First Bigfoot Encounter

Although I have not been posting for very long I feel a certain obligation to tell you about my first Bigfoot sighting. Luckily this is one of my earlier posts, now you can understand the fascination I’ve had since childhood. As I have mentioned in the past, I have had a certain interest in Bigfoot since I was seven years old. I never actually saw the beast until I was sixteen. It happened one day during summer break.
I had made plans with some friends to go hiking that day. I woke up early that morning and packed a lunch and snacks, besides the essentials of course. Still I had the sinking feeling I had forgotten something. I brushed the feeling off since I have the feeling almost every time I go on a trip. (When I’m lucky I usually find out that I really didn’t forget anything. On most occasions I arrive into a situation where I find that I left the item at home. I have, of course, learned to be resourceful). I grabbed my bike and rode down to the place where I was to meet my friends. I was one of the last to arrive. As usual, my old friend Yams (Harold was his real name, but everyone called him yams) showed up last.
“Where have you been?” I asked as he parked his bike.
“I was about to leave when my mom told me to do the dishes.” Yams replied.
“Don’t worry about it. We didn’t wait for very long and you did something helpful for your mom.” Nick said.
Nick had always been a good encourager. Yams on the other hand often got on my nerves, but I liked him anyways. Yams was the type of person that could always be found somewhere else when you really needed him.
Without another word we began trekking through the forest. We spotted several bison and an ostrich, but besides that the first two hours were quite uneventful. In the third hour we were attacked by finches and hummingbirds. By the time it reached noon we had encountered several bugs, ran up a tree to escape from a bear, and fallen into a pit covered in leaves. It was the best day we had ever had. I laughed along with my friends as I hauled myself out of the pit.
“Did you see the look on Jerry’s face when that bear walked up through the bushes behind him?” Jill asked
“Yeah, that bears cubs must have been nearby. I never knew Nick could climb up a tree that fast either.” I replied with a large smile.
We decided to take a break and stop for lunch. I ate my sandwich and threw the plastic bag back into my pack.
“Would you like some coffee cake?” Sarah asked.
“Sure,” I replied.
She pulled one from her pack and handed it to me. I sunk my teeth into it gleefully. My eyes widened as I spit it into the bushes next to me.
“Are you telling me you don’t like coffee?” Sarah asked.
“No, I like coffee, but that was no coffee cake.” I replied scrapping the remains off my tongue.
She looked into her packed and twisted her face. “Oops, I must have grabbed my brothers medicine by mistake.”
“Medicine… what was it for?” I asked.
Sarah gave me a look that said “you don’t want to know,” and got up to sit next to Jill. (Since then I have never liked coffee cake).
“Hey, can you hear that?” Nick suddenly piped up.
Everyone became silent and listen carefully. The sound of thousands of tiny wings beating through the air filled our ears.
“Where’s Yams?” I asked looking around.
Yams tumbled out of the forest yelling at the top of his lungs. “RUN AWAY! ANGRY WASPS!”
Without a second thought we all scattered in different directions. Wasps suddenly poured into the clearing we had been resting in, obviously enraged by something Yams had done. I grabbed my pack and took off running as fast as I could. I could hear the insects pursuing. Daringly, I peeked over my shoulder to see how many were following me. A high pitched scream rang out through the trees. I realized the terrible suffering my companions must be going through. On their account I quickly stopped screaming. I had fallen into another pit trap when I looked over my shoulder. I got to my feet and gazed up at the small cloud of insects that were gathering a few feet above my head. My body began to sweat as the insects slowly moved closer to my head. Suddenly I heard a loud thump from somewhere nearby. The wasps disappeared into the forest at rapid speed. Climbing out of the pit, I caught a glimpse of something walking through the trees.
I quickly moved in closer to see what it was. The closer I got the more and more I realized that I could not identify the creature. Hiding behind a tree I could make out what seemed to be the tall figure of a man, but bent over slightly and walking strangely. I turned my back for a second to see if any of my friends were around and the creature was out of sight.
I sat leaning against the tree and reached into my pack. The more rummaged around through my belongings the more I realized that I had forgotten something. I slapped my forehead as I remembered what I had forgotten. I had forgotten my map. I got to my feet and hiked toward where I thought was the trail. I tilted my head back and breathed in the fresh air. I didn’t need a map anyway.

The sun began to set as I wondered through the forest. I was hopelessly lost. I had no idea where I was, where my friends were, or which direction I was heading in. Eventually I sat on a log and put my face in my hands. I heard movement from in front of me and I quickly glanced upwards. A large hairy creature stood watching me from a few feet away. Its monkey like face looked into my eyes with curiosity. I froze at the sight of the animal. I stared at it for a long time before realizing that I was only a few feet away from the mythical Bigfoot. The creature turned and quickly moved into the forest. Suddenly Yams appeared through the bushes to my left.
“There you are. We’ve been looking for you all day, where in the world were you?” Yams asked impatiently.
I did not answer, staring off after the Bigfoot; still too amazed to move. After a few minutes I regained my senses and fallowed Yams to the rest of our group. I recounted the events of what I had encountered and they all laughed.
“You are a funny one.” Nick said with a smile.

From that moment on I have been searching for Bigfoot. In the few moments I looked into the creatures eyes I felt a special connection. When I find the beast again I intend not to kill it or take it to a zoo, but instead looked into its eyes once more and understand what Bigfoot is like.

-Dr. VonGon