BFRO #1792: Sighting at East Boulder Lake

📍 Location

📝 Description

I was working as a councilor at wilderness summer camp based at Mosquito Lake. Several councilors would sign up each session for excursions on 1 to 3 nights away in the back country. This hike was during the second session in early July.We had completed the major stretch of the four hour journey when we came over the ridge and could see East Boulder about 3/4 of a mile below. There were 4 councilors and about 25 boys and girls ranging in age from 9 through 15. We had stopped for a last gulp of water at a clearing just below the rim of the ridge when several of the campers began to squeal excitedly and pointing at the steep slope directly to the northeast and to the right of us. Not more than 50 feet away at the same elevation stood an erect hairy creature looking right back at us. One of the kids yelped, "It's a bear!" Tim, one of the councilors, muttered, "That's no bear."The details are still vivin in my memory. The creature was leaning against its left arm which pushed it out from the canyon wall. The right arm swung back and forth as if for balance and it bobed its head irregularly. It was about 5'6" tall, covered with long reddish brown fur with a large flat face and round yellow eyes. During a discussion later, Sunny, who was studying biology at UC Davis, insisted that she observed the creature to have a hairless chest with large round protruding nipples. This led her to conclude that it was possibly female.The creature held its ground for a little over 1 minute before it spun around and ran away from out group upward towards the rim to the right of us. As it ran it sent a landslide of skree down into the valley below. When it reached the ridge it turned and peered back at us once again and then disappeared over the edge.Much excitement followed and the decision to continue down to the lake and set up camp was made. Curiously, there didn't seem to be a trace of fear among the children although all the councilors, myself included, did admit later to being afraid.The first thing after dark that I noticed was a powerful odor that came from the Ponderosa grove. The closest comparison I can come up with is that the smell is skunk like but muskier with a hint of urine. The entire camp began to get a whiff of this odor and the animated discussion about the sighting during the afternoon became hushed. In the quiet we could hear landslides from a number of different places midway up the ridge, a dim green light about the size of a small grapefruit. The odor intensified and the snapping of branches not more than 10 yards away sent the whole bunch of us into a cluster around the fire. The odor was intense when a large shadow figure took several long deliberate strides through a gap in the trees. It had to be about 7 feet tall. I saw this creature only once but others in the group saw several dark forms over the next 2 hours.Shortly after midnight an 11 year old boy in the group began to complain of great pain in his lower abdomen. This pain increased over the next hour to the point that he was laying on the ground pulling his legs up towards his chest. The councilors agreed that it appeared that the camper was having an appendicitis attack. We drew sticks and Larry and Tim headed out in the dark back to the main camp to bring a stretcher with a four wheel drive truck to the logging road just over the south ridge. Sunny and I remained with the group, some of them sleeping and others tending the campfire. At the point when Tim and Larry's flashlights were no longer visible, the odor departed as well and the night became still and quiet.The next morning shortly after dawm, Tim Larry and Warren, the camp director, arrived at the camp with a olive green military stretcher.Warren would later question every member of the group. He observed that the key elements of the story were consistent in each telling. He conceded that we had indeed experienced something strange but insisted that the concilors present agree to the possibility that what we had seen were bears.

🌤️ Weather Conditions

The height of summer. Warm and clear. Not a cloud in the sky.Bright reflections off of granite rock faces. Light breeze.

ℹ️ Additional Details

The height of summer. Warm and clear. Not a cloud in the sky.Bright reflections off of granite rock faces. Light breeze.

🔗 Sources (1)

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