An Epic Day In The Forest

   We started out with about an hour drive out to a beautiful area of the Southern Oregon Cascades. There is a large lake with a campground and boat ramp. At the far end of the large lake, there is a smaller, secluded lake only accessible by a three mile hike. I had been to this spot previously so when we got there we went to check on a blind structure I had found last October. I was amazed at how degraded it had become from the last time I saw it. I have the distinct feeling that once it was discovered, it was no longer of use. We walked past the huge X formation that faces the lake. Was it a greeting or a warning?

July 22nd 2014

Late October 2013

July 22nd 2014

Late October 2013

   As we hiked in we immediately started seeing lots of tree bends and tree breaks, and time and again we heard something big in the brush on a parallel course, just out of sight. We would often head the direction of the noises but could never find what was making them. At one point I thought I saw a dark figure pass between two trees out in the forest. I took the required two steps back to see the spot again and saw nothing. In this zig zag pattern we made our way through the forest in the general direction of a nice lake where a BFRO report spawned my initial curiosity for this area. A fisherman had hiked back there and had rocks thrown at him, was screamed at, and was followed out.

  Hiking in further we heard a noise that many have described. A barely audible low frequency thump. Sounding like a stomp on an old rotten log or possibly even a fist pound on a huge chest or done somehow with the mouth. The parallel accompaniment continued.

   My friend Daniel heard a growl to his left, and we stopped to listen and were heading that way when we heard a loud crack, directly behind us. We turned around in time to see a tall tree fall with a crash almost directly in our direction, which was against the nice breeze that was whispering through the pines. Even as the tree was falling, we heard something run off very fast to our right from the origin of the tree fall.

   We went to investigate and took some pics of the rather impressive tree that fell. We were both trying to take in what had just happened as we headed back toward that secluded lake. We got no further than ten yards farther down the trail when we heard a big “thud” only about 20 feet from us on the left side of the trail, opposite the fallen tree. It sounded very much like a large rock hitting the ground. Once again we took a few steps that direction, but couldn’t find anything.

   We pushed on to the secluded lake. As we hiked the three miles in we walked past literally dozens of arches and breaks and an occasional X or more complicated structure. It seemed as though we were escorted at least most of the time. In the distance, we heard very chimp like short screams in one spurt of four or five.

   We finally reached our destination and sat for a few minutes just taking in the natural beauty of the place. Across the water, but on our end of the lake, I saw something very dark between two trees. I told Daniel about it and he could see it as well. It was there for quite some time but then suddenly it was gone. As we sat there, we heard very rhythmic and methodical rock clacks. I clacked back and they stopped. Several minutes later they started back up. The odd thing about the clacks was that there were two different tones that alternated, very unlike anything natural like a woodpecker.

   We found these very interesting tree structures right near the secluded lake on our way back out. It was a short walk to the farthest end of the big lake and we followed that shoreline on the long trek back to the car. 

   We followed the same trail out that we took in when we were getting near our car. We discovered some prints in the general area of the tree fall. One print in particular was pretty decent. I stomped with my boot and couldn't even dent the ground, so the weight of this guy must be substantial. 

Blog Posted by: Dan Lindholm

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