Bigfoot Society - Eyewitness to Bigfoot: A Terrifying Encounter in Washington’s Deep Woods

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

What happens when a 12-year-old boy’s childhood curiosity leads him into the woods of Lake Stevens, Washington—and into the gaze of an elusive Sasquatch? In this chilling episode, Stephen shares his unforgettable Bigfoot encounter that left him running for his life. With his dog on high alert and his friends oblivious to the danger nearby, Stephen found himself face-to-face with a mysterious creature behind a cedar stump. But this isn’t the only strange encounter Stephen had. He also recalls terrifying nights by Spring Lake and his belief in Sasquatch that grew with each strange encounter in Washington’s wilderness. From strange smells to rocks and root balls thrown with impossible strength, Stephen’s journey takes listeners deep into the heart of Bigfoot territory. Tune in for a heart-pounding tale of encounters with a creature that’s as elusive as it is terrifying.🗣️ Share Your StoryHad a Bigfoot encounter or strange experience?Send it to [e-mail] – your story might be featured on the show!🎥 Watch & Subscribe on YouTube🔴 Subscribe here → Bigfoot Society YouTube💬 Leave a comment & let us know your thoughts!📞 Leave a voicemail with your story → Speakpipe (Use multiple voicemails if needed)👥 Share this episode → Watch & Share🎧 More episodes → Podcast Playlist🌲 Recommended: New Jersey Bigfoot Encounters💥 Support the Show & Get Perks✅ Join the community on Patreon – Become a Member✅ Listen ad-free & early on YouTube – Join Here📱 Let’s ConnectInstagram: @bigfootsocietyTwitter: @bigfoot_societyTikTok: @bigfoot.society🧰 Tools & Partners I Use (Affiliate Links)These help support the show at no extra cost to you:Beam (Better Sleep): Try BeamWildgrain (Better Bread): Join HereSeed (Probiotics): Get SeedMedi-Share (Healthcare): Learn More🎙️ Podcasting Tools:Repurpose.io: Try ItDescript: Sign UpStreamyard: Start RecordingRiverside.fm: Try Riverside🎧 My Audio Interface: View on Amazon☕ Buy Me a Coffee – Support Here🛍️ Grab Some Merch – Shop on Etsy📬 Mailing Address:Bigfoot Society125 E 1st St. #233Earlham, IA 50072📧 Business Inquiries:[e-mail]

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See Lose.com for details. Visit your nearby Lowe's on West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. You're listening to Bigfoot Society and I'm Jeremiah Byron. Tonight we dive into the chilling story of a 12-year-old who had a face-to-face encounter with something not of this world, a Sasquatch. This is a story of Stephen, a young boy out exploring the woods near Lake Stevens, Washington when something dark and massive stepped into his path. The creature's deep-set eyes locked onto his and Stephen knew in that moment he was not alone in the woods.

This isn't a legend or a myth. It's a firsthand encounter. So stay with us. All right, Bigfoot Society. You've got the privilege of talking to Stephen today. Steven's an individual I got connected to. That is here to share about some interesting encounters that happened to him during his junior high and high school years. So welcome to the show.

Stephen, how's it going today? Good, my. It's really good. Thank you. Absolutely. You know, I believe, well, I'm going to let you set the stage here. I think I know where we're going, but we'll let you set it. So feel free to take us back to when this first start happening to you,

and anything else that you need to, in order to set the stage. Okay, well, my first encounter, I was 12 years old. Okay, the neighborhood I lived in was about two plus miles. west of Lake Stevens on the west side of Highway 9 and maybe about a mile south of 20th Street at 14th place and 91st Avenue. On the west side of the neighborhood there was some power lines. Now, 50 years ago, there were still some cedar trees,

some large stumps, a lot of bushes and with garter snakes and alligator lizards that we used to capture. Just kind of give you an idea how wild it is. You're a little more, you know, back then. I mean, right now the neighborhood is probably, well, my sighting sits in the middle of a neighborhood. So it would seem kind of strange.

I've driven by there actually recently. My sister still lives out in this neighborhood. Anyway, we would go out. There was a pond out in this power lines also on the west side of the neighborhood. And we built a raft. We'd stroll around catching frogs and newts and stuff. And now to the south side of the neighborhood, there are woods and trees that stretched for nearly a mile all the way out to,

20th Street. Right now there's neighborhoods. But some of these woods maybe about 200 yards, there's this place we called the pothole. And it's an old drinking water well. There's a there was the remains of an old house foundation nearby. And I want to say I believe the pothole got its name from the teenagers that used to party there. And, and smoked their stuff there. And that's how I believe it got its name. And so anyway, one day, it was me, my Black Labrador and two neighbor friends, about my age, maybe a little younger. I was 12 years old.

