Well this was a blast. This was our first trip back packing as a Squatching group. This was a very good learning experience and so much fun that this is going to be a yearly thing for us. There were no campers even near us which made the trip worth it. We still need some supplies but we survived just the same. It was amazing how silent the mountains were at times and knowing that the sounds we were hearing were not other humans was great. Before I get into posting the report here are some pictures of our trip.

This is our group…

Some resting on the hike in…

Sitting around the camp fire on our wonderful rocks that after a while are so soft…

Seth and Joshua cooking their meal…

While Seth and Joshua enjoyed a tent some of us were not as fortunate…

A closer look at the nested group…

Lucy had to sleep all by herself. The first night she was in this little hut of hers she wakes up in the middle of the night and see’s a pair of red eyes looking back at her at about 50 feet. She looks at them for a bit and then covers her head to go back to sleep. She then realizes what she was looking at, uncovers her head and the eyes were gone…

Thursday Night August 11^th

We waited around the fire until after darks before beginning to do anything. Our plan was to do our first activities in camp because of our remote location. We had a few Gen I night visions with either 2x or 4x magnifications on them, two recorders, a parabolic ear and some instant disposable camera’s around our necks for those quick once in a life time shots. It was a bright moon to the point most of the time we did not need to use any form of light to move around. Freaky but cool.

Just before we got started there was an extraordinary bright shooting star that lit up the area briefly. For those who saw it the sight was pretty amazing.

2055ish: We were just hanging out around the fire just casually talking and joking around. Just before we were to begin starting our activity we wanted to tone things down a bit.

2140ish: We have been doing things from camp for a bit when Luke and Lucy mentioned seeing bright glowing down around the tarp areas. I said it was probably reflecting moon light or something. Several minutes later Amanda said she saw what appeared to be a light or lights down by the tent which was about fifty yards south of the tarp area deeper in the woods. She said she could even see it in her night vision when she looked at it. Shortly after that she moved and started using the parabolic ear to listen in the opposite direction from the tent which was north of us. Seth said he had been hearing movement and clicking noises from that area. While using the parabolic ear she heard what sounded like distance fast talking or gibberish talking from more than one subject. Christina and Seth had still been hearing movement and clicking from time to time. Amanda said she had also heard the clicking. I was sitting more south on the other side of a sloping knoll. At one point during this period Luke said he saw red eye glow south of us. His angle was different than mine and I was further south than him. I asked Lucy to move over by him to see if she could verify what he was seeing. Shortly after moving Lucy and Luke both said they saw the red glow south of our position.

2158ish: Luke said he saw flashes of light like a dim white headlamp down by the tent and it had happened more than once. After a few minutes Christina took over listening in the same area that Amanda was scanning with the bionic ear. Christina said she also heard what appeared to be distant talking and she said it was real fast. I had gotten up and moved more north of our current position closer to Seth who was on the rock. At one point, not sure of the time we heard a very loud rock impact that sounded like it had been dropped or thrown. The odd thing was there was no follow up movement after that you would hear if a rock were to roll down a mountain.

2215ish: Joshua took over listening with the parabolic. Shortly after that I decided to move north into the woods where the noises had been coming from because I could not hear anything. I wanted to see if anything would happen. Shortly after moving down there I heard two loud twig breaks. Within minutes I saw an area that had been lit up by moon light go dark and then be lit up again giving me the impression that something had just moved passed it. After a bit Joshua gave up the parabolic ear and came down to join me along with Christina and Amanda. After a five or so minutes we went back up and joined the others. After going up we decided that a group should leave camp and do some activity away from the main area.

2248ish: Amanda, Christina, Joshua, Seth and myself left camp leaving the others behind. We went out and hit the main trail and moved north. After moving for a bit we found a great tree for wood knocking so that is what we began doing. Shortly after we started bantering back and forth from our position and base camp.

2305ish: We had just got done bantering back and forth and we heard a clack noise that was faint. We radioed base camp and they had heard what sounded like a rock clack. After that we kept up our routine.

2315ish: We radioed back to camp to see if anything was going on. Jake said they had heard two, what sounded like rock clacks. Luke was dosing off but Lucy said she thinks she heard them but was not sure. Shortly after that we moved deep into a dark area of the pines and all of us sat down with our backs towards the east down the mountain where it was darker. Right after we sat down I was talking to Amanda and Joshua and Seth said they heard shuffling from the other side.

2336ish: We started heading back to camp doing different things as we headed back. It was sounding like the people at base camp were starting to fall asleep.

Friday Night

We started out just before 2200 hours. Our plan was to go out to the main trail and split into two groups. Just prior to leaving I went and activated the trails cams that were pointed into our camp area. After exiting camp and making the trail we advance up the trail a bit. After stopping the conversation came up about hearing voices earlier. Josh and Seth thought they heard distant voices down towards the ravine away from camp. If someone was down there they would be well off of any known trail.

2228ish: We decided to separate into two groups. Christina, Lucy, Amanda and Seth went in one group. Jake, Luke, Joshua and myself stayed behind as the other group. Just a few minutes after they left us our group heard a faint distant vocal that sound similar to a whoop. About five minutes after that there was a bright flash. I only saw the flash like a camera but two of our group saw an amazing shooting star.

2249ish: Luke said he could see from his vantage point a dark figure on the trail from where we had come that was not there before. After watching it for a bit he moved to sit down. Before we left the area he did go back to where he was and he said the figure was gone. No one else saw it so it was inconclusive.

