of the headlight beams, he turned down a small, dirt side road and directed the beam of his headlights across the field hoping he could follow and spot the creature again. The headlight beams didn't spot the creature, Padilla said, but they did attract the attention of a state highway trooper who drove up and asked him what was going on. When the trooper was told what had taken place, "he took off in a hurry and I got the impression he was going to also look for it," said Padilla.
The witness said the creature had long arms and was very erect as it ran across the highway. Padilla said the creature "moved gracefully" and not in the manner usually attributed to the slouch and swinging gait of a gorilla or member of the ape family. Padilla said the area where the creature crossed is farmland with open fields and little cover.

FEW MILES

The location is only a few miles from where sightings were reported and tracks of "bigfoot" found early in February in South Weber outside the mouth of Weber Canyon and near the Weber River.

Layton Bench - now with photograph!

2011-07-22T22:25:00.002-06:00

Here's the image from the Layton Bench sighting.

Bigfoot Sighted Along Layton Bench, 2011, Michael Slade

Here is the written report from the Utah UFO Hunters website:

UUFOH REPORT by Ryan Layton

General information:

1- Equipment: Video shot with Digital 8 camcorder (High zoom)
2- Date of filming: Nov. 11 2000 approx 7:45 am
3- Location: Layton, Utah off US 89 on the Wasatch Front mountains...( near Hobbs Canyon. )
4- Details: first spotted with binoculars, then grabbed video camera for approx 4 minutes of video.

Comments:

I believe what you are seeing is the real thing based on the location, & is a real Sasquatch individual, appearing to possibly have a young juvenile on its back.

It was taken in 4-6 inches of snow.

Having reenacted it recently on location it seems like about 80 yards of walking footage taking its time , even stopping & twisting & turning several times. Because of the great distance the film was taken at in the Zoom mode it is difficult to make out an incredible amount of tell -tale indications on the physical anatomy without high tech scrutiny applied such as a SAGITTAL CREST on the cranium, {in other words a cone shaped head} positive identification of juvenile on back such as arms legs swinging so forth.}

However the individual does seem to be large and pear shaped {MESOMORPH body type} especially when viewing it disappearing into the oak brush. Also extremely dark contrasted to the surroundings as you can observe.

Many researchers and notable big game hunters in the area who have had their own sightings & encounters felt that it was bonafide and not a put-on, hoax or setup. They were satisfied that it was indeed a Sasquatch in their own way of evaluating it. As well as myself.

City Creek - now with photograph!

2011-07-22T22:18:00.005-06:00

Here's the image from City Creek, near the Utah State Capitol building.

Bigfoot Sighting In City Creek, Looking Toward Utah State Capitol, 2011, Michael Slade

Here's the sighting report from 1992:

Oregonbigfoot.com file# 00607

  Date: December 07, 1992 
Salt Lake county, UT
  Nearest town: SLC
 Nearest road: City Creek Canyon
 Conditions: snowing 
Time: mid morning
 Location: A mile northeast of UT State capital building

  Description of event:

I was at lunch at my new job in Salt Lake City, Utah. When I saw something crawling through the underbrush on hill across from me. I at first thought how cool, I'm new to Utah. And my first thought was it was a wild animal, a bear. But the animal I saw came out of the underbrush and stood-up. Without any misstep it walked upright at an angle up the hill, which at my best guess would be about a 45 deg. angle. With app. 12 in. of snow - there was no slipping, no struggling and with no effort the animal walked up the hill to a cave like opening. It ducked it's head and walked in.

At At that point two of my co-workers walked up and I said look at that what is it? They definitely saw the animal that I was looking at and said "That must be a survey guy". I said,"Well where is his orange vest they always wear?" They said, "I don't know...must be something" and walked away. Surprised that they acted like it was nothing I continued to watch as the animal walked out of the opening a little down hill, then suddenly it stopped and it looked right up at me and with a sharp jerk down motion of it's head it walked quickly up the hill to a small rock-outcropping and ducked out of view. I stood there for a few minutes then, concerned about the jeopardy of my new job I quickly went back to work.

Film Processing

2011-06-06T15:13:00.007-06:00

So I usually have a 'real' darkroom to process my film in, but I was getting such a large back-log of negatives that I decided to start processing.

My basement is in the process of being finished, therefore my space that I was getting ready to use as my darkroom is currently storing everything that was strewn about the basement. Since I have no where to process my film I had to decide to take over the half-bathroom upstairs.

I am using PMK for my developer, processing for 15 minutes, doing a split of the development time half-way through and putting in a fresh 1000ml of developer at 7 minutes. I am shooting HP5+ and processing for 15 minutes. I might lengthen the time to 16 for my normal development time.

The JOBO 3005 drum works well with the Unicolor roller base that I have modified to only rotate in one direction.

It's a little tight in there and I have to be careful with spills and cleaning up, but so far the results have been fabulous and I am excited to push on and get the rest of the film developed.

Today I processed film from Bigfoot sightings in City Creek Canyon and a shot from Great Salt Lake.

Huntsville - some new sightings

2011-05-28T20:52:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I went back up to a few areas that I had visited before so that I could re-photograph them and get a slightly different image and to get some additional details about the events that happened there.

I went back to East Layton and made a photograph in the research area I have mentioned before. I also went for a long-ish walk with the eyewitness and he pointed out several features of the area and even some of the places where he is conducting his own research. He indicated places where he has placed game cameras and showed me a tree-break that he had discovered earlier. I had never seen one, so it was interesting to put it into context.

I went up to Huntsville and photographed an area just below the dam where a sasquatch had approached a kitchen window and peeked inside scaring a mother and son. I met a current resident who knows the son from the experience and they were excited to hear the story. They had never heard it before. I was a bit surprised, but then realized they were renting from the former woman who had the experience at the kitchen window. I can think of no better way to scare off tenants than to tell them that the place was frequented by bigfoot. They were very into learning more about the area and some of the behavior that is attributed to bigfoot. They said they would pay closer attention and I told them I would come back and visit them again later.

I then went to a new area on the Ogden Divide where I had heard of a story from the east side looking downhill. The witness in this experience claimed she saw a white bigfoot that crossed the road and shoulder in five steps and went down a steep embankment like it wasn't even there. Five human steps will only put you to the shoulder of the road, and won't even get you anywhere near the slope. I am impressed at the size and speed of these creatures.

I headed down into Huntsville to follow up on a few things then learned of a new sighting down by the large waste-water treatment facility. This happened last July to a young woman and her boyfriend and they were very spooked. They returned the next day to find evidence of what they had seen. I am still fleshing out the details so my apologies for not having a longer account. I did see two sandhill cranes and it's young baby chick. That was pretty neat.

I went up the road to the Powder Mountain ski resort to make a photograph up there of a sighting by some men who were spotlighting for deer late one night. Again, the details are very interesting, but I don't have them all. I am not pursuing photographs that do not have written accounts, so be reassured that there are interesting stories forthcoming to accompany the images.

In any case, it was a very productive day, had some wonderful spring-like weather, nice clouds and nice light. A good day for photography on this project.

I had emptied, cleaned and loaded film earlier in the morning for the day's activities. I realized I am about 50-sheets behind on processing and printing. I will have a busy summer I believe catching up.

Layton - habituation site

2011-04-30T15:34:00.002-06:00

There is a researcher in Layton who has had several experiences near his property over the past few years. He got in touch with me, and I met him last week.

He showed me the land near his property, related several experiences there and I took one photograph of a gully that has a stream running through it, a lot of dense scrub oak and the surrounding hillside and neighborhood houses.

It is exciting for me to think that this urban area is a location where these creatures travel frequently. He told me that the neighbors have heard the same night-time screaming that he has. He also said that he has several trail cameras in the area near his property in areas where there have been visual sightings, footprints and tree-breaks.

Contact

2011-04-06T18:27:00.003-06:00

I have been busy over the past few days meeting new people and learning of new sightings and experiences these individuals have had. It is fascinating to me to listen to them and their 'matter-of-fact' way that they relate the details. I just chuckle when I hear these stories, not out of ridicule, but rather out of a sense of wonder that Bigfoot hasn't been discovered by mainstream science yet. It seems that these stories come from everywhere and from everyone.

I am also amazed that now I have been contacted by others to relate stories, rather than the other way around. I wondered if that would ever happen. It seems tonight it has.

I have two phone numbers and names of people to talk to and take notes. I am still editing the telephone notes I took from last night talking to a gentleman whose family had an experience when he was growing up in the 1980's on a dairy farm near Corinne.

I guess it wouldn't hurt anything to post my cell phone number in case anyone wants to get in touch with me. I'll spell it out so that the spam-bots don't find me.

eight oh one seven oh three six nine one nine

Give me a call or send me an e-mail. I would LOVE to hear from you.

Layton Bench

2011-04-05T18:53:00.003-06:00

I went back to the Layton Bench area that Dave Carver showed me last week. I shot a little video of the area as I was making the still photograph. Here's the video:

I shot one sheet of 4x10 film. I'll put up a print here when it's done.