We headed out to the pothole. And as you enter the woods, you go down this goalie and back up. And this goalie was created by the underground springs that came from the woods that ran out into the west side of the, into the power lines that created this pond we used to go into, just to give you some details of it a little bit. But so about 200 miles, 200 yards into these woods. We were standing around chit-chatting away, my two friends and my dog. and suddenly my dog kind of alerted with like a wolf more like a wolf and then he was standing alert just staring off into the trees to the south into the woods to the south side of the woods and I for some reason turned over to my left

and standing near this stump maybe it was a tall stump tall cedar stump from when the tree fell over and it was probably about six foot tall stump I want to say five or six feet tall give or take and I seen what looked like an apear gorilla hunched behind this stump. I was looking right into its eyes, okay? I probably stared into its eyes maybe five or ten seconds, maybe, or at most,

and started running out of the neighborhood as fast out of the wood. as fast as I could into the neighborhood. Now, I didn't even look to see if my friends were following me or not, but as I got out of the woods, they were just right behind me. They were right there, too. And I asked them when I caught my breath, you know, out of breath, because I nearly ran head over heels over this goalie down into this,

up and down into this out of the neighborhood, because there golly there. and caught my breath and I said, did you see it? And they didn't answer me. They're just looking at me. And so that there told me they didn't see anything. They didn't see it.

They were looking off to where my dog was alerted to. So I'm guessing that at that time there was more than one thing in the woods. Because my dog was alerted to the south. and I looked off to the west and it was to be crouched crouched behind this cedar stump

and yeah I looked into his eyes and it had like deep brows I would say it was black brown maybe dark brown black hairy

and yeah so So let me get back here. Stephen, do you mind if we talk about that sighting for a few minutes? Yeah, awesome. So this is, is it Lake Stevens, Washington? Yes, it is.

Okay, gotcha. Wow. So you said what you saw was hunched over behind the five to six foot tall cedar stump. Is that right? Yeah. Yes. believe I could see its right shoulder hanging out. So I've been to this woods 100 times before.

And so the stump, when I turned the left, looked massive for a second, looked bigger than it normally was. So I know something was standing crouched down behind this stump. And I looked right into his eyes and, yep, I'm sure this is not right. And I began running as fast I did it. as fast as I could. You know, yeah, it scared me. It really scared me.

So, yeah. Do you remember what color the eyes were? Uh, it was, it was kind of shadowy and it was. They were just deep, dark eyes. Just, you know, some people say they saw red eyes. I didn't see red eyes. but it was a large

with big brow eyebrow not eyebrow but uh eye bridges or what you want to call

deep deep set eyes into the socket do you remember if there were any whites around the eyes like on that corner of the eyes as you were looking into them

yeah I don't know, but I'm definitely sure they were eyes and they were just staring deep, you know, right at me. And with the angle, where they were standing, I can see why they didn't see what I was seeing because they were off to the right, more and a little bit south of me from the pothole. and yeah I still believe there was more than one of them out there or at least something going on to the south of the woods

because that's where my dog was focused at and then I just for some reason turned to the left and looked towards this stump and yeah there was standing a hunched down

behind this stump and it was definitely looking directly at me. And I just knew that wasn't right. So I started running. I mean, I booked it. And, you know, go ahead. Is this, so this takes place in the late 70s.

Is that right? Yeah, in 1975. Okay. It was. Gotcha. You had mentioned that sometimes people would go back to this area to, you know, do certain things. I'm guessing at the age of 12, you guys weren't involved with any activities like that out there

that would make you not really aware of what was going on? No, we didn't know. We're too young for that. Right. We didn't get involved in. It was just a spot where the teenagers hang, the older teenagers. hung out and

but definitely none of them out there at this time nobody we were definitely alone gotcha and

I was actually going to ask is there any chance at all that this could have been an older teenager

knowing you guys were going out there and then trying to play a trick on you no

I thought that over too many times and I went over the yeah I thought about that too many times.

I don't have any reason why they would do that or play a trick on us. At that time, we didn't even, there was no Sasquatch talk that I remember. You know, and I got, I think, and they joked around with me, other neighbor kids and stuff about it. and there was this old house across 91st avenue and somebody one of the neighbor kids said that these people that lived across 91st avenue in this old house had some monkeys had monkeys they said and so I was curious and I was brought over there one day and to see maybe he had some large monkeys is probably, you know, I was a little naive and global.

Maybe they got a grill out there or something, you know, but I went in, I went over there and I was invited in and all they had was some spider monkeys. So they had these two little spider monkeys. So no big girl is hanging right. They had an aviary, like for birds. Oh, wow. Sanctuary out beside their house with cockatoos, pigeons and stuff. So, but, yeah, I just had to go over there to make sure they didn't have any girls.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And that is very interesting, though, because so there was some sort of monkey in the proximity. But what you saw, I mean, it sounds like, well, I'll ask you, you know, you were able to look into its eyes, but did you notice any other details of it before you ran out of the woods? Well, just this deep set eyes and it's hairy shoulder, hairy upper arm, hairy shoulder, I guess. But I could definitely tell it was just, it was big in stature. It was something definitely pretty big crouched behind there.

