What creature stands 7½ to 8 feet tall, weighs about 400 pounds and has a shaggy, dark brown coat? Give up? It’s Sasquatch of course!
Okay, I’m stretching things a bit this week, but every year in September they hold a Sasquatch Festival in Whitehall. Why … because there have been so many encounters or sightings of Bigfoot in that area over the years.
Now, let’s set the record straight. I don’t believe in Bigfoot, but the other day someone sent a video to my Facebook that caught my attention. Besides, I always thought that Bigfoot was usually found in the Pacific Northwest not upstate New York. But if you go online, you’ll find an Adirondack Park map with dozens of documented ADK Bigfoot encounters.
I guess it all started back in August of 1976. Three teenagers reported seeing a strange creature in a field off Abair Road in Whitehall. Police Officer Bryan Gosselin responded to the call and witnessed the creature, making it one of the most credible sightings in that part of the country. He wasn’t alone. Over the next several days other officers, his father and brother all saw something they couldn’t fully explain. Giant human-like tracks were also found on the river’s edge near the field where it was spotted.
A couple weeks later a local woman had an encounter with a beast she never actually saw. She was riding her 4-wheeler on a hill just outside of town. When she stopped for a quick break, something started throwing rocks at her from a nearby ledge. She quickly headed for home but had to stop for a newly fallen tree that blocked her escape route. Something screamed at her and threw acorns at her as she tried to get away. When she got home her dogs were hiding and shaking under the dining room table. They obviously smelled the animal that followed her home. She said the creature had a terrible, foul odor.
Whitehall isn’t the only place in the Adirondacks to report a Bigfoot encounter. In 1996 a group of friends were camping at Pine Pond near Saranac Lake. In the late afternoon two campers were fishing from a canoe, when one of them spotted a strange dark shape on the water’s edge near the wood line. They started to paddle towards it when one of the fishermen thought it was a bear. But when it stood up, they realized it wasn’t. The creature finally ran off, and the fishermen found man-like tracks along the shore of the lake.
Another man had to stop his car to avoid hitting a Sasquatch as it crossed the road just outside of Fort Ann. He said it was extremely tall, very muscular, with a dark brownish-black coat. He said it crossed the road with just four steps, while he counted 14 steps of his own to cover the same distance.
Maybe the term “forever wild” means more than we know. The town has declared itself as the Official Home of Bigfoot, and uses it’s likeness on their town seal.
Each September a Sasquatch Festival and Calling Contest is held in Whitehall. Besides the calling contest there is live music, tables with unique Sasquatch memorabilia and plenty of beer. Maybe that’s when the tales really get bigger.
In 2016 the documentary film “The Beast of Whitehall” was released. It had three boys driving an isolated stretch of road and encountered a Bigfoot with glowing red eyes. It also explores the impact Bigfoot has had on the regional culture of the Adirondacks and upstate New York. You can download it from the Internet.
If you find this interesting, go online and check out “Adirondack Bigfoot.” There are several sites with numerous interviews with local residents who have encountered the creature.
And me? When I run into one of these creatures while hiking the trails or driving the backcountry roads, I might change my mind about their existence. But until then, they make for an interesting story.