Here is the written report from the Utah UFO Hunters website:

UUFOH REPORT by Ryan Layton

General information:

1- Equipment: Video shot with Digital 8 camcorder (High zoom)
2- Date of filming: Nov. 11 2000 approx 7:45 am
3- Location: Layton, Utah off US 89 on the Wasatch Front mountains...( near Hobbs Canyon. )
4- Details: first spotted with binoculars, then grabbed video camera for approx 4 minutes of video.

Comments:

I believe what you are seeing is the real thing based on the location, & is a real Sasquatch individual, appearing to possibly have a young juvenile on its back.

It was taken in 4-6 inches of snow.

Having reenacted it recently on location it seems like about 80 yards of walking footage taking its time , even stopping & twisting & turning several times. Because of the great distance the film was taken at in the Zoom mode it is difficult to make out an incredible amount of tell -tale indications on the physical anatomy without high tech scrutiny applied such as a SAGITTAL CREST on the cranium, {in other words a cone shaped head} positive identification of juvenile on back such as arms legs swinging so forth.}

However the individual does seem to be large and pear shaped {MESOMORPH body type} especially when viewing it disappearing into the oak brush. Also extremely dark contrasted to the surroundings as you can observe.

Many researchers and notable big game hunters in the area who have had their own sightings & encounters felt that it was bonafide and not a put-on, hoax or setup. They were satisfied that it was indeed a Sasquatch in their own way of evaluating it. As well as myself.

Undocumented Sightings in Weber County

2011-04-01T10:53:00.004-06:00

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of meeting Dave Carver. Dave is a 30+ year Bigfoot researcher who lives in Weber County. He has been specializing in Bigfoot encounters and stories of Northern Utah and I was looking forward to getting together with him.

We met around noon and dove straight into what Dave wanted to share with me. He jumped into my car and we drove around for nearly 3 hours visiting different sighting locations, a few which I already knew about, but many that I did not.

The experiences of which I had read of he had more information that he shared with me to help flesh out some of the details.

I turned on my Zoom recorder right when we met and Dave was very comfortable recording his stories for me to return to when I had more time the weather is right.

Some of these experiences will take some time to get to and photograph, and several of them have no written account. I will try to interview these individuals personally and either make an audio recording of them relating their account, or have them write it down to be able to use.

David was very generous with his time and his research. I am looking forward to a very productive spring and summer in Weber county.

David is also working on a very big event this fall. Maybe you have heard of Dave's Bigfoot Show.

Hope to see any of you there!

New Camera

2011-03-29T08:25:00.003-06:00

This year I have made a serious financial commitment to my personal work. I purchased an 8x10 camera that is custom made by a fantastic craftsman from Mesa, Arizona named Keith Canham. This camera is particularly interesting because it can shoot various formats of film. For my Utah Bigfoot project I have been shooting 4x10 sheet film. I like the format, the camera isn't so big that I can't backpack with it, and lenses and associated goodies are still affordable. Once you move beyond the 8x10 camera things start to get a little unweildy pretty fast.

To change the 8x10 to any other format you simply unclip the back and replace it with a seperate back that is tailored to fit specific film holders. For this 8x10 I can also shoot 4x10 and 5x7. I could also shoot 4x5 because a friend of mine who lives nearby also has a Canham 4x5 back and we have traded equipment frequently.

I also have a fairly wide compliment of lenses. Currently I have a Schneider 90mm f/8 Super Angulon, 120mm f/8 Super Angulon, 150mm f/9 G-Claron, 210 f/9 G-Claron, 355 G-Claron, 480mm f/9APO-Nikkor and a 21 1/2 inch f/16 Kodak Ektanon lens. Yes that's seven...even I am surprised.

This is a wide variety of lenses to be sure, but with this camera setup, multiple backs and my lens kit, I can cover all 3 formats shooting all kinds of subject matter. I plan to shoot portraits with the 5x7 back, and the lens for those would be either the 210 or the 355. The Bigfoot photographs will be taken with the 4x10, and those lenses would be the 90, 120, or 210...possibly the 355. The 8x10 will be used quite a bit in my Great Salt Lake Photographic Survey project. Those lenses would be the 210, 355, 480 or the 21 1/2.

All of the film I am shooting is Ilford HP5+. This film is made in England and will be custom ordered each year with the following year's shooting schedule in mind. When you want weird and rare equipment and materials you have to plan in advance, often times needing custom parts made.

I am developing the film in Pyro of various formulas using Jobo film processors.

Printing for the Utah Bigfoot project is done exclusively on Arches Platine using platinum and palladium metals. It is a process that I enjoy doing as well as viewing. It also has the side-benefit of being archival for as long as the paper fibers stay intact.

Some photographs of the camera in action would be nice I guess.

City Creek Canyon, Salt Lake City, Utah

2011-03-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to City Creek Canyon to photograph the location described in the following account:

Oregonbigfoot.com file# 00607

  Date: December 07, 1992 
Salt Lake county, UT
  Nearest town: SLC
 Nearest road: City Creek Canyon
 Conditions: snowing 
Time: mid morning
 Location: A mile northeast of UT State capital building

  Description of event:

I was at lunch at my new job in Salt Lake City, Utah. When I saw something crawling through the underbrush on hill across from me. I at first thought how cool, I'm new to Utah. And my first thought was it was a wild animal, a bear. But the animal I saw came out of the underbrush and stood-up. Without any misstep it walked upright at an angle up the hill, which at my best guess would be about a 45 deg. angle. With app. 12 in. of snow - there was no slipping, no struggling and with no effort the animal walked up the hill to a cave like opening. It ducked it's head and walked in.

At At that point two of my co-workers walked up and I said look at that what is it? They definitely saw the animal that I was looking at and said "That must be a survey guy". I said,"Well where is his orange vest they always wear?" They said, "I don't know...must be something" and walked away. Surprised that they acted like it was nothing I continued to watch as the animal walked out of the opening a little down hill, then suddenly it stopped and it looked right up at me and with a sharp jerk down motion of it's head it walked quickly up the hill to a small rock-outcropping and ducked out of view. I stood there for a few minutes then, concerned about the jeopardy of my new job I quickly went back to work.

Source: oregonbigfoot.com 

Yesterday we had between 12-18 inches of new heavy snow fall here in Salt Lake, and I have been waiting for a good blanket of snow to go and photograph this particular location.

I have driven the 'loop' that is the City Creek Canyon road nearly a dozen times by now trying to figure out where exactly this sighting location was. I have been unable to find any 'cave-like' openings, but the rest of the description of the canyon is 100% accurate. I have photographed this canyon from the north side about 2 months ago, but there wasn't much snow and I wasn't satisfied with the angle, so I re-scouted the canyon and decided to bushwhack along the eastern side of the canyon.

I had tried to locate a way to come at it from above and avoid hiking up from the road below. I ended up parking my vehicle at the UDOT facility where they store and load road-salt, and started hiking up around 10:30am yesterday morning.

The snow was heavy and it was easy to see where the deer had been earlier in the day.

I zig-zagged up a gentle slope and got up to where the steepness increased dramatically before cutting back around and ending up just below several residential homes. The land was quite steep and it was difficult to maintain my footing without slipping down. Several times I had to resort to using my hands and getting down on all fours on occasion. Although very tiring, it proved to be the most efficient way of getting around on this particular hillside with the loose deep snow.

I set up the camera, my new 8x10 Canham (shooting with the 4x10 back), and made a shot looking down a small draw at some of the underbrush. I could see across the canyon and this particular image showed the steepness of the terrain, a bit of the foliage and the other side of the canyon and how narrow it is.

After catching my breath and making one shot (the film costs about $2.50/sheet), I continued to hike across several small draws slowly gaining elevation as I could only approach it in a gentle angle due to the steepness of the hill and the depth of the snow.

I finally reached a crest where there is a small knob just to the side of a line of power-poles coming down the canyon. I liked that angle but wanted to gain some more elevation, so I bushwhacked a few more zig-zags and got up onto the next flat level of terrain, this time being at the base of the next set of powerpoles and next to a large conglomerate rock measuring about 12 feet across and about 7 feet tall.

I went over to the edge of the hill and still wasn't satisfied so I hiked again up and across another set of steep inclines up to where I had a clearing that I could set up. I didn't like that angle so hiked back down (slid quite a bit actually), and went back to the second location by the boulder. I made a shot there, went back down to the knob, made a shot there and by then I was pretty much tired out. It was sunny, about 34 deg. f. and I was working quite a sweat. My gloves were soaked and my outer shell was also very wet. I was dry, my feet were warm and it was an otherwise very pleasant hike, but I was getting tired and it was after lunch by this point.

I packed up and decided to just head straight downhill to the road then walk the road back up to my car. As I was gingerly stepping down the 45% slope, I slipped on the long slick grass and mud that covers all of the hills there, and landed squarely on my behind. I had my tripod in one hand and my other hand out for balance as the snow gave way and started to slide. I knew I wouldn't go far, and I had a pretty good idea that I wasn't going to end up in any kind of a major avalanche, but as the speed increased and I looked to my sides and saw the whole hillside of snow moving along with me, I got kind of nervous. As I looked downhill to see what I was going to end up sliding into, I saw that I would just end up being pushed into a stand of underbrush and might get scraped up a little bit. I stopped immediately before heading into the trees, with my feet propped up against some of them.