And that's about it. It was, yeah, I definitely seen it, looked into it and saw it and seen it. It had kind of a look of, I don't know, like kind of a look of curiosity. Did give me a, I didn't get the feeling it was an angry look or anything, but. But, you know, it's about it. It wasn't, it shouldn't have been there. That's all I guess, sir. Absolutely.

Yeah. What? If my dog, and, and I think about how my dog reacted in the woods there. Normally, my dog would chase deer or rabbits or anything else, but it didn't. just uh it it uh stood just uh stood its ground and it was just like it's like my dog was freaked out over it too possibly you know but again he was looking the other way as far as i know but my dog and my friends were looking the other way at something in the woods that evidently they didn't i don't think they saw anything and they didn't say they saying say anything

thing, but they, I think they believed that I saw something. So later on, my dog, days later, I don't know, weeks later, my dog was running off a lot, spraying off, and she never did that. It's a female, she never did that before. And the neighbor's about three houses down from me. So let me know they, that they had some. rabbits missing and that I may have uh that my dog may have uh broken into their cage they thought and I was like I was I was I was mad I was not happy about that I didn't I think my dog would

break into a rabbit cage and eat them I and knew my dog well enough to not do that and then Um, sometime later they were, they, my dog wound up getting killed on 91st Avenue, uh, wandering at when she was wandering around. Uh, like she, you know, she never did this before, but she needed to get hit by, by a truck. But, uh, the neighbors invited me before that happened, the neighbors invited me down to their house to have some, uh, rabbit dinner. They butchered rabbits and ate them. That was one of their food sources. So they invited me down there for rabbit dinner one time. Just to kind of let me know that they didn't believe, they were sorry about my dog,

and they didn't believe that my dog was the one that did it because they had reinforced their cages. I put padlocks on their cages, and their rabbits still wound up disappearing. Nearly all of them. He stopped after this incident, he stopped butchering and keeping rabbits. Somehow something or someone had broken into the cages after he put padlocks and reinforced lining on the cages. heavier wire and all that and took all his rabbits. So they were letting me know that they didn't think my dog was the one that broke into the cage because they were now disappearing.

How many approximate rabbits do you think they were keeping at any time? We're talking a lot of them? Yeah, quite a few of them. I mean, dozens. I mean, they had rabbit dinner a lot. the mother fried them up and ate them. They had quite a few cages back there. Yeah, they started disappearing.

They couldn't figure out how their locks got broken off, snapped off, broken off. Of course, there was steel locks on wood frame, but they were broken off. and all the rabbits disappeared, nearly all of them. And they just assumed somebody did it to steal the rabbits. But I had reasonably that maybe it was the creature that I saw that did this. I can't say 100%, but it ruined their rabbit.

They ruined a rabbit dinner, I'd say. So, you know, they quit, they stopped raising rabbits sometime after that. You know, I don't think, you know, anybody believed about Sasquatch. Like I said, there was... This is Matt Rogers from Los Culture Eastas with Matt Rogers and Bowen-Yang. This is Bowen-Yang from Los Culture Reesters with Matt Rogers and Bowen-Yang. Spend your balance instantly with a Venmo debit card in an herb to 5% cashbacks on your favorite bundle. brands when you join Venmo's stash. Your rewards come from bundles of brands you can keep or switch

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Do they block hearing to heightened taste? Hmm. That sound seems to show everything happens for a recess. Wasn't much talk about it back to back then. Maybe the Patterson Gimlin film. That was probably about the only thing I knew about at that time. We don't have stories like that like we do now about, you know, sightings of Bigfoot and Sasquatch.

There was maybe a story or two about, back then of Sasquatch and Bigfoot, because it's still pretty wild back then. But, yeah. So what else I want to say? Sorry, just real quick. How close to the pothole area is this land, this property with all the rabbits in it?

Well, it's in my neighborhood three houses down for me. Probably a quarter mile, maybe at most. So from the south side of the neighborhood, it's about two or three hundred yards into the woods. So probably from their house, maybe another hundred yards, not that far. It's just up this Just a little ways from From the pahole So and it's in the

Yeah the woods, they're pretty thick Pretty heavy back then still And there's trees to the To the east side of the neighborhood The south side The north side was up While there's some neighborhoods the north side there's a school you know my school I went to but as far as the east side and the

south side I remember very heavily wooded and to the west side is all power lines and a pond even and you know it's pretty wild you know pretty pretty heavily wooded and I think I remember some stories of possible sightings back in but I didn't pay too much attention but anyway that was my siding that's all I saw was a possible and I have two other encounters here that I think you might find interesting fascinating to me so this is in 1976 77 and It was summertime at Spring Lake. And Spring Lake lies east of the Jordan Road, approximately three miles northwest of Granite Falls. And I looked it up.

