THE SIERRA SASQUATCH RESEARCH GROUP

WORKING TO SCIENTIFICALLY PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF THE CRYPTOZOOLOGICAL SPECIES KNOWN AS BIGFOOT
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Sasquatch Encounter in Desolation Wilderness
Report #2 - Kyburz
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         This Report is Under Developmen     
 
SASQUATCH INVESTIGATIONS AT THE KYBURZ SITE
March 29th to August 1, 2007.

Author(s) of This Report:

Researcher Larry Lesh
Researcher BB (pseudonym)
New Researcher Bob Nohr
Researcher RB (On May trip but not contributing to report).

We wish to thank Kathy Strain of the AIBR for taking the time to review ourreport and for providing her keen insight into improving it.

INTRODUCTION:

On May 18, 2007 SSRG researcher BB accompanied by RB investigated a small bluff with a forested slope behind it and a meadow area at the base of a hill. There’s a stream along the base of the hill around the edge of the meadow.

BB knows this area since he used to live in Kyburz and has hunted here.

During the May 18th trip BB and RB found 3 possible Bigfoot prints on the forest floor above the small bluff. A photo was taken by RB but is unavailable for this report. BB relates though the suspect prints had the characteristic outline in crushed pine needles and twigs of a Bigfoot print and appeared to be in a line with the characteristic elongated stride of the species.

On June 1st 2007 SSRG researchers BB and Larry Lesh investigated the Kyburz site starting around 3:30 PM. The area with the previous footprints was checked and the prints had been erased. The bluff was checked and what is believed to be an impression of a right forearm and hand of a Bigfoot was found and photographed. Loose rocks on the bluff edge were clacked loudly 3 times at this point. The meadow and the stream were examined and no other evidence was found. Around 5:00 PM whistles and movement were detected on the hillside above the meadow. We left the area around 5:30 PM as heavy shadows were falling from the setting sun.

On June 13th 2007 SSRG researchers BB and Bob Nohr visited the area again. The previous impressions on the bluff had been erased and no evidence was found.
 
On August 11th researchers BB and Larry Lesh visited the area and searched the woods and rocks to the east of the main road.  Some minor evidence was found along with an unusual occurance associated with Sasquatch sightings

 

***Special Note. The following photos have been reduced for web publication, which has degraded their resolution. Anyone needing high resolution photos should click on the photo caption.  This will allow you to view the picture at full resolution (2.7 MB files).



General Directions are as follow:

 

In Kyburz turn right off of US 50 coming from the West onto Silver Forks Rd and then turn right onto Hells Delight Rd and proceed south.  The area is located beween Kyburz and the American River.  Exact locations are withheld pending on-going investigations.

 

 

 

 

This is a view of the road looking south toward the American River from the edge of the meadow.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT:

The Kyburz sighting area is around 6000 feet in elevation and is considered very rocky. The primary rock is granite and the soil is sandy and decomposed granite. There’s clear evidence of glacial action on the surrounding mountains. The area is forested and the tracks of game are apparent. The hillside above the meadow shows numerous game trails.


 
The area to the east of the paved road is a gently sloping forested area with large granite boulders going back to a series of hills.  The area along the road is a low bluff leading back to the slope.

CULTURAL SETTING:

This area is a mutlti-use forested area.  Local residents have been seen running their dogs here, there's evidence of former logging operations, and some discarded ammo casings.  As of this writing ATVs are allowed off road in approved areas and the American River is nearby.

RESEARCH DESIGN:
 
The expeditions to the Kyburz area are based upon the knowledge of researcher BB as previously mentioned.  BB lived in this area, had a business for some time and still has contacts in Kyburz.  Sufficient evidence has been found to justify continuing investigations of the area.

Research methods used were taken from Professor Jeff Meldrum’s September 2006 book, Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. We were interested in handprint or footprint evidence, unusual broken trees and/or tree limbs, evidence of digging for insects, nests or places where a Bigfoot might lie down or rest, Bigfoot body parts which might leave impressions in soil or mud, actual sightings of a Bigfoot, audio sounds especially screams and/or whoops or whistles.


RESEARCH METHODS:
 
All 5 trips to the Kyburz area were 1-day events. The March visit lasted only a few minutes, the May visit by researchers BB and RB lasted approximately 45 minutes, the June 1st trip lasted over 2 hours, the June 13th trip lasted approximately 1.5 hours and the August 11th trip lasted about 1.5 hours.

 

A special emphasis was put on documenting photographically any evidence found in the area, as researcher Larry Lesh is a photographer. Still pictures were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 8700 set to 8 mega pixels on fine jpeg compression. A Sony Camcorder was available but was considered unnecessary by the researchers due to a lack of motion in the evidence.

 

On the May 18th trip researchers BB and RB located what appeared to be the light outline of some footprints.  On the June 1st trip BB and Larry Lesh discovered and photographed what appeared to be the right arm and hand of a Sasquatch on the edge of the Bluff near the road.

 

Also, rocks were clacked together and the meadow was explored for evidence.  Late in the afternoon movement was detected on the hill above the meadow.

 

On June 18th researcher Bob Nohr and BB visited the area.  No evidence was found but plenty of game was noticed and it appeared the area would support the species food requirements.

 

On August 11th BB and Larry Lesh returned to the area and searched the area east of the road.  Evidence was located and photographed.  An unusual situation occured as the researchers were leaving which may be Bigfoot related.


RESULTS:

 

The May 18th visit by BB and RB found an area with what appeared to be the general outline of a track of Bigfoot prints.  These prints were photographed but the photos aren't available for this report.

