NEWS: Bigfoot Books on Cryptomundo! Save Bluff Creek Company Store! A Meeting with Jerry Hein & Vocalizations, Sasquatch Hair Samples & Footprints

Not to toot our own horn too much, but BIGFOOT BOOKS appeared recently on one of the largest cryptozoological web sites on the planet, CRYPTOMUNDO (http://www.cryptomundo.com/). But hey, it is for a good cause! Perhaps someone out there in the Bigfooting world would like to consider a real estate investment that could also preserve an important piece of Bigfoot history? Check it out here: http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/save-bf/. Cryptomundo covers all things cryptid. If you want to know more about whatever strange creature may have appeared in your backyard, they probably have a section on it. It worked for me recently when I needed to know more about a Giant Salamander report. Loren Coleman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren_Colemana.org/wiki/Loren_Coleman), who runs Cryptomundo, is the author or editor of some thirty books, including many dealing with Bigfoot, most notably the fine reference books, "The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates" and "Cryptozoology A to Z," He wrote, as well, a biography of early bigfooter/Abominable Snowman hunter, Tom Slick, who financed the classic Pacific Northwest Expedition in Bluff Creek area in 1959-1962. Coleman's theories are mentioned in the article,"Sex and the Single Sasquatch," as well: http://www.ncbuy.com/news/2003-03-07/1006308.html. He appears frequently in television documentaries on Bigfoot and other topics. Active in the field since the 1960s, he resides in Maine.
The Bluff Creek Company store, where Patterson and Gimlin provisioned up for the 1967 expedition that gave us their famous bigfoot film, may be demolished soon--unless SOMEONE acts. Recently I spoke with the current owner, since 1964, of the business so linked with the mystery of Bluff Creek. He remembered Roger Patterson, but not Bob Gimlin. He also told me of the many Bigfoot incidents that had occurred at the store site, including a nearby "stench worse than a slop truck on a 100 degree day." Here follows the paraphrase of what I said on the issue, done by Loren Coleman:
"Writing recently, Streufert noted that a location that might be in most immediate danger is the 'Bluff Creek Company store, where [Roger] Patterson and [Bob] Gimlin bought supplies in 1967. According to owner, Phil Smith Sr., the old store building and adjacent Bluff Creek Resort with mountain and river acres are going up for sale. Someone in the Bigfoot community should buy this place before the decrepit yet historical Bluff Creek Company Store is demolished! He warns the building is slated for destruction soon. Back behind the store Mr. Smith showed this writer the slab where The Greasy Spoon Restaurant once stood.... I spoke with the owner, Phil Smith, Sr., on my way up to the Yakima Round-Up. He told me then that the building was not usable, and that it would have to be torn down eventually. He’s planning to sell the place, and to put it up on the market soon. I think he’d thought that it would be a selling point to the property if he ‘cleaned it up’ a bit. I tried to convince him of the value of the building, its historical significance (which he agreed with), and that the building would be an asset for that reason. I told him I’d spread the word around the Bigfooting community.'"
“'The asking price would be around $300,000 he tells me, including the going concern of trailer park/campground, riverfront access, and something like 19 acres of nice mountain land. It would make a great Bigfoot museum or expeditionary supply store, I think. It SHOULD be preserved by someone in our field. We can still save it. Phil is getting pretty up in years, and (apparently) tired of the upkeep.... The last time I was up in Bluff Creek I noticed there were some bulldozers in the lot right next to the old Company Store building [it turns out these were from the work being done up on Fish Lake Road]. It put the fear into me that it might be torn down right then. BUT no! I called the Orleans Community Services District today, and spoke with Shirley Reynolds, who runs the office there. She says the thing is still standing, and that she hasn’t heard of any plans to destroy it yet…. Orleans, she says, is the HEART of the Bigfoot Territory (and Willow Creek is only the ‘Gateway’ to Bigfoot Country).'” For more on this issue see our previous post: http://bigfootbooksblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/cryptid-salamander-yakima-writers-block.html

Loren also told me he likes to support bookstores, which we here at BIGFOOT BOOKS do greatly appreciate! All you bigfooters, come on in! We normally have 50-70 Bigfoot/Sasquatch book and video titles in stock, new and used.