It's a 26-acre lake. It's one of the shallowest lakes in the county. And it has no public access. There was only three or four cabins at the time back then, and two of them were my. stepfathers, my stepdad and his brother that owned. And my stepdad owned an a frame cabin next to his brothers. That was just a square cabin. And so this is like three years later, give or take, yeah.

and yeah there's a there's a vacant home across the lake I never seen anybody there and this is much like a big pond as more of a

lake is you know it had a lot of frogs and beavers and it was full of fish though it had you could look over the robo

he had there and you could see large fish in the water but you could never catch them because it was I think the fish were too well fed from all the frogs mosquitoes out there and so it was difficult to catch these fish and so anyway so the A-frame cabin it had a large glass window facing the lake and no running water and had two small bedrooms upstairs. The toilet was an

outhouse and of course there was an electricity but it was a beautiful built with the awning in the back with a cabin with a barbecue pit with the chimney

and picnic tables. So we were out there one weekend having a barbecue dinner. It was my stepdad. my mother, my sister and her friend, and it was me, my brother, and my friend, or his friend, a brother's friend in mine. So after dinner, it was late.

We were eating outside under the awning, big barbecue dinner. And those boys decided to sleep outside away from the house. the cabin. We wanted to be under the stars and we didn't feel like sleeping upstairs with my sister and her friend because it's only a two-bedroom cabin and it wasn't, I mean, we could sleep downstairs, but it was really uncomfortable down there. But we decided we wanted to camp out a little more, I feel a little excitement and camp outside the cabin. And, and sleep. And, and You know, it was probably maybe 50 yards away from the cabin. So, and George, my stepdad, he had a dog.

He had a dog, a big journey shepherd dog, mixed, Germany Shepherd mix. And so after dinner, we were, we were, those boys were sleeping just out there in our sleeping bags. I think a tarp in the sleep bag, sleeping in the stars. It was really dark. I mean, you couldn't see your hands in front of your face. You had these little flashlights. They were shining around. But suddenly, the frogs and crickets stopped.

It got really, it got quiet. and we're no longer talking. We're just, I was tucked down in my sleeping bag with only maybe the top of my head sticking out. And there's this terrible smell in the air. Yeah, it was a stench in the air. And I could, I heard, I felt footsteps. I felt heavy footsteps getting closer to my, to us. And my brother and friend weren't saying anything.

I think they were, I think they maybe felt or smelt something to. And I remember laying there and I kind of pushed my elbow over to see if my friend and brother were still there, and I felt my brother, he was trembling, so I know he was scared. And something was standing about, I felt something was standing by us, but I couldn't,

I was too scared to stick my head out of a sleeping bag to look. I mean, I felt paralyzed in fear for sure. and some time passed away, the frogs and crickets came by. And I want to say before this happened also, my cabin, or the dog was sleeping next to us, was laying beside us. When the crickets and frogs stopped,

the dog got up and walked away. I'm like, where's the dog going? Like something was wrong. It walked away from us. just suddenly. And that's when the smell came on. And I was sure something was standing there beside me, beside us. But sometime went by, and the crickets and frogs all came back.

And we all got up at once and just ran to the cabin. We didn't even grab our sleeping bags or anything. We just just hoofed it back to the cabin. And we ran into the cabin. My stepdad came downstairs. And my mom was like, where's your, I remember mom's thing, where's your, where's your bedding? You know, it's cold.

So we had to sleep upstairs with my, with my, with the girls, man. I mean, my stepdad, so you can just lay your sleeping bag, go get your sleeping bags, lay them down here. And none of us wanted to go out there and get our sleeping bags. We were too scared because we're like, and, and I remember thinking my stepdad, he mentioned from time or two, the big man. I mean, we'd be on our way out to the cabin sometimes. and I'd ask who's going to be out of the cabin this weekend and he said oh just it's just going to be me the dog and the big man of the forest and us and I always thought he meant the big man of the forest was his brother or his brother's friends or something um and I mean my step he looked like my stepdad my stepdad

Look, stepfather looked like a grizzly Adam type guy. He hung out. I mean, he built his cabin out in the woods. And he was an ex-iron worker and all that. But he mentioned, he went out to get our sleeping bags for us because we were too scared. He had to get the lantern and go out there and get him. And we ended up sleeping upstairs because we were too freaked out to sleep downstairs. and I remember he's going back up the stairs saying,

yeah, just the big man in the forest, he won't hurt you. And I remember my mom's like, she's scared him, you know. Yeah, so he mentioned that the big man of the four, I always thought it was his brother, but when I saw his brother come out there, he wasn't big at all. So, yeah, it's not him. So I really think that my stepdad knew there was a Sasquatch out there. And just by the way he talked about it.

He wouldn't say, I never thought to ask him in detail about what he saw or what he knew or out there. But yeah, he mentioned the big man of the forest. out there. So anyway, we went to sleep with the girls. We're too scared. And, yeah, something was out there. Something. This lake is very secluded.

