Thursday, June 27, 2013

In The Beginning...


Back on Labor Day of 2010 we had our first cold snap of the year. I had been feeling the itch to go camping for quite a while so I wasted little time heading out to the Smoky Mountains National Park for a two night stay. It was just me and my dog as my wife was still in Mississippi while we were in the transition of moving. I had always watched shows on TV such as MonsterQuest and other documentaries, but Bigfoot was honestly the last thing on my mind at the time. It was almost dark when I arrived and finally got camp set up. The area I was in was backed right up against the forest with nothing for miles in that direction. It was getting late so I decided to go on to bed. I had taken the canopy off the tent so I could watch the stars while laying there. It was nearing 1 am and I was still wide awake relaxing in my tent. The area was extremely quiet that evening. All of a sudden I started hearing at least two or three barred owls start calling to each other. This lasted about 10 minutes and then out of nowhere I heard a very loud "Whoooooop!!" from out in the forest! I immediately sat up in my tent and thought to myself "What the heck was that?!" The first thing that came to mind was that it sounded a lot like the gibbon monkeys I used to hear at the zoo when I was a kid.

After the loud "whoop" it was completely silent the rest of the night. All I could think about was there aren’t any monkeys in the smoky mountains! What in the world could have made that noise?!


Me on the camping trip where I heard the "Whoop". I took this picture for my wife back in Mississippi at the time.


The next morning after tossing and turning all night wondering what it was that I'd heard, I decided to cut my trip short and head on home so I could research the different animals in our area and what their calls sound like. I looked up every type of owl and bird I could think of, but nothing matched. For some reason I decided to look up Bigfoot calls. There were several websites that had supposed Bigfoot recordings, but the ones with the whoops got my attention the most...exact match.

From then on I was hooked. Little did I know I was about to begin a journey where I would never be able to look at things in the same fashion I always had. As one fellow researcher's blog post states...innocence lost.

The very next weekend I planned on heading back to the park and start looking around. While hiking several nature trails I found the trail head to a horse trail. This was to be my starting point.

For the next few hours I hiked up and down this trail snapping pictures over my shoulder and "talking" to the woods. I have a barred owl call that I always take with me into the woods. I would stop every so often and hoot a few times then listen. Most of the day was spent on this horse trail hooting, snapping pictures and listening.

After heading home I started reviewing my pictures. Slowly zooming into each one looking at each tree and examining each with a fine tooth comb. Out of nearly 200 pictures, one completely blew my mind. While hiking up a small hill on my way out of the woods I took a few photos over my shoulder. One of the photos seemed to show a large black creature watching me from behind the upright limb of a fallen tree. It appeared to be watching me walk up the hill. It was approximately 50-75 yards downhill from me and using a large tree in between us to hide itself. It had a cone shaped head that featured no neck, very large muscular shoulders (similar to a football player) and dark deep set eyes. It’s hand seemed to be grasped around the limb it was hiding behind.  


Original horse trail picture with possible Bigfoot on far left circled in yellow.


Zoomed and enhanced shots









Comparison picture I took the very next day... subject is gone.



I was blown away. This couldn't be real...could it?? What is this thing?! I had just walked past that spot and heard nothing! It was completely silent along that trail. It had been so close it could have reached out and grabbed me!

All sorts of questions were racing through my mind. I had to get back out there and see what it was.

The very next day I went right back to the same spot and took some "after" pictures. All of which showed nothing in the same spot where the subject was the day before. Little did I know this was only the beginning...

8 comments:

  1. WOW those pictures are creepy. It looks so human and almost female the way the hair is straight and looks to be parted in the center. Did you sense anything when you were walking by? That's awesome..

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    1. That's an amazing viewpoint about it possibly being female. I've looked at this photo so many times and never really thought about that. The "no neck" look could be partially from long hair on the head. Good eye!
      This was my first real outing so I was slightly nervous anyway, BUT I do remember feeling a strong sense of not being alone. That's why I started snapping photos over my shoulder as I climbed that hill. Back then I didn't pay too much attention to those type feelings as I pretty much credited it toward being nervous out in the woods alone. I've come to believe that you should always trust your feelings. In my opinion, these guys definitely put off some type of vibe (when they want to). I tend to lean toward the theory of ultrasound, but there's just so much still to learn. One things for sure, if they want you to know they're there..you'll know it.

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  2. Hello,
    Ive followed Scott from day one on his blog and also his youtube channel, absolutely amazing to say the least. I would just like to wish you luck in your endeavours in the future and think its a great idea to put it up for us all to see and follow. Living in the U.K. its only because of people like yourself and Scott, that I can go on my own virtual Bigfoot adventure.
    All the best,

    Robbie.

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  3. Hello Greg....really looking forward to following your blog. Scott is the only site I have been following , he has a sensible ,logical ,hands on research style . I'm so happy to see you out there searching in a logical sensible manner . With researchers like you guys ( and you are a researcher now !! ) out there , there's bound to be more and more info about the B.F. that will surface . Like I told Scott ....maybe the big foot field can actually move ahead to new levels thanks to people like you . Have fun out there and thank you so , so much for sharing with us .

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  4. Thank you Kay, that really means a lot to me. In upcoming post I plan on sharing what all I am presently doing mixed in with my earlier research. Sort of alternate between my beginning days and what research I am doing today. Thanks again!

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  5. Hi Greg. I got to your blog from Scott's site. I look forward to following along on your adventures. Good luck, and be careful out there!

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  6. Have you considered getting a Spectacam? They sound perfect for BF researchers.

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  7. Very interesting that it can film front and back at the same time. That's the first time I've heard I that one. I use a HD Sony Handycam right now. I custom mounted it to the top of my hiking stick and film mostly behind myself as I'm walking. I've learned from personal experience that what I call the "Scott Carpenter" method of filming behind you absolutely works. I have to agree with him that most of the action is going on behind you. If I see something in front of me I can just flip it back around quickly. I have been looking into some type of rear facing cam possibly strapped to the rear of my backpack so I can use my Handycam to document my research areas. My main goal though is to try and gain they're trust and not look like a film crew coming through the woods. Been looking at the Hero cams: I want something that's very low key and blends in as much as possible.

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