IN OTHER NEWS, a visit from Bay Area bigfoot hunter, Jerry Hein.

Mr. Hein, whom we had previously met at the Yakima Bigfoot Round-Up, was passing through Willow Creek while on a camping and bigfoot hunting trip in our area. He had photos of some footprints out of a total of nine he'd found in roadside dust 7.4 miles from the ranger office on Hwy. 88, on T-Bar Road, 28 miles south of Happy Camp, north of Somes Bar and Orleans, on July 13, 2009. See photos below.

At left, Hein's travel map, with the route highlighted in yellow--right near Bluff Creek!

These do have a sasquatch-like shape to them, and were quite large, 14.5 feet by 6.5 inches; there was a distinct four-foot bipedal stride between the impressions. The detail is revealed better in a larger image, where one can more clearly see a heel impression. Upon further investigation some reddish-brown hair was found snagged about 10 feet up in a shrub. A sample was taken and will be tested. It does not look human, and seems too fine to be from a bear (and the height where the sample was found would mitigate it being from a bear).

Jerry also told us of a strange experience he'd had the night before up at Tish-Tang camping area, along the Trinity River right at the south end of the Hoopa Reservation. This site is known for past sightings and footprint finds. He and a few other camp groups in other sites at the spot all heard a very intriguing noise that was not your average hooting owl or chuffing deer. The sound was like a high-pitched and then lower-pitched "shee-wah" or "shee-yuk," which sound would be repeated three times and then stop, and then start up again in a while from another spot. This went on for at least ten minutes. Finally, freaked out by this, two other camp site groups actually packed up their cars in the middle of the night and departed from the area! The remaining guy besides Hein, in a nearby campsite, stayed where he was, obviously way too drunk to drive or even to care. Hair samples found by Jerry Hein off Hwy. 88. They will be tested soon for their origin and possible DNA. Note the interesting cinnamon-brown color. Image, Jerry Hein's amazing collection of Bigfoot merchandise and swag, at Yakima. Captured from Tom Yamarone's YouTube slideshow for "Jerry Crew, He Knew What to Do," viewable in the sidebar of this blog or at his blog site, http://www.bigfootsongs.com/.

This photo, of Scott McClean and Steve at Bigfoot Books, was taken by Tom Yamarone courtesy of his blog.

In one more news flash: BIGFOOT AGAIN MAKES THE COVER OF THE EUREKA TIMES-STANDARD NEWSPAPER. It happened in 1958, again in 1967, and now in 2009. The paper ran a short article on its front page, above the fold, to honor the completion of the Bigfoot Mural done by Duane Flatmo. Check it here: http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_12918007

Regarding Mr. Flatmo--he hasn't had time to respond to our own interview questions, but heck, we're just a blog, right? He swore he'd answer, and we'll post that blog entry when he does.

The massive theory of the "Leap of Skepticism" is still in progress, and may never be finished.

Rare Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film Screen Captures, the BBC X-Creatures Documentary, and THE LEAP OF SKEPTICISM

In the 1998 BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/) production, "X-CREATURES: SHOOTING THE BIGFOOT," there is an interesting presentation of the Patterson-Gimlin film reel with John Green in his Harrison Hot Springs, Canada home. He is actually sitting beside his projector running a copy of the full film reel, not just the famous bigfoot segment. One can see how very small and brief the reel is and, though they don't show the roll from begining to end (they cut to Green talking and images of the host pondering and commenting), some of the rarely seen earlier footage taken before the famous apprx. 1-minute bigfoot segment is shown.

Here at left is Bob with the pack horse riding on a washed-out area.

This is revealing stuff, wherein one may get a larger picture of the activities of Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin in the area before the creature was filmed. Also, one sees the seasonal and landscape conditions of Bluff Creek that year pretty clearly. These bits were meant to be used as stock footage in a documentary film idea on which Patterson was working.

Here's another one, with a more rare instance of Bob filming Roger rather than the other way around. One can see the autumnal colors of the foliage probably shot that day, October 20th, 1967, or directly prior to it.