And even today, I think there's not even, I don't know. It's no public access. You can't get out to this lake. But I saw a picture online and it still looks. they show the house, the empty house, across the lake and a dock that's about all these shows. It's like, wow, maybe there's not really, it's not all built up like that anymore. Yeah. So anyway.

It looks like, because it's hard to find. I'm not seeing it on a map, but I am finding a website that talks about it. And it seems like you can't really do anything there unless you're a lake resident. So it's not a thing where you want to try to track it down and then go there because it's kind of not a public access type deal. But it does look beautiful. I see the photo with the house across the water I think you're talking about maybe. But did you ever have any conversations with him when you were an adult about like, hey, what did you mean? about, you know, the big man?

No, I wished I would have, but I did. But I know he mentioned at least a couple other times about it. I don't think he wanted to talk too much about it because he knew it was scares. And he wanted us to go off the lake. He was a lonely man, you know. And my mom pretty much, he wasn't really our dad. He was just someone, my mom dated, and we'd go out to the lake.

lake sometimes and we'd uh some of us complain oh there's no toilet you know and the toilet stinks it's an outhouse and doesn't have any running water and it's you're really kind of roughing it packed in so but i don't i think the last thing he wanted to do was scare us you know but you know again i i remember the dog the way it acted when it walked away when it got up and walked away from it as if it was not comfortable with the big man uh yeah something was there and it and it just uh it uh it uh it was the fear that came over us was just really scary and i felt petrified in my sleeping bag and i couldn't look out I kind of wish I would have could have just looked out, but I probably wouldn't have went into shock if I actually saw what I think was standing out there, standing beside us, because I could hear the footfall of this thing.

And, yeah, there's something there. I wish I would have. And like I said, it was so dark, you can see your hand in front of your face. so and and neither my friend or my brother would even would he i don't think they didn't look either i mean you couldn't see anything unless you shine your flashlight but something was there and it stunk and i remember talking my brother about it and my friend he was yeah something stinks out there uh really bad you know i wish i would have talked to my stepdad about it a little more to I asked him about it, but I didn't.

And he's gone now. So anyway, I have another story, too. These are stories I truly believe something is in. My first encounter, I definitely, like I said, my first encounter, I've seen the thing. They exist. and to this day, I believe that there was something out there. And I have a third story. Okay.

And I went hiking with my friends in about 78 or 79, only a couple years later. This is Goat Lake, about 30 miles from Granite Falls up in the North Cascades Mountain Loop Highway. my friend, he's a little older than me, and he had his brother with him. So it was me, my friend, and his brother were going, going to go hiking, went hiking up into the cascades. So we brought, he brought a machete because he was told there was, it was going to probably be overgrown trail and it was i mean we took turns chopping our way into goat lake um and there was stinging natals devil club uh everything to get back there we

we worked to get to this lake and if you look nowadays at this lake it's it shows that it's well-groomed and there's even a bathroom, even a bathroom at the trailhead. I thought was kind of funny. Yeah, because back then there was only like the trailhead and a box, I think you put your name, we put our name in for the time we started our hike and, you know, we put our names there and their head, as far as we could tell, nobody else had been there. and the trail was thick. We thought we were off trail when we're chopping our way to the lake.

It took us most of the day to get to Goat Lake, and this is like a glacier lake. It's very deep into Mountain Canyon. So we chopped, and we were having a hard time getting to the lake, lake somewhere where there's somewhere to stand clear find a clearing around the lake and and we came across the clearing there's like we came out of the thick woods and then there was a clearing and it was like a bedding there was there was grass uh some like some branches and it looked like soft city soil uh it looked like something pulled off, soft sand pulled from the beach, but we're wondering how they, how someone got the sand there. So it was a nice bedding. It wasn't too big, but we could all fit there.

And outside of this bedding, there was... This is Matt Rogers from Los Culture Reistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen-Yang. This is Bowen-Yang from Los Colteristers with Matt Rogers and Bowen-Yang. Spend your balance instantly with a Venmo debit card and earn up to 5% cashbacks on your favorite bundle of brands when you join Venmo's stash. Your rewards come from bundles of brands you can keep or switch every 30 days so you can choose the ones that match your everyday spending. The more you do with Venmo, the more you get. Earn 2% cashback when you set up auto reloads. Earn 5% cashback with direct deposit. Great for anyone who doesn't want to transfer funds or wait days. No monthly fee,

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It's said everything happens for a reason, but maybe everything happens for a Reesis. Take noise-canceling headphones. Do they block hearing to heightened taste? Hmm. That sound seems to show. Everything happens for a recess. We couldn't, it was late.

We couldn't really go anywhere else. It was like we'd have to chop our way into the lake, chop a trail to the lake, and it looked like it was just kind of downhill. It was all downhill around this lake. And so that clearing was the best spot we had. I mean, we're pretty much isolated. It's getting late.

