Washington Hunter
Well-known member
BY MARTA MURVOSH
SKAGIT VALLEY HERALD
MOUNT VERNON -- Howling like a foghorn, Jason Valenti sent out a call into the night to any sasquatch that might be passing by. The 34-year-old Valenti's cry echoed down a remote mountainside in eastern Skagit County.
As the sound faded, the rush of a stream in the distance broke the dark night's quiet.
Valenti's friend and fellow Bigfoot aficionado, John Andrews, commented on the overcast sky and remoteness of the location at the end of a rough logging road.
"It's a beautiful night," said Andrews, a 62-year-old Camano Island resident who has been searching for sasquatch for 40 years. "It's a perfect sasquatch night."
For many, the large, ape-like sasquatch is a creature of legend. Cryptozoologists, those who study hidden creatures, would like to prove sasquatch is real.
For Andrews, Valenti and other aficionados, finding proof of the reportedly shy creature is a calling, one that borders on addiction.
"It's like a drug," Valenti said.
Andrews and Valenti say there is something out there, and they want to know what it is. They network online and attend conferences, sharing tips and sasquatch sightings.
And at least once a month, Valenti and Andrews head to the hills of eastern Skagit and Whatcom counties in search of "the 'squatch."
They say the magic hour to find sign or sound of Bigfoot falls between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Gearing up
The two men load Andrews' Subaru with equipment, including a thermos of hot chocolate, a camcorder, an aluminum baseball bat and a tape recorder. The bat is to strike rocks and trees in hopes that Bigfoot will respond by pounding on trees or rocks. They also keep wood and other camping gear just in case the car breaks down and they are forced to spend the night outdoors.
The recorder's microphone is attached to a metal dish designed to gather sound. Andrews' recordings of what he believes to be Bigfoot calls are available on Valenti's Web site: www.sasquatchresearch.com.
Both Valenti and Andrews have day jobs. Andrews works for the Snohomish County road department and Valenti owns his own computer company and works for the Organic Press, a Skagit-based publication.
Traveling to the remote mountain May 13, Andrews and Valenti explained the lure of the simian-like sasquatch -- it's all in the anticipation.
"We usually have a pretty boring time," Andrews said. "When you hear something, it's like you won the Lotto."
They agreed to take a reporter and photographer to a location that Andrews said has a history of activity, provided the site was not revealed.
Getting hooked
Andrews has been looking for sasquatch since he read about Bigfoot in a Boy Scout publication. Something about the possibility of the mysterious creature captured his attention.
Andrews said he has never seen Sasquatch.
Valenti caught the Bigfoot bug in 1996 when he and an acquaintance took a wrong turn while driving near the Apalachicola National Forest near Tallahassee, Fla. He said he and another man saw what he describes as a female sasquatch.
One look was enough. He's been hooked ever since.
Something caught Valenti's attention.
"What's that?" Valenti asked. "Quiet."
After a few moments, he broke the silence.
"Did you hear that?" Valenti asked. "It sounded like a high-pitched scream."
Andrews said he didn't hear it.
The night grew chilly as the men continued calling and talking about sasquatch.
The search continued. Around midnight, a light, cold rain began to fall, and Valenti considered their likelihood of success.
"I don't think we're going to get much tonight," Valenti said. "The wind's picking up. The best is a quiet, quiet night."
On the drive down the mountain, the men talked about their experiences, past conferences and an upcoming sasquatch symposium.
Andrews and Valenti didn't seem to mind that they didn't hear their quarry. In the mountains of northwestern Washington, quiet, overcast nights are common.
For sasquatch aficionados, the fun is in the possibility that the next trip might yield a sound, a track or even a sighting.
"If you ever hear a sound, it makes it all worth it," Andrews said.
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SKAGIT VALLEY HERALD
MOUNT VERNON -- Howling like a foghorn, Jason Valenti sent out a call into the night to any sasquatch that might be passing by. The 34-year-old Valenti's cry echoed down a remote mountainside in eastern Skagit County.
As the sound faded, the rush of a stream in the distance broke the dark night's quiet.
Valenti's friend and fellow Bigfoot aficionado, John Andrews, commented on the overcast sky and remoteness of the location at the end of a rough logging road.
"It's a beautiful night," said Andrews, a 62-year-old Camano Island resident who has been searching for sasquatch for 40 years. "It's a perfect sasquatch night."
For many, the large, ape-like sasquatch is a creature of legend. Cryptozoologists, those who study hidden creatures, would like to prove sasquatch is real.
For Andrews, Valenti and other aficionados, finding proof of the reportedly shy creature is a calling, one that borders on addiction.
"It's like a drug," Valenti said.
Andrews and Valenti say there is something out there, and they want to know what it is. They network online and attend conferences, sharing tips and sasquatch sightings.
And at least once a month, Valenti and Andrews head to the hills of eastern Skagit and Whatcom counties in search of "the 'squatch."
They say the magic hour to find sign or sound of Bigfoot falls between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Gearing up
The two men load Andrews' Subaru with equipment, including a thermos of hot chocolate, a camcorder, an aluminum baseball bat and a tape recorder. The bat is to strike rocks and trees in hopes that Bigfoot will respond by pounding on trees or rocks. They also keep wood and other camping gear just in case the car breaks down and they are forced to spend the night outdoors.
The recorder's microphone is attached to a metal dish designed to gather sound. Andrews' recordings of what he believes to be Bigfoot calls are available on Valenti's Web site: www.sasquatchresearch.com.
Both Valenti and Andrews have day jobs. Andrews works for the Snohomish County road department and Valenti owns his own computer company and works for the Organic Press, a Skagit-based publication.
Traveling to the remote mountain May 13, Andrews and Valenti explained the lure of the simian-like sasquatch -- it's all in the anticipation.
"We usually have a pretty boring time," Andrews said. "When you hear something, it's like you won the Lotto."
They agreed to take a reporter and photographer to a location that Andrews said has a history of activity, provided the site was not revealed.
Getting hooked
Andrews has been looking for sasquatch since he read about Bigfoot in a Boy Scout publication. Something about the possibility of the mysterious creature captured his attention.
Andrews said he has never seen Sasquatch.
Valenti caught the Bigfoot bug in 1996 when he and an acquaintance took a wrong turn while driving near the Apalachicola National Forest near Tallahassee, Fla. He said he and another man saw what he describes as a female sasquatch.
One look was enough. He's been hooked ever since.
Something caught Valenti's attention.
"What's that?" Valenti asked. "Quiet."
After a few moments, he broke the silence.
"Did you hear that?" Valenti asked. "It sounded like a high-pitched scream."
Andrews said he didn't hear it.
The night grew chilly as the men continued calling and talking about sasquatch.
The search continued. Around midnight, a light, cold rain began to fall, and Valenti considered their likelihood of success.
"I don't think we're going to get much tonight," Valenti said. "The wind's picking up. The best is a quiet, quiet night."
On the drive down the mountain, the men talked about their experiences, past conferences and an upcoming sasquatch symposium.
Andrews and Valenti didn't seem to mind that they didn't hear their quarry. In the mountains of northwestern Washington, quiet, overcast nights are common.
For sasquatch aficionados, the fun is in the possibility that the next trip might yield a sound, a track or even a sighting.
"If you ever hear a sound, it makes it all worth it," Andrews said.
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