Here's an interesting screen-shot capture of Gimlin riding up the Bluff Creek creekside road. Not always known is the fact that at that time a leveled dirt logging road ran right up along the creek itself. Access to the film site from their base down by Louse Camp, about 2.5 miles away, would have been much easier than the hellish bushwhack, boulder-hopping creekwalk and bracken climb that it is today. These days it is a hike that could take one all day in the round trip, with many a scratch or twisted ankle. This image appears on the film reel just before a pan through the trees on the hillside. Then the film breaks suddenly into the famous Bigfoot sighting part. Heading upstream they, "came to an overturned tree with a large root system at a turn in the creek, almost as high as a room," and they saw the hairy hominid "crouching beside the creek to their left."

Here we show the first two clear strides the creature takes in the film, and an image of just how high the sand bar was that Roger had to bound over to get his filming spot (this crossing is seen as a frantic white blur in the film). Then we see a blurry Patty entering the most well known part of film terrain, by the long, fallen log.

BIGFOOT SCREEN CAPTURES (click to enlarge images somewhat):
One frustrating thing with the P-G film is that it is difficult to catch the first glimpses of the Sasquatch creature as it moves off from the creek side right at the start of the film (and often these are edited out from documentaries). At this point Patterson is probably in a state of shock and extreme excitement (not to mention most likely some fear of this apprx. 7-foot cryptid creature), having just gotten away from the panicking horses. At the start of the film he is running up to and across the creek to get a better filming vantage point. We have endeavored to freeze-frame these moments, otherwise nearly totally lost in blur. The first creature image above shows the first clear glimpse of the film's subject. Here we may see the wet sand at the creekside, and then in following frames a fleeting glimpse of the water of Bluff Creek, to the left.

"Cover me!" Roger yells to Bob, as he races up the bank. Bob is trying to control the horses, while bounding off and readying his rifle, just in case the creature attacks.

Here follow the first clear stride, one from the begining of the more stable part of the film, and then an obscure image of the retreat of the creature at the very end of the film, at the east side of the film site.

Just before the film reel ends one can barely distinguish the creature as it retreats into the dark forest at the big bend in the creek at the east end of the film site, right up against the canyon wall. At next frame one can see the tail-end film leader when the roll expires. This is evidence that this is a direct copy of the original camera reel, presented in its original form.

In a subsequent part of the episode we can see John Green in his cast collection room. In another a brief segment of Green's film of 6-foot 4-inch Jim McClarin walking on the film site for comparison is presented. The creature is clearly taller and more bulky by far than the human figure when the two films are shown together.

One great feature of this documentary is a brief clip of Bob Gimlin from a filmed interview John Green did in 1992. Here's Bob, transcribed as best I may: "This particular day that we got the film footage, well, starting out early in the morning, I left early in the morning and Roger slept in. And my horse loosened a shoe up, and I come back in to tack the shoe on tighter, and Roger was gone when I got back and uh after a while.... I had covered that morning and I had told him, and he said why don't we ride up in this area that we had ridden in...."

And then the host Chris Packham actually calls Gimlin on the phone. The transcription: "When I first saw this thing well it was just like the adrenaline flew, you know I was shocked, excited, like all right then, THEY DO exist, you know. [clever filmmaker edit here, making it SEEM as if Bob has changed his mind]... Well I've thought about this many, many times over the years. At one time in my life right shortly after the film footage I was totally convinced that no one could fool me. And of course I'm an older man now, and I see a lot of things, and I think there could have been a possibility. But it would have to have been really well planned by Roger, and I feel that they would have had to have been very, very careful because I had a thirty-ought-six loaded with a hundred and eighty grain bullets. And if that thing had have turned and rushed me I would have shot it. So I feel that IF that was a hoax somebody was taking an AWFUL big chance with their life."

What follows is some rather spurious logic from Packham, and a high-budgeted, but failed, BBC attempt to recreate the film for this documentary using an original Kodak Cine-100 camera and a guy in a reddish-furred ape suit.

They intentionally use obscuring trees and bushes, blurry focus and distance, all of which are to some degree in the PGF; but the end result, and especially the manner in which it is presented (attempting to debunk by assumption rather than evidence) lacks greatly in the kind of detail one may see in the P-G Film. Anyone can shoot a blurry home movie; but will it contain the fascinating and subtle details of the PGF? This one does not, and is transparently a man in a suit. The PGF film has been questioned, but never proven to be a hoax, whatever Packham thinks he's shown.