We needed to settle down and get something to eat and get settled in. So we decided, yeah, this is perfect. Nice, cleared off spot. And so we laid out our bedding. I think we laid the tarp down to keep us dry because of moist. And laid our sleeping bags out. We pulled out a little stove and we're cooking our food. And it's getting late.

And suddenly rocks started splashing nearby us, nearby the lake. They kept coming from up above us or around the bend. And it was kind of uphill from where this cleared off spot was. pretty steep and rocks kept flying and landing several rocks

and I think we were yelling my friend is yelling hey we'll be out here by you know we'll be out of here by morning just there's nowhere else to go you know we're kind of yelling we figure we took somebody's spot

and So we were talking a lot, you know, just yelling from time to time to stop throwing rocks. Suddenly, I hear it's getting quiet now. I hear this sound of the dirt of dirt coming out of the ground, it sounded like it was ripping from the ground. And these rocks and dirt rained down on the tree. trees by us and a big huge splash in the lake. It was a big splash and there's a big root ball.

And we were all quiet. We all got really quiet. Said, wow, something that ripped us out of the ground was strong and it threw it. And it was our root ball with huge roots on it. And a big splash. And, yeah, we got quiet. We're freaked out. And now it was getting really, it was really dark.

And we just climbed in our sleeping bag and we didn't want to cook. We didn't want to mess around do nothing. We just climbed in our sleeping bag and huddled. in and we heard strange noises all night. Yeah. The next morning, I think. So sometimes during the middle of night, this was a really bad thing to happen. My friend, he was a brother's, my friend's brother, he got up, he stood up and I could

see the silhouette of him standing up. and he starts taking a pee. And I heard his brother goes, go farther, go farther. And he wouldn't. He just stood there and peed in his pee. He was peeing on the tarp. I'm like, oh, no, I could hear it hitting the tarp. And suddenly I felt warm, the warmth of the pee.

It had river down underneath my sleeping bag. and he peed a lot. I was soaking wet with this pee in my, and I'm wet with his pee now. And I'm just, I'm mad, I'm angry. I'm scared and I'm mad. And he didn't want to go any farther. He was too scared to go any farther and pee because he just stood up and started

peeing and it was ridiculous. And I was soaked with pee. and now I'm scared out of my mind. And yeah, the next morning, since this day, I mean, this is a long night. This is a really long night. It got dark there quick, and the daylight didn't come for a long time

because we're in a canyon, mountain canyons all around us. When we got up, we didn't, it was just barely daylight we got i think uh one of us uh he cooked some or he did some water and we had like coffee that's it we didn't want to sit around and cook anything we wanted to just get out of there and uh and we did we hiked out of there early we didn't want it it was just a just a terrible trip and we hike our way in there and we have to cut our way into there

and we and we didn't do anything else that incident that night that night just scared us scared us pretty bad yeah it was a root ball Jeremiah was huge root ball

that a man shouldn't have been able to rip from the ground and throw. And this is when I started believing their fishing as Sasquatch, Bigfoot, because of what I went through earlier. I don't know what my friends, whether they really thought they existed. But I'm already convinced. I know at this time that they exist, because I've already heard. heard more stories.

Yeah. That is just that's an incredible account. I have a few questions about that. So you heard the root ball get ripped out of the ground and then you saw it

after it fell in the water or it was thrown into the water. Yeah. How big would you estimate that that root ball was? I would say probably a six or eight foot six or eight inch tree perhaps that was ripped out of the ground and like I say it rained down rocks and

and dirt from a long distance quite a distance and a huge splash and I saw the dirt in the water in the lake. And I was just like, since I was, I was frozen in fear. This is not a person here. This is something else.

This is, you know, I think I already decided on my mind. I knew what it was. And I don't, you know, it's funny, we didn't talk about it that night or nothing. We were just too scared to even, we were like, a few whispers. We're just like,

we kept saying, they kept going, you know, listen, they're trying to hear if something's coming to us or all night long. It's like that.

And then we're basically just quiet and listening. I think we were, we knew we were in a bad spot because we cut our way into this place and it was really difficult to get in there. And so it ain't like we can just

get up and run to safety. We were locked into that place. And I was scared. I was really, that was probably the worst. Out of all these, out of all three of these cameras, that that was the scariest I ever been. I knew there was no safety nearby.

We were screwed right there. And the way, when I think about the way the clearing was, how did the clearing get there? How did, who made that, you know? It wasn't a person after I figured out after years later looking at people saying, well, a few people seeing the way a nest might look or something. It's like, wow, you know, this just adds more to my story. And, yeah, there was a clearing with, and there was no trails into this clearing.

and it was just there. It's like we lucked out and had a place to sleep. But everything, I think we took something spot, not someone's spot. That's all I can say. No, absolutely. I mean, dude, just the fact of that you had to bushwhack your way, and there's no way there were other people there at that remote lake with you guys. Yeah.