I looked around, chuckled quite a bit and grabbed my tripod, which by this point I had let go of, but slid down the hill next to me carried by the snow.

I looked up the hill and I had created a much larger snow-slide than I thought I would have. It was triangular in shape and was nearly 75 yards from top to bottom. I was impressed, as the snow was nearly a foot deep and created quite a sight.

I scrambled around the brush to the next little hill and did the same thing again, only this slide was not nearly as long nor as impressive. It was still pretty fun though. I ended up walking up the road to the car and it was just after 2pm when I checked the clock.

I mention these details only to impress upon the reader the circumstances regarding the original creature sighting report related above. These hillsides are indeed as steep as the original author asserts. The hillsides are indeed covered with large stands of brush with tall grasses between them. There is not much mud or dirt to gain a strong foot hold in and the grass, once it has been pushed down by the winter snows are extremely slippery and difficult to traverse the terrain on. In fact, in the two separate trips I made to photograph, the trip there yesterday was much easier to get around because of the deep snow and the ability to gain a foothold on the terrain.

That notwithstanding, I was carrying about 20 lbs of camera gear and was wearing big hiking boots (Sorels), had 3-4 layers of clothes on and am in generally good shape, running an average of 2-3 miles about 3-4 times a week. I am also used to moving about on various terrain in all types of weather.

I could not move around as the original author relates what he observed this creature doing. Even without my pack it was laborious and difficult at best to get up the steepest parts of the canyon. For a creature to walk upright without showing too much effort is indeed impressive. For a creature to show any kind of speed in these conditions and terrain would be very exciting to observe...especially having traversed the exact same location in reportedly very similar conditions.

It will take some time for the film to be processed and any prints to be made. They will be included here when they are finished.

Presentation of Utah Bigfoot at Sundance Film Festival.

2011-01-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

I will be giving a presentation about my various documentary photography projects at the Sundance Film Festival this year.

The projects include a multi-year project on Utah's Great Salt Lake (film and digital), Utah Bigfoot (all 4x10, pt/pd prints), North Korean Refugees (digital) and a personal project in Sweden (all 5x7, dig. prints).

I will be speaking at 2pm this Sunday the 23rd and next Friday the 28th. The location is the Ivers Room at The Yarrow in Park City.

The lectures are free and will last about 1 1/2 hours each. They will be generally the same, unless the first one sucks, then the second one we'll just be showing funny YouTube videos.

Come one, come all!

City Creek Canyon, Salt Lake City, Utah

2011-01-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the weather was mixed but it had been a while since I'd been out photographing for the project. I was looking at the BFRO site and was downloading an experience that had been recorded from Big Cottonwood Canyon. As I was saving it into my folder with all of the other sightings, I saw one report location that I had not gone to yet that was very near downtown Salt Lake City.

There had been some debate on Facebook recently as to the suitability for an 'urban' Bigfoot sighting, so since this one was so close to the city, I thought I'd go take a look at the location and see if I couldn't make a photograph.

I went up to City Creek Canyon and took the one-way loop a few times trying to figure out the location that was spoken of in the report (that will follow...). Unable to pinpoint a precise location that fit the bill I decided to try to make an image that showed the sighting location in proximity to the city. I parked the car about half-way up the canyon and got out.

I hiked up a little stream, through some brush and up a very steep hill following a deer trail sometimes tromping through snow, but mostly trying not to fall down from the slippery and wet grass and mud.

As I hiked up the hill a few hundred yards I could clearly see downtown Salt Lake City and the Capitol Dome. The image is looking to the south and shows the mouth of the canyon, the steepness of the hillside, the homes that line both sides of the canyon and the city buildings and dome in the background. It was lightly raining and the skies were overcast and grey so there wasn't much detail in the sky aside from some wispy clouds.

I shot a two-shot dyptich with the Canham metal 5x7 camera with some Ilford black and white sheet film. It will be a few weeks before I can process and print the image, so you'll have to be patient. For now the description of the location and the actual report will have to do.

Date: December 07, 1992
Salt Lake county, UT

Nearest town: SLC
Nearest road: City Creek Canyon
Conditions: snowing
Time: mid morning
Location: A mile northeast of UT State capital building

Description of event:

I was at lunch at my new job in slc ut. When I saw something crawling thru the underbrush on hill across from me : I at first thought how cool, I'm new to Utah. And my first thought was it was a wild animal, a bear. But the animal I saw came out of the underbrush and stood-up. Without any mis-step it walked up-right at an angle up the hill ,which at my best guess would be about a 45 deg. angle. With app. 12 in. of snow - there was no slipping no struggling and with no effort the animal walked up the hill to a cave like opening. It ducked it's head and walked in.

At that point two of my co-workers walked up and I said look at that what is it ? They definetley saw the animal that I was looking at and said that must be a survey guy . I said well where is his orange vest they always wear ? They said I don't know. Must be something and walked away. Surprised that they acted like it was nothing I continued to watch as the animal walked out of the opening a little down hill, then suddenly it stopped and it looked right up at me and with a sharp jerk down motion of it's head it walked quickly up the hill to a small rock-outcropping and ducked out of veiw. I stood there for a few minutes then , concered about the jeopardy of my new job I quickly went back to work.

Source: oregonbigfoot.com

Interview - Bigfoot's Pad

2010-12-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

I contacted the guys at 'Bigfoot's Pad' several months ago regarding the sightings and encounters in Southern Nevada. They answered me and told me about a bunch I had not heard of. I was very excited to hear about them because I get to Las Vegas about once a year, and I am always looking for something interesting to do while I am there.

They interviewed me for about an hour right before Thanksgiving. These past few months have been very hectic and I have not had much time to devote to photographing or printing any new images. That will change starting in January.

You can listen to the interview here.

You can also download it and listen to it later as a podcast. Thanks for listening!

I went through Vegas over Thanksgiving and stopped at Blue Diamond and did make a photograph. I will return and try to photograph the other locations as time permits.

Utahbigfoot.org website

2010-09-16T19:41:00.000-06:00

So I am going to school this fall at Utah State University to finish the last nine credits for my Masters of Fine Arts degree. One of the classes I am taking is a web-design class. Our first project is to design a website about something we enjoy. I decided to do it on this Utah Bigfoot project.

I registerd Utahbigfoot.org and am making a website to migrate all of this information to it when I am done.

Here is a screen-grab of my first attempt at the home page. I like it a lot actually.

The idea will be that you click on one of the green triangles and it opens up a window with a photograph and a story that you can read.

Another Random Sighting - Hyde Park, Utah

2010-09-02T13:16:00.000-06:00

So today I shared my Utah Bigfoot blog with a friend of mine. He was interested in what websites and blogs I had created, so I showed him this one.

He was interested in it because he had had an experience that he "could not explain" while hiking near Hyde Park in Cache Valley, Utah.

He related his story to me, and it is definitely interesting, has very typical characteristics of it, and is something I'd like him to share with me further...hopefully even writing down. The one thing that he mentioned that I found interesting is that this thing moved with tremendous speed and fluidity. He said that he couldn't estimate how many steps he saw it take because it was so fast and smooth.

This is a location that I can get to quite easily and will push him to provide me a more definite location rather than a general area.

It is amazing who has had an experience and is willing to share it when they feel that there is an open and non-judgmental audience willing to listen and take them seriously.

A childhood friend's encouner - 30 years ago

2010-08-20T16:36:00.000-06:00

This report was given to me by a childhood friend who had his own encounter. He was with his sister, father and brother on a fire-wood gathering trip nearly 30 years ago.

I do not remember that he told me this story when we were children. I would have wanted to believe him, but I probably would not have. By then my fascination with Bigfoot was cemented clearly in my mind, and I would have remember ed the conversation clearly. Upon hearing his description a few years ago, and getting the location, I photographed there last winter. I will return this fall now that I have a better idea of how I want to portray this location. On to the story...

"It has been an interesting feeling reliving this incident after 30 years. I have only talked about it once or twice since it happened because it seems that Bigfoot encounters are not something to be discussed in polite company or amongst people that you want to keep as friends.

I cannot remember the exact year that that my encounter occurred, but I believe it was in 1979, when I was 10 years old. It was early on a cold fall morning in October or November. My father, older brother, younger sister and I bundled up in warm clothes to head up Providence Canyon to cut firewood for the wood-burning stove we kept in our basement.

At the top of the road up Providence Canyon is a large rock quarry. We drove along the road and as we arrived at the edge of the quarry we turned off the road to the right and drove cross-country for a couple of minutes until we were deep in a stand of trees that we were permitted to cut for firewood.

My dad used his chainsaw the cut the trees down and into sections. Once the sections were cut, my brother, sister, and I would take the cut pieces and stack them into the back of the truck as we had been shown how to do. Me, being around 10 years old, and my sister, being around 8 years old, quickly grew bored with the tedious and difficult (at least to us at that time) work.

We asked our dad if we could go play. Rather than having us around under foot and in the way, he gave us permission to play. He warned us not to go out of earshot so that we wouldn’t get lost on the mountain. We said that we were going to play in the quarry, and our dad told us not to climb the giant piles of gravel, because it could cause a slide and trap us.