Craig Woolheater has put the two images side-by-side for comparison (http://www.cryptomundo.com/bigfoot-report/x-creatures/). OBVIOUSLY, this recreation does not replicate the creature, and is not even worthy of being put up against the original. Certainly it is not "proof" in any way that the film WAS hoaxed, even if it COULD have been.

Packham's absurdly illogical leaps of skepticism at the end of the film are truly laughable: "There's a hell of a lot of space in America, but it's trampelled all over. And in biolgical terms there is absolutely no chance at all that there's an unknown species of giant apes stalking around California, or for that matter Canada. You see the Bigfoot phenomenon isn't based on good science, it rests upon one thing: the Patterson film. And that is a hoax. We've shown you [OH REALLY] just how easily it could have been done [YEAH, RIGHT]. And now Bob Gimlin has broken his silence and confessed that he's not entirely sure of what he saw in the first place. And to me that is incredibly significant, because it's his word that has helped keep this hoax alive for over thirty years. But now it's over. Bigfoot isn't dead because it was never alive, only in the minds of the dreamers and the schemers. But then, good on them. You know if Roger Patterson were here today I'd shake him by the hand. I'm not saying I'd load his camera, but I'd shake him by the hand." This is logic worthy of, say, a third-grader; but anyway, more on that in my next post.

The X-CREATURES show does not seem to have been released on DVD, at least not in the USA. I couldn't find it anywhere save on YouTube. Here are links:
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE3JlDgFbt4
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naTIP2R_hNo&feature=related
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7UUPpN7dPU&feature=related It was hosted by Brit, Chris Packham, and aired in a six-episode run in 1999. Check here for a list of episodes and other info.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_X_Creatures.

My own analysis will follow later. Coming up soon: THE LEAP OF SKEPTICISM!

Bigfoot and Beer, Lost Coast Ganesh I.P.A. Controversy Surrounds Flatmo Image; Church of Bigfoot, Scientist up in Arms!

As we were preparing the blog entry regarding Duane Flatmo's BIGFOOT MURAL an article appeared on the front page of the Eureka TIMES-STANDARD newspaper (check it HERE: http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_12881698standard.com/localnews/ci_12881698standard.com/localnews/ci_12881698standard.com/localnews/ci_12881698) regarding one of the labels he had designed for the LOST COAST BREWERY'S (http://www.lostcoast.com/) Indica IPA. Here, at left, is the rare image that has caused the controversy, now absent from the beermaker's web site, and now redesigned to remove the offending third and fourth arms, one of which once held a nice, frothy mug of this great beer.

Fundamentalist Hindus seemingly without a sense of humor have been angered and are up on the internet seeking removal and recompense (including one lawsuit seeking $25,000 and $1 billion for damages "to compensate Hindus around the world"). Accusations of "hate crimes" have been hurled, threats of bombing and destruction emailed in, and the brewery has been forced to back-pedal from promoting their best (IMHO) beer. The T-S reports: "Briar Bush, the brewery's general manager, said he received a couple of hundred angry e-mails on the issue, about a dozen of which even threatened to bomb the brewery or contained other threats of violence." Online petitions have been proliferating on the WWW--Google it.
[Second image above by the Times-Standard, showing the amputated God.]

Well, you can see the old image here. We don't believe in censorship, especially when the label here in question is an HONOR to Ganesh, showing Him as a jovial and friendly God offering many blessings... including beer.
NOTE: The writer of this blog himself is a practitioner of Hindu-Buddhist philosophy, so please don't take offense. Ganesh is just alright with me! It should also be noted that INDICA is a variety of marijuana associated with Indian origins. It is a popular strain grown and much beloved here in Humboldt County. Hence, since the Hindus gave us (and are responsible for) this blessing/curse, they shouldn't be too angry that it is recognized by a Humboldt beer, an India Pale Ale no less. Plus, IPAs are very high in hop content, and the hop plant is part of the Cannabaceae (or Cannabis) family.

One online petitioner asked whether Christians would be offended if Jesus were on the label of a beer bottle. We found evidence that he HAS been there. Check out, too, the hilarious video advertisements on http://www.jesusbeer.com/. Where in Hell (or Heaven) can I buy some of this stuff? Jesus, as is well known, was a hearty drinker of wine, so we presume he liked beer as well. After all, he encouraged his millions of followers to drink wine as the transubstantiated blood of his own sacrifice!

