The Metolius River, near where the tracks were found. Photo by Matt C.

Winter, January 7, 2003
Jefferson county, Oregon

Near forest route 12, off hwy. 20
Conditions: sunny
Location: 3 miles down river off bridge 99 on Metolius River

On Tuesday 1-7-2003 a friend and I decided to go fishing on the Metolius River. We decided to try our luck downstream of bridge 99. We ended up hiking several miles as the river is very fast and has imited fishing holes. I was looking for animal tracks in the 2-3 inches of snow that covered the trail. There were a few deer and elk tracks and not much else. Being a bow hunter I am always scouting looking for possible places to hunt. I was hoping to see some turkey tracks , as this is the place I have been hunting lately, and the season will be opening soon.

There did not appear to be many animals down here, and I noticed that I didn't even here any birds. After about 2.5 miles we came to a little meadow about 1/2 acre in size. We got off the trail to see if there were any animals tracks in the snow. I found several elk tracks and a couple of deer tracks in the snow , they looked to be about 3-4 days old, as I was looking at them, my buddy Derrick said "look human tracks!" This surprised me because we had hiked the only trail down
here and I saw no sign of any one else before us. The river is very thick with vine maples, alders and assorted conifers, and to be down here this far it is highly unlikely that you would not take this trail.

I looked up and I could see what looked like human tracks coming from down river heading up. I walked over and looked at them... They were "huge" I placed my boot right in one and it dwarfed my 10.5 boot. I said to Derrick" pretty dam big human tracks" They had to be 16" plus long, and 8" wide! I looked closer and asked Derrick if he saw what I did , He said " you mean the toes? " Wow I can't believe what we are looking at I start following the tracks down river , after looking at about a dozen or more I started to get this real uneasy feeling. I had
to get out of here . What I kept noticing about the tracks were that they were much deeper than the elk tracks and our tracks. They heel was impressively sunk in to the frozen ground, in some places as much as 3". I told Derrick that I wanted to leave. He said "What about fishing?" I pointed to the foot prints and said "These tracks don't scare you?" He said "NO, its probably someone with snow shoes or a bear or something." I knew better, but still could not believe what I was looking at.

Tracks in the snow near the Metolius River Photo credit: Matt C.

I pulled out my camera which I almost always take with me and laid my fishing rod next to one of the footprints, and snapped a couple of pictures. I convinced Derrick to cut the trip short, I could not explain it but I just felt dread, and wanted to get out of there. On they way back to the truck we talked about what we saw and Derrick was convinced it was a bear or someone with big boots, Heck by the time I got home I was not sure, must be a bear . But when I got home I looked at some of my reference books, and new that was no bear track!

I called a buddy and told him what I saw, and he had a book that had a description of "Big foot " tracks and said that the book said that they were like a humans except for size, and that they were flat footed. The measurements he told me matched pretty much what had seen out there. Know I was really wondering. I had to go back and look at these tracks again to make sure what I had seen. I asked Derrick to go back with me the next day, but he could not go on Wednesday, and said how about Thursday. I said fine, because I had no plans on going down there by myself.

More tracks in the snow Photo credit: Matt C.

Thursday we took off armed with hand guns, digital camera, tape measure, plaster, and a lot more knowledge about bear, and big foot tracks. I felt uneasy the hole way and I could tell Derrick thought I was "nuts" When we arrived at the spot I felt that dread again and noticed that there were no animals sounds, no birds or anything. I got down close and looked again at the tracks. I was convinced this had to be big foot tracks, where we were, and the size convinced me. I pointed to one of the footprints and said "This doesn't scare you?" Derrick
said no, though I could tell that he was not sure any more what they were. We mixed the plaster and each found a good foot print to make a cast of.

While we were waiting for the plaster to harden we decided to follow were the tracks had come from. We followed them for about 30 yards to where they had come out of the river. By this time I had seen enough and wanted to leave in the worst kind of way. We checked the plaster and it still needed more time. I was becoming increasingly more apprehensive. The river is noisy down here and when I herd a large branch brake over the sound of the river I couldn't take it any longer. I told Derrick to dig out his cast and let s get the hell out here!
Unfortunately they were not dry yet and his broke into 3 pieces. I saw this and didn't try because I knew mine would do the same. I said I have to leave with or with out you, so lets go! I'll get my cast some other time. I practically jogged out of there. Back at the truck I felt much better and I pointed out to Derrick the birds singing and that for the second time down there we herd no birds. Derrick had noticed this, and with the way I was acting he said that Big foot was probably
in the area and that he was trying to scare me. I said "Great, then he did a good job!" Derrick once again was not scared at all.

Photo credit: Matt C.

Later that night I down loaded my camera and looked at the digital photos I had taken. I printed out some of the best ones, and the next day showed them to Eric, a hunting and fishing buddy of mine. He took one look at them and said so what they don't look that big. I learned real quick that people are not quick to believe. I told him about what I had been doing the last couple of days, and that I was so "wigged out" that I left my cast still down there in the snow. Eric said lets go get
it on Saturday. I was relieved because I wanted to get my cast but there was no way I was going to go by myself, and Eric has 2 dogs that would be coming.

