The conversation that took place before the Bigfoot came into the area was that the host, and Bob talked about driving up and down the roads in the area to see if they could find anything. There wasn’t any real clarification as to what Steve and I were going to do while they were riding around. I told them that I was going to stay at camp with Steve because the level of being upset he had concerned me. I actually thought he was going to have a heart attack. We waited around camp for a while for it to get later before they left to go riding around on the roads. While we were waiting we could hear owls hooting up on the mountainside in the area where the road went. All of a sudden we heard a loud snap, and a crashing sound. We didn’t know what it was, but assumed that it could be a Bigfoot breaking a tree possibly. The other option was a tree falling over and making the crashing sound. We didn’t know what it was.
Bob and the host decided to head out around 12. They left Steve and I in the camp and we were just hanging out talking. That’s when Steve told me about what happened to him when he was a kid. I had no idea, but understood from what he was telling me why he reacted the way he did. I felt bad for him, and had no idea what it was like to try to cope with something like that.
Steve also related to me the myriad of health problems that he was having and that is when I found out that he had to use portable oxygen. He told me that he was going to sit in his car and put his oxygen on and see if that helped him calm down. He told me I could sit in the passenger seat if I wanted and I agreed to do so that we could talk if he wanted. We sat there talking and looking at the two lanterns hanging from the trees and hoping that nothing came into the campsite while we were there. A short time later we both passed out. Next thing I remember I’m waking up to the sound of a vehicle driving into the campground. It’s pitch black dark as best I can tell, so I figured Bob and the host had been gone for a long time. Bob pulled into the campsite and they got out of his truck. I could hear them talking and then as I sat up a little I could see them looking at the lanterns and saying something about them that I couldn’t quite make out. I figured the lanterns had run out of fuel and they were trying to get them re-lit. They lit the lanterns and got ready to bed down for what was left of the night. I laid my head back and fell back asleep.
The next morning we got up and everyone was going through their own morning routines. I happened to think about them coming back into the camp and asked them what they were talking about when they came back. Bob related that when they pulled back into the campsite that it looked like the lanterns had run out of fuel. He said they got out of the truck and went to check them and found that they weren’t out of fuel, but had actually been turned down. They figured that we had turned them down before falling asleep in Steve’s car. I related to him that when we fell asleep the lanterns were burning bright and that neither of us had turned them down. How the lanterns got turned down was a mystery. The only thing I know for a fact was that there were no other campers in the campground, and we had heard no vehicles come in while they were gone. I don’t know how they got turned down, and I can’t say that a Bigfoot came into the camp and did it because I didn’t see it for myself. The one thing I am glad of is that if it was a Bigfoot that I didn’t see it come into the camp and do that.
Bob and the host related that they didn’t find anything on the road, other than when they went up the side of the mountain there was a pretty good size pine tree that had been broken over and fell into the road to block the way. Bob said he was creeped out when he got out of the truck to move the tree. He moved it and they went on their way.
That morning after we talked about the lantern the host related that he had to go back to his house and got into his car to leave. He tried to start the vehicle, but for some reason it would not start. Bob offered to drive him back, and they asked me if I minded keeping an eye on the camp. Steve was going to follow them out to the main road and begin his trip back to Indiana. I felt good and had no inkling of reservation about staying at the camp by myself. I was armed, and it was daytime. What could possibly go wrong. I had no idea that this day would be one that is etched into my mind forever. Not just that, it formed a lot of my “researcher quirks” that I still have to today. There are things I do, and things I don’t do because of this day. I agreed to stay at the camp and to get things in order for Roger’s arrival later that day. They got their stuff together and left.