I recently received the following account:
I was camping in the Shenandoah Mountains in Rockingham County, VA last October 2017. It was nice fall weather, so I decided to go out for the weekend. When I arrived, a local ranger pointed out a hiking trail for me to follow. After a hike over the mountain, there was a nice area of flat ground near a stream that was perfect for camping. I hiked a few miles to get to the bottom of the trail. I set up camp, ate dinner and crawled into my tent.
Around 12:30 AM, I heard a noise outside of my tent that literally scared the hell out of me. I sat upright, and listened to the sounds. Soon after, I could hear rocks falling just outside of the tent. By the direction in which the rocks fell, I figured that someone was throwing the rocks downhill from the mountain...but that was over 100 yards away. I slowly crawled out of the tent and peered out into the darkness. The area was extremely dark, and I could barely see my own hands right in front of my face. Then suddenly, I heard heavy footsteps nearby, which were getting closer.
I scrambled back into the tent and reached into my pack in order to grab my .44 magnum. I pointed the gun at the ground in the opposite direction of the footsteps, and then let off a round. The footsteps stopped, but I did hear a faint rustling sound going away from me. I quickly reached into the tent and grabbed my sleeping bag. I found a nearby tree and propped himself against it. The magnum still in my hand. I dozed on and off, frightened at what had occurred.
It started to become light, but my nerves were still on edge. I didn't wait around long enough to take down the tent. I had at least a 2-hour hike ahead of me and I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I started my way up the trail. It was rocky and a slight incline in the beginning.
I was about an hour up the mountain when I began to hear the same strange noises I had heard the night before. I picked up my pace until I reached the peak. As I made my way to the top, I saw that there was another lower peak on my left, around 150 yards away. There stood a hairy, human-like figure looking directly at me. I knew that the creature was a Bigfoot. It was massive, at least 8-foot in height. I was so scared, I started to run. At the same time, the beast let out a terrible scream that echoed in the valley below. It didn't attempt to follow, but continued to scream.
To this day I can still hear that scream. It sounded like a low growl at first, then continued into a high pitched shrill, becoming a long, sustained howling. It most likely wanted me to leave its territory, according to what I have read. It was probably hunting at night and was upset that I had set up camp.
You are the first person I have shared my encounter with. I doubt I'll ever go into the wilderness at night again. WR
NOTE: There have been other documented incidents with Bigfoot in the Shenandoah National Park. The backcountry has a decent population of Black Bear, Coyote and Bobcat as well. This area is not too far from the George Washington National Forest, where some harrowing encounters have been reported. Lon
Bigfoot: Surprising Encounters With Bigfoot/Sasquatch In The United States (Volume 1)
Visits from the Forest People: An Eyewitness Report of Extended Encounters with Bigfoot
Bigfoot Observer's Field Manual: A practical and easy-to-follow step-by-step guide to your very own face-to-face encounter with a legend
Encounters: True Stories of the North American Bigfoot
Lon's Suggested Reading List - Books & Films / DVDs