2304ish: My group started heading back towards camp to go in the other direction. We had not taken very many steps when we heard a woodknock from the direction of our camp (the direction we were walking). It was only one knock. We passed out camp and started walking through a meadow. I was leading and decided to change direction and head off of the trail. The moon was so bright that I was not afraid of getting lost as long as I kept the meadow in sight. My goal was to head off trail and be unpredictable. We headed towards a mountain slope that had a scree slide higher up. As soon as we hit the other side of the meadow I entered a dark patch of woods and got the creeps. I also startled a bird that made an ton of noise trying to flee. That didn’t help add to the mood.

2315ish: We were parallel to the meadow heading up the slope on an angle when we heard what sounded like a whistle. After traveling about four more minutes we hit the far end of the meadow and started heading in the direction of the other group. As soon as we did that the radio crackled and they told us that their entire group just heard a woodknock. The origin was directly in front of us if we were to continue.

2329ish: Our group had gained elevation so we were now looking down into the meadow. We wanted to try and simulate the rock crash we heard the night before that echoed through the valley. I grabbed a basketball sized rock and dropped it off of the ledge of about fifteen feet. The other group heard the crash but Seth said it had to many after noises. The rock crash we heard the night before did not have the after crashes. They asked us to do another one so Joshua did a follow up. It had even more crashes after.

2339ish: The other group just informed us that they heard rocks moving up the hill from them. They said it sounded like something was moving around. Something large enough to move rocks. After that we decided to have them move back to the meadow.

0018ish: Both groups hooked back up near where we had started and decided to head back to camp.

We hung out in camp for a bit. Amanda, Christina and Lucy after a while left camp by themselves about 100 yards down the mountain to see if they could drum up some contacts. We sent the bear sprays with the group. Nothing came of that attempt. Individuals were getting tired. Seth and Joshua wanted to head out of camp and go up the mountain to gain an advantage point to do some vocalization. Shortly after they left Jake and Luke retired to bed as well as Christina. Not even a half an hour after that Amanda and Lucy went to bed. I told Seth that I would stay up and banter back and forth with them until they got back to camp. I was fine most of the time they were gone except for about fifteen minutes. There was that time that I got the creeps and felt I was not alone. So much so I put my back to the fire and was on guard and did not like the feeling I was having nor the fact my hair on the back of my neck was standing. It soon passed and I was fine again. Seth and Joshua got back to camp after 0300 in the morning.

The following is from Seth about his adventures on this trip.

Thursday August 11th
After traveling, hiking in and setting up camp it began. As the sun went down and the full moon caressed the earth we decided to do vocals and knocks from inside camp to try and draw activity toward our location. After the first few wood knocks and vocals I started hearing something that sounded as if it was walking. At first discounting what I heard, thinking it may be my mind creating something from the sounds of the nearby creek, I continued on. After each and every vocal/knock I could hear that same sound of walking as if it was gradually getting closer increasing in distinctness. I decided to mention to the group what I was hearing and found that 2 of my comrades Cristina and Amanda were hearing the same exact sounds. Explore the possibility that these sounds could be coming from that very mythical creature that we are so diligently seeking John slowly crept in the direction where these noises had been originating in an attempt to catch a small glimpse of what it could be. Armed only with his intense will to find whats behind this and fearless attitude he pressed onward while a few of us, including myself, relentlessly gazed though our night-vision. Attempting a few more howls, trying to get another reaction from whatever was coming closer to us, we no longer could hear anything. As the despair of silence entered into our once hope-filled minds John and a few others that had slowly wandered toward him with that same unrelenting desire returned to camp to report on there findings. Although nothing came from the journey that was just taken shortly after John and myself heard a large rock shift and fall a short distance from the direction of that area that just moments before was explored. The sound was as clear to us as the full moon above our heads. Coming to my own conclusion that whatever that was we heard must have gone toward the mountain side and vanished. With little success thereafter we hit the sack.

Friday August 12th
As night crept upon us once more our determination grew. After finalizing plans we departed. Heading down to the nearby trail as a group we found a tree and it began. The ideas that were continually pondered upon during the heat and ever-pestering mosquitoes earlier that day were coming to life. After a few knocks and howls John decided to split up the large group of ours into two smaller groups in hopes of encouraging a moment of audacity in these very creatures for which we continually quest. It was decided that the 3 girls and myself would continue up the trail while John, Joshua, Jake and Luke would stay in the location we were currently stationed. Although the girls and myself had a pretty uneventful time moving up the trail we did find something quite intriguing. It seemed that whenever we would move again after we stopped the other group would hear a single wood knock and vice versa. I personally heard on two separate occasions a single distinct wood knock. After returning to camp the girls were sent to gather sticks in the grove below and Josh and I decided to adventure up the mountainside to do calls and knocks into the nearby basin. After reaching our desired destination we began to do calls into the basin and toward camp. John would then do responses in hopes to start some sort of chatter, encouraging any squaches in the area to jump in. Josh and I had very little activity but toward just as we had given up any hope of a response, on our last howl we heard what seemed within a couple hundred yards shifting of large rocks as if something large was moving up on the face on the very mountainside we were on. Deciding to stay a bit longer to see if what we were hearing would get closer we did more vocals. Nothing more occurred where we were at and the decision to move down the mountain toward camp became evident. Periodically doing howls and knock we made our way back to camp with silence ever present. Shortly after arriving in camp our beds called and we surcame.

I hope that you enjoyed my colorful report on the events of August 11th and 12th.

Seth

Well that wraps it up. Until next time.

John…