Story of my encounter with the legendary forest monster

First off, we should all stipulate that Bigfoot occupies space in a lot of our minds. Some have joked that he’s the blurry forest monster, trotting through the woods. Every single picture I’ve ever seen of this creature is blurry or so far away, the creature is unrecognizable. Seems mysterious that with so many people visiting the forests and mountains and all those people carrying phones with cameras, we could get some clean shots of this hairy creature hiding in the forest. In fact, even some selfies with him sitting by the campfire should be in order!

I have no explanations. And I must admit, I’m cautious when I tell my own story about seeing Bigfoot. People typically give you that look as if to say, “Sorry, my poor man! Is it your addled mind, drugs, or alcohol speaking? Thoughts and prayers for you!” So, you should feel special that I’m sharing this story with you, knowing full well that my reputation is on the line! So, based on the story I tell, you decide for yourself what to think of Bigfoot and all the legends surrounding him.

In or around 1974, my dad and I were driving home from the Middle Fork of the Salmon River boat launch at Dagger Falls in Central Idaho. Some of you, no doubt, know exactly where that’s located.

We were in a pug-nosed Ryder truck – one of the larger, box trucks that Western River Expeditions used to haul their boats and gear for river rafting. Dad drove trucks for Western Rivers in those days for summer work.

We meandered along that windy highway between Stanley and Clayton. It was around 9 or 10 o’clock at night, and, as I recall, it was a particularly dark night.

Suddenly, out in front of the truck at the furthest edge of the truck’s headlights was a tall, hairy creature standing on the right side of the road. Dad and I both spotted the creature at about the same time. Dad yelled a swear word and hit the brakes.

The creature stared into the headlights for a second, then walked out in the road in front of the truck, headed to the other side. About the middle of the road, he looked our direction again.

I figure in that truck, we were sitting maybe seven or eight feet high. I remember the creature’s head was about even with the level of our site, looking straight out the windshield.

The creature just ambled across the road and disappeared on the other side in the trees along the highway. I distinctly remember the creature had long, shaggy hair all over its body, which was evident as we got closer and the light clearly illuminated everything.

After we passed the creature, dad asked if I had seen what he saw. We talked about what it could’ve been and concluded it was likely a Bigfoot out walking around for night. There wasn’t much else it could’ve been. We ruled out a bear crossing the road on its hind legs because the creature we saw had long legs and a stride, much like a human’s.

Anyway, there’s the story. Make of it what you will.

The pictures added to this story are my own and were produced by AI. Feel free to copy them if you like. As you know, AI will produce any image you ask it to, so I had some fun with this one. My favorite is the one at the top that depicts me BS-ing with Bigfoot – telling big stories around the campfire.