One Week
at Bluff Creek
July Outing Notes
By Tom Yamarone
The heat was baking the Sacramento
Valley as we passed through
Redding, California. The thermometer
read 114 degrees and
Weaverville was still in triple digits
late in the afternoon. When we left
highway 96 in Orleans, it was
under 100 degrees, but just barely.
As we climbed the G-O Road to
our final destination, the forest was
a bit cooler but not much. That’s
how it goes. Heat wave or not, we
were out in the Six Rivers National
Forest and in good company. My
partner for this adventure was my
good friend, Bob Strain, and we
were meeting up with Cliff
Barackman and Jimbo “Bobo” Fay.
Our goal for this week in the field
was the same as always –
attempting to document the
existence of bigfoot. We wanted
photographic evidence in the form
of pictures or video, and were
searching for circumstantial
evidence as well – tracks, hair, scat,
or audio recordings of possible
vocalizations and other sounds. I
will tell you up front that only the
last of these goals was met, thanks
in large part to the recording
equipment brought to the field by
Cliff. After hours of recording each
night, he documented a loud wood
knock and a very clear whistle.
We camped in an isolated valley
near the headwaters of Blue Creek.
Bob and I set up camp near the
entrance to the valley and we
operated as any campers would –
the normal routine of cooking,
camp fires, and exploratory hikes
enjoying the natural beauty of the
area. Bobo and Cliff camped a
quarter of a mile away and
maintained a cold camp with no
use of lights at night. Each morning
we would meet up and discuss the
events of the previous night. They
heard many unusual sounds – trees
breaking, wood knocks, whistles
and even a distant call early one
morning. Bob and I slept soundly
and the only thing we heard was a
loud exchange between two barn
owls at 4:30 am.
We spent three nights in this
location and decided to spend the
remainder of our trip down at Bluff
Creek. We drove down to what
many bigfoot enthusiasts refer to as
the “film site” – the location along
Bluff Creek where the Patterson-
Gimlin film was obtained in 1967.
It is very different now than it was
at that time – very overgrown with
thick stands of brush and alders
along the creek and heavily
wooded, steep hillsides closing in
around the canyon. The creek is
easy to cross but the going is rough
as each step along the way is a step
on a variety of different sized
rocks. Rocks…that’s what defines
Bluff Creek these days. A little
ways upstream there are some sand
bars and we located tracks of deer,
bear, bobcat, raccoon and a lone
hiker accompanied by a small dog.
At this location, as at the previous
one, we did attempt some active
interaction with our own wood
knocks and calls. We also tried call
blasting here in the canyon of Bluff
Creek using alleged sasquatch calls
and a soundtrack with a baby crying.
F I E L D W O R K
2
This was an attempt to solicit the
curiosity of the local inhabitants
and it did not produce results. As
some of you know who have been
out in similar situations, a lack of
results does not necessarily mean
there were no bigfoot present. In
my opinion, they are the ones who
have the option of revealing themselves
and I do believe it was well
known to all the forest animals
nearby that we were there. The
smells and sounds associated with
us traveled well on the wind. Yes,
we were there…they probably were
as well, but they didn’t let us know
if that were the case.
Cliff and Bobo scoured the creek
bed for signs of activity covering
miles of territory while Bob and I
explored a smaller area at our own
pace. In the end, we got to see
some fine country and very good
habitat. We took many photos –
some of which I’ll share here with
you – and cast some bear, raccoon
and deer tracks as well. I won’t
conclude that we were satisfied just
to be out in the woods. No, we
certainly hoped for better results
but it was time well spent. We will
return to Bluff Creek in the coming
months and continue to explore the
Sierra Nevada Mountains as well
as the Santa Cruz Mountains in our
area. We may try some different
techniques and approaches to our
research, but we made the effort
and were ready to document –
that’s the best anyone can hope for.
I hope you enjoy the photos and
would ask you to share with us
accounts of your bigfoot outings.
Our work here at the museum to
document bigfoot activity in
California continues and we
welcome your association in
this endeavor.