There's no way. No. Wow, that isn't wild. That is wild in late 70s. Yeah, probably 70s, 79. Yeah. Now I looked at it. Did you look it up on the map?

I did. So I usually will look stuff up on Google Maps, and then it's cool because you can see other people's photos from the location. It's a beautiful area. It is gorgeous. Yeah. The waters. So blue, deep blue.

Yeah, it was, but at that time, we couldn't get anywhere there. It was like, this is weird. At that time, we were hiking, we saw this is really bogus, man. And we can see a beautiful lake, but we couldn't really see anywhere to go from other than that spot we were at. That clearing we're cut into. And, yeah, we can. And now it looks funny. even see, I think on that, on Google map, I've seen some kids there and saw, wow, there's even

kids there that hiked into this place that was so difficult for us to get to. And they really made it into like a campground now or something, not really a campground. I mean, I'm sure it's quite a hike there to get to it. But, and you can see all the clearing. how there's places to go around the lake, a few anywhere, a few places, clearings there. At that time, we didn't see none of that. It's like, I don't know how, who made the trail back in the late 70s or what, but there wasn't much there back then.

It was like we're off a logging road, it felt like. And I mean, it's up a mountain loop highway, but at the time, you know, now if you go up the mountain looph highway, it looks like campgrounds. And it's like, wow, it didn't look in nothing. It didn't look too much like this back in the 70s. Exactly. And the thing I want younger listeners to realize, because sometimes this doesn't come across, but think late 70s, there's no cell phones. There's no survival beacons to use. There is nothing to save you when you're in these remote locations like this, having to hack your way in.

Something goes down. These guys are in huge trouble and cannot be saved by anyone. Right. Exactly. It's wild. It is absolutely wild. How did this affect the rest of your life, you know, living through these different encounters in your junior high? in high school years.

Yeah. It made me think, wow. This is, it just made me think that the Sasquatch Bigfoot legend is not just a legend. It's real. I mean, they're out there just like me or you. I mean, they're, they're out there. I mean, it made me, it made me real, really wonder. And it's just, and I've hiked since.

I went on a few hikes since then. Always wondering and always looking for it for the Sasquatchewa. Always on my mind when I'm out hiking, you know. And some of the hikes it took now, there's just too many people around. it's not as secluded like it was. You have to really go farther out to get to feel like you're

a remote out in the woods. If you go up Mountain Loop Highway now, it's just like I said, just a lot of campgrounds and I'm curious to see what goat light looks like. I want to take another hike this year and somewhere

I'm just going to stay in the Pacific Northwest and probably take another hike somewhere and always have that in the back of my mind that there's probably Sasquatches around big foots, whatever you want to call them. Absolutely. And I think the Pacific Northwest here

is just there there's so many sightings. the Olympic Mountains is like a really big hot spot for him. Stephen, this has been such an enjoyable conversation. We've talked a little bit on this show about the Granite Falls area, so it's always nice to hear of different areas that are close by. And just for contacts for listeners,

if you go over to the BFRO website, this takes place in Snohomish County and I believe it's number four on the list of highest reported Bigfoot encounters in Washington

it's the number four reported counties so if you want to hear more from these areas that Stephen has been sharing if you go over to BFRO.Now or the Bigfoot mapping project it's there too either way you can see more encounters from this county in Washington.

Just a ton, ton of things that have happened there over the years. But, you know, Stephen, I want to make sure just to double check that you've been able to share everything that you wanted to share on the show today. Yeah, I think I've covered it.

Yeah. Yeah, I think I pretty much covered me a story. Yeah, thanks for having me, Jeremiah. Absolutely. I've been wanting to, I've been wanting to share the stories for a long time. And I think I tried to post them one time. I'm not sure if I posted them.

If the post went out or whatever, I might have mentioned a little bit about them. But this is the first time actually, well, this is the first time I actually getting my story out there. And I appreciate the time he took to let me share it. absolutely if you ever you know have anything else happen that you would need a a place to share you know feel free to reach out you know how to contact me but uh just thank you for coming on the show today stephen okay great thank you jemannes chwanda take a minute to say thank you truly for listening to this episode of the bigfoot society podcast stephen's story is one of those rare encounters that makes you question what's really out there so huge thanks to stephen for sharing his unforgettable experiences from the woods of Washington. If you've enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, hit the bell icon so you don't miss any new episodes,

and share this one with a friend who loves Bigfoot. If you're listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, make sure to follow the show and leave a review. It helps more people find us. Now, if you or someone you know has had a Bigfoot encounter, especially in the Lake Stevens or Granite Falls area of Washington, I'd love to hear from you. So shoot me an email at Bigfoot Society at gmail.com and let's talk.

