I was recently involved in a too-close encounter with a cougar and as I later discussed my experience with the Park Ranger, he shared an encounter in the Mount St. Helens area that I knew before he finished his tale was that of one with "Bigfoot." 

I knew because I'd had my own encounter many years ago.  My parents owned a small resort located in Mountain Ranch, Calaveras County, California.

One night in the late spring of 1970, I was sitting just inside the tree line on the edge of the small golf course, enjoying a full moon and the quiet of the night (I still like to just go outside at night and sit, with no agenda beyond pure pleasure in the stillness).  As I sat there, the frogs in full chorus from the nearby lakes, I noticed the sound of something large moving through the trees and brush adjoining the golf course, getting quickly louder and closer. 

I was located a long distance from any building, and with no time to get to their relative safety, I chose to remain very quietly sitting where I was and to just watch, hoping whatever it was wouldn't see me.  The breaking branches and crush of forest underfoot grew louder and louder, until I finally could see, by the light of the full moon, movement of branches about thirty feet from my location. 

And then a HUGE, fur-covered biped emerged from the thicker growth and moved into the adjoining clearing, striding fast.  My heart was pounding hard, and I hardly dared to breathe, but I remained perfectly still and prayed it would just keep moving.  And it did...for a few more steps.  And then it stopped, and turned, and looked straight at me.  We stared at one another for a few moments and then it let out a guttural grunt and moved forward and into the trees once again. 

I just sat there, my mind trying hard to deny the whole thing that had just happened.  But happen it most definitely did, and the experience changed me forever. 

I'm not one to simply chalk someone's strange story up to "an overactive imagination." 

I *know* there are things we haven't yet explored or understood in the world. 
The precise location where I was sitting when this happened (I was 16 at the time, btw) is 38 13'01.34"N x 120 3134.08" W

April Canaday
Date: Sunday, May 24, 2009, 11:21 PM

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