 

This is the general area where the footprints were found.  This photo show the forest area going up the slope toward the hills to the east.

 

The line of prints were noticed around the clump of grass in the middle of this picture.  Notice the density of the fallen twigs and branches on the forest floor.  This makes it very easy for the species to hide their footprints and it's very typical of this area.

 

This is another angle of the area where the prints were observed looking east.  It's apparent the area has been logged over in the past.

 

During the June 1st trip researchers BB and Larry Lesh located an impression on the edge of the bluff that appears to be the right hand and forearem of a Sasquatch.  Also a footprint was found that might be that of a juvenile.

 

The photos were examined by other researchers to include Professor Meldrum.  Opinions vary from the negative to we may have found indicative evidence of Sasquatch activity.  However, the reader should note that researcher BB does have a great deal of training by military special operations and is an expert woodsman and hunter.

 

This photo is from the bluff edge looking back. It's believed the right forearm and elbow were at top of the photo and the right thumb and finger impressions are just below photo center.

 

This is another angle of the impression. Close examination will show the pattern of the hair in the soil.

 

This is another angle of the impression.

 

This is a photo of the impression done with a measuring tape.

 

Researcher BB has calculated from the impression that the distance from the hand to the end of the forearm is about 35-37 inches.

 

This photo was taken near the bluff and has the appearance and the general outline of a Bigfoot print. It may very well may be that of a juvenile. Notice the rock shadow indicates late afternoon or early evening the picture was taken.

 

On the June 1st trip rocks were clacked together at the end of photographing the bluff impressions.  Whistles were heard after about 20 minutes coming from near the top the hill above the meadow as shown below.

 

The researchers speculate they may have barged into a hunting party of Sasquatch.  This is based upon the freshness of the impression and the fact it hadn't been wind eroded in any manner. 

 

Also the finding of the footprint near the bluff indicates something had come this way.  It's unlikely it was a human footprint because of the amount of debris just off the road would've cut the bottom of a normal human foot.  No other fresh footprints were found in this area except those of the researchers.

 

Please note that this print along with the impressions on the bluff were erased and gone by June 18th.  Researcher BB is reasonably certain they were erased by someone or something as wind erosion wouldn't account for their total erasure.  No rain was recorded in this area during this time to the on-going drought.

 

The arrival of the researchers in the area may have startled the animal leaving the impressions into immediate flight.  Also, the fresh tracks of game animals were observed in the area and again in greater numbers during the June 18th visit by BB and Bob Nohr.

 

As mentioned earlier movement was detected on the hillside during the latter stages of the visit.  However, no direct observations were made of any animals.

 

 

This photo is taken from the road looking back at the bluff. Notice how easy it is to move back into the trees from the bluff to avoid being observed from the meadow below.

 

This photo is taken from the other side of the road looking into the meadow area to show the view from the bluff. There's a stream and a hillside to the right and another meadow area to the left.

 

The researchers departed the area around 5:30 PM after talking with a local resident who was running his dog.  The resident wasn't aware of any unusual activity in the area.  He was aware of stories regarding Bigfoot but hadn't personally seen any direct evidence.

 

Researcher's BB and Bob Nohr visited the area on June 18th coming down from the American River.  They didn't find any direct evidence of Bigfoot during their visit.  They searched the hillside above the meadow and noticed numerous game trails and the clear presence of game tracks.  This matched their observations from the road of animals and fresh game tracks.

 

They checked the bluff where the impressions had been found and discovered they were gone. 

 

Researchers BB and Larry Lesh revisited the area on the late afternoon of August 11th.  The bluff was checked and photographed.  It hadn't changed much since the June 18th visit.

 

All photos below this point don't have high resolution links due to computer failure and being lost.

 

This photo shows the area where the June 1st impressions were found.  The impressions are gone and a few other things can be seen which aren't Bigfoot related.

 

The area to the east of the road was searched to a distance of about 350 yards in.  An unusual heel print was observed and photographed and a protected area behind a rock was noticed and recorded.

 

This impression was noticed in the area and recorded.  It's unknown what made the heal print but whatever did has a great deal of weight.  This sticks and rocks are typical of this area and don't record print impressions well.

 

This small area was noticed and recorded behind this large rock.  Notice how the sticks and rocks have been moved away in a semicircle to provide shelter.  This is away from the prevailing wind and rain.  It's unknown who or what did this but there were no impressions on the dirt area.

 

This area show signs of multi-use but not to the extreme as observed at Pollock Pines.  Excessive amounts of human debris weren't observed but evidence of target practice was seen.

 

This is the remains of a clay target observed in the area and shotgun casings were seen in some places.

 

The researchers withdrew from the area east of the road when unknown movement was seen in the trees close to the hillside.  While preparing to leave the area it was noticed that all noise and animal movement in the immediate vicinity of the meadow and bluff area had ceased.  The only sound came from a flock of birds about 1/8th of a mile to the south.  This condition has been reported in previous Bigfoot encounters.  We departed the area about 6:30 PM.


CONCLUSIONS:


The researchers conclude the Kyburz location is an area of Sasquatch activity.  This is based upon the observations and documented evidence collected by the researchers during their visits.  The extent of this activity will be subject to furthur research.  We'll attempt to determine to if this area is a summer habituation area or a migratory path. 
 
We don't believe at this time this is an area of year round permanent habituation.
 
LESSONS LEARNED:
 
The researchers should have casted the impressions and the footprint that were found on the bluff.  A limited amount of hydrocal was available for this purpose.  The casts would have documented and preserved the evidence better than the photographs do.  However, due to the hardness of the soil it's difficult to determine in advance how well the casts may have come out.