And don't forget, Sasquatch Summerfest is coming up July 11th through the 12th in Oak Ridge, Oregon. Bigfoot Society listeners can grab a two-day pass for the price of one-day admission with the code BFS at checkout. And tickets are available now at www.sasquatch Summerfest.com. And thanks again for being part of the Bigfoot Society. Until next time, keep your eyes open, trust your gut, and never stop asking what else might be out there and see you in the woods. This is Matt Rogers from Las Culture Eastas with Matt. Rogers and Bowen-Yang. This is Bowen-Yang from Los Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen-Bowin. Spend your balance instantly with the Venmo debit card and earn up to 5% cashbacks on your

favorite bundle of brands when you join Venmo's stash. Your rewards come from bundles of brands you can keep or switch every 30 days so you can choose the ones that match your everyday spending. The more you do with Venmo, the more you get. Earn 2% cash back when you set up auto reloads. Earn 5% cash back with direct deposit. Great for anyone who doesn't want to transfer funds or wait days. No monthly fee, no minimum balance. And now you can earn up to 5% cash back. at select brands in your bundle every time you check out online with the Venmo button. Cashback is earned automatically. Just use your Venmo debit card and the rewards show up without extra steps. It's a simple way to get rewarded on things you're already buying, whether that's groceries, coffee, or your go-to-on-line shops.

Everything lives right inside the Venmo app so you can track your spending, check your balance, and see your rewards all in one place. The Venmo debit card works just like the app you already use, fast, flexible, and built around your day-to-day life. It's a great option if you want a debit card that fits seamlessly into your routine and gives you a little extra back on the things you're already to do. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the BankCorp Bank N.A. Pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated. Venmo Stash Bundle Terms and Exclusion Supply. Max $100 cash back per month. Requires $500 plus in direct deposits.

See terms at Venmo.com. Me forward slash stash terms. Venmo checkout not available at all merchants. Wellness, longevity, health as a lifestyle. Every week a new trend explodes across the media landscape. And depending on who's talking, it's either a miracle. breakthrough, or just expensive hype dressed up as science. Enter Kara Swisher.

She's here to cut through the noise with her signature edge, sharp, skeptical, and allergic to nonsense. Don't miss the CNN original series Kara Swisher wants to live forever. An essential, smart, and genuinely entertaining guide to the booming longevity industry. Because let's be real. The non-stop stream of wellness promises, AI-driven health claims, and expensive tech with sometimes dubious benefits isn't slowing down. Kara digs into what actually works and what it really costs,

from access gaps to tradeoffs most people would rather ignore. We're all getting older, that part's inevitable. The choices that come with it? Not so simple. You might as well understand what you're buying into. Say 40% for a limited time. Get started at CNN.com slash subscribe. Terms apply.

Kara Swisher wants to live forever. New series now streaming with a CNN. subscription. It said everything happens for a reason, but maybe everything happens for a recess. Take noise-canceling headphones. Do they block hearing to heighten taste? Hmm. That sound seems to show. Everything happens for a recess. This is Matt Rogers from Las Culture Rees with Matt Rogers and Bowen-Yang. This is Boen Yang from Los Culture Reesisters with Matt Rogers and Boean Yang. Spend your balance instantly with the Venmo debit card and earn up to 5% cashbacks on your favorite bundle of brands when you join Venmo staff.

Your rewards come from bundles of brands you can keep or switch every 30 days, so you can choose the ones that match your everyday spending. The more you do with Venmo, the more you get. Earn 2% cash back when you set up auto reloads. Earn 5% cashback with direct deposit. Great for anyone who doesn't want to transfer funds or wait days. No monthly fee, no minimum balance. Cashback is earned automatically.

Just use your Venmo debit card and the rewards show up without extra steps. It's a simple way to get rewarded on things you're already buying, whether that's groceries, coffee, or your go-to online shops. Everything lives right inside the Venmo app so you can track your specific. spending, check your balance, and see your rewards all in one place. The Venmo debit card works just like the app you already use, fast, flexible, and built around your day-to-day life. It's a great option if you want a debit card that fits seamlessly into your routine and gives you a little extra back on the things you're already doing. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the BankCorp, Bank,

N.A., pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated. Venmo Stashbundle terms and exclusion supply. Max $100 cash back per month. Requires $500 plus in direct deposits. See terms at Venmo.com terms. Wellness, longevity, health as a lifestyle. Every week, a new trend explodes across the media landscape. And depending on who's talking, it's either a miracle breakthrough or just expensive hype dressed up as science. Enter Kara Swisher. She's here to cut through the noise with her signature edge, sharp, skeptical, and allergic to nonsense. Don't miss the CNN original series Kara Swisher wants to live forever, an essential, smart, and jubmature. genuinely entertaining guide to the booming longevity industry.

Because let's be real, the non-stop stream of wellness promises, AI-driven health claims, and expensive tech with sometimes dubious benefits isn't slowing down. Kara digs into what actually works and what it really costs. From access gaps to tradeoffs most people would rather ignore. We're all getting older, that part's inevitable. The choices that come with it? Not so simple. You might as well understand what you're buying.

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