Something Big
Camping with Bigfoot: A Guided Expedition…
It was a typical chilly Sunday afternoon in the redwood forest, on January 16, 2022, when a local family of four went for a hike. It was the kind of hike they have done a couple times per week for the past 19 years, which makes them very familiar with the goings-on in this stretch of the forest near Redcrest in Humboldt County. Hiking through the redwoods is one of the perks of living in Humboldt, and the area attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year to come and do just that.
But this particular Sunday was different. As this family was hiking and talking, they suddenly heard loud, guttural screams fill the forest. They sounded almost human, but they were way too loud and way too frightening to be human. It stopped them dead in their tracks, and they quickly turned around and made their way back to their car, all the time having this creepy sensation they were being watched. Was this a warning to leave the forest? Who knows, but if it was, it worked. This family hasn’t been back since, and probably won’t return to the redwoods for the foreseeable future.
Humboldt County natives hear Bigfoot reports often, they are used to them, and with
the Redwood Forest providing great cover, it makes total sense. The most famous Bigfoot experience actually happened in Humboldt; most folks have seen the 1967 Patterson- Gimlin film of the female Bigfoot strolling in the distance. This was shot near Bluff Creek.
If you would like to have your own Bigfoot experience, you’re in luck. California Adventure District is organizing “Camping with Bigfoot: A Guided Expedition” in late June. Participants will spend two nights camping deep in the Humboldt forest near Bluff Creek. The guide is national Bigfoot expert Daryl Owen, who says he saw Bigfoot first-hand. “It was so frightening, I lost control of all bodily functions,” Owen says of his encounter in the 1990s.
Willow Creek, the Bigfoot capital of the world, will serve as Camping With Bigfoot headquarters. The guided Bigfoot expedition is limited to 20 participants, who will all be required to sign a release, just in case…
Visit CaliforniaAdventureDistrict.com for more information and to reserve your spot. If you dare. •
www.CaliforniaAdventureDistrict.com
