A forest can get a grip on you; the scenes, the aromas, the “feel” can wrap tendrils around your heart, draw you in and take root.
The Klamath Mountains have drawn me in. There is a mystique about them that completely captivates me. These woods are thickly forested from river bottom to steep mountain top, with underbrush foliage dense and hideable. Mainly roadless, the miles and miles are for the wild ones, visited only by the occasional backpacker. This is sacred land to the native neighbors. One deep inhale brings recognition that the air here and all that breathe it are permeated with deep spiritual belonging.
This is also a place steeped in a century of wild hairy woodsman stories. Sasquatch lives in the Pacific North West, these woods are the home of Bigfoot (having been seenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVo6Vj0_Xbo and named herehttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/420664421414733378/!)
In all my wanderings, I’ve never seen Bigfoot or found evidence. But legends are powerful, this one is never far away. There was that one moonless night in a damp May. Nestled in my tent, the spicy perfume of humus saturating the air. I leaned into the deep sleep that comes from the enveloping silence of forests, only it was sluggish to arrive. My night fitful, my mind aware of a “feeling” I couldn’t shake. Sometime during the wee hours, heavy, yet muffled, foot fall came out of the inky night. For hours I had been imagining dipping a pen into that dark and pulling out drawings of the creatures who lurked within. So, when the large animal “presence” with soft footsteps circled my tent, with no tell-tale huffing like a bear, immediately the iconic image flashed in my mind – Bigfoot! The creature didn’t linger just my racing heart. For a flash I considered unzipping the nylon and snapping on a light. But, a bit of mystery is nice and I let the being walk on.
The next night over the dying embers of a campfire, pondering, hypnotized by the glow, a tendril took root. Bigfoot bridges a gap between modern man and the wild untamed earth. The primal animal in your human core understands this (whether you believe or not). Truth or fiction, she is an image you see when you need too…an animal guide, a teacher, reflecting the embodiment of the emotion you associate with it, fear, amazement, surprise.
When I first set out camping in this region, I wasn’t looking for Bigfoot. But I ended up finding her, in stories told then and now, and between consciousness – deep in a forest.
Tap into the mystique, be open to mystery, let Bigfoot find you.
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