Meanwhile, Tuesday, Church of Bigfoot, Scientist members, up in arms after hearing about the censorial actions of the Hindus marched down Fifth Street from their headquarters in the A. A. (Armchair Anarchists) Bar & Grill, and ordered a full round of protest pints of their favorite beer at the Brewery's pub. "Doesn't this remind you of the Danish Muslim Cartoon Protests," asked Church acolyte Zogboy. "No god without Beer!" said the Church's Reverend Lord.

Indeed! The god, Ganesh, is the patron saint of commerce and luck, a quite fitting image to grace the front label of the beverage universally known as the nectar of the Gods, drink of conviviality, blessing from above. Ben Franklin, surely a wise man, once said, "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

In the world of BIGFOOT, now, beer is truly loved. One bigfooting expedition this author went on featured a full keg of BLUFF CREEK ALE, from Six Rivers Brewery, tapped up at Louse Camp, downstream from the P-G film site. Following please find a true celebration of freedom and fun, and the love of SASQUATCH. Surely, we are not offended. Even Rene Dahinden once did a television commercial for Kokanee Glacier Beer (it can be seen in the documentary, SASQUATCH ODYSSEY).

SUPPORT THESE GREAT BREWERIES! SUPPORT FREEDOM!

Six Rivers Brewery, http://www.sixriversbrewery.com/, in McKinleyville, CA, makes the good everyday-drinking BLUFF CREEK PALE ALE. Try it in the bottle or at the brew pub up on the hill in front of Raymond Carver's old pad.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, http://www.sierranevada.com/, makes perhaps the best large-scale microbrews in the state of California, and is drunk nearly every day by the author of this blog. They produce a seasonal barley wine style ale BIGFOOT ALE, that is twice as strong as the average beer, and quite good. The label changes with each year's vintage. This year features a bottom-of-the-sixpack comic image that is rather amusing.
http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/bigfoot.htmls/bigfoot.htmlbigfoot.htmlI quote: "This year marks the 25th release of Bigfoot®. Our award-winning barleywine boasts a dense, fruity bouquet, an intense flavor palate and a deep reddish-brown color. Its big maltiness is superbly balanced by a wonderfully bittersweet hoppiness."

“…Bigfoot® captures the imagination, and its character is as big as the name implies, with a huge hoppiness in its earthy aroma, a chewy palate, and a great depth of flavor.”
– Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson’s Beer Companion

Old Yale Brewing Company, http://www.oldyalebrewing.com/sasquatch_stout.html, out of British Columbia, Canada, makes the interesting SASQUATCH STOUT.

Other breweries have produced some interesting Bigfoot brews, knick-knacks, and iconography.

The newer SKOOKUM BREWERY, out of Arlington, Washington, were at the YAKIMA BIGFOOT ROUND-UP, dispensing donation-only cups of their fine beers. I couldn't have survived those hot days in the speakers' tent without it. Check them out: http://www.skookumbrewing.com/. What IS a Skookum? Check that out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skookum.
And, of course, there is the famous KOKANEE GLACIER BEER, http://www.kokaneeglacierbeer.com/, out of Canada, once featuring Rene Dahinden but still producing ads featuring Mel the Sasquatch. Check on YouTube for some examples (most are spoofs). Here's one, anyway:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Oac1y__jY&feature=related.

And let's not forget, Willow Creek's own BIGFOOT RED, made by SENTINEL WINERY, 2263 Patterson RdWillow Creek, CA. The wine is available at the winery, or else exclusively at CINNABAR SAM'S RESTAURANT, on the main drag in town. Get more info. here: http://www.winesandvines.com/directoryonline/index.cfm?dataReportWinery=1&lookupdata=1&entityid=15873


Speaking of RENE DAHINDEN... Check out this great little online documentary of him in the CBC DIGITAL ARCHIVES' Monsters, Myths and Mystery: Great Canadian Legends series:
http://archives.cbc.ca/lifestyle/pastimes/topics/1462-9705/

Most images by Steven Streufert, though some were taken from official company images, or as credited.

Above, the BIGFOOT BOOKS collection of sasquatch-related alcoholic beverage containers, so far.