BFRO #30670: Night time foot race with an unseen animal near Woodinville

📍 Location

📝 Description

I grew up in a very outdoor environment and spent a substantial amount of my time growing up in and around woods, day or night. I�ve lived in WA my whole life and had in interest in crypto-zoology as a child but had never taken any mention of Bigfoot seriously until I had my encounter.I was living at my parent�s house that summer (2009), and spent many days visiting a friend who lived about 10min away on foot on a trail. He lived off of 228th St SE and about a block up the hill from 57th Ave, and I lived a little off of 224th St SE and 45th Ave. I could make my way to his house on this trail through a lot of heavily wooded land. If I started from the end of my driveway i�d take a left onto 45th Ave, and continue past 224th St down a driveway to a culdesac off of the main road. This went down a relatively steep hill, then turned left up a steep hill and leveled out at the tree line, which was where the entrance to the trail was. Winding my way up and downhill through the woods, I�d pop out most the way down 53rd Ave, N of its intersection with 228th St. I�d then take a right to walk down 53rd Ave, take a left onto 228th St and walk downhill until I was at my friend�s place. It was obviously used because the brush underfoot was consistently stamped flat, but in all my time living in that area the only people I ever saw on it were myself and any friends who might�ve taken the trip with me (maps.google.com, type in 50th Ave and 228th St SE)Having spent that night, like many before and after, relaxing on my friends patio with several other regulars, I got up, put out my cigarette, said my goodbyes and left. I walked out his driveway, took a left onto 228th, and walked towards 53rd. The night was moonless and so it was very dark; there were streetlights, but each of them was separated by 70-100ft or more and was only on one side of the road. It was probably around 1 in the morning, and it was normal for me to not see any cars on my short trip on the main road. Taking a right onto 53rd and then a left onto the trail most the way down it, I entered the trail. It was very, very still but the normal sounds were there for night time; some insects, the occasional rustle in the bushes of a smaller animal, nothing out of the ordinary. It was almost pitch black because of the tree cover, but I knew the trail like the back of my hand and walked confidently forward. Then it happened.Behind me to my right, probably about 20ft away, I heard movement in the brush and ferns. I didn�t even realizing I was hearing anything until it lasted more than a few seconds�and I realized it was moving in the same direction as me and breaking sizable tree branches underfoot. I stopped and listened. In a moment, the rustling came to a stop. I could hear faint, slow, deep breathing, like that of a large animal; it wasn�t loud enough to be from exertion, but seemed natural, as if whatever was behind the lung capacity was big enough to encompass several of my breaths in one of its own. I waited for about a minute and didn�t hear anything except the breathing, slow and even. I took another step and started down the trail again. And again, something moved through the woods after me, keeping pace and tempo with my movements. Sure enough I could hear ferns, ivy, blackberry bushes and the like being pulled or pushed aside, and that slow breathing started again. I stopped again, and this went on for another 5 or so minutes before I reached the trailhead, scared out of my wits. I still hadn�t heard any individual footsteps, hadn�t seen it or smelled anything; I don�t remember which way the wind was blowing, if there was one. I�d decided that once I hit the tree line, I�d make a run for it. So as I walked evenly up, followed in the same way I had been for several previous minutes, and trusting my years as a track runner (which I was fairly talented at), came to a stop and then bolted into a sprint down the hill.At moment later whatever was following me decided to move as well. As I pounded down the hill towards the right turn up 45th Ave, it too broke the trees from where I had, the gravel and then the asphalt. Its breathing became a series of low growls, almost a series of calls that sounded hoarse and aggressive. It was loud; loud enough to echo off the surrounding trees. But the moment it hit the gravel I knew something was wrong; of all the animals I�ve ever seen in their natural habitat that are native to western WA, none of them sounded like this one did. There was no lope, stride, or gallop that resembled how this thing sounded when it moved. One of the more intense memories of this incident was hearing that noise; distinctive impacts with the ground on not four, but two feet, and the smacking of bare feet on asphalt when it hit the driveway. That was quite unsettling, to say the least.But then another thing happened to my dismay and confusion; instead of following me down the driveway on the asphalt, it crossed back onto the asphalt and then int

🔍 Circumstances

My dog (upon my arrival home)

🌤️ Weather Conditions

Nighttime, no moon, heavy tree cover

ℹ️ Additional Details

Nighttime, no moon, heavy tree cover

🔗 Sources (1)

👥 Community Contributions

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