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Related to WSA post on the fossils and finds of early humans what most people do not realize is that Africa is a very old and pretty much intact continent. It has had the other continents bouncing off of it several times in earth history and been joined all together in one massive continent but it has remained pretty much stable and the same shape for much of earths history. There is not a lot of volcanic history in Africa and what there is localized leaving large areas of ancient rock and sediment intact to accumulate fossils without subsequent disturbance. On the other hand, the North American continent is slammed on one side by the Pacific Subduction zone, mountains are new and volcanic along the West Coast and the Rocky Mountains are still growing in height. The central plains have been inland oceans for much of the history of the continent and the Appalachian Mountains are a small remnant of the mighty mountain range they used to be. So most of the North American fossil records are found in areas which used to be inland lakes and extensions of the inland sea that is now the Gulf of Mexico. What there is to find has to erode out of sediment in the areas which encouraged fossilization. Those areas were good habitat for dinosaurs, plains animals like camels, etc but hardly places where BF is likely to have preferred to live, died and been fossilized. . Most likely BF did not enter the continent much earlier than humans and human fossils are not found either. The earliest human remains found so far are much younger than evidence of human presence on the continent. So even that does not have a good track record of found skeletons supporting evidence of human habitation. Throw in specialized habitat for BF (forested area at or near the snow line), fewer numbers to begin with, West Coast volcanism and it is little wonder that nothing has been found yet. Much of what is there is probably under basalt layers and ash deposits. I see the ash as having potential. As those that have seen the human remains in Pompeii know, hot ash does a pretty good job of preserving remains. You really do not need fossilization processes. It comes down to boots on the ground looking. We have found so many dinosaur fossils because we hundreds of professionals and amateurs looking for them where they are likely to be found. The same is not true for BF.

A little update from Chicagoland. I got out to the forest preserves a couple times this weekend, Edgebrook Woods on Friday and Sidney Yates Flatwoods on Sunday (basically the same patch of woods). I found some wood sign at Edgebrook of the more subtle type, but it encouraged me to return: e.g. (sorry for poor photography skills throughout) So returning yesterday to the larger patch of woods, I took a deer trail off the main path and immediately found this: (side view) (view from below) There were some other interesting things along this path, I can post pics if there's interest but I don't want to go too crazy with embedded images here. Suffice to say, arches pinned by downed trees in ways that would be hard to occur naturally, as well as line drawing in the mud of the river bank: an X intersecting a + forming a triangle. I didn't actually photograph that because I was hesitant to associate it, but now I kind of regret it... Anyway, a little walk further down the main path, found this guy: I know there's varying degrees of skepticism over this kind of sign here, but for me these are a pretty good indicator of a stop on a travel route. Have you looked at where I was on a map yet? The BFRO Chicago sightings show a route up and down the Des Plaines River, but this is further East along the North branch of the Chicago River. Let me back up a little further and remind you of those teepees that appeared mysteriously overnight in the rain on UoC campus. I didn't get pics because I was late for a conference, but on Saturday May 6, there were two small stick structures in a similar location; a four-stick free-standing teepee, and a mini-lean-to, both maybe 2-3 ft high, right next to each other. These were across from the elementary school, so it's easy enough that it's kids playing around, I know.... it's also a stone's throw from the Metra tracks. Now, what about this: Sorry it's small, I took this sitting in morning traffic on Lakeshore Drive near the Lawrence exit. This was end of March. Sorry, but.... more homeless making a tent frame for their tarp...?? The location of this makes it audacious for Sasquatch, even moreso than UoC, but.... this thing stood there for probably 2 weeks through some serious wind and weather. I just don't know anymore. The slightly crazy, audacious idea that's still kind of kicking around my head that connects all of these things is that they use the North Chicago River forest preserves as a travel route, and actually get up there from the South directly through the heart of Chicago, using a combination of the Metra tracks, lake front, and river corridors.