The puzzle of the sasquatch has been ongoing since the first white man settled the West and heard stories from the Native population about strange and elusive large, hairy creatures, according to author Thomas Steenburg in In Search of Giants: Bigfoot Sasquatch Encounters. Such stories have endured, and people continue to see these cryptozoological (reported but unconfirmed) creatures.
Mysteriously, no hard physical evidence has been produced, says Steenburg: no bones, no carcasses, no burial areas. Just the odd footprint.
Mount Washington is a perfect place for a sasquatch to live, if one takes stock of information contained in myriad documented sightings. Think about it: plenty of berries and small critters for food (depending on if one believes sasquatches are herbivores or carnivores), and unending miles of bush territory to claim – and in which to hide from human contact. And the frequency of black bear sightings on the mountain gives the sasquatch a perfect cover: many sasquatch sightings have been proven to be bear sightings, further confusing the matter.
A few years ago a noted Comox Valley wildlife biologist was hiking through Paradise Meadows when he spotted footprints that he felt could not have been made by human nor animal. He made plaster casts of the footprints, but failed to find any other evidence. This is just but one sighting at Mount Washington. How many others have gone unreported because someone thought their buddies would think them “a little tetched in the heid” to mention it?
So next time you’re out in the woods around Mount Washington and you feel like you’re being watched, look quickly-it just might be Sasquatch!