A woman was hiking in the Lassen National Forest, CA when she came across an illegal marijuana grow site. She later found a severely injured Sasquatch and attempted to help it.
The following account was recently forwarded to me:
"On the day it happened, I was hiking on a small trail alongside a stream off of a forest road in Lassen National Forest in northeastern California. There were a couple of cars along the road so I thought it would be a safe place for me to hop onto a small trail. I like to hike in some odd places, practicing my navigation skills with a map and a compass and my phone GPS app tracking my path. I like to pinpoint some unique land features on a topo map and go find them. I usually go with a group of orienteering friends, but that day I was hiking solo. When I'm alone I don't go too far into the forest. However, the events of that day drove me deep into the forest.
The stream was rather small compared to the actual stream bed which was odd considering there had been a decent snowfall over the winter. I also noticed that there was a lot of algae in this stream and a quarter mile in I could smell a rotting trout long before I came upon it. There were pieces of trash littered along the stream. I also came across a few small dead animals near the stream as I walked along the trail. It was disgusting but I assume this is a popular area with teens or target shooters and they probably left some trash behind. I didn't know that these were the warning signs of what I was walking into.
About a mile in the trail diverged from the stream and cut through the shrubs and trees. I was close to my destination, a spot along the stream that looked like it could possibly have a small waterfall. The trail turned left and it opened up to a large flat clearing. I stopped immediately, looking across the clearing. There was trash everywhere and there were rows of cultivated dirt, but the plants were all uprooted. There was a holding pond lined with plastic sheeting along the stream and there was a pile of sports drink bottles filled with a Milky pink fluid next to it. Along the edges of the garden were what looked like homemade spike strips, boards with nails driven through them. I could smell the distinct odor of marijuana in the air. This was an illegal growth site. There had been enough news reports about what happens to people who come across these illegal growth sites for me to know that I needed to get away fast.
I turned and I ran into the shrubs on the opposite side of the trail. Hiding behind a crumbling tree stump I checked my map to make sure I was heading into uneven terrain where I would be unlikely to find another garden. The cars at the trailhead likely belonged to whoever was maintaining this garden but since they weren't at this location they were probably at another. I started to stand up but dropped back down holding my position when I heard a pair of male voices talking in Spanish. I recognized a few words like 'mountain' and 'up' when they were talking and they kept repeating 'Grande. Grande.'
When their voices faded away I quietly started to go in the opposite direction putting distance between me and them. The map indicated that if I kept going east there were no streams and there would be some decent elevation changes. But afterward, there was a forest road I could follow. I walked straight through maintaining an eastbound path for half an hour until I heard a soft wailing sound coming from the left of me. I stopped dead in my tracks. It sounded like nothing I'd heard in the forest before. It didn't sound like an animal, it sounded human. I could smell a strange odor in the air and I noticed some long tracks on the ground that looked like a bear double step. But one side had splotchy blood in it. I grabbed my bear spray and knife out of my bag and stood still, looking around for the source of the noise. I took a couple of steps forward and everything went silent.
Suddenly, I felt something crash into my left side from the rear knocking me to the ground. I looked up terrified that it was a bear but it looked like a massive man covered in dirty blonde hair and very tan skin. He grunted at me and then collapsed on the ground. His feet near my face I could see a massive gash in the sole of his foot with pine needles and dirt sticking to the blood that was oozing out. I heard voices coming from the direction I had just come from. I wasn't sure if it was the same men but I didn't want to risk it. I jumped up on my feet, smacked his leg, and said 'GO!" as loud as I dared. I started running east and I heard his limping footsteps pounding on the ground heading slightly north of me. There was a hill ahead with several large boulders that I could somewhat see through the thick trees. I continued running until I reached it. I climbed up the hill and I could smell that weird odor again.
I followed the odor and I found the hairy man collapsed on his back on the ground. He was taking short rapid breaths. I could see that he had two holes in the far right side of his chest where there was blood oozing as well. He looked human yet he didn't. He looked like he could kill me single-handedly, but I had an overwhelming urge to help him. I knelt down beside him and grabbed his massive hand to try and check for his pulse. I could feel a strong beating under his skin giving me hope. He looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask for help. I pulled the first aid kit out of my pack and looked at what I had trying to figure out the best way to make what I had work. I keep my day kit light, carrying only things that will patch me up enough to get to help. I only had two hemostatic gauze pads.
