I was invited to go on a Sasquatch expedition through Ape Canyon in the vicinity of Mount Saint Helens years after its catastrophic eruption that destroyed 210 square miles of wilderness in the surrounding region. My friend had worked at the NPR desk in Washington State and had had some weird experiences concerning the strange reports coming in about Sasquatch encounters. For decades loggers and lumber jacks had brought stories back with them about “Boogers” “Hairy Wild Men” “The People of the Forest” “Sasquatch” and after 1967 “Bigfoot”. Calls had been coming into the National Public radio desk and they were concerning.

Bizarre confrontations

A sheriff reported that he had been aware of a Sasquatch present where he was in the rural forest and inexplicably began to build a fire as if some invisible force were urging him to do it. He’d never felt this way before. A policeman who often hid along the highway to radar for speeders claimed that he had dosed off late one evening only to awake to a fierce disturbance in the brush behind his patrol car that startled him. When he activated his emergency lights he saw a huge figure walk past his vehicle towering over him and walked across the road in full view illuminated by the multicolored pursuit lights. A local fisherman who often fished for lake trout and salmon until dark had decided to take a nap before getting on the road to go home. When he awoke he was stunned to see a Sasquatch gazing at him through his windshield! Once he was awake the man beast strolled off into the forest leaving him aghast. Another law enforcement officer reported he was ready to pull his gun during an encounter but felt as though he had been stopped from doing what his training had oriented him to do when confronted by a threat. It seemed Sasquatch had a telepathic power of some sort.

Foreboding radio assignment

My friend had gotten a call from a farmer in neighboring Idaho who said that a Sasquatch has apparently camped out on his acreage and could be heard making whooping sounds and howls at night. He asked if NPR could send a reporter to investigate. It was the weekend news cycle and a former football player had just finished his journalism degree and hired on. At 6 foot 7 inches and over two hundred and fifty pounds the guy had little fear of anyone and decided to take the assignment scoffing at the Bigfoot reports. He bought 700 dollars’ worth of camping gear since the farmer suggested that live recordings could easily be made of these unusual screeches that echoed in the night.

A skeptic arrives

Leaving Friday morning for the assignment the muscular athlete hefted his gear and headed to his car for a two day outing all the while joking about his report. My friend gave him some tips on what NPR expected as highlights for an audio review of his findings and he agreed, but there was humor in his candor. He was set to arrive early evening at the Idaho farm and was expected by the farmer who offered food and even indoor accommodation if the reporter desired.

A troubled return

Sunday morning at his weekend desk job there came a call from the Idaho farmer. He said that the athletic defensive lineman who had come to camp out and take recordings if he had heard anything had left in a hurry without saying a word, and what should he do with all this brand new camping gear that has been left behind? Monday morning the former football player turned NPR reporter showed up at the office. He was obviously deeply disturbed by something but wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened on the Idaho farm he had been assigned to monitor. This was the atmosphere that existed and why a planned expedition into Ape Canyon was being organized.

The unknown victims and survivors of Mount St. Helens

There are accounts given by forest rangers, game wardens, and sheriff’s deputies about strange things occurring after the destructive aftermath of the Mount St. Helens collapse of its cone and the ejection of hot ash all over the surrounding forest. The defoliation and deaths of 58 people living in the area was bad enough was bad enough, but something even more disturbing seemed to be afoot. One deputy reported that there were bodies being evacuated for medical care that were not part of the reported injuries or fatalities of persons. A special medical evacuation had been arranged by some government agencies as very large victims were being separately treated or removed due to being deceased.

Who were they?

These very large victims were being carried in extra-large stretchers, much longer than those for the typical height of a man. And, these weren’t normal sized men being attended to. They were partially burned Sasquatch creatures. Some with burned away and singed hair revealing thermal burns were being lifted into the backs of military style ambulances. The rangers, sheriffs, and game wardens were all warned not to make mention of what they were witnessing as some of them stood aghast and in awe as the bodies of many of the “Boogers” were apparently being rescued as a result of the fiery eruption!

Origins of the name

Due to the 1924 Ape Man encounter where miners working a site were attacked and their boarding house battered by Bigfoot creatures as the men even fired shots with rifles though the roof and walls to try and discourage the frightening aggression of what they could only describe as "Apes". I was looking forward to the invitation to go to Ape Canyon and had been writing for Plano Star Courier at the time when for no reason given the expedition had been cancelled. My friend, who had connections and knew more about it than most people said there was some concern expressed for the safety of the participants and due to some encounter that had happened it was decided to opt out of the event.

Final explanation?

Amazingly, the area since being devastated in 1980 had made a miraculous recovery in many areas while some still looked like badlands that would be a long time in coming back. Ape Canyon vicinity had been severely damaged but had made a relatively fast recovery in a few short years. This was back in 1995 some 15 years after the disaster. Nature’s processes are impressive from the volcanic material being rich in nutrients to the actions of birds dropping seeds from neighboring vegetation to help the regrowth.  I had thought the funding had collapsed to support the project or something of that nature, but what my friend had revealed seemed a bit ominous. So much for the planned excursion of Sasquatch country.