After promising not to do anything dangerous, my sister and I walked the one or two hundred yards to the quarry. As we walked, we listened to the birds in the trees and talked and played games. When we arrived at the edge of the quarry, things began to change.

The first thing we noticed was how absolutely dead quiet it had become. The birds were no longer singing and nothing was moving. As we walked out of the edge of the tree line to the edge of the quarry, there was a small embankment of gravel, dirt, and small rocks leading up to a flat open area of knee-high grass and dirt. The sloping embankment was approximately 15 feet high.

My sister and I approached the embankment to climb up. We both immediately noticed that there were two fresh relatively evenly-spaced marks in the gravel and dirt diagonally up the embankment, which would make the impressions roughly 5 feet apart. We walked the last few steps to the embankment and began trudging up the embankment. We were curious about what could have made the marks. We assumed it was some sort of animal, but didn’t know exactly what.

When we got up to the first mark, it was immediately clear to us that that mark was an enormous footprint and that the footprint was pointing uphill. That seemed very strange because it would have to have been someone very huge to make such big prints and take such large strides.

Our curiosity led us to climb the remainder of the way to the top of the embankment. Our curiosity ended immediately upon reaching the top. Three things struck me instantly. One thing was a very strong, sour smell. Another thing was that there was a very large patch of grass and weeds that had been smashed down to look very much like a bed or nest. The final thing that struck me was a feeling of “wrongness.” I don’t know of any other way to describe the feeling other than it just felt “wrong” and like I had to get out of there.

My sister was also visibly frightened. Although I did not see anything, my sister said that she saw something brown run into the trees across the clearing (She later described it as a very large chestnut brown thing running on two legs). I had heard of bigfoot before that, but did not think about bigfoot at that time until my sister said that she saw something run into the trees. That is when I began to think of bigfoot.

I shouted “run,” and we ran down the embankment and back to my father and brother as fast as possible. I was shouting, and my sister was crying. I ran up to dad and shouted , “Dad! Dad! We saw something I think was bigfoot!” I tried to explain exactly what happened, but he was not particularly interested in what I was ranting about and dismissed it outright. We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon sitting in the cab of the pickup truck, not wanting to go outside and just wanting to go home.

We tried talking to mom and a few other people about it later, but no one would seriously listen to us. Thus, we have kept the story between us for the past 30 years, but we know what we saw that day."

The location is the gravel pit up Providence Canyon in Cache Valley, Utah. An easy drive in the summer, a super huge pain in the winter when it's snowing. Ask me how I know...

Interviewed

2010-06-18T09:04:00.000-06:00

I was interviewed yesterday by Nicolle Coulter, a conservative political commentator and author who lives in Witchita, Kansas.

She and I knew each other in college at Utah State University and worked together on the community newspaper. It was a fun interview and I shared a lot about my project. I had a shout-out to Kathy Strain, Stan Courtney and Jeff Meldrum. I erroneously said that Dr. Meldrum taught at Boise State, my mistake. I knew that he was in Pocatello, but couldn't for the life of me figure out what university happened to be in Pocatello. In the heat of the moment I screwed up. Dr. Meldrum teaches at Idaho State University. Apologies!

Here's the link to her radio show from yesterday.

Edgy Conservative, Interview with Michael Slade

An update to my project:

I have been processing a lot of film, and have several new images that need to be printed. I have also acquired the use of a beautiful Canham 5x7 camera for the short and maybe long-term.

I am also planning a 2-3 day trip to Wyoming and Eastern Utah for next weekend and will photograph several locations as far north as Riverton, Wyoming, Flaming Gorge and Vernal, Utah.

It is a busy summer for me. I have several locations in Utah I wish to photograph and have them mapped out. I will also be traveling to Sweden in July and August for almost three weeks to photograph locations of family significance. I will do some research for bipedal hominids in Sweden and if I can nab a location or two I will be happy.

Weber River, Near I-15, Ogden, Utah

2010-03-26T08:26:00.000-06:00

Weber River, Near I-15, Ogden, Utah, 2010

Written Account:

May, 1980

An Ogden couple picking asparagus along the Weber River near 12th Street and I-15, reported an 8-foot-tall black figure with glowing red eyes about 40 yards away. They ran to their car and later returned to the area and found hundreds of tracks... Several footprints were also discovered in a residential area of North Ogden.

Source: Deseret News

Highway 89, Near Wellsville, Utah

2010-03-26T08:18:00.000-06:00

Bridge Over The Little Bear, Wellsville, Utah, 2010

Written Account:

January, 2004

Creature was seen coming out of the Bear River, crossing Highway 89 and going back down into the river bottoms and Cottonwood trees. Creature was approximately five to six feet tall and shifted from running on all four legs like a gorilla to running on two legs like a human. The sighting was accompanied by loud screeching after it disappeared into the trees.

Source: aliendave.com

Shivwits Indian Reservation, Utah

2010-03-23T19:57:00.000-06:00

Creature Seen Near Shivwits Indian Reservation, Utah, 2010

Written Account:

February, 2002

My name is [omitted]. My ex-husband and I were going west on Highway 91 toward Mesquite, Nevada. The wind was blowing south to north. Tumbleweeds had been blowing across the road before. He came up from the south by the Santa Clara River. We saw him in our headlights. He was about in the middle of the road when we saw him. He was swinging his arms like a human and he kept glancing back to see how fast we were apporaching.

He was 8 to 10 feet tall, had a hairy body and looked like the ones I have seen on TV. His hair was brown in color. His hair was blowing in the wind, and we did not feel any fear. The speed limit in this area is 45 MPH. Ray slowed down to about 25 MPH. We did not even talk to each other until we got past him. Then we each said "what did you just see"? We got to see him for a long time because the road was quite wide and it took quite a while before he went of the shoulder and down a small embankment.

source: bfro.net

Garland, Utah

2010-03-23T19:47:00.002-06:00

Factory and Main, Garland, Utah, 2010

Two stories come from Garland, Utah. Unfortunately they are not very rich with detail. I have a self-challenge to look up the police chief that is mentioned. I have already spoken with some ranchers in the area and haven't learned much.

Written Accounts:

1981: The police chief of Garland, Box Elder County, said he saw a creature run in front of his car. Several other residents also reported sightings and tracks are found that lead in a northwest direction.

1988: Ranchers near Garland reported seeing two Bigfoot-like creatures near their lambing pens after dark. Soon after, many tracks were found in the Garland area in deep snow and were followed two miles.

Source: Deseret News, Thursday, April 01, 1993 via bfro.net

UPDATE: 11/1/2011

An e-mail came in recently that sheds more light on the sightings in Tremonton and Garland. I will quote the e-mail here:

"(The Police Chief of Garland) had received a call from a farmer on the west edge of Garland on Canal Road one evening that something was scaring his cows. The officer responded and drove along the canal with his light shining from his patrol car shining it into the canal. About 1/4 mile down the road he saw something that he could not explain. I know he didn't talk about what he saw with too many people. My dad was friends with him and he shared the experience with my dad after he had retired. "All I know is it wasn't human; I saw what I saw."

I know this road and have driven down it a few times. I will go back and make another photograph of the area described in the e-mail.

I-15, Near Scipio, Utah

2010-03-18T21:45:00.000-06:00

Trucker Nearly Hits Creature In Fog, I-15 Near Scipio, Utah, 2010

Written Account:

January 2008

I am writing this for my son David. He called me this morning about 1:30 AM. He was excited and upset and told me and his dad that he finally believes us about Bigfoot. He was on the I-15 going south when He came to some fog he told me he put his fog lights on so he could see better with out his main lights being on. He stated that he saw some eyes glowing so he turned on his head lights and he saw a Bigfoot running in front of his semi truck. He swerved to keep from hitting it. After he got the truck under control he pulled off to the side was he was spooked out.

He said I know for a fact that they exist now. He has always been skeptic about them. He said it was like looking into a gorillas face. They had eye to eye contact. Only it walked upright like a man but was hairy all over. His leg was the size of his body he told me. so he asked me to write this for him. He is a true believer now.

Source: bfro.net

Christmas Meadows, Uinta Mountains, Utah

2010-03-17T21:40:00.000-06:00

Creature Seen Under Full Moon, Christmas Meadows, Uinta Mountains, Utah, 2010

Written Account:

June, 2001

During the night of June 12-13 while camping with my family and a friend's family I had a sighting of what I believe was a Bigfoot.

The weather had turned cold and it had started to snow so both families decided to sleep in my friend's Suburban. Sometime between 11pm and 2am I was awakened by the feeling that I was being watched. I looked to my right to find out if I could see anything but I was unable to so I tried to go back to sleep. However I could not shake the feeling that I was being watched and when I opened my eyes I looked out into the meadow in front of the suburban and saw a creature I believe to have been a Bigfoot because it was walking upright heading north through the meadow. I would guess its height to have been between 6.5 to 7 feet.

