SWWASAS Posted October 15, 2014 BFF Patron Share Posted October 15, 2014 It is one instance that was recorded by the media at the time, had multiple witnesses, and the encounter lasted a long time. So it is significant. So much so that a government agency now says it was a boy scout story in spite of the fact that the cabin location can be found right now. As things go it may not be there long. It is also probably a good lesson in how things can go for those than intend to shoot and bring in a BF body for science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bipedalist Posted October 18, 2014 BFF Patron Share Posted October 18, 2014 Cliff Barackman posted on FB the other night that he was on an outing to explore the location recently. Wonder if he is with the team that has done the background work on this as posted on this thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcMyrsell Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Yeah. That was us. Cliff and I have been trying to get a trip up there for a year. After the cabin site was found last July, Cliff contacted me to ask for a trip. Finally got around to it just now. Got a fair amount done. Have one more work trip in spring. marc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bipedalist Posted October 21, 2014 BFF Patron Share Posted October 21, 2014 Looking forward to your presentation at HopSquatch next month, thanks for the info. ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcMyrsell Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 HopsSquatch Ape Canyon presentation gig coming up Sunday November 16th for all you Portland, Oregon area folks. Live music by Cliff Barrackman! Should be fun. http://www.hopssquatch.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 6, 2014 Share Posted November 6, 2014 Yes! I caught it too. It feels good. Honestly, when I started on this project, the Ape Canyon story was just on the threshold of being canned in to the circular file of "tall-tale" and "legend", I think; perhaps to the point where some even questioned if there actually was a cabin, or a mine, much less an historic event. I was asked 2 or 3 years ago why I was doing this. Somewhat defensive, I asked why were we Americans preserving Monticello, or Italians preserving Pompeli? I know it's a little over the top, but these physical artifacts connect us with very real events. Without this physical connection, we humans tend to forget our heritage. In this case, it was a very real event that occurred involving very real humans only 90 years ago. The descendants of the miners still live with the repercussions today in one way or another. marc Marc, Thanks for what you are doing. It is inspirational. I don't think your comparison to the the preservation of monuments is over the top...but I will put a twist on it. You are in search of the truth. One of the clearest yet most elusive concepts in the human mind. You are searching for just a small piece of it; a small slice of time and place where a couple of men had some experiences that culminated in something that scared them beyond their ability to comprehend. Clearly...this truth, and the documentation of it is a worthy expenditure of your time, your $ and your efforts. It is something many of us have an intrinsic need for, it drives us. Our world is in an ever-changing collection of increasingly less grounded "reality" that shifts under us like landscape of Mt. Helens, but that that we frequently seem unable to recognize. Society and our culture has become less connected to even the events of the last decade...let alone the last century or beyond. I think it is a huge mistake to not grasp our history tightly, examine it and understand it's truth never changes. Our history is there for us to learn from if we will only take the time and put in the effort to do so. I am retired now, and spend my time feeding several of my consuming passions...one, obviously, is seeking the whole truth of BF. Another is the exploration of the wilds of Nevada. I see some parallels in my adventures out there to your experiences with Ape Canyon. Officials who deny or obfuscate the truth, sometimes to the point of the ridiculous. It would be funny if it were not so dangerous. As long as there are those of us who can't abide that, and who are willing to put in the work to get it right, we still have a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTreeWalker Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Marc, I would like to thank you for bringing back some good memories. In 1973, my brother and I, and two of our friends spent four days up in Ape Canyon. Many of you were wondering about the terrain in the canyon. Well, we were able to enter it on a logging road from Smith Creek. At the time they were logging the SE side of the valley. It is kind of a bowl that rises toward the mountain on the west with the canyon cutting through the center of it. It was well forested at the time. You didn't have to go into the canyon to get around in the valley. The reason we chose to camp there was because of the miner's story! We camped just below the mouth of the canyon. We spent one day actually climbing into the canyon; it.was pretty dry that time of year. With no special gear I remember it was pretty rough going (we were young then). If you look at that rappelling map, we started at r18 and got as far as r12; just past where the canyon split and we couldn't go any further ahead because of a sheer rock wall. We couldn't climb out so we went back the way we came. It took us all day, but at least our camp was close once we got out. We explored the area around the canyon but didn't see any cabin ;-). It was a great time. We didn't see any bigfoot, but saw elk, heard coyotes every night and found fresh cougar tracks along Ape Creek below our camp! And a hungry chipmunk ate the center out of our only loaf of bread. Thanks for letting me share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bipedalist Posted November 17, 2014 BFF Patron Share Posted November 17, 2014 (edited) Some pictures from Marc Myrsell's presentation in Portland OR today at the HopsSquatch presentation to conclude the 2014 season with special guest Mr. Bob Gimlin. Gentleman in the lumberjack plaid red shirt is Guy Edwards the chief of HopsSquatch, gentleman he is talking to is Marc Myrsell. Bob Gimlin candids thanks to some gracious Bigfooters who drove him in for the day from Yakima. Yes, Bob has the gift of cloaking as I caught him in transition with his western shirt. The