An Excerpt from Chapter Two
Planning Places and Hot Spots

My favorite part of any trip or vacation is the planning part. Books, magazines and maps are scattered all over the floor and a glass of Chardonnay makes it feel almost like a party for one. To me the secret of a good trip is good planning. I love to plan. The dreams and expectations of a far off place bring the promise of adventure. How can I go wrong? This is not to say I am a rigid person and everything is on a strict timetable. Nevertheless, I want to feel the security of knowing my destination and having a good idea of when I will be getting there. I believe kids feel more comfortable if you can tell them exactly where you will be staying and why. Once you get to your spot and want to make modifications to the itinerary, your kids more than likely will go with the flow.

In planning an outing around a hopeful bigfoot experience, it is important to do your homework and know what is going on in the bigfoot world. There are several ways to do this. First, and best, is to arm yourself with some good bigfoot literature so you can find out where the historical hot spots are. John Green’s books are great, as they not only focus on historical areas, but share famous stories on bigfoot lore. They also have maps that show where there have been sightings and footprints over the years. There are other bigfoot books on the market that give out good sighting information, but I will talk about those later. I might add there is no substitute for good local maps of the area you are planning on visiting. Forest service maps show all the secondary and gravel roads and topographical maps give you a good idea of terrain and elevations.

Another way to find out about recent bigfoot activity is to go online. There are quite a few bigfoot web sites, but I have found one that has the largest sightings and encounters database. It is the Bigfoot Field Research Organization website. They keep a database of sightings nationwide, and a sighting is reportedly researched and verified by a BFRO member before it gets posted online. By using this website and accepted books in the bigfoot community, you should be able to pick a spot where you might have the greatest chance of finding something related to bigfoot. In bigfoot land, most people hope to find a footprint, the somewhat controversial tree breaks, scat, hear a wood knock, rock clacking, vocalization, or if you’re really lucky—an actual sighting! There are also other sighting databases you can check out including Oregon Bigfoot and Sasquatch Research Initiative, to name a few. You might want to join some of the online bigfoot organizations, if you haven’t already. This is a good way to meet and keep in touch with those who are active in the field. You just might get lucky and have someone toss you a hot lead on a currently active area. This is how Jake and I were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time one summer.

The greatest thing about looking for Mr. Foot is that you really get into some beautiful areas! My home state is California and our Western Sierras and The Siskiyous are beautiful, plus the Redwood areas of the northern coast will astound you. There is one guarantee if you take a bigfoot–flavored trip; you will still have a wonderful time with your family even if you see neither hide nor hair of a big guy.

Long before Jacob was born, I had been making trips up to what I like to refer as Bigfoot Central at Willow Creek, California. This little town in Northern California is located about 45 minutes from the turnoff that will take you to Bluff Creek, the well known area where Bob Gimlin and Roger Patterson took their famous film footage in October of 1967. You might call this ground zero for bigfoot fanatics.

This is the area where I concentrated my efforts the first fifteen years of my bigfoot investigating. I usually stayed in hotels and went out in the daytime because anyone who goes out alone at night looking for the “big guy” will tell you it can be quite unnerving if you are out there camping all by your lonesome. This was my early dilemma before I was married and had Jacob. Becoming a father has been a great experience for me, and nurturing my son into being an outdoorsman and field partner has been fantastic. Jake loves going out, and with the addition of our black Labrador Retriever “Jet” to our party, there is never a dull moment. Some will say that you should not bring your kids or dogs to look for bigfoot. Well, I would say it depends on what kind of kids and dogs you have. In my opinion, quiet, well-behaved kids, and dogs that do not bark or make lots of noise can be great security and company when you are miles from nowhere.

Besides planning where you are going and where you are going to stay, I think it is a good idea to work in plenty of stops along the way and to find things the kids like to do. Promising a souvenir or treat as rewards for being good on a day long or multi-day drive helps. Finding a place with a pool is also a big favorite! Having music, games and bigfoot books in the car helps pass the time. Talking is great too. The summer of “bigfoot lite,” my name for our first bigfoot trip when Jake was 10, was probably the richest summer for me as a parent. Jake and I were together for two weeks and had to rely on each other for companionship, prayer time, humor, ideas, everything! I really opened up to my son and he to me, and we really were able to get to know each other as people. It was fantastic. After that trip, the next summer really blossomed as we hit the field ready to find something and meet new friends.