It was dark and a little overcast but the full-moon offered decent lighting. It had snowed earlier that day and into the evening

I saw this biped at a distance of 75 to 100 yards on a party cloudy night with enough moonlight to determine that I was seeing an upright animal. The sighting lasted only a few seconds and took perhaps four steps as it walked into the woods and out of sight.

Canal, North Logan, Utah

2010-03-16T21:09:00.000-06:00

Creature Spotted Walking Along Canal, North Logan, Utah, 2010

There are several different accounts of sightings along a canal in North Logan. I have read and re-read the different versions trying to reconcile them and see if they could possibly be the same account told different times and in different places. What makes matters more confusing is that there are reports of two separate sightings over thirty years apart. I will present them both and let the reader decide for themselves. The first account reads like a newspaper article, the second account reads in first-person. I did not write or record the second account.

Written Accounts:

January, 2003

A mother and her son have seen a tall, hairy Bigfoot walk along the canal behind their house have asked not to be identified for fear of public ridicule.

The mother first saw a juvenile Bigfoot when she was 15-years-old in 1968 in almost the same place that her 16-year- old son would later see another larger, hairy creature on January 2, 2003.

He came out of his uncle's home to feed cattle at a cowshed. He heard a strange noise and when he turned around, there it stood: a four-foot-tall monster, covered with plush, dark black hair all over, it looked menacingly at the youth.

"There is no mistake about what I saw. The monster had the face of a man with monkey-like features. It was four feet tall, but extremely sturdy."

-----------------

Okay here goes folks, Sighting occurred at 11:30 pm, on the night of Jan.2, 2003 in north east Logan in a rural area with homes, streets, & other structures, on a canal bank that runs thru that area.

I will not mention names at this point as I did not request permission to do so. The witnesses are two youths age 16 & 17. By reenacting the short lived event on location,

Sighting occurred at 11:30 pm, on the night of Jan. 2, 2003 in north east Logan in a rural area with homes, streets and other structures on a canal bank that runs through that area.

The estimated distance from porch to canal bank where the 7ft. to 8ft. unknown was walking in a northern direction, was approx 20 to 25 yards, observation time with no obstructions approx 5 seconds at best. Large swinging arms were noted, no neck appearance, very massive body, no scent detected, however it was heard breathing, was laboring hard breathing, with a growl-snort with each breath.

Fear overcame witnesses and they shot inside house. Tracks were found some 80 to 100 yards away in an orchard, leading to a carrot patch. I witnessed the 8 or so tracks, very distorted in mud, with 4 inches of snow on them. Because of time factor they were not fresh & revealing certain qualities to look for such as toe marks , dermal pattern ETC.

Ironically in the same virtual spot , the mother of one of the witnesses saw a Bigfoot on that canal 33 years ago with her sister.

Cold Springs Trout Farm, North Ogden, Utah

2010-03-16T20:37:00.000-06:00

Repeat Visitations, Cold Springs Trout Farm, North Ogden, Utah, 2010

I had been dying to visit the Cold Springs Trout Farm for about a year. I had heard there were a lot of different reports from this area, so I had to visit and find out what's happened there.

I met the former owner, a spry 71 year-old, and we struck up a conversation. He quickly opened up and offered all kinds of anecdotes, one of which I will share here.

Around 1980 there were many experiences in North Ogden. This man who owned the fish farm told a story about how he came out to feed the fish one morning and saw quite a sight.

All over the grass next to the pond he found dozens of dead trout, some had their heads bitten off, but most were just laying there intact - just dead. He walked around to find out who had been stealing his fish and found several large 14-inch long tracks in the soft grass and mud. He said you could see two footprints right next to each other as if the creature had stood next to the pond and looked in at the fish.

When I was visiting there and stood next to the pond, all of the fish immediately came up next to the shore and I was told that they do this because they are used to being fed. The temptation was apparently too great for Bigfoot because I was told, "you could see where he jumped down into the pond and walked around and had disturbed the moss on the bottom".

Apparently he started scooping up fish and just tossing them on the lawn. I thought that the idea was pretty far-fetched myself, but when I saw how dense the fish were in the pond - literally hundreds, maybe a thousand or more - it was easy to see how it would have been possible. Especially if you consider that a creature named 'Bigfoot' could probably also aptly be named 'Bighand'.

Fish & Game was called and they cast a 14-inch track that he likes to show off to this day.

This is only one of the several personal stories that he has which are part of a larger series of occurrences that have happened to nearly everyone who has lived in that neighborhood through the years.

I plan to return and interview him again, next time with a recorder, and try to get more details of the other stories from the area. I would also like to make several more images within this very small, literally 1-2 square mile area.

I had heard that Coldwater Canyon was a hot-spot for Utah Bigfoot activity, but little had I been prepared for the fascinating stories that were told to me this past week.

Emigration Canyon, Utah

2010-03-16T00:17:00.000-06:00

Creature Seen Ten Feet From Truck, Emigration Canyon, Utah, 2010

Written Account:

1998

I have a good friend named Rusti who told me about a sighting she and her bother and 2 of his friends witnessed one night in 1998 while driving up Emigration Canyon in the Watsatch Mountains.

Rusti is a very honest person and I have no reason to doubt her. This has spooked her ever since. They were all in Jessi's (her brother's friend) car planning on doing some night mud driving.

It was close to 10 pm when they had to stop by the side of the road for a minute to equip the truck before going in the mud.

Once stopped, Rusti's brother noticed Jessi had frozen stiff. When he looked to see what he was staring at -- about 10 feet from the truck ahead of them stood what they believe was a Bigfoot.

Rusti said it just stood there staring at them swaying from left to right. They still had to equip the truck but nobody was about to get out of the truck at that point.

It didn't look like it was going to leave and Jessi honked the horn at it thinking it would scare him off like it would a deer. It had the opposite effect.

The Bigfoot started to take a couple steps towards the truck. They all got so scared Jessi just slammed on the gas in reverse and bolted away from it as fast as he could.

As soon as he did they saw the creature turn and go up the side of a slope and from there into the woods. He moved so fast he was gone in a matter of seconds. Not one of my friends have ever gone back to that canyon.

It happened in the Salt Lake County. At least I think that's what county Emigration Canyon is in. Rusti, her brother, and her brother's friend were the ones who watched it run off. Jessi was looking backwards navigating the truck as they sped off.

North Beck Street, Salt Lake City, Utah

2010-03-16T00:14:00.001-06:00

Hairy Creature Seen Crossing Road, North Beck Street, Utah, 2010

Written Account:

1982

Several drivers along Beck Street in North Salt Lake reported seeing a hairy creature run across the road in the early morning darkness.

Golf Course, Bountiful, Utah

2010-03-15T21:57:00.000-06:00

Running Black Creature Seen, Bountiful, Utah, 2010

Written Account:

1975

These sightings that I had probably are the oldest of local reports known. Bigfoot was not known at that time. My two friends and I were hiking in the North Salt Lake mountains, the area is now a golf course. It was below us as we were descending a steep hill. We saw a black creature about 500 yards away. It was running very quickly, approximately 40 mph, and was jumping over 3 ft. sage brush like it was a weed. We saw it between four and eight seconds long. It hid in some small trees at base of hill. The length of the stride was about 4 feet and the tracks measured 14 inches long. It's tracks led into a stream. It scared us so badly that we almost wet our pants. We could smell a very bad stench even though it was running and was quite far away.

Circleville Canyon, Utah

2010-03-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Creature Seen In Headlights, Circleville Canyon, Utah, 2010

Written Account:

November, 1997

I was driving home from college for a weekend visit with my family. It was dark, around 7 or 8 pm. The weather was overcast and I was trying to get home before the storm hit. There was no moon and no stars. I hadn't seen any other cars on the road for quite a while.

I was about halfway through Circleville Canyon when just at the edge of my headlights I saw something big on the edge of the road. I started to slow down, didn't want to hit it should it run in front of me. As I got closer it stood up and I thought for a second that it was a person. Then it started running.

It ran very quickly across the road. I could tell that it was hairy, it looked very brown in the headlights. It was huge and hairy with long arms, but it didn't look in my direction. I never saw it's face. It ran across the road approx seventy feet in front of my car. My heart was pounding. It ran sort of bent over, but very quickly. But not human like, as it didn't bounce. It disappeared into the dark on the other side of the highway I was far to scared to stop and see if there were any tracks or anything.

Nuckwoodward Canyon, Near Clear-Creek, Utah

2010-03-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

Screams Heard For Hours, Nuckwoodward Canyon, Near Clear-Creek, Utah, 2009

Written Account:

August, 1996

The encounter that I am going to explain occurred several years ago and still today is a mystery to me and my friend that witnessed it. Today I am 31 years old and have been an avid hunter my entire life. I have spent a lot of time in the mountains, the majority of which has been spent in the general area in which this strange encounter took place several years ago.

It was mid August of 1996 and I was on summer vacation from college and staying at my parents home in Helper, Utah until I had to go back to report back to school toward the end of August. My lifelong friend Justin and I both had archery elk permits and I had an archery deer tag as well. We loaded up Justin’s old ford truck and headed off to spend 3 nights in our favorite hunting area. The area that I am referring to is called Nuckwoodward Canyon Road which crosses between the Carbon and Emery county lines in the Manti LaSalle mountain range in Central Utah. We were going in the middle of the week (I believe on a Tuesday) so we had the entire area to ourselves. We chose one of our favorite camping spots which was at the base of Second Canyon. In looking at county boundary maps of Utah it appears that this location is in Emery County but is close to the Carbon/Emery border.

