Beth wrote in to tell of a strange encounter she had on Schuyler Island in New York State in 1998:
“I never thought about an unexplained weird camping experience 18 years ago that until listening to your interview with Dave Gibson about Sasquatch in the Adirondacks. I hadn't even thought of Bigfoot, but now I can't help but wonder.
Two weeks before our wedding, my now ex-husband and I were feeling the stress of final planning and family expectations, decided that we needed to get away and just relax for a night or two. We had our canoe with our brand new camping gear and rode the short distance across the Lake Champlain from his parent's home to Schuyler Island. Schuyler Island has a nice breach and someone put in split log stairs from the beach up about 30 feet or so going to the woods at the top of the island. It's a popular day stop for lake boaters but it's usually completely non-populated at night.
We arrived a few hours before dusk. The only boat ashore so we lugged our stuff up to the top of the island and were surprised to find a rather large hunter's camp set up with generators, a TV, coolers but no hunters. My ex wasn't concerned he said that they were most likely a large group camping here on weekends all summer and that it was just easier to leave their stuff here then to break camp each week. So we set up our camp and got everything set and decided to go back down to the beach until sunset. We built a small fire on the beach and sat talking, enjoying the peacefulness. It was just beautiful. The sunset. The fire. The quiet. It was just what we needed.
It was almost dusk and out of nowhere we heard this animal-like shrieking coming from the area of our campsite. Two.. Three.. Four bloodcurdling screams. It was definitely being killed. Shrieking noises. We both looked at each other. Hair raised on our arms. Instant goosebumps. Hearts in our throat. Immediately we gasped but dismissed the obvious. It was raccoons. More concerning to us was what did the killing? A bear? A mountain lion? Not likely moose but all three are seen here in the Adirondacks but on an island? We whispered in the eerie silence that followed. Trying to explain it to ourselves. What animals could have caused this noise?
Then from above there was a tremendous rush like something or somethings were crashing through the trees. We both looked up and could see a row of full grown trees bending as if something huge was running in a straight line hitting the trees as it went through, heading right through our campsite. I'd never seen anything like it but my ex and I had the same thought - get the heck off this island! We didn't even discuss it. We just jumped into the canoe and left everything behind, rowing home.
At his parent's house we explained what had just happened to his father. We mourned the loss of our new tent and other equipment. We were most likely sure it was absolutely shredded, destroyed by now by whatever animals had been up there had killed and then trampled our stuff.
The following morning, my former father-in-law brought us back to the island in his motor-boat so we could recover our stuff. We climbed the stairs to the island top and discovered nothing. Our tent was in perfect condition. None of our stuff was touched and there wasn't a single animal print or any sign whatsoever of any kind of animal. The hunter's camp was also completely undisturbed. We broke camp and returned home completely bewildered. I refused to go back to Schuyler Island ever since. No matter how many times we retold the story we just can't come up with a plausible explanation for what we heard or what we saw.”
Source: Darkness Radio - August 29, 2016
Transcribed by JLB
NOTE: Very interesting report...since similar events have occurred throughout the Adirondacks and, in particular, Essex County since the Colonial period. I have heard older accounts of people hearing loud shrieks and bellows from a distance...then nothing is found to be disturbed or out-of-place. Bigfoot have be seen and reported in this area...but is a Bigfoot responsible for what these witnesses heard? Lon
UPDATE: My friend and colleague Katy Elizabeth of 'Champ Search' offered the following:
A very interesting report was brought to my attention by my friend Lon Strickler. This certainly could have been a Bigfoot as there are reports in the area but what I find fascinating is that this happened on Schuyler Island which is diagonally across from my friends at the Auer Family Boathouse where my friend Chris saw two Champ animals under the light pole.
This certainly could have been a Champ animal crashing through the trees. As for the shrieking sound, there have been many reports back in the 1800's that describe these animals making a similar sound. This is a prime spot for these animals, you have the mouth of the Winooski to the north on the east side of the Lake, then to the West the mouth of the Ausable River (where the Bodette footage was taken) plus major Marsh systems. A great place to check out for our research.
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