BFRO #5697: Three boys encounter sasquatch in eroded terrain

📍 Location

📝 Description

This is the second in a set of chronological reports that I am submitting regarding a series of encounters I had between 1970 and 1983 in Nevada, California, and Washington States.I grew up several miles Northwest of Reno, Nevada in the foothills of the Sierra's. My father was a geologist who preferred sparsely populated areas, so we lived, camped, fished, gold panned, rockhounded, and hunted Indian and goldrush artifacts in some relatively remote places.This second encounter occured in August of 1972 in Lemmon Valley, Nevada. Lemmon Valley is Northwest of Reno on US 395. Though the area I am about to describe is now covered with housing developments, in 1972 there were only two developed areas in the valley. Stead Air Force Base (deactivated in 1959)[N.B. below] was on the West side of the valley and the community of Lemmon Valley was on the East side. The community of Lemmon Valley was, in reality, simply a strip of built up properties along Lemmon Valley road - just housing and few small businesses extending for about five miles toward the back of the valley and for a couple of hundred yards at most to either side of the road. US 395 cut across the South and higher end of the valley at the base of Peavine Mountain's North slope. Toward the back of the valley, the North or lower end, were a few small ranches. Only a couple of improved dirt roads cut across the center of the valley connecting the community of Lemmon Valley to Stead.The climate was high desert. Roughly 5000 feet in elevation with negligible year-round rainfall, but sometimes several feet of snow in the winter. The humidity was generally less than ten percent and often as low as five. Other than those planted near developed properties, there were no trees in the floor of the valley. Scrub pine begins on the higher ridges about five miles West of the valley and thickens to fully developed arid pine forest as the elevation increases. The dominant vegetation is sagebrush, mixed with a wide variety of large weeds and coarse grasses. Jackrabbits, prairie dogs, and smaller rodents were very common, as were a wide variety of lizards and snakes. Coyotes are common, but rarely seen. Cougar and black bear are rare, but sometimes sighted in the area. Deer stick to the surrounding higher elevations with more trees. Other indigenous animals include hawks, falcons, and few burrowing owls. Quail, and other ground nesting birds are also plentiful. There is also a variety of large insect species (cicada, locusts, etc..) to round out the ecosystem. At first glance, the area may not look like it supports much in the way of life, but it actually does. Snow melt is the primary source of open water in the late spring and early summer and a small lake forms toward the back of the valley. By late August this has usually dried up and the only sources of water are near human habitation.As I mentioned in my first report, the North face of Peavine Mountain was deforested in the late 1800's. It has also eroded significantly over the last century as a natural result of the vegetation loss and due to hydraulic mining. The runoff from the mountain was clearly heavy at some time in the past, because two deep washes cut through half the length of the valley flowing North from Peavine Mountain. These washes were eight to ten feet deep in places with vertical walls and averaged five to eight feet in width. Walking down one was much like walking through a school hallway with slight curves. Their depth would increase and decrease as they intersected the natural fingers and draws running down from the ridges that bounded the valley. They were difficult to climb in and out of except at a few places where they shallowed out to a couple of feet as they intersected a draw. Because they were shaded and contained a little more moisture than the surrounding terrain, they formed a small microclimate where certain species of lizard and an occassional scorpion could be found. The sagebrush also grew a little taller (about three feet) along their edges. Below, the floors of the washes were almost perfectly level, shaded, and protected from the wind. Very little vegetation grew in the floors of the washes and was usually limited to tumbleweeds and some patches of coarse grass. From the floor of the valley these washes were virtually invisible. You could only tell where they were from a stripe of sagebrush running along their edges that was a little greener, thicker, and taller than the rest of the sagebrush in the valley. You couldn't see them or see down into them until you were right on top of them.This encounter took place in the early afternoon in mid-August of 1972. It was bright, sunny, and hot, about 85 degrees Fahrenheit, at the time. The wind was less than five miles per hour. I was twelve. I was with my brother, who was ten, and a friend, David, who was also twelve. For years, my brother and I had spent the summers exploring the surrounding hills and valley. We knew all the best pl

🔍 Circumstances

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🌤️ Weather Conditions

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ℹ️ Additional Details

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