Our first 2 1/2 days of hunting went as expected. We saw and chased around several elk and deer and were having a great time in doing so. It was on our 3rd night that everything took a turn from normality. We returned to our camp well after dark after searching for my arrow that I shot at an elk that evening. We had hiked all day in the heat and were both exhausted when we pulled into camp. We fired up a small gas grill that we had brought and put the 2 large steaks that we had been saving for the last night on the grill to cook. We made a fire and sat down to relax and talk about the days events.

The fire got pretty big and the wood was popping and crackling loudly. We heard a sound off in the distance that sounded like some sort of a howl or yell. We mentioned it but blew it off as probably a cow or the herd of sheep that we had been seeing all weekend up the canyon from us. We said that it was just probably echoing down the canyon toward us and sounded strange. The small gas grill was not getting hot enough to cook the 2 large thick steaks that we had on it and we could tell it was going to be a long process. As we sat waiting, the strange yelling sound coming from up the canyon kept sounding approximately every 20 or 30 seconds and appeared to be getting louder and closer.

Trying to describe the sound using only words is difficult but the best way to describe it is a yell. It sounded like a person yelling “rhaaah” in a long drawn out deep scratchy voice. We started getting more curious about the sound as it continued to get closer to us. We still both estimated that whatever it was making the sound was still almost a mile up the canyon but it was so loud that it was quite distinct even at this range. We talked about the possibilities “could it be a bear or a mountain lion”? The sound we were hearing was nothing like that of a bear or a mountain lion but those were the only 2 things that we could think of that made any sense at the time. Whatever it was continued to scream and it was now obvious that it was steadily moving closer to us.

After probably about 30 minutes of consistently hearing the scream every 20 or 30 seconds we decided that it was worth checking out. So, we flipped the slow cooking steaks on the grill and jumped in Justin’s ford to go for a ride. It was probably 10:30 or 11:00 at night by now and pitch dark. We drove up the Nuckwoodward Canyon Road probably close to 1 mile which took us 10 or 15 minutes on the bumpy dirt road. We turned off the truck and rolled down the windows and listed. Within seconds we heard the yell but now it was coming from back down the canyon toward our camp and up on the west side of the mountain. We had over shot it but it sounded louder and closer now perhaps it was just because we had gotten away from the loud noise of the camp fire. We turned around and drove about 1/2 mile back toward camp and again turned the truck off and rolled down the windows to listen. Again within a matter of seconds the yell occurred and we both sat in amazement of the volume of it now that we were so close. From the sounds of it, the creature that was making the sound was directly up from where we now were and sounded like it was no more than a few hundred yards up the steep pine covered mountain. We sat and heard the yell a couple of more times from this spot and it brought chills to my body each time it sounded. We didn’t know what to say as we finally headed back to our camp.

When we pulled back into camp the fire had died down considerably but was still burning. It was only a matter of seconds after we got out of the truck that the yelling sound shook the silent night. It had definitely gotten much closer to our camp in the 30 or so minutes that we had been gone and with the fire quieted down considerably the volume was now indescribable.

Neither one of us wanted to show any sign of being scared as we were two young macho men that didn’t want to admit that we were afraid of anything. Therefore, we checked on our steaks and they were finally done enough that they were edible. We sat and ate our steaks as the yell continued to echo into the dark silent night. I don’t think we said a word as we both sat and ate our steaks and listed in shock and amazement to the ongoing terrifying sounds.

By now we had ruled out everything logical (a bear, a mountain lion or our initial thought of something echoing down the canyon) because the creature making the sound was now within a few hundred yards of our camp. As terrified as I was inside I was not going to crack and show it to Justin. It had now been close to an hour and a half since we first heard the yell and whatever was making it was now so close that when it yelled you could almost feel it.

We had finished our steaks and it was when we started actually hearing the creature walking and breaking sticks in the pine trees no more than 100 yards from our tent that Justin finally gave in. I remember his exact words as he said “it wouldn’t be too bad to be home in our beds right now”. No sooner than the words escaped his mouth did I agree and say “that is exactly what I was thinking”.

Packing up camp was not going to be easy since we had a coal/wood burning stove in the sheepherder tent as well as cots, sleeping pads and sleeping bags. We took everything down as quickly as possible with the ground shaking yell continuing to sound. Within 5 or 10 minutes we had somehow managed to get almost everything taken down and thrown into the back of the pickup truck. There were just 3 or 4 tent pegs and ropes that needed to be taken out but they were on the side of the tent that was closest to the trees where the sound was coming from. By this point the yell was so loud and we could hear sticks breaking as if whatever it was, was trying to scare us away.

We counted to three and each ran and pulled the last couple of tent poles and pegs and frantically folded the tent and threw it over the sloppily loaded truck. Once we got into the safety of the cab of the truck we felt a little braver. Although we were armed only with our bow and arrows which were packed away in their cases, the safety of the truck was somewhat comforting. We pulled the truck up and shined the head lights into the pine trees where the sound was coming from to see if we could see anything. We didn’t see anything and both just wanted to get the hell out of there so we did. We drove the 2 hours back to Helper and didn’t get there until close to 2:00 in the morning.

We told the story to our parents and friends who all believed that we were telling the truth but most people just said “it was probably a bear or a mountain lion”. Having heard the sound continuously for close to 2 hours, I am certain that it was not a bear or a mountain lion. After having told this story for over ten years and having all of that time to reflect on what happened that night, I still have no idea what it was on that mountain making that noise that night. The only thing that I know of that could make a sound even remotely close to what we heard is a human.

There is the possibility of it being someone trying to scare us but we were up on that mountain for three days and didn’t see another person other than a sheep herder the whole time. If it were a person they would have had to have been yelling at the top of their lungs (louder than I can imagine any human yelling) every 20 or 30 seconds for almost two hours while trekking close to a mile across a rugged mountainside in the pitch dark. Therefore, I feel confident ruling out the explanation that it was someone playing a joke on us.

I am an open minded person who believes that there are things in the world that are unexplainable and perhaps out of my realm of understanding. I don’t know if there is such thing as UFOs, Aliens or Bigfoot but what I do know is that whatever scared us off of that mountain that night is something beyond what I know of.

If I had it to do over again I would have gotten in the truck much earlier and shined the headlights toward where the sound was coming from. If I could go back and experience it over again I would also definitely driven back up there the next day and looked around in those trees during the daylight to see if we could find any tracks or sign of the creature that appeared to be stalking us that night.

I estimate that we heard the sound close to 200 times that night and it started off way off in the distance and ended up within 100 yards from our camp.

Printing

2010-03-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

4x10 Platinum/Palladium Prints Hanging On The Line, 2010

I made seven prints today in about 4 1/2 hours. I felt pretty busy.

Processing Film

2010-03-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

I decided that I had some time today to process some film, so I went for it and spent about 5 hours in the darkroom.

I have been remiss in not processing my film very often, and had quite a back-log of images stored in boxes. I went ahead and finished all of the 4x10 sheet film I had, ending up processing 38 sheets of it. It's about 75% Bigfoot imagery, about 20% Great Salt Lake imagery, and a few shots of stuff 'just for fun'.

I will be printing in platinum and palladium this week in preparation to show the work to a group of amateur photographers here in Utah over the next few weeks.

Here's how the darkroom looks after running three JOBO film processing machines and having 38 sheets of film hanging from the clothesline.

Film Hanging In The Darkroom, 2010

Cemetary Point, Huntsville, Utah

2010-03-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

Creature Seen At Cemetary Point, Huntsville, Utah, 2009

I shot this image on Memorial Day of 2009. The Cemetery was filled with people honoring their ancestors. Something interesting was seen here, which was what brought me here to photograph. I photographed this on 8x20 paper negative. Here is the report.

Written Account:

June 13, 2005

At 1:30a.m. an animal was spotted about 30 feet from us which was short and hairy with fur all over it's body. When we first saw it, it was walking upright however it appeared to be hunchbacked. When it noticed us it froze and stared at us before dropping to all fours and scampering off. We saw the animal for about 90 seconds before it disappeared. It's movements were very similar to a fleeing deer. We noticed that when it looked at us it made a sound like it was gagging. The creature we saw also smelled exactly like bleach.

Wellsville Mountains, Utah

2010-02-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Sighting In Bushes and Scrub Oak, Wellsville Mountains, Utah, 2009

Written Account:

October, 2007

I was 21 and had just returned about 6 months before from living in Japan for 2 years. The general season mule deer hunt had just opened and I decided to go hunting one day after my college classes had ended, I remember thinking how stupid it was that I had to go to class during the hunt and didn't want to while I driving/sliding my car up a snowy road.

I turned off the paved road onto a farm road and went past a house that was under construction and parked in the small trail-head lot. Instead of going up the mountain I walked a short distance around a field and sat down on a steep slope overlooking a valley, a few hills and some trees.

