SASQUATCH, a member of the BIGFOOT family

Valhalla Provincial Park - West Kootenay region, British Columbia, Canada

Check Google Earth for closer inspection

Sasquatch is a mysterious creature believed to roam the coastal regions of Pacific Northwest: an area of North-American continent encompassing the coastal and inland regions of Oregon, Washington State and British Columbia.
The eastern range of its habitat might extend all the way to Rocky Mountains and even beyond.
Hard to say; Sasquatch, like (Ogopogo or Loch Ness Monster) is a secretive creature truly seen and encountered by only a few ..... if any....

The landmass of Pacific Northwest is a magical region of high mountains and deep valleys, dotted with thousands of lakes of various sizes, covered with emerald forests (or whatever is left of them) and capped by pristine white glaciers (melting at an alarming speed).
It is an absolutely perfect habitat for a creature that managed to survive the onslaught of ice ages and the violence of tectonic forces that are slowly lifting the landmass and shooting magma up through the chain of volcanoes of Cascade Mountains.








Mt. Reinier - a sleeping volcano in Cascade Mts.

Many do not believe in the Sasquatches' existence but
 make no mistake - I am definitely the only one liking the idea of not being alone in the forest. Check out the Stories of Outdoor Adventures by voyageur Jan Soukup - there are more of us.
Despite the senseless logging this region is still boasts many areas hardly ever visited by modern humans. Once again we are talking about a perfect habitat for large humanoids to go about their nocturnal life; undetected by most of us. Only a small number of people believe in their existence and of those only a handful dedicate their lives to a true search for them.

Some of the believers come up with sightings and clues, some even record large humanoid shapes in the forest on the camera.


True, there are many who just make fun of the entire concept - faking the photos and creating false evidence. So easy to do these days.

 Sumallo Grove - Manning Park, B.C.

Yet, it is still very fascinating to explore the legends that surround Sasquatch and the rest of the global Bigfoot family:

Yeti - the large hairy creature of Himalayas,
Yeren - the Chinese Man-Bear of high mountains of Eastern China
Yowie - an Australian hominid similar to Yeti
Hibagon  - the creature of Japanese mountains according to sightings it is similar to North American Sasquatch.

If I missed some please let me know.

The first accounts and sightings came from the indigenous people of every continent. Except for Antarctica these claims have been made on every continent of the planet.


According to some tribes of Cascade Mountains a group of these Bigfoot creatures, named Scoocooms, lived right on the top of Mt. St. Helen's - the infamous volcano that blew up in 1980. The legend says that Scoocooms were nocturnal and cannibalistic - if they hunted and feasted only on their own kind or preyed on their little human neighbors, I am not sure.

Mt. St. Helen's - its blown off top is in the top right.

In any case, one has to wonder what happened to them during and after the violent explosion that blew off the mountain top and incinerated a very large area in the vicinity of Mt St Helen's.

This also explains the term....that is a "scoocoom" something ... a truck or a building .... something sturdy and big

The closest encounter I ever had with a Sasquatch?
Well ... let ME tell YOU!
There have been several! 

Once we hiked in the Old Growth woods of Kokanee Glacier Park in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia.
Here too, the trees had been mowed down but for some reason a stand of large cedars had been left out.

It was the end of October then; that's when on the freshly snow-dusted  trail we discovered a very large footprint! Our first thought was of a grizzly bear so, as the adrenaline kicked in, our heart beats went up. Everything was quiet, only the raven made its clucking sounds way up in the canopy of the old cedars.

We examined the print. 
Size-wise it could have been grizzly's but it was larger and somewhat odd in shape. The claw marks were absent!

 


 











The tracks followed the trail for some distance and then turned down the slope towards a creek. 
To be on the safe side we chose to continue in the opposite direction.



It was not until another year had passed that we met a young man there, deep in the same woods of Kokanee Park Old Growth. He was collecting mushrooms that grew in abundance on the rotting old tree trunks.
"Chicken Of The Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)", he said, "amazingly tasty to eat!"

We set our heavy tripods and cameras and started to take photos of the orange heap of large plate-like fungi. The young man gave us a quick glance, reached into his backpack whisked out an iPad, took several flawless photos and shook our hands ready to leave.

Just then I noticed his footwear!

"Were you here a year ago?", I asked feeling very old.

"Oh yes, I collect them every Autumn".

"And ...  are these", I pointed at his feet, " are these whatever-you-call-them.... comfortable?"

"Very", said he with a beautiful smile. Gave us a nod and disappeared in the underbrush.

The Sasquatch mystery of the Kokanee Park had been solved.

False alarm!

One place where Sasquatch (or Bigfoot) reigns for sure is a small town of Creston, British Columbia.
Just walk down the street and ask anyone - even a child of five:
"Where can we find Bigfoot?"
"You mean Sasquatch? Just go to the brewery."

So we did.

Surely enough - the smart creature of the woods made its home right inside Columbia Brewery!
It struck a deal with the beer makers: for an "all-you-can-drink" deal. For that it will advertise their organic beer, glacial-water based beer. It might be called "Kokanee" but it is definitely promoted by Sasquatch.

Proper team-work, if you ask me.

And our last encounter with Sasquatch? It happened just before the New Year's near Osoyoos.

 Lake Osoyoos, B.C.

Yes, the large one is Sasquatch, and he is in festive mood! Who knows - he might apply for a job with Santa if the old man ever decides to retire. For the time being he might just wait a bit - on the ridge that crowns the beautiful Okanagan valley.

Am I a Bigfoot believer? 

I hate to say this - probably not. 

Probably - because I reserve the right to leave that door open - if only a sliver-like. 

Just imagine, would the world not be a better place, if instead of painting everything around us with our fear, we simply co-exited with all the creatures - BIG and SMALL, shooting with only our cameras and treating the our world with respect?

So for the year ahead I dare to wish you peace, satisfaction with who you are and wisdom to accept life in all its forms and shapes. 

And if you like music maybe you can celebrate this year with Stompin' Tom Connors and his Sasquatch Song.