Clackamas River Project
(click any image for a larger view)
A satellite photo containing CR1.
The Clackamas River drainage has a very long history of bigfoot encounters. I have found that very few of these reports have been published anywhere, but are readily available for those who "hit the pavement" and ask around at the local establishments.
I recently befriended a property owner (LT) who owns a five acre parcel adjacent to the Clackamas River. The owner wishes to remain anonymous, and that his property's location be kept confidential.
LT believes that bigfoots drop by his neighborhood a couple times a year, but do not stay in the area for extended periods.
Terrain
This property is located in the flood plain of the Clackamas River. A short distance to the north is the river itself, while to the east is largely vacant public land. This land has large meadows and pastures, heavily forested tracks, and jungles of blackberry brambles. There is an abundance of wildlife throughout the area, including deer, coyotes, raccoons and opossums.
This property has a low-lying and thickly wooded swamp on the south side, behind which is a steep precipice. On top of that precipice is a larger swamp containing an abandoned orchard which still regularly bears fruit of several varieties. The land surrounding this larger swamp is largely farm land and Christmas tree farms separated from the surrounding properties by corridors of forest and swamp. These corridors make excellent highways in which the local wildlife can remain hidden while moving from food source to food source.
The humans in this area live on properties that range from one to twenty or more acres, and running water is available nearby in the form of small tributaries that empty into the Clackamas River.
Photo taken from on top of the precipice.
Possible bigfoot activity
While no sightings have occurred on the actual property, LT briefly glimpsed what he thinks was a bigfoot within two miles of his home. He is also aware of at least four other sightings within a few miles of his home by his neighbors and acquaintances. There have been numerous strange occurrences (class B encounters) on and around the property as well.
LT has witnessed some very strange events on his property. These events include strange vocalizations ranging from eerie "laughing" sounds, once seemingly made in reaction to his tripping on the steps to his home, to sounds of animals (in this case peacocks) where he is sure no such animals were located. There is in fact a peacock ranch a few miles away, and it is at least possible that one of the birds got loose, but other animals sounds are sometimes heard from unlikely directions.
Wood knocks have been heard coming from the swamp on his property. His children have solicited response vocalizations a short distance up river from their home by screaming and whooping. Toys lost in the woods have mysteriously appeared in the middle of their yard. LT himself has been approached in the swamp by a large, heavily breathing animal in the middle of the night. This animal not only bluff charged him, but reportedly caused LT to become inexplicably afraid and panicky. LT reports that it seemed to "get darker" when the animal approached.
LT walks his property several times a week or more before and after work. Several years ago, LT noticed that branches on trees and bushes were being broken at the intersections of trails on his property. These breaks seemingly occurred the previous night, since many of them were conspicuously placed. The weather could not be blamed for these breaks, and their location (sometimes in the middle of brambles, over eight feet off the ground) eliminates the probability of humans as the source. Some of these breaks were twisted backwards, and the branches went over and under other branches in a weaving pattern. I personally observed some of these "woven" breaks and am at a loss as to how they could occur naturally.
Suspecting that these breaks might be caused by visiting bigfoots, LT started taking the broken sections and hanging them like coat hangers on the branches they were broken from. This was LT's way of communicating to the visitors that he caught on to their visits, and this became a sort of game to him. He was shocked when a short time later (a year or so), he started finding other branches hung next to the ones he himself had hung. These "answers" were often hung parallel to his own hangings, and just a few inches away. There are now trees in the upper swamp that have as many as a dozen of these hanging branches, while most trees in the same grove have none whatsoever.
The above photos show examples of parallel stick hangings.
One of the sticks in each tree was placed by LT.
The others appeared soon thereafter.
The above photos depict the same tree.
Highlighted in the right photo are four hanging sticks,
only one of which was placed there by LT.
The apple was placed by me on the day the photo was taken.
Lastly, a large teepee-shaped structure was found in the upper swamp in the fall of 2008. It was located in a thick stand of trees between the abandoned orchard and the thickly tangled stream bed. It was adjacent to the grove of trees that has the many hanging sticks. I have never personally seen a compelling stick structure until this point. I am at a loss as to how this could naturally occur, but it is at least possible that the pole-like logs fell in this position.
The strange teepee structure found in the swamp.
I am included for scale (I stand 5 foot 8 inches).
A deer carcass was found nearby.
Steps to gather data
LT is interested in the subject and has begun an effort to collect photographic evidence from his property. He has allowed me to place game cameras on and around his property, and there has been an effort to establish a 24-hour surveillance of the swamp via motion sensing video cameras.
To date, no photos of a bigfoot have been obtained, but LT realizes that this is a long-term study that could conceivable take years if it ever bears fruit at all. LT also reports that he is not aware of any recent activity on his property since the beginning of fall.
This page will be updated as any new activity is reported.
What you can do
It is my belief that properties are visited by sasquatches more often than most might think. These animals move stealthily under the cover of darkness, and probably drop by rural properties and raid obvious food supplies on an occasional, yet regular basis. Small amounts of food can be stolen without drawing the attention of the property owners. More often than not, the property owners would blame the other more common wildlife for the theft.
Property owners who think they are experiencing visits from a sasquatch can take steps to obtain data that would be useful for those studying these animals. If you think that you have a nocturnal visitor, or are experiencing strange things on and around your property, I'd be interested in hearing about it. Perhaps I can help you obtain compelling evidence for the existence of the sasquatch.
Feel free to contact me using the "contact/volunteer" link to the left. Anonymity will be respected.