A different perspective

Until 6 mos ago I had no idea that a vast population of bigfooters existed within the wilds of Facebook. There must be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people who share in the interest scattered among the US and territories of Canada. They were an elusive bunch having never encountered them myself. But, I found them. They are here. If you don't believe me, do a little research of your own.

Ohio Bigfoot Conference 2013 The Good Stuff

I awoke that morning at 6:30 am in somewhat of a zombie state. My headache from the night before had not gone away and I was stuck 7 foot off the ground with no way down. I considered jumping, but didn't want to jostle my brain any further. I made it down eventually.
I crept around the cabin as not to wake my sleeping roommates and started the coffee. It took 4 yrs to brew but was worth the wait. While waiting I searched out the back window into the woods behind our cabin for any signs of life. There was a flock of those vultures that seemed to be fighting over a decent meal. They were really flaunting for eachother. I never found out who won the treat.
The cabin came alive as everyone woke. We had coffee and a nice morning chatting. Kelly and I took turns looking out across the lake with the binoculars. She called them binos I called them binocs. Either way, we were super bad ass in our search efforts.
Showered, dressed and packed up we headed to the lodge for check out and to obtain our admission tix. After that, we headed to a spot called Mr. Lee's for breakfast. Good diner food. Good prices.
The conference was in full swing by the time we made our way back. There were vendor tables in every room from the window to the wall (til the sweat drops down my ......) I was in awe. I wanted to visit every table and meet every person. And I did, sometimes twice, maybe three times. Among the people in attendance were a few I had recognized from either hearing their names or seeing their faces on the web. (is it dorky to say web?) I'm not big on autographs. I mean if Tom Cruise offered me an autograph I'd tell him to "no thanks" then I'd ask if he wanted my autograph.
Anyway, I noticed Loren Coleman almost immediately. While I'm not big on autographs I was kicking myself for not bringing my book 'Bigfoot: The True Story of Apes in America'. I would have had him sign it. Sure, he's an author in a field that I'm interested in. I admire that. Right?  So I decided to at least let him know that I had his book, that it was very highly suggested to me, that I haven't read it yet and that I left it at home. TaDa! I assured him I'd read it soon. It was very nice to meet him. I passed Mr. Coleman a few more times throughout the conference and he'd say "You have my book at home." I'd say "Yes, yes I do."
We made our way around all the vendor tables and met people and snagged up super cool swag (booty according to your preference). The speaker line up was awesome. The speakers I was able to sit in for were Thom Powell (easy listening, supah dupah funny guy) as well as Mark Maisel and Dr. Russ Jones's (very well informed guys and willing to share the deets) with a cameo by Jim Sherman (produces insane recordings). I also watched a bit of the auction. There were some really neat items up for bid. I had so much excitement I lost track of time. I wanted to make sure I introduced myself to the people who had been so kind and I set off. I made it a point to introduce myself to Marc Dewerth. He had done such a great job keeping everyone updated via of email and fb and the outcome was wonderful. I was glad to have found place/event where all of the info and mementos I craved were readily available. I also met with Sybilla Irwin, Joedy Cook, Eric Altman, Elusive MN.Brt (Abe), Jim Sherman, Mark Maisel and had lovely talks with a lot of other kind folks who didn't offer names but were encouraging and kind just the same.
 It was nice to see that regardless of what the general population thinks of the bigfoot phenomenon, it's real and it's here and people are taking it seriously. I respect these people. I'm not sure of all the stereotypes surrounding the bigfoot community, but the people I met were kind, intelligent, funny, dedicated and determined. I think as far as stereotypes go I was probably the kookiest, whack job there. But I hid it well, I think. I look forward to attending many more conferences and in the meantime I hope to set off on my own journey into the wilds of the bigfootery world.

As Good As or Better Than

I'm skimming a book called '50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True'. It was written by Guy P. Harrison and covers such topics as ghosts, UFOs, Astronomy, psychics and the like. Guy is a skeptic and does a very good job explaining why it's important to be so. For the record, I agree with that.
I, of course, skipped to the bigfoot chapter eager to read what he had to say concerning the subject. To my surprise within the chapter there was a full two pages dedicated to Patty.
He delved into the points and issues everyone is already aware of including, but not limited to, the 'fact' that no one, not even Hollywood film studios, were capable of making that much of a realistic suit in 1967.
He then included a list of films from the 50s, 60s and 70s in which he believed the costumes and suit quality were just as good as, if not better than what was shown in the Patty film. So I looked them up. And here they are:
Gorilla at Large (1954)
Konga (1961)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Star Trek's 'Magatu' (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (late 1960s)

