Albert Ostman

[Guest vilnoori]

Well, from the head of Toba Inlet to the head of Salmon Inlet is roughly 65 miles as the crow flies. But he doesn't mention crossing Jervis Inlet, which a crow would have to do to travel in such a straight line, and so you have to redraw the line to go around it and probably stay well in the mountains to encounter a hanging valley as is mentioned. Redrawing it that way I get something more like 75 miles. I would say you'd probably have to about double that to account for the ups and downs of real mountain terrain, going around waterways to find easy places to cross them, and just plain bushwhacking (really, anyone who has actually traveled in this kind of terrain knows what I am talking about, it is no cake walk). By comparison locally I have talked to fit people who have climbed one of our local high mountains from the valley floor to the top by foot. It is an all weekend kind of proposition. 2 days up, one day down. And that is just one coastal mountain of moderate height. Most of us when we talk about climbing a mountain here mean using a vehicle to get near the top, then taking a day to climb to the summit and back down, then hopping aboard a 4 wheel drive and driving back down to town. This guy gets off a boat and climbs a mountain from the base. We are talking a very fit guy, with lots of time who knows how to live off the land and he still would have to do considerable traversing, backtracking, etc. to get around obstacles.

[BobbyO]

Yeah i have a real problem with the geography of all this.

I'm very cool with the observation and Sasquatch part of the account, but his Inlet's and time frames are most certainly not adding up.

It's the Sasquatch observations part of the story that's keeping me on it's side now but i' not ruling out Ostman getting much of his geography wrong.

[indiefoot]

He could have fudged the locations to keep the valley from being identified.

[JanV]

Read Ivan Sanderson's interview with Albert Ostman in his epic Abominable Snowman of Five Continents. The copper nails reference has always intrigued me.

[Cotter]

I find it hard to believe that he could accurately judge distance (and time for that matter) while in a sleeping bag.

That throws a wrench into the distances and what-not as well.

My estimation (read guess) is that the distances are not as great as he thinks they are....

[Guest Transformer]

^^ I would counter that by saying look at a map and the locations he states he started and then wound up. The names of the inlets are on a map and the distances from from start to finish inlet are not estimates and certainly not possible by foot in any timeline he states. This is some of the most rugged and impassable terrain in Canada and what Vilnoori has posted (who also lives in the near area as I do) is fact and is not speculation. Go back through the thread and look at maps and photos/videos of the area.

[Guest vilnoori]

OK by comparison look at this old-fashioned hike by some young, fit guys up a single mountain range to 2 hanging lakes and back down again. There is already a well established trail that has bridges, so even so it is a big saving in time and it took these guys 2 days and 2 nights if I see aright. I would love to do this hike someday, by the way. I noticed 2 sasquatch tracks (same individual) one winter at South Beach on one of those lakes mentioned there. Great area. LOL

http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36987

[Guest Transformer]

^

Or it 'could' have happened but 30 odd years later he got a lot of the details confused so kind of re-imagined them in order to try and give clarity to his story. He may even have 'thought' what he was recollecting was correct.

This may be true but where do we draw the line between what is "re-imagined" and what is factual? Why should we think that the part about the sasquatches is the factual part when it could be the "re-imagined" part? I think the worst part about this story is the fact that Mr. Green obviously never looked into the story and asked any of the people who were experienced in the area about the story or if he even bothered to look at a map. It does make me want to know just how much Mr. Green looked into the hundreds of other stories he collected if he believed this doozy.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Transformer

[Guest vilnoori]

I think it would be a simple mistake to say Salmon inlet instead of Jervis inlet. Ostman was there on holiday, as a sort of tourist, you might say. It wasn't his usual stomping ground.

[Guest BFSleuth]

vilnoori, if you are thinking that perhaps Ostman was confused and might have actually come out at Jervis Inlet instead of Salmon Inlet, I would refer to his quote in the linked article:

"The following day I went down from this camp on Salmon Arm Branch of Sechelt Inlet. From there I got the Union Boat back to Vancouver."

He is very specific about the Salmon Arm Branch off of Sechelt Inlet. I think it would be difficult for him to make this statement if he actually came out on the Jervis Inlet. He came out to a logging camp, and then caught a boat (the Union Boat).

Does anyone have historical information regarding the Union Boat?

[Guest Transformer]

^He was probably referring to the Union Steamship Company of BC which was very active from the early 1900's all up and down the coast of BC serving the coastal communities and fishing and logging camps. Not one ship but many.

[Guest BFSleuth]

It sounds like you are right. I looked up some information about the Union Steamship Company and that's what he was referring to. I wonder if they had published schedules and whether they called on Salmon Inlet and Jarvis Inlet?

Another thought is if the USC had a regular schedule up and down the coast, why would Albert want to travel south instead of west? If he doesn't know how far inland or north he is, if I were him my first instinct would be to head west to the shore line, to a place where I know boats are going by, then travel south along the shore. Not sure why he opted for going south (unless he thought he was just north of the valley leading down to Squamish).

[Guest vilnoori]

Hmmm maybe it was Toba inlet he was mistaken about? At any rate, if you are serious about finding the sasquatch hanging valley you have to backtrack from the place he exited and work in a circle, looking for the land marks he describes. There are not many south facing hanging valleys in that area, though there are a fair number that look northish. He also describes caves or overhangs in cliffs. These days with satellite imagery it might be possible to do a good search and find likely locations. What to do next takes money, I think...helicopter or hiking in, and even if you find the right one what remnants are going to be found after so many years?

[Guest BFSleuth]

If we want to find any corroborating evidence of Ostman's story, I think the only place that it might remain is the place where he was abducted. Note the following:

"This night it was cloudy and looked like it might rain. I took special notice of how everything was arranged. I closed my pack sack, I did not undress, I only took off my shoes, put them in the bottom of my sleeping bag. I drove my prospecting pick into one of the cypress trees so I could reach it from my bed. I also put the rifle alongside me, inside my sleeping bag. I fully intended to stay awake all night to find out who my visitor was, but I must have fallen asleep."

And this :

"I found an exceptionally good campsite. It was two good-sized cypress trees growing close together and near a rock wall with a nice spring just below these trees. I intended to make this my permanent camp. I cut lots of brush for my bed between these trees. I rigged up a pole from this rock wall to hang my packsack on, and I arranged some flat rocks for my fireplace for cooking."

If it is possible to find that camp site, then there is a chance even after all these years that we might find the prospecting pick and flat rocks arranged for a fireplace.

[Guest OntarioSquatch]

^That would be incredible if someone can actually find that 88 year old site.