Raven Team

July 29th 2001

At approx. 11:30 hrs, July 29th, 2001, I and RvTm#206 started up the Big Tree Trail at the Oregon Caves National Monument that is located 17.5 miles to the SW of Cave Junction, Oregon. A partially overcast day in the high 70’s with rain forecast in the late afternoon. The trail is 3.5 miles long and starts at the mouth of the Caves an then circles in a large loop to the south. The Big tree (Douglas Fir) itself is located directly to the south of the cave entrance and is approx. 40 feet in diameter and estimated to be 800-1000 years old. This trail is considered strenuous and water should be carried. It takes about 2.5 hours to walk. At approx. 1.2 miles as we came around the crest of the ridge to the SE it was observed that a well maintained gravel road comes close to the trail, It would appear that this road would be BLM#4613, however it was not validated as such on this occasion.

At about 1.5 miles, We observed several trees that the bark had been clawed off. None of the claw marks were higher than approx. 6 feet. This is normal for the black bears that do live in the area, and it appears that the bark was clawed off to get at ant larva. This does not preclude that a different animal could have done it. There was defecation (purple/blackberry seeds) on the trail that appeared to be from a small animal, raccon or possibly badger or wolverine along with digging along side the trail apparently to get at wasp nests buried in the ground under fallen logs.

At 1.6 miles, We came across two trees that appeared to either have been torn apart or had exploded, I have seen only one other cases where trees have exploded that was in the middle of winter and the sap froze causing this effect. How ever, these two trees one to the west and east of the trail were fresh and the wood still had a moist look. These trees looked as if they were physically ripped apart. Then a few feet further up the trail I found what appeared to be a foot print. This print was approx. 12 to 14 inches in length and approx. 4 to 5 inches wide at the ball of the foot. The toes were facing to the north.

This footprint was very faint, twigs were laid around it and a one-dollar bill was placed inside the print to show size. No cast was made. Many trees in this area had the bark clawed off. The trail was dry and this was the only sign we saw during the entire outing.

Conclusion:
The many sightings in this area and the findings during this trip show that the area could be populated by a family group, however nothing definitive or conclusive was found by either of us. There is one thought that has crossed my mind. That the Big Tree may play an important part. We as humans revere things and places of antiquity in our lives and history, the age of the tree and the area of old growth that it is in, or the caves, could be the reason that Sasquatch has remained in the area even with humans being so close. Further investigation of the area should include checking waterways in the area and possible unknown access to the cave network, or possible access to another separate cave system in the area. Operations should include both daytime and nighttime surveillance.

Clifford D. Ulam
RvTm#205

See RvTm#010911 for follow up on Conclusions!