Does Bigfoot Live in the Mountains Above Us?

Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, is a legendary hulking 7-to-10-foot-tall hairy creature, somewhere between a man and an ape. It has been reported for hundreds of years worldwide, with many of the sightings in the Pacific Northwest. But there are several reported encounters in the last 50 years in the San Gabriel Mountains. I’ll relay a handful of them, collected from the files of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization and the Angeles Sasquatch Association.

A few of the encounters were simply unexplained noises. An example of that occurred in 2002 high up in Big Tujunga Canyon when two hikers noticed a horrible smell like rotten eggs or a portable toilet. They were startled by a loud banging noise coming from a grove of trees above them, like a log being banged against a tree and, in fact, the tops of the big oaks were swaying back and forth. Next a very loud wild groan/scream pierced the air, not human and not like a bear, either. The hikers retreated and the noise stopped, but each time they stopped to look back the banging and screaming would start anew.

More dramatic are the several actual sightings. In the early 1970s, a group of deer hunters was traversing the side of a canyon near Mt. Waterman. They saw something climbing the other side of the canyon about 700 yards away, and watched it through their rifle scopes. They said it looked like a “monkey man,” something between a human and a bear, very tall, weighing several hundred pounds, all brown, walking upright. The group watched it until it disappeared in the trees, and were adamant that it was neither human nor bear. In the next few days there were similar sightings in the Pearblossom area.

Another encounter was in 1976 near Morris Dam off Highway 39 above Azusa. The reservoir behind the dam is off limits but two avid fishermen would regularly hop the fence at night. After a good night of fishing they were following the faint trail back to their car. In the dark they heard heavy footfalls on the trail in front of them. “It” stayed just ahead of them as they cautiously continued. They finally came to a clearing, and “it,” a huge human-like creature, was about 20 feet away looking back at them. The pair reported: “It turned 90 degrees up river and took off running through dense brush, in the black of night, like a running back for the Rams, like no human can!”

One of my favorite stories comes from a little farther afield, above Santa Clarita but still in our San Gabriel Mountains. In 1980, two young men took a last wilderness camping trip before reporting for Army boot camp. They hiked three miles off San Francisquito Canyon Road and set up camp surrounded by thick brush. That night they were alarmed to hear the sound of something big crunching through the underbrush, slowly circling their campsite. Spooked, the two shined flashlights, yelled, and finally fired three rounds from their gun, but to no effect. “It” kept circling. They couldn’t take it anymore, and bolted. They ran the three miles back to the road where they spent the rest of the night hiding in a drainage ditch.

With the dawn, their courage returned and they hiked back to their camp, intending to brave another night. But that evening at sunset, they encountered “it” again, standing 30 feet away facing them. It was eight feet tall with long arms and covered with hair. They saw it clearly as it gazed impassively at them. Then it turned and, slightly bent forward, slowly lumbered into the brush, making the same crunching noise they had heard the night before. The two spent another sleepless night before packing up and leaving the next morning.
There have been no Bigfoot encounters in the last decade. Perhaps our many recent wildfires drove our resident Sasquatch out for good. Or maybe he’s just well-hidden in the wilderness above us.

I hope you enjoyed these stories, and keep your eyes open when traversing our mountains!