The chest wounds were the most concerning. I put my ear near the wounds listening for sucking sounds, then applied the gauze when I heard none. I applied pressure for several minutes then ripped two pieces of tape off of the roll to hold them there. His eyes were slightly open and watching me as I gestured for him to open his mouth. He closed his eyes with his mouth still shut. He could have indicated to me by now if he didn't want me touching him so I went for it. I carefully pulled open his mouth to check his gums and tongue keeping my fingers clear in case he decided to snap his mouth closed. His gums were dark but his tongue was pink. I didn't see any signs that his lungs had been punctured but when I looked at his teeth they weren't quite like a human's. His canine teeth were larger but not as oversized as a gorilla's.
Once the critical injury was dressed I went down to work on his foot, washing it gently with some water from my pack. He started moaning, lifting his head up and looking at me, but he didn't jerk his foot away. I did my best trying to clean it out using one of my maxi pads to wipe away the debris and dry the skin. The cut was long nearly an inch deep across most of it and there was a hole on the top of his foot as well. His foot was very broad and flat and the wound was trying to splay open. I filled the cut with ointment and used the tape to make massive butterfly strips to pull the two sides of the wound together leaving drainage gaps between the strips. I left the hole on top uncovered to serve as a drain as well. I then took my last maxi pad and strapped it to the bottom of his foot like a sandal using tape across the top.
I looked back up at his face and I could see a small trickle of blood running on the ground by his head. I had missed a wound someplace. I went back to his side and pulled on his arm hoping he would get the idea to roll over. He was too heavy for me to pull over without his help. Finally, he rolled onto his side and I found two jagged exit wounds on his back, about the size of my thumb. I didn't have much left in my first aid kit but I did have several tampons. I opened up the tampon package and put the applicator in about an inch deep and inserted the tampon leaving about a third of it outside of his body. I repeated this in the other hole and then pulled on his arm to get him on his back to keep pressure on the tampons. Once he was flat again he closed his eyes and his breathing slowed down. He seemed to be sleeping.
I stayed there watching him for a few minutes and cleaning up my trash when I heard shots in the distance. I needed to get down to where I could find help but I couldn't leave him exposed. My cell phone didn't have service at this point so I needed to get down to the road. I didn't think it was likely whoever was shooting the gun would come up the hill but I gathered up the few branches I could find and covered him with them hoping he would stay sleeping until I came back. I started down the hill on the eastern side heading towards the forest road. Once I hit the flat dirt I ran south until I saw a truck heading down the road towards me. I could see the light bar on top and I felt so relieved at that point. I knew I was safe.
The ranger pulled up to me and I broke down relieved. I knew I couldn't come right out and talk about the Sasquatch. Instead, I told the ranger about the illegal grow and I said that I saw a severely wounded bear with young cubs they had shot. It was a lie but I needed him to go back with me and check on him and he probably wouldn't believe me if I said what he really was. We drove back to the hill and we ascended where I hid him. The ranger was following close behind me with his gun drawn. The ranger wanted me to follow behind. I wanted to make sure I was the first face the Sasquatch saw. He likely wouldn't survive another gunshot wound and if he slammed into the ranger as he did to me the ranger would likely shoot,
When I was able to see the top of the hill I could see the branches but he was gone. The blood from his back was still there but the branches I'd covered him with were arranged into an X on the ground.
It's been six years since that day but I feel like it was yesterday. Since I didn't see him get his injuries I'll never know for certain what happened. I've read stories about them being protectors of the forest and I think that's what he was doing. These illegal growers divert water from streams to grow pot and their camping garbage brings a lot of wildlife to their gardens. They use highly potent and sometimes illegal rodenticides and insecticides and large die-offs are common around growth sites, everything from birds to bears. It would make sense that he would want to push them out of his forest. I'm certain he was shot and I think when he was running away he stepped on a spike strip and it ripped through his foot. I did my best to take care of him and I wish I knew he was okay out there." C
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