Every year I return at least twice to the area where the Colorado Howl recordings were obtained the summer of 2009. Â The site is on a remote dead-end road, being 25 miles from the nearest pavement. I have spent many days there all alone enjoying the quietude.
I arrived on Saturday, the 21st of July 2012. Dennis and Shannon Pfohl,  of The Colorado Bigfoot Research Group pulled into camp on Monday morning and Marc Swanson arrived on the next Thursday evening and spent the weekend with the group.
This place is a little bit different than I have ever been before. Vocals can be heard anytime during the day or night and as a result we try to lay low in the morning and not move around much before 08:30 a.m.
On Monday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., I heard coming from the south-east at about 200 yards in the wood-line, a massive single wood knock. It sounded like a major leaguer hitting a home run ball out of the ballpark. This was not a trip that we would hear any loud vocals.
Tuesday morning at 5:00 a.m. Shannon heard what she described as someone yelling “heh” directly south of us. She thought  at the time it was only me out early in the morning. It was not.
[Photo by Marc Swanson]
Left to right – Stan Courtney – Marc Swanson – Shannon and Dennis Pfohl
Wednesday morning around 1:00 a.m. we had a massive thunderstorm and high winds. I was sleeping in the back of my pickup under the truck-topper. As the rain stopped I felt as if the truck was shoved very hard by something at the front . Twenty seconds later the truck was shoved strongly a second time. I couldn’t see or hear anything.
Around 5:00 a.m. Shannon heard a very large single wood knock coming from due south. At 9:35 a.m. I was sitting in a lawn chair by the meadow and heard another large wood knock coming 200 yards due west.
In the evening after dark, maybe 9:30 p.m., Shannon and Dennis, using a thermal imager, watched a cow elk in the meadow, seemingly upset about something (maybe our presence).
Click here to listen to this sound clip of the elk: Â Elk in the meadow.
Thursday morning at 8 a.m. Shannon and Dennis both felt and heard their 26 ft. trailer being smacked by something near the corner. There first response was wondering if I had snuck over and was teasing them. Â I was not up and about at the time.
It was a little unsettling to all of us to think that perhaps something had been in our camp during the daytime.
At 4:30 p.m. we did hear one distant howl as a response to one of our calls.
[Photo by Marc Swanson]
Friday evening we heard our first close-in coyotes vocalizing in a stand of trees about 200 yards SW of the camp. We were all hoping that the Colorado Howler would join the chorus, but it was not to be.
Click here to listen to this sound clip of the coyotes: Â Coyotes near the meadow.
Saturday morning, between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m. Marc, who was sleeping in his tent, was awakened by a very large  rock that was dropped or thrown and landed several feet from his tent.
Saturday afternoon we walked about 75 yards into the woods behind our camp to collect firewood. Marc and I then returned to camp. Twenty minutes later Shannon and Dennis came back to camp. Dennis related that while walking a little further into the woods he was alarmed to see a black “ball of fur” headed straight towards him.
It turned out to be Belle, my Karelian Bear Dog. She normally scouts out the area and spends lots of time in the woods. She is “on her own” most of time and as with other members of her breed are known as being quite fearless. Â The previous week she had a short altercation with a Hereford range bull, it was a stand-off.
As Belle came back towards Dennis she immediately hid behind his legs and peered back down the trail from where she had come. It remains unknown what she had encountered that would affect her in this manner.
We broke camp on Sunday morning and returned to our homes. Although we did not hear and record any loud vocalizations we did feel like we had heard very loud wood knocks and had perhaps had camp visitors on three occasions.
The following are some of the sounds heard from base camp: The Meadows 2012.
What is it like to be camping in a known area of activity and then have interaction in close proximity when you are sleep? You have more guts than I have…
Jim, I honestly believe that sasquatch are not dangerous. They are amazing creatures and have some amazing abilities. I am not afraid of them even if I am afraid of the dark. Millions of Americans sleep in tents while camping every year, they just don't realize they are not alone.
First of all I enjoy reading about your research and wanted to say thanks for posting it!
How likely is it that a Mountain Monkey (my favorite description) shoved/shook your truck and the others trailer? Were any of those sounds picked up on your recordings?
Personal question(s). I live in the PNW and am planning to go camping/hiking/hunting in the next few months. In what ways would you advise a novice bigfooter to try and interact with Washington's Mountain Monkey? I grew up camping/hiking in the Cascade Mountains but never though of trying to interact with the Squatch. I think fear is the biggest factor.
Thanks for your time Stan!
I tend to work from the other direction. I don't think that a coyote or bear shoved my truck. We weren't able to find any tracks. We did have several large wood knocks and several vocals but nothing at the time of possible activity within camp.
The best way to know of any activity is to be recording audio with a small digital recorder. Most encounters are with humans doing normal things, like hiking, fishing or just camping. I think the key is to pay attention. I also believe 95% of encounters are sound only.
Could you recommend a relatively inexpensive sound recording device?
Thanks!!
The Sony PCM_M-10 is the lowest priced digital recorder I would recommend. It records 48 hrs on 2 AA batteries. Excellent sound quality and sturdy build.
Also check out my blogposts on Field Recorders.
http://www.stancourtney.com/wordpress/field-recor…
thanks!! Much appreciated!!
Lucky you.. I live about 20 miles from this spot as the crow flies and I haven’t been able to get the time or have the money to get up there and camp this year plus I still need to get my recorder. snow will be falling any time now so I probably won’t make it this year,but I’m stil gonna try. nice pics Stan
PS- I talked to this guy that lives close to the town below there and he said he had something messing around his cabin earlier this spring.
So many great locations in Colorado, both for camping and squatchin’.
Stan – can u tell me where this location is in southern Colo? tks
Jim,
Out of respect to witnesses and other researchers I never discuss exact locations. Thanks for your understanding.
Stan