2009 was the third year that I have been able to spend the whole hunting season in the mountains, I retired in October 2007.  I pulled my camp trailer up the end of September and set it up for 36 days of camping, hunting, and setting around the campfire enjoying the outdoors.  I spend a lot of time camping and hunting by myself (everyone else is still working) and riding my ATV on the few old logging roads that are still open to 4 wheelers. 

At 12:24 AM on the seventh night something woke me up and I sat up in bed.  A minute or so later the rear end of my camp trailer started rocking back and forth.  All the stabilizer jacks were down and the trailer was solid, so whatever was pushing on the trailer was very strong.  The fully loaded trailer weighed in at more than 5,500 pounds and whatever was moving it was not making any noise while it rocked it. 

My first thought was a bear, a really big bear. I grabbed my shotgun and put a shell in and sat and waited for a few seconds.  The trailer continued to rock back and forth so I grabbed the air horn that was sitting on the table and gave it several blasts.  That did not stop it so I got the keys to my truck and pushed the panic button setting the horn blaring.  This stopped whatever it was and all was quiet for five minutes.  I sat there with the shotgun in my hands listening for any sound.  There was no sound, just total quiet. 

I had convinced myself that it was just a bear when this God awful sound came from the ridge behind the trailer.  It started off like a whistle turning into a horse whinny and then going into a very loud howl and finishing off with a growl.  All of these sounds were run together with no pause in between them.  It lasted maybe 10-15 seconds and then all went quiet.  Damnedest sound I ever heard, scared the hell out of me.  I got dressed and sat there in the dark the rest of the night, shotgun in hand.  I have never had anything affect me like that before.   After it was completely daylight I went out to look at the back side of the trailer and to see if there were any tracks on the ground.  There were not any dents in the trailer or any tracks on the ground.  There should have been tracks because the ground was kind of soft and out of habit I had raked all the pine needles and forest duff away from the trailer leaving just dirt and grass.  This happened on October 5^th, 2009 at 12:24 AM. 

Need to mention here that a (240 lb) friend drove into my camp while I was still outside checking for tracks and looking for any damage to my trailer.  He wanted to know what I was doing so I told him the events of the past 8 hours.  I also went back inside and had him push on the trailer to see if he could rock it back and forth.  The best he could do was to give it a jolt by throwing a shoulder into it.  He could not make it rock in the smooth motion that had occurred the night before. 

This particular event is what finally gave me the incentive to file a report.  And largely because it is the first time I cannot affix any logical rational explanation to it that would allow me to forget that it happened. 

There have been seven or so other odd happenings over the past 12-14 years that have taken place within a six mile stretch off of this road, involving six people. 

Two of those events involved the friend I mentioned earlier with both ending in him being chased off the mountain. 

1. The first happened when he was walking out on an old skid road very late in the day after an afternoon deer hunt.  He said he could hear something keeping pace with him higher up on the hill and it followed him for about a mile or so making sounds that he had never heard before.   

2.  The second time was 5-6 years later and in the summer.  He had just finished cutting up a truck load of fire wood and was taking a break before loading it when he heard the same sound as before.  The sound was quite a ways off but kept getting closer so this time he decided that he would set tight and see exactly what it was.  He had a 357 magnum revolver with him and he just stood there waiting.  After some time of listening to this sound getting closer and closer he again let discretion be the better part of valor and jumped in his truck and left, leaving the wood he had just cut laying there on the ground. 

3. An old hunting partner of his was chased back into his camp trailer early one morning by something that made threatening sounds towards him in the dark.  He said he had never heard anything like that before and he is also a life long hunter. 

4. An associate that worked at one of our mills said his wife saw a tall strange looking thing walking towards their campsite while he was out hunting.  It turned and went into the forest before she could get a really good look at the face but she said it was very tall and was a dark color from head to foot and not carrying a rifle. 

5. My son said he saw several barefoot human looking, but large footprints along a trail on top of a ridge that overlooked the area where my friend left the truck load of firewood on the ground. 

6. My brother and I were camped on a point just a few miles down the road from this year's incident back in 1997 or 1998.  It was just after dark and we were setting by the campfire when across the creek and way up the ridge we heard this God awful scream / howl.  It was so loud that it felt like it shook my shirt sleeves.   After a few minutes of trying to rationalize what could have made that sound and not coming up with anything he left and went into his trailer for the night.  I put the fire to bed and then went into my trailer for the night.  No brave people here either.  Keep in mind that we have been life long hunters and he was in his 60s then and I in my 50s. 

7.  Two other occasions in previous years involved knocking or tapping on the side of my trailer.  One happened at 2 in the morning and a few years later it happened again at 3 in the morning.  On both occasions there were no other camps within a mile or two in either direction on this road.  No other noise was heard other than the three or four raps on the side of the trailer on both those occasions.  My campsites are well off the forest service road with the exception of one that is about 150 yards from the road. 

Best guess chronology: 
1^st Friend walking out skid road – 1996 -1997
2^nd Mill employee's wife – 1996 -1998
3^rd Brother and me   - 1997 - 1998
4^th Son – 1998 - 1999
5^th Friends old hunting partner - 2000
6^th Friend cutting wood - 2002
7^th Knocking or rapping on my trailer at night 0200 in 2005 and again at 0300 in 2008
8^th Trailer rocking back and forth – 2009  

Other incidents in the past 30 years of hunting this area:

1. Very bad smell going out old skid road before daylight – nothing there when coming back out.  This happened several times and always in the same area of the skid road at the bottom of the draw where my brother and I heard the scream / howl in 97 or 98. 

1980s into early 1990s.  South end of the six mile area

2. Small rocks thrown at my son while we were setting on the side of our favorite ridge, 2 ridges past the end of the skid road mentioned above.  Early 1990s

3. Animal and bird sounds going out another skid road – total quiet coming back out – this happened more than just once on this skid road. 1980s - middle part of the six mile area

4. Stick structure built off FRS 624 side road – 14 miles away from area mentioned above. 2006

5. Son rolled a large rock down into a large bowl (500 - 700 hundred yards wide) just before dark making a lot of noise intending to scare out an elk but instead a very tall solid dark figure stepped out from behind a tree across the bowl from us and after a few seconds stepped back behind the tree again.  Son rolled another rock and the figure stepped out again for a few more seconds.  It then headed off away from the road as it was getting dark, walking on two legs.  Watched this thing through a small pair of binos and it was uniform in color top to bottom and was not carrying a rifle.   This happened 50-55 miles away from area mentioned for all the other happenings. 1999-2000
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The informant contacted Bobbie Short May 8, 2010 by phone and in the course of conversation asked not to be identified; he stressed the inability for that 26' trailer to be moved with all the stabilizer's down and locked in place...but he felt like whatever was rocking his trailer was rocking it by pushing on the roof section in the rear of the trailer; the roof was 9 feet off the ground... It was 20 degrees outside and the only light inside the vehicle was a table heater that emitted a red glow that may have been seen through the windows; otherwise it was dark in the trailer.

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