In the late 80s, my best friend, Brian, and I had a wild adventure in Alaska. We were both 19-year-old kids, full of piss and vinegar and looking for an exciting trip. I’d just gotten my first truck, and we were itching to test it out on some rough terrain. Our destination was a campsite deep in the Alaskan wilderness. This place was remote: no running water, no electricity, nothing but trees and wildlife. We loved it.
The drive up to the site was a rough one. The last 20 miles or so of road was a dirt track with potholes and ruts galore. The truck did well, though, and we made it without any issues. We set up camp at around 8:00 pm, with about two hours of daylight left. We spent our time gathering wood for a fire and cooking dinner. We both loved to fish, so we decided to try our hand at catching a few trout from the nearby river. It was an easy task; these fish were so plentiful and hungry that they almost jumped into the net. We fried them up and had ourselves a real treat. They were delicious, and we ate like kings.
After dinner, we sat by the fire swapping stories and having a few beers. We got to talking about the local legend of Bigfoot, or Sasquatch as some call it. Brian told me that his dad had seen something weird in the woods many years ago while hunting moose. The story went that his dad and a couple of friends had spotted a giant, hairy creature walking through the trees. His dad told Brian that it was taller than the trees were and looked at them with a wild, animalistic stare. He also said that it smelled like a combination of dead animals and rotten fish, and it made an awful, piercing scream that echoed through the forest. It scared the hell out of them, and they ran out of the woods as fast as they could.
I was a bit of a skeptic and laughed it off as just another wild tale, but Brian seemed to believe it was true. He warned me that these creatures were supposed to roam the forest at night and to be careful walking through the woods. I assured him that I wouldn’t go far and that I was not afraid of anything. I was 19, remember? Invincible.
We decided to turn in about 12:30 am and headed to our tents. As we crawled into our sleeping bags, Brian asked me to wake him if I saw anything weird. I promised that I would and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, we woke up bright and early and had a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs. We decided to take a hike through the woods, as there were many beautiful trails in the area. We headed out, taking only some water and a few energy bars with us. The trail we chose was pretty easy, just a gentle slope upward through some dense timber. We walked for about an hour or so, enjoying the view and the fresh air. Brian spotted a few deer and took off after them, rifle in hand. I kept walking for a bit, enjoying the quiet of the forest.
After about 20 minutes or so, I heard Brian yell for me. He sounded panicked, so I ran back down the trail to meet him. As I ran, I heard a loud rustling in the underbrush beside me. I stopped and looked around but saw nothing. I figured it was a bear or something and took off running again. I found Brian standing on the trail, looking spooked.
“What happened?” I asked. He didn’t answer. Instead, he just turned and started running down the trail. I followed close behind.
We got back to the campsite and packed up as quickly as we could. We didn’t say a word to each other until we were in the truck and driving away. “What the hell happened?” I asked him. Brian just shook his head and kept driving.
It wasn’t until we were back in town, sitting in a Denny’s over some coffee, that he finally talked. “I saw it,” he said. “I saw a Bigfoot.” I almost spit coffee all over the table. “What?” I asked. Brian told me that after he shot the deer, he walked up to it to make sure it was dead. As he was standing there, he heard a noise behind him. He turned, and this giant creature emerged from the trees. He said it was at least 8 feet tall, covered in hair, and smelled like something rotting. He froze, unsure of what to do. Then it saw him and started running toward him. He dropped the deer and ran like hell down the mountain. I believed him, too; he was visibly shaken by the encounter.
We never spoke of it again. We never spoke again after that day. I guess I should have taken his warning a bit more seriously. A year later, I went camping again, this time with my girlfriend. I decided to camp at the same place as before, despite Brian’s warnings. It never came back, some people say that It was attacked and killed by a bear. Others say it’s still roaming the forest with the other Bigfoot.
