BFRO #41634: Memory told of observing bi-pedal creatures while driving on an unimproved dirt road in the Wallowa Mountains east of Cove

📍 Location

📝 Description

BIGFOOT SIGHTINGBy: Jim KiserSighting date: Early July, 1972Sighting location: Wallowa Mountains, Eastern OregonReport prepared: June, 2012 to June, 2013Report printed: June 14, 2013On a family vacation in the remote mountains of eastern Oregon, I witnessed in broad daylight, what I believe was a family of sasquatches. I have recorded everything I can recall about that incident, hoping that others can extract important behavioral or other data from this report. I apologize for the abundant personal information � worry about the car, etc � but this information will help the reader understand why I can recall this incident so clearly.The sighting occurred in early July 1972 when my wife, 2 year-old daughter, 9 month-old son and I were on a vacation in Eastern Oregon, traveling in our Volkswagen Squareback. This was our first and only vacation to these regions. On the vacation, we visited the John Day River Valley, Strawberry Mountain, the Snake River Valley and other sparsely populated, remote mountainous areas. On the day of the sighting, I had decided to take a short-cut across the mountains expecting a scenic, but shorter route to Wallowa Lake, a resort area where we planned to camp. The region is thinly populated and the mountains are on Federal Lands but are essentially uninhabited. At the last gas station and general store before entering the mountains, I inquired if we could cross the mountains and was told the road was passable but primitive. This store may have been in the town of Cove or it may have been another town. We set off on our journey with a state roadmap and my sense of direction to guide us. After three or four hours of travel, several turns at unlabeled forks in the road and using the sun to navigate we found ourselves on a primitive dirt trail. We had not seen a house, vehicle or other sign of humanity for many miles. I became increasingly concerned realizing that if we broke down that I would have to walk possibly 20 miles or more to get help. In hindsight, I believe I may have wandered by accident into an area now designated as a Wilderness area where mechanized traffic is prohibited. Fortunately the day was clear and warm, and we were well below the level of any snow. We had food and water adequate for several hours, so we were in no immediate danger. I was driving and everyone else had dozed off. At about 2 PM we were driving generally north, quietly idling along at about 5-10 miles per hour, following a faint vehicular road. I call it a road for convenience, but it was not a road � it was a barely visible, badly rutted, dirt track without gravel, culverts or other improvements. It was basically a couple of ruts in the soil and looked as if it had not been maintained in decades, if ever. The soil was damp, but not wet so I had no concerns for traction. There were small bushes growing in the road. I recall realizing the traffic was only a few vehicle per year. The road was suitable for a heavy duty, 4-wheel-drive vehicle not a Volkswagen on a family outing. I became concerned that the road might dead-end or become impassable, and we would be forced to backtrack and I wasn�t sure I could find my way back. I had to keep a very close watch on the road to make sure I wouldn�t run over something that would damage our car and strand us in the middle of nowhere. At the sighting location the road was atop a wide, flat ridgeline covered with a few trees, bushes (possibly sagebrush) about 2 to 4 feet high and scattered clumps of bunch grass. The soil atop the ridgeline was thin and rocky. The damp soil suggested a possible rainfall a few days earlier. Based on the vegetation and lack of snow, I later estimated the elevation was between 4,000 and 6,000 feet. The ridgeline sloped gently to the left (west) and then dropped off sharply into a forested canyon, at a distance of approximately 125 yards from the road. To the right the ground gently sloped upward with a few scattered trees, and at a distance of perhaps 200 yards dropped off to the forested lower elevations. To the front, the road dipped down and then back up to the treeline about three quarters of mile ahead.Suddenly near the head of a small ravine which cut easterly from the canyon toward to the road, a human-like figure appeared about 200-300 yards ahead and a little to the left of the road we were traveling along (See Sketch 1). The figure hadn�t been there my last glance a few seconds earlier, so the figure must have been sitting or lying in the low bushes and then stood up. At first, I took the figure to be a hunter. In the context, a �hunter� is the most logical category for the figure. No other category � hiker, biker, nature lover, surveyor, rancher, fern gatherer, fur trapper, etc, etc � even remotely applied. My second thought was surprise because I couldn�t see a tent, pickup, camper or any other normal paraphernalia of a hunter�s camp. I wondered if the hunter had been hiking and had stopped to rest � that the hunter had a

🔍 Circumstances

My wife was in the car, but she was asleep.

🌤️ Weather Conditions

About 2:00 PM, on a clear, warm, sunny day.

ℹ️ Additional Details

About 2:00 PM, on a clear, warm, sunny day.

🔗 Sources (1)

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