great grandson of one of the miners (Mr. Smith) was present at the gathering. And yes that is Cliff Barackman on guitar and his jazz trio. Great time had by all. Edited November 17, 2014 by bipedalist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted November 17, 2014 BFF Patron Share Posted November 17, 2014 The location of the cabin sounds like you pretty much need rope gear to get to. It is off the ape canyon trail down a very steep approach. The mine seems to have collapsed during the 1980 eruption earthquakes. Marc gave a lot of good history in the first half of his presentation and debunked some of the accounts given by the government and others with newspaper accounts written at the time. The boys who supposedly threw rocks down on the cabin, were back in Spirit Lake before heading home the night of the attack according to a newspaper article about their trip to the area. The Indians often mentioned, were described at the time in a newspaper article with a Native American source, describing them as 8 feet tall, hairy, etc. To the local Indians, BF is a tribe of giant large hairy Indians. Those that reference that newpaper article and ascribe the attack to Indians do not read the newspaper article beyond the headlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcMyrsell Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Thanks for the great story BigTree! And thanks for everybody who came. I'll keep things updated as they progress. One of the greatest connections that day was Tyler, Leroy Smith's g.grandson. He came down from Seattle just for the event. Tyler has some connections for the project that I will hopefully have a chance to pursue this winter. Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted November 19, 2014 BFF Patron Share Posted November 19, 2014 Marc also mentioned finding footprints and hearing vocalizations when they were there investigating the cabin site. Sounds like spending the night in the area still could be very exciting. I found footprints and rock stacks about a half mile South of the trail so it is still an active area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcMyrsell Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Last July, I really, really, really wanted to spend the night at the cabin sight. None of my companions would go with me, so I chickened out. This October while up there, I found the first evidence of bear scat at the cabin site, actually, uphill from the cabin site. If the Big Man shows up in the middle of the night, for some reason, I take the resolve that there's nothing I can really do, so, forget it. But, for whatever weird part of my brain, the idea of mingling with bears in the middle of the night is a "no way". So, I don't think I'm going to do it, unless, of course, I reconstruct the cabin. Maybe that's why the guys did it in 1924? Keep out the bears. Had a great week. A friend gave me the number of a fellow in whose grandfather, a policeman (in Kelso?) had accompanied Beck to the cabin site after the incident. The fellow's grandfather was CONVINCED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I thin you made the right choice. I wouldn't spend the night up there unless I had a handful of people that I really trusted with me...and that were willing to work with me on a plan where at least two of us were on "firewatch" all night, 2 or 4 hour shifts. Two so one could smack the other when he/she falls asleep, LOL, and so they could maintain the cameras that would be running...all night. I am told I that I tend to snore when I am really tired My wife has stated repeatedly that I sound like "bigfoot". I'd hate to fall asleep up there and have my snoring send the big guys the wrong impression... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Marc, Thanks for what you are doing. It is inspirational. I don't think your comparison to the the preservation of monuments is over the top...but I will put a twist on it. You are in search of the truth. One of the clearest yet most elusive concepts in the human mind. You are searching for just a small piece of it; a small slice of time and place where a couple of men had some experiences that culminated in something that scared them beyond their ability to comprehend. Clearly...this truth, and the documentation of it is a worthy expenditure of your time, your $ and your efforts. It is something many of us have an intrinsic need for, it drives us. Our world is in an ever-changing collection of increasingly less grounded "reality" that shifts under us like landscape of Mt. Helens, but that that we frequently seem unable to recognize. Society and our culture has become less connected to even the events of the last decade...let alone the last century or beyond. I think it is a huge mistake to not grasp our history tightly, examine it and understand it's truth never changes. Our history is there for us to learn from if we will only take the time and put in the effort to do so. I am retired now, and spend my time feeding several of my consuming passions...one, obviously, is seeking the whole truth of BF. Another is the exploration of the wilds of Nevada. I see some parallels in my adventures out there to your experiences with Ape Canyon. Officials who deny or obfuscate the truth, sometimes to the point of the ridiculous. It would be funny if it were not so dangerous. As long as there are those of us who can't abide that, and who are willing to put in the work to get it right, we still have a chance. Well said, Norfolk .... Good article Marc, Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bipedalist Posted November 26, 2014 BFF Patron Share Posted November 26, 2014 I thin you made the right choice. I wouldn't spend the night up there unless I had a handful of people that I really trusted with me...and that were willing to work with me on a plan where at least two of us were on "firewatch" all night, 2 or 4 hour shifts. Two so one could smack the other when he/she falls asleep, LOL, and so they could maintain the cameras that would be running...all night. I am told I that I tend to snore when I am really tired My wife has stated repeatedly that I sound like "bigfoot". I'd hate to fall asleep up there and have my snoring send the big guys the wrong impression... No wrong impressions, they will just come around and do an impression of you snoring when you least expect it. Been there done that, lol. As has Billy Willard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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