Ohio Bigfoot Conference 2013 Arrival

A whirlwind of a weekend retreat. We departed around 1:30 pm Friday afternoon and embarked on our journey to our first Ohio Bigfoot Conference held at Salt Fork State Park. It was our rookie year and we didn't want to make any mistakes. The first half of our trip was uneventful and the second half we ended up on a scenic route. We passed swamps, cows and Skull Fork Rd. I wonder what kind of conferences they have there? Upon entering the park our excitement ran high when we realized we had missed our turn to the lodge. We busted a U making sure not to drive on the finely landscaped berm. As we turned onto the dirtroad I realized it was marked 51. Immediately I decided our GPS was taking us to a well hidden branch of area 51. Midway up the road we reached a clearing in the trees where a single picnic table sat as the GPS announced we had reached our destination. I rationalized silently that the secret passageway to the well hidden, secondary site of  area 51 must lie beneath the table. We decided to ignore GPS lady and continued until we came upon a couple of young guys sat in a pickup at the end of another dirt road. We asked directions and he rattled off the name of an indian reservation and asked if that's where we were going. We had our sights set strong on the conference and we couldn't be sidetracked by area 51 and indian reservations much longer. Even though it sounded really, really fun. 
Finally, we arrived. Check in and off to the cottage. I was less than pleased to find we were the next to last cottage at the end of the road. Sure, during the day I was fine but I knew after nightfall things would change. We were pleased to find the cottage was quaint and lovely and all around peaceful. Plenty of room and very very clean. There was a great view of the lake and we decided to relax immediately by opening a bottle of wine before dinner. Taking our seats around the firepit outside I noticed a lot of turkey vultures, or maybe regular vultures circling above head. I decided they were waiting for us to die and went inside. After we made ourselves at home and got settled we made our way to the lodge for dinner.
The lodge is beautiful and surrounded by rolling hillsides, woods and deer around almost every bend. The inside is very cozy and offers a warm welcome. After dinner we visited the Wildlife Lounge and enjoyed some beverage, pool and annoyed the kind people at the bar with Boston, Guns N Roses and John Lennon. The meet and greet was within our reach and we made it, but couldn't stay long. We decided it was time to head back to our comfy cottage and call it a night. We had a big day ahead of us.
I lost my OBC pin running for my life to the cottage door. I found it hard to sleep. I wasn't sure if it was because I was on the top bunk of a bunk bed, or because I was too excited and anxious about the following day. Either way I was adamant about all of us sharing a room and that was that. 

A Bigfoot Love Story

It's probably good practice to reprioritize or reevaluate your motivation or interest in bigfoot from time to time. Take a step back and rediscover what sparked the fire in the first place. Yes, I'm referring to it as though it's a relationship, because it is. And like any relationship there are ups and downs as well as good and bad. It's easy at times to lose sight of what drew you in and caught your attention.
Being blindsided by claims and beliefs that don't match your own but seem to take the limelight and become the focus everywhere you go. Coming in contact with people who cause you to momentarily doubt yourself. Coming in contact with people who cause you to doubt people. I'm pretty sure all of these aspects are relevant, but not pertinent to the subject.
So, let's bring it back and forget about all that. I'm assuming it was none of those things that led you down the bigfoot road to start. Rewind, reconnect and reconsider what you're doing here. Don't let obstacles stand in the way. Don't allow yourself to be negatively influenced by others. Don't let your love fizzle out.  Start fresh and buy your bigfoot conscience a dozen red roses. They love that stuff.
Everyone has their own bigfoot love story. You determine the beginning, middle and end.......what you come away with is up to you. 

Sass Watch

Is the idea of bigfoot itself not mystifying enough that there is need to add harder to explain/prove aspects? There may not be any characteristics known for sure, but I'm content sticking with physical or worldly explanations for why I can't find or see them.
I'm not saying that there aren't cosmic or spiritual beings and entities(< I could be wrong, they may actually obtain paranormal or supernatural structure. But until I or someone else overturns every leaf in every forest and tells me it's definitely that way I'm going to put that idea on the back burner.
Believing in bigfoot, or the possibility thereof, is exhausting in itself. For me, to add anything even more unrealistic seems like a setup for disaster. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the idea that there are possibly 10,000 1/4-1/2 ton apemen running the forests of North America. As if that isn't interesting enough you're gonna tell me that they may or may not possess cloaks of invisibility along with the right to pass from this dimension to a parallel universe at will? I don't even know what that means.
Maybe I'm the closed minded one. Maybe my ignorance and lack of knowledge put me at a disadvantage. Maybe I'm not as finely tuned to the earth as the people who witness such things. Maybe.

I don't want to see a bigfoot

So I've engaged in heading outdoors into semi woodsy areas during the day. I've chosen areas that I've decided would be good spots over the winter. I haven't visited the exact locations of 2 spots I'm very interested in. I'm afraid to cross boundaries and I don't want to impose on anyone's private property.
Even in daylight hours the thought of what could potentially be hidden among the trees plays heavy on my conscience. I almost wish I could go back to the time when I was unaware of and out of tune with my surroundings. I note now whether or not birds are singing in certain areas, I look at trees and can't help but try to determine whether their positionings have naturally occured, I inspect the ground for any prints that may be out of the ordinary and I stop periodically and listen for possible noises that would otherwise go unnoticed.
One thing I struggle with is skimming the perimeters of an area I'm in for movement. I don't want to see movement. Just know that my intentions, at this point in time, are actually NOT to see a bigfoot. I'm interested only in residual evidence. I'm not on board at all to witness the happenings. I'll more than happily pick up the pieces, if any, leftover in the aftermath.
Night vision, while extremely cool, would be of no use to me at this point and thermal imaging even less. What I am interested in is setting up a trail camera of sorts or perhaps some recording equipment. I'm by no means in a position where I feel those pieces of equipment are necessary. I'm going to keep seeking locations and gathering information.