I sat looking through my binoculars at the deer bedded down in the trees wondering why they wouldn't get up and forage in the trees for nuts or grasses. As I sat watching I heard a loud crashing sound coming from the trees nearer to the house/barn that was being built, it may have even been watching them as it was very close to the house.

I looked through my binoculars and could see a large black shape moving through heavy cover and at first thought it was a black bear but as I watched it didn't have the bouncing motion that bears have when they run because their front legs are shorter than the rear legs. It was moving very gracefully.

I watched as it plowed through thick brush like a bull until it made it to more open ground in the trees and noticed how strange it really was. It was moving on two legs and moving fast. I looked and saw all the deer running. Unfortunately it was in the other direction and turned back to the animal.

I watched in amazement was it went straight into a massive stand of buck brush that I couldn't have gotten through with a machete. It kept moving at a phenomenal pace and was gone over a ridge in just a few seconds.

I've hunted and hiked alone for years and come toe to toe with both black bears and mountain lions and never, ever been that afraid before. I immediately put a bullet into my rifle and backed away from the spot, never turning my back. I got in my car and left.

My dad and brother and brother in law keep wanting to go back there because we've seen deer there but I have never gone back. even when I hunt the other end of the Wellsville mountains I stay with someone because of the experience.

After I read that Bigfoot supposedly hit sticks or rocks together to communicate I had to wonder if it was a attracted to the sounds of hammers and nail guns while they were roofing on the new house.

Mount Charleston, Nevada

2010-02-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

Dusk Sighting On Road Near Mt. Charleston, Nevada, 2009

Written Account:

I know this sounds goofy, but I cannot find the written account of this sighting. I distinctly remember reading one while I was down in Vegas, but now that I am actually posting the image, I am unable to locate it. There is a bit of tragic irony in the situation.

Yucca Flats, Nevada

2010-02-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Even though the title of the project is 'Utah Bigfoot', I might...occasionally...include images from other states that I frequent. I lived in Las Vegas for 2 years, and last summer returned to visit with friends. While I was there I just so happened to find out about Bigfoot in Southern Nevada.

Sighting At Yucca Flat Reported To Security At Mercury, Nevada, 2009

Written Account:

January, 1980

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) - A "reliable" employee at the Nevada Test Site says he saw a large, hairy, man-like creature wandering along a road in the desolate nuclear testing ground, a Department of Energy spokesman said Monday.

An Employee of Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Co., one of the prime contractors at the sprawling test site, reported he saw the creature about noon last Wednesday while driving along Tippipah Highway.

DOE spokesman Dave Jackson said the unidentified workman ; "considered to be a reliable person" - was driving along Tippipah Highway, which runs from the Area 12 camp at the northern end of the test site, which is as big as Rhode Island, to a command post near U.S. 95 at the time.

He described the creature "as a being, somewhere between 6 and 7 feet tall, standing erect and walking like a man, with dark hair completing (completely? ed.) covering it's body." Jackson said.

He said the workman stopped his truck about 30 to 50 yards from the creature and "observed the being cross the highway going in a northeasterly direction toward Yucca Flat. He watched it until it disappeared out into the sage brush."

Over the years there have been numerous reports of sightings of a large man-like creature in the Pacific Northwest, where it has been named "Sasquatch." Similiar reports of a "Bigfoot" have been made in Northern California. This is believed to be the first in Nevada.

- The Victoria Advocate, Victoria Texas, January 22, 1980 - 5A

Huntington Reservoir, Utah

2010-02-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

Vocalizations Heard Near Huntington Reservoir, 2009

Written Account:

August, 2005

We were camped in the Lake Fork Campground just below Huntington Reservoir. The dam was in sight of our campground and the ridge that we felt the sounds were coming from were due East of our location and as far as I know there aren't any roads accessing that area.

I was family camping with my wife, daughter, and father below Huntington Reservoir. The last two nights of this trip while sitting around the fire late at night we started hearing a moaning sound that sounded like it was coming from the opposite ridge roughly 2-4 miles away. We heard these sounds repeatedly for over an hour on both nights and they seemed to be coming from at least two different directions. My father and I are both avid Bigfoot enthusiasts and have been to all of the locations of recent sightings in Utah posted on your site. But, this trip we weren't even thinking about it or talking about it when my father said do you hear that. After listening for a second I heard a long moaning howl that (as far as we can tell) sounds amazingly similar to the Ohio howl.

We heard it to nights in a row in the same location. It was during the week with nobody really around. Also there seemed to be some interaction with at least two individuals at different locations.

Mt. Timpanogos, Utah

2010-02-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

This photograph represents for me about three different sightings that have occurred on the back-side of Mount Timpanogos. I have made images at the three different locations whose stories will follow, but this single image for me represents a general feel for place. I will more than likely re-post these individual stories with a more accurate (if less artistic) image at a later date. For now here is the image.

Twisted Aspens, Near Mt. Timpanogos, Utah, 2009

Written Accounts:

July, 2004

My family and I took a hike to the falls behind BYU family camp located in Aspen Grove, Ut. Which is I think in Utah county. On the way back we missed a turn on the regular trail and were soon on a game trail. We had traveled about a mile down this trail when it became almost impassable. I looked down to the right and recognized that we had passed the family camp and could see the end of the State Campground. We were at the far end of the campground and about 1/2 to 3/4 miles above it. I decided to take a game trail that was very over grown down the mountain side to trek back to the camp. It was about 3:00 pm and I was concerned that we would be caught on the mountain at dark. With me were my wife 50, my son 7, and my daughter 11 at the time.

After leaving the bench we were on we pushed our way through the brush to the next bench. As we made it to the clearing my daughter and I stopped cold and she said, "Bigfoot!" What we saw was a footprint about 15 inches long and 6 to 8 inches wide. The imprint was at least a 1/4 inch deep in the hard dirt. My wife and son came up behind us and said the same thing. I jumped up and down to try and make an imprint (I weigh 220 pounds) and could only make a small impression. We looked around (a little because my family was frightened and I need to get them home) but we did not find any other evidence. When we got back to camp I thought I would go back and take a picture of the print. However, after looking back up the hill I wasn't sure I would find it again and my wife forbade it. We were all spooked.

August, 1978

Myself and two companions had spent the day climbing the summit trail. We had reached the top around 4:00 PM. We had just come off the summit and stopped to rest at the bottom of the glacier or snowfield below the summit. We were still above the tree-line. The sun had set behind the ridge above us but it was still light enough to turn for one last look at the trail we had come down. We were the last to leave the summit and we didn't pass anyone on the trail coming down.

As we turned to look back up, we saw a dark figure climbing up the glacier. Considering the elevation and the depth of the snow, we couldn't believe how fast the figure was climbing up. It didn't stop to rest. We looked for any color of clothing or sign of a backpack. Nothing.

The figure was a uniform dark brown or black. We estimated it to be about 6 or 7 ft. tall. The shoulders were broad and heavy. There was no discernible neck. It couldn't have been a bear. It walked upright the entire time. A person could not have climbed that fast and without stopping to rest in the hip-deep snow. Futhermore, there was no trees or shelter on top of the ridge and it was getting dark.

One person alone without shelter couldn't have survived the night up there. I know the mountain well and I have climbed the summit many times before. I have not climbed the summit since this experience. I am a pretty skeptical person, but I cannot explain logically what we saw that day. It has bothered me ever
since.

The figure was a uniform dark brown or black. We estimated it to be about 6 or 7 ft. tall. The shoulders were broad and heavy. There was no discernible neck. It couldn't have been a bear. It walked upright the entire time.

We couldn't distinguish any identifying features.We could not distinguish clothing of any kind or equipment of any kind. It was climbing alone. It would not have been safe for anyone climbing that ridge at dusk and whatever it was could not have made it down the glacier before dark.

June, 1977

A friend of mine, Brett and I decided that we were going to hike Mount Timpanogos. Being early spring there was patches of snow on the ground at the aspen grove trail head. We decided to go up there the night before and sleep in the car so that we could start early in the morning. We were sitting in the car and talking and had the windows down a little for air when we heard a noise that sounded like someone walking behind the car.

Brett asked, "Who's there?" There was no answer. Since we had not seen any other cars or people all night this kind of spooked us. Then it really got weird. The back of the car started to go down like someone or something was pushing down on it. Brett started the car, turning it around to shine the lights into the meadow that had been directly behind the car only to see a slight shadow of something disappearing into the trees. We thought maybe it was someone playing a trick on us so we drove around the whole area and there were no cars or people around.

We were freaked out so we decided to go home. The next morning early we decided to go back up and try to hike the mountain. When we arrived at the parking lot we went over to where all of this happened and did not notice anything unusual. We started up the trail and started to get into quite a bit of snow.

About a mile and a half up the trail we noticed some footprints that went off of the trail and straight up the side of the hill. They were very large and quite far apart. I am 6' 1" and I could not jump to the next one. We decided to follow them and traversed up the mountain. As we approached the base of some cliffs we both got this weird feeling like someone was watching us. The snow was about 2 feet deep at this point and we were not able to go any farther. We decided to turn back and head back down because the area we were in has a high danger of avalanches.

