Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beasts from the Darkside. Brad Steiger

      Loren Coleman studies at the Cryptozoological Museum in Portland, Maine (photo by International Cryptozoology Museum/Loren Coleman/Jessica Meuse).

      Don Avery met a man in Walla Walla in the 1990s who did not believe in these creatures. He was from Houston and had recently arrived in the Northwest. “One day in the fall of 1993 he was parked on a dirt road up in the Blue Mountains when two of these creatures walked across the road in front of his pickup truck,” Don said. “The Texan became an obsessed fanatic. He turned his home into a Sasquatch research center. He possessed some very interesting cast footprints, completely showing tendons. The prints were very large, larger than mine.”

      On another occasion, Don Avery received an email from a miner who lived about one and a half miles east of him. “He was totally intimidated by a large hairy thing that he saw on his claim,” Don said. “This man was very frightened. I would be surprised if he ever went back.”

      Micah Hanks, author of Magic, Mysticism, and the Molecule (2010), remarked in a recent email to me that “Mankind’s fascination with creatures that bridge the gap between humans and beasts has persisted for as long as we’ve been able to differentiate ourselves from what we label ‘the animal kingdom.’“

      “Still,” Micah continued, “perhaps some of the most frightening creatures of this sort may not be natural at all, as rumors of experiments intended to create human-ape hybrids do exist outside the realm of fiction. The most famous (or infamous) reports of deliberate induced pregnancies with the intention of creating hybrids of this sort concerns the Soviet biologist Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov and his experiments with interspecific hybridization of animals beginning around 1926. Russian dictator Joseph Stalin reportedly told Ivanov that he wanted ‘a new invincible human being, insensitive to pain, resistant and indifferent about the quality of food they eat.’ The fact that such experiments have been hinted at, often conducted under the veil of secrecy, has led some to believe that reports of Bigfoot-like creatures may have a darker, more terrifying scientific background.”

       Two Ghost Hunters Meet Very Physical “Spooks”

      More or less on a whim, I asked my good friends Dave and Sharon Oester, who started the International Ghost Hunters Society in 1996, if they had ever encountered any Bigfoot among the spirits, whose voices they record during their sessions with EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena). I was quite surprised to learn that they had had three experiences with the Giant of the Forests. Two of the encounters we shall present herewith; the third, a bit later.

      Dave and Sharon are the authors of 23 books, their most recent, Ghosts of Gettysburg: Walking on Hallowed Ground describes 50 of the most haunted sites on the famous Civil War battlefield. (The Oesters’ website is www.ghostweb.com. Their email address is [email protected].) Dave and Sharon travel full time in their RV coach as they investigate the most haunted places in America. I guess I shouldn’t have been too astonished to learn that they had also encountered Bigfoot.

       Shining Yellow Eyes in the Old Cascade Tunnel

       The first experience, Dave said, happened at the Lost City of Wellington, Washington where they were going to hold a ghost conference investigation.

       According to Dave:

      Wellington was the site of a tragic train accident that occurred 100 years before on March 1, 1910, when an avalanche buried a passenger train and destroyed the railroad town. For unknown reasons the train foolishly moved out of the protective snow shelter and was buried under tons of heavy snow. A total of 96 people had their lives snuffed out from this killer avalanche.

      A week before our scheduled ghost conference at Skykomish, Washington, we decided to check out the old Cascade Tunnel that is located just below Stevens Pass in the rugged Cascade Mountains. This is a high wilderness area and far removed from communities. We drove up to Stevens Pass and descended down the dirt road to the entrance of the old Cascade Tunnel. This 2.6-mile-long tunnel was abandoned in 1929 when a new tunnel was dug through the Cascade Mountains. We wanted to take some pictures for our website in preparation for the Ghost Conference.

      It was a slow drive down as we had a Honda Accord that has a low ground clearance. We stopped by the edge of the tunnels and Sharon stayed in the car while I climbed down the bank to the entrance to the tunnel where I started snapping photos. A small stream ran out of the tunnel so I had to be careful to step on rocks to get inside the tunnel entrance, as I did not want to get my feet wet. I wanted to take some flash photos inside the tunnel so I walked until the light from the entrance was dim.

      I had only gone about forty feet inside the tunnel when I noticed two glowing yellow eyes in the far end of the tunnel. I thought this must be an animal and continued snapping pictures when suddenly I noticed the glowing yellow eyes move back and forth as if the animal or creature was slowly moving toward me.

      I realized that the eyes were glowing yellow and no natural animal eyes glowed like that. I then realized that the level of the glowing yellow eyes was over two-thirds the distance the top of the tunnel. This creature stood about nine feet tall relative to the height of the tunnel.

      I immediately felt a strong desire to retreat to the safety of our car. I raced back to the entrance and up the hill to the car. I quickly got into the Honda and rolled up the windows. How silly of me to think glass would stop whatever was coming out of that tunnel.

      As I sat in the car collecting my thoughts, I heard a loud heavy sound that sounded like something heavy hitting the ground at the front entrance to the tunnel. It sent chills up our spines and I realized that the rolled-up windows were no protection from this creature.

      I had fears of the Honda not starting or of stalling. Too many horror films raced through my mind. I started the Honda and quickly retraced our route back to the main dirt road.

      The next day we departed for home, stopped at Mt. Index, and chatted with a lady who reported someone had seen a Bigfoot a few weeks ago. I asked where, and her response was that it was near the Lost City of Wellington!

      A week later, we held our Ghost Conference, and on Friday afternoon, many members had arrived and were standing around outside the Skykomish Hotel. We got into conversation about the activities for the weekend conference. When they heard about the strange yellow eyes, six of the men wanted to see the place immediately.