Saturday morning we drove down to the Metolius River and hiked back to the "spot". I was really feeling scared this time and Eric couldn't believe it. He said "What's your problem? What happened to the mighty bow hunter that spends all night alone in a tree stand in the middle of no where?" I told him that I could not explain it.. I dreaded going down there but my curiosity could not keep me away. We got down to the spot and I showed Eric the tracks. He was not very impressed, as the snow had melted considerable more since I first saw them on Tuesday. I showed him my cast as we dug it out of the ground. I kept pointing to
the deep heel impressions in the ground, pointed out the depth and every
thing else I could show him. We followed the tracks down river to where they had come out of the river. I pointed out the damage to the ground were you could see every step this creature had taken. I was trying to convince him of what I saw, but Eric was a true skeptic, and was not easily convinced of what I was showing him. Any way I felt the dread again and was constantly looking at his dogs for any sign of of danger. I must admit I felt much better with his dogs around. I told
him that I had not followed where the tracks had gone up river, and that we should see where they had gone. Eric agreed and I started the way. They led into a thick spruce thicket , so thick we could barely get through it. You could clearly see the tracks in the ground. 17.5" long and 8" wide. There was no snow and the tracks were old, but you could still clearly see where the creature had walked. I said Eric you lead the way, I sometimes wonder if I might be the only one seeing the footprints. Eric could clearly see them and we started following them.

Photo credit: Matt C.

After a few yards into the thicket Eric said look at this. It was a huge pile of scat, with two footprints straddling it . Eric step into the tracks and mimicked squatting over the scat. He could barely spread his legs wide enough! We looked closely at the scat and examined some of the "large pieces" I would normally think this was bear scat except for the two 17" foot print straddling it. I noticed grass, spruce
needles, twinges, and what must be some digested vegetation. No hair or fur was in it. I said "So do you think somebody with 17" bare foot prints ate a bunch of grass , twigs and spruce needles, came down here in the middle of nowhere , took a dump, didn't wipe and then walked back into the river another 20 yards upstream?" Eric was convinced! It was more likely to be a big foot than anything else. So with Eric convinced I urged him to get the "hell out of here!"

Eric did some leg work and got on the internet at his work and found
this site and here I am telling you about my siting. Matt. C

Photo credit: Matt C.

Editor's Comments:

Matt's friend Eric contacted me via email and sent me the three scat photos first. Although the scat in the photo does look like black bear feces, the size of the impressions in the forest "duff" (the pine needle waste on the ground) was evident in comparison to the size of the boot in the lower righthand corner of the second scat photo. Matt was skeptical that the photo showed how evident the tracks were, but having found tracks in duff myself, I knew how a very obvious track can show up poorly on film (see here for a similar track I found in Washington). In examining the thumbnail photo of the third picture (above), the two tracks are clearly evident as dark, oblong impressions. Matt then emailed me several of the photos of the tracks in the snow. I called Eric and Matt and spoke with them extensively. While Eric was not necessarily convinced by the tracks, he found the placement of the two impressions over the scat pile unexplainable. Matt, who originally found the site, mentioned repeatly how frightened he'd been, which was odd for him, he said. The tracks themselves are interesting. In the first photo, the track appears to have an elk print in the middle of it. One could suppose the the tracks are melted out elk prints... however, only one or two of the tracks contain a hoofprint, and the elk tracks are very fresh, whereas the larger impressions appear older. In addition, the "melt" pattern is not even, and the elk print is not centered in the track. Also, the elk track is deeper than the original foot impression. My own personal criteria for discerning whether a track possibly could have been made by a Sasquatch is as follows: If there is only one track, it must CLEARLY show toes, and have an approporiate length/width/depth ratio. For impressions without toes, there must be at least three, with a sufficient size/depth/stride ratio. These tracks appear to be approximately 17" long by 7" wide at the toes and 5" wide at the heel. These dimensions are not only sufficient for a Sasquatch track, but are a relatively common size. So, in that aspect, these are good candidates for Sasquatch footprints. The lack of length in the stride bothered me a bit (commonly, a creature with feet this large would leave a stride between opposite feet of about 3-3 1/2"). In one photo, there is a track on one side of a log, then another track quite far away on the other side of the log. This could possible indicate a large stride, unless the subject stepped up on the log and then hopped off. The top of the log is not visible in the photo, so we cannot see whether or not the snow was disturbed. There are several tracks which give the appearance of containing toe marks. Since phtoographs rarely catch the details which are obvious at the scene, I cannot say for certain whether these tracks actually meet the criteria for "sasquatch" tracks. The good news is that I do not believe these tracks are evidence of a hoax... more often than not, hoaxed tracks are exceptionally clear and the hoaxer goes to a lot of trouble to make sure witnesses know they are "Bigfoot" tracks. As for the scat, it appears to be black bear. However, the foot impressions are large and deep and a good distance from the scat pile, suggesting that something with rather long legs squatted there. I've had many photos of purported Bigfoot feces sent to me... on one hand, the most suspicious piles are those that are large in diameter and voluminous. On the other hand, it's quite possible that a bear and a Sasquatch living in the same forest would have the same diet available to them and therefore their waste may appear very similar. A final note: this area, which abutts the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, has a history of Bigfoot activity. In fact, tracks were found on the reservation near there just last year. It is possible that these Native lands are a virtual santuary for the Sasquatch creatures. And since trespassing on Warm Springs lands is forbidden and is punishable by hefty fines, the creatures in that area will likely be safe long into the future.

Have you had a Bigfoot encounter along the Metolius, or anywhere else, that you'd like to share? Your name will not be used in conjuction with any report unless you request it. If you'd like to comment on this report, please email us.