A mile down toward the trail we noticed a terrible stench almost like a rotting animal and got that strange feeling again that someone was around and at that point we both looked at each other and said in unison. "Lets get out of here." Still to this day, it haunts me. I did not see what it was; I cannot explain what could have made the footprints that we saw either. I grew up around the mountains and have seen all kind of tracks and wildlife but have never seen anything like that. Most people that I have told this to think I am crazy but it really happened.

Current Work

2010-02-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

I have been spurred into action. About a week ago I learned of a photography exhibit whose title was, 'Of Memory, Bone & Myth'. I came to the realization that this whole Bigfoot project is in fact dealing with Memory and Myth. Not so much bone...but that's beside the point.

So, with caution to the wind, and a looming deadline to submit an entry for the show, I fired up the JOBO and processed 21 sheets of 4x10 sheet film. I am shooting Ilford HP5+ in a Canham 4x10 view camera and have a back-log of negatives from nearly a year ago. Most of them are from the Utah Bigfoot project.

The prospectus for the show, which is at the University of North Dakota, can be found HERE.

I have entered four photographs and I will post an entry for each image here in my blog.

Sasquatch Watch Radio

2009-07-21T04:26:00.000-06:00

Last night I followed Bill Green, who is a friend from Facebook, into the Sasquatch Watch Radio show. There is a chat room and a radio broadcast that you can tune in and listen to other Bigfoot enthusiasts talk about their experiences.

The chat room was largely worthless, and the radio show was mostly talk about how terrible the callers were. The callers were being obscene and making prank calls to the show. I had low hopes for the show and wondered why there was nothing on it worth listening to.

I got tired of hearing myself complain about how terrible the show was, and since I think my project is pretty interesting, I thought I'd call in and talk about it for a minute.

I called in and introduced myself, gave a little background to my project and talked about it a bit. Since I was coming to them cold and they had absolutely no idea what it was that I was doing, they really didn't have any questions for me and I mainly just ended up talking about my experience in doing the project.

I talked about how it has been interesting in going to these locations and finding out how many sightings aren't reported. I mentioned that I had personally known people that had experiences that they hadn't shared with me until I had mentioned this project that I was doing. Only then would people share openly what it is that they had experienced. I also have found it interesting that this project is looked on with some degree of skepticism or humor and most people don't take me seriously.

That's OK. I'm not sure I take myself seriously sometimes, and a project like this admittedly has to be approached with a healthy attitude. I can't expect everyone to fall in love with this idea from the start. I guess that's why I like it.

An update is in order since it's been nearly two months from my last blog post.

I have been pretty busy actually, having photographed in about six or seven locations over the past few weeks. I've been to Providence Canyon to scout out a location to photograph later when I have more time. I've photographed near the Little Bear River where US-89 passes over it in Cache Valley. I've shot in North Salt Lake on Beck Street. Last week I spent most of it in the North Fork of Provo Canyon up on the east side of Mount Timpanogos. I shot three separate locations there and generally had a relaxing week up in the cool mountains. I've shot two locations near Las Vegas, Nevada while I was down there for a week as well. Did some preliminary research on photographing a location near Coalville last Saturday while driving out to Evanston, Wyoming to pick up some fireworks for the 24th of July.

Looking back it has been a pretty productive few months, with a large back-log of about fifteen images to process and scan and/or print. Since this project is largely analoge in nature, i.e., shooting film instead of digitally, you, the viewer, will have to be patient with me in getting the images up.

The stories of these sightings are fairly interesting, and as the images are ready for the blog I'll try to devote some time to each image. It will be good preparation for any upcoming exhibit or book that might come of this work.

I've done a little research into casting tracks should I find anything, and am considering carrying a little casting kit with me into the field.

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to make them.

Avon, Utah - First Outing

2009-05-25T14:16:00.000-06:00

Series Of Tracks Found In Irrigation Canal, Avon, Utah, 2009

Yesterday was my first 'official' outing for this project. I took my dad and Polla with me as they were mildly interested/curious as to what I would see.

I had originally planned to go up to Hardware Ranch and to a location along Ant Flat Road. Instead, some interesting events transpired that were to take me somewhere else.

I told my mother about my latest project, she laughed and giggled and ridiculed for a moment, then she remembered very suddenly that a friend of hers that she plays tennis with, her daughter had claimed to have found some strange footprints in the bottom of an irrigation canal that ran along her property.

The canal is in Avon, Utah, at the southern end of Cache County. After making several phone calls, we connected with the woman and arranged to come out and shoot yesterday afternoon.

I'll keep names anonymous, not so much out of protection, she is admittedly, the talk of the town, but instead to keep the emphasis on the report and the location.

One evening around 11pm about three weeks ago, before the irrigation canals were filled, her dogs started barking in a very different manner. She described it as very aggresive and like something she hadn't heard them do before. She went to the door, shone her flashlight into the darkness but didn't see anything. The next morning she went out to see what the dogs were barking at. That's when she found the line of tracks.

The tracks were in some soft, wet silty mud and were 13 inches long and 7 inches wide. She could not see the bottom of each track in the mud. She said the step measured about 4 feet between prints and went straight down into the mud. There were no drag marks between the tracks.

She said the tracks entered the canal by the culvert where the road crosses the canal, went down the canal heading west, then left the canal right before a large irrigation pipe crosses the canal.

She contacted the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and they responded and took a report. They told her that hers was the 21st report that they responded to. She didn't say if it was the 21st report this year, or total. I have some names in the DWR that she said I ought to follow up with. It might be a good source of information.

My photograph is looking to the east along the canal, the irrigation pipe is in the foreground, the culvert and road are in the background.

She lives very near the Little Bear River which flows not more than half a mile south of her property. Residents along the river have stories of howls and screams down in the river bottoms that have gone on for years. There is also a report of a sighting where the Little Bear crosses Hwy. 89 near Wellsville. I know this area well, having grown up not far from this place. One project I have wanted to do is to document the Little Bear along the stretch from Hwy. 89 to Paradise. It has always intrigued me and I don't know why.

The photograph is an 8x20 paper negative and has quite a bit of detail. The contrast is very high (which is inherent in a paper negative). I have not scanned nor printed it yet, but will soon. I am getting a slight backlog of images with some new photographs made in Las Vegas this week and at least two locations I will photograph this coming weekend with the 4x10.

Utah Sightings Map on Google Earth

2009-05-21T09:45:00.000-06:00

The BFRO has a sweet filter for Google Earth. You are able to see where sightings have been reported and cataloged on their website. It is a very powerful application for this project and I have relied on it heavily for my initial research.

Here is a map of sightings in Utah that is kept on their database. There are many more sightings in Utah that are not reported online, and there are many more sightings from Utah that *are* reported online but not on the BFRO site.

I am going to try to go to Beaver next month and shoot an image or two there.

Artist Statement

2009-05-17T18:09:00.000-06:00

Bigfoot is as American as baseball, hot-dogs and apple-pie. Sightings of Bigfoot in North America are as old as recorded history and have happened all the way from each sea to shining sea.

When I was a young child I would bug my mother to take me to the library so that I could check out books on Bigfoot. I checked them all out, repeatedly, and pored over the stories with a rabid curiosity. I had a recurring nightmare where Bigfoot would come down out of the foothills, make it's way to my house, reach in with his long furry arm through the basement window and try to grab me. I would wake up at this point scared to death. Fear did not quench my thirst for information.

In the canon of Bigfoot photography there are many examples of what enthusiasts affectionately call 'Blobsquatch'. This refers to the overall nature and quality of these images of alleged sightings of the large furry creature. Furry, blurry blobs, magnified many times past the point of recognition with cameras never designed to provide adequate detail at high resolution. 'Blobsquatch' is a play on one of the creature's additional names – Sasquatch.

Eyewitnesses have provided researchers and enthusiasts with detailed photographs of footprints, hair samples and tree damage. We have a database rich in the written record and accounts of individuals and groups that have seen Bigfoot with their own eyes. We also have a handful of 'Blobsquatch' images, some proven to be hoaxes, others don't provide a definitive answer to what is being shown.

What is missing in the photographic vernacular of these sightings is an overall feel or sense of place. Missing are the overall shots documenting the environment that this creature inhabits.

This project will concentrate on making images that show the environment and overall landscape these first-hand accounts originate from. I want to put the 'Blobsquatch' into perspective. I want to get a feeling of the places the creature lives. Tools will include large-format and ultra-large-format film cameras measuring up to 8x20 inches. Photographs will be presented as black and white analog prints of various types.

This summer I intend to travel to several locations where there have been eyewitness accounts of a Bigfoot sighting. There are many reports of what people have thought to be sounds, noises or other evidence, feelings, intuitions and hair standing on the back of their neck. Those are wide and varied, and I have to start small. Therefore I will narrow down my locations of choice to those areas where the creature has been physically seen.

Through my entire life I have traveled thousands of miles in very remote mountainous terrain. I have always kept an eye out for Bigfoot. It is not my intent to prove or disprove the existence of such a creature. It is my intent to share the country where it has allegedly been seen.

A lack of physical evidence does not mean a lack of interest for me.

Michael Slade
May, 2009