About Bigfoot Around the World, and other stuff I find fascinating.

  

Sasquatch - Art by Steve Baxter

I just want to give a sense of what the vlogs on my vlog list are about and why I like them.   You'll find the links on the right-hand side of my main page.

But first, About Bigfoot 

(and Why I Like the Idea)

Firstly, I should say at the outset that I've never personally seen one, but I am inclined to think there may in fact, be something to these stories, especially those from Indian Nation Reservations. I certainly maintain an open mind. (I believe in God after all so, it's not such a stretch for me.)

Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is a centuries-old American tradition (named by  Native American tribes under many names). Sasquatch is the English for "the anq'ets (sas-kets)", which means "hairy man" in Halq'emeylem, the Sts'ailes upriver dialect.

It is an interest of mine, simply because I spend time in the mountains and backcountry where he/she/they have been known to hang out.  I camp in wild places and I enjoy local stories and legends as well as myths from around the world.  

Bigfoot is known around the world as:  

• Yowie (Australia)
• Yeti (Nepal/Himalayas)
• Mande Barung (India) 
• Yeren (China)
• Am Fear Liath Mor, The Grey Man (Scotland)
•  Hibagon (Japan)
• Isnashi (Brazil and Bolivia)
• Barmanu (Pakistan)
• The Abominable Snow Man (Russia - translated into English for convenience sake but: Отвратительный снеговик)
• and many other places all over the world. These are just a few.

 Around here, where I live, he is known as Tso apittse (Giant) by the Shoshone or Tse’nahaha (Cannibal giant) by the Mono Lake Paiute, and specifically in Nevada "Si-Te-Cah" (tule, a type of plant,  eaters but also culturally understood to be cannibals) by the Northern Paiute Nation in Nevada.

There has to be more than meets the eye here when it comes to these stories.  They may have been extra large hominoids, which the Native Americans were fully familiar with over thousands of years.  Stories like these, generally do not begin or exist in a vacuum.

Whether Bigfoot exists today remains to be seen, but it is a pervasive and thoroughly consistent myth at the very least.  That they were known by distantly located Native Americans, from completely different tribal nations all across the continent, with no way of communicating with each other,  including north into Canada, and south to Latin America, is inexplicable and fascinating. 

Some argue that it is the result of "multiple discovery" or "simultaneous invention."  I don't think this quite fits, but perhaps.  Nonetheless, the original lore from our Native brothers and sisters certainly cannot be ignored as fully fantasy.

Onto the vlogs and why I enjoy them...

Canada - Outlaw Country - This is a thoughtful vlog about Bigfoot. Insightful and often poignant.  Absolutely worth the valuable time you think you "own".  Think again.  And again.  

UK - Chronically Outdoors -- Fun, Bushcraft, and Beer:  This man is fun, and talks plainly about his life, and his adventures.  I call that a "straight shooter."  He also has a very cool Arctic dog named Sookie.

UK - Grizzly Gaz - Gaz is funny, very funny, and his dog is Fendi.  Gaz is one of my favourite UK campers. I have learned quite a few things from him. Nowadays he seems to like "scary camping" and it's always fun.

UK - TA Outdoors - Bushcraft.  I like this channel because I always learn something useful.  Some of it doesn't translate well into American use, simply for reasons of terrain, etc, but fascinating nonetheless and good/useful stuff to know if you plan to camp in the UK

USA - 8 Native American Scary Stories from the Reservation - see my section above about Bigfoot, and other creatures, like the Wendigo.  

USA - Base Camp Chris - Chris is local to me.  He lives in my immediate vicinity, and I love his channel.  (I will bet my bottom dollar that his wife is as nice as he is.) 

    In his early days as a vlogger, he did a lot of reviews on gear, and all of them are still very useful. 

     Now, he vlogs about Bigfoot sightings around the USA, including my local area, and offers very personal accounts, often including interviews with the witnesses.  He also offers and includes a beer review on every episode.  I don't drink beer,  but he almost makes wish I did.

USA - Mike Wanders - Bigfoot and Camping!  Another thoughtful vlog about Bigfoot.  Some unusual stories.

USA - MrBallen - John is a YouTube sensation.  He vlogs about true crime, unexplained mysteries, obscure stories, and the supernatural.  He donates quite a bit of his earnings from Ballen Studios,  to Victims of Crime all over the country.  Terrific gent and a true storyteller, of real talent.  

USA - Native American - PIkuni Bigfoot Storytelling Project - Modern Bigfoot witness accounts from the Shoshone Nation up in Idaho, a neighbouring state to mine.

USA - Over On the Wild Side - Cowboy Camping - self-explanatory.  This guy camps with horses and offers real cowboy camping.  I would argue that his channel is the only channel that really covers the subject.  

    Modern hikers/enthusiasts only define "cowboy camping" as sleeping without a tent in the wilderness.  I call bullshit on that, and say that cowboy camping, properly speaking means: camping with horses and on the trail,  wherever that might be.

USA - The Appalachian Storyteller  - The Appalachian (pronounced rightly as "appa - laaaa-chan") mountains are in the eastern United States and are known to be some of the oldest mountains in the world, and connected to, quite literally, Scotland from a geologic event that occurred millions of years ago. Hikers and backpackers from all over the world go there, to hike the world-famous Appalachian Trail.  

     Scottish and Irish / Briton descendants live there today, and have preserved their own manner of mountain life, American style.  Many of them can claim ancestry to titled families, believe it or not, and yet, are among the poorest of all Americans.  They barely have medical care and numerous charitable orgs have build small clinics there.

     It is said that many who live in those mountains are completely unknown by the United States government, having no birth certificates or any other official documentation, paying no taxes and simply squatting on their land for over 3 centuries.

      Their mountain tales of "haints", and other ghostly phenomenon are utterly spell-binding.  You will never regret listening to these tales in accurate Southern Appalachian accents/dialect.  

Why I Camp

My favorite tent from Night Cat

 When I first started camping on a serious level, I was rather pressured into it, by a woman who wanted to hold a "retreat" for like-minded women.  Except that, I didn't know she wasn't like-minded, and that I would be the outcast in the group. She disappeared from my life a year later with no explanation, but not until she took vital and valuable information from me to make money. She used me and never saw me as a friend at all.

You'll need to forgive me for telling you all this, but it sets the scene for the reason I have embraced camping. In short, women are bitches and I'm tired of it.  Onto the story: 

Denise worked for the Girl Scouts of the Sierra, as a fundraising recruiter.  The campground and acreage was actually owned by the Girl Scout organization and was commonly used as a campground for Girl Scouts only. It is located in the upper regions of the Gold Lakes region, past Graeagle, California.  It is private property in the mountains.  

The structures are more like military tents built on platforms, so we did not need our own tents.  But other than that, it had no real facilities as a campground other than typical outhouses/pit toilets. It was literally, a half mile to walk to the toilets so I learned how to do my own cat hole. 

During our "retreat", I was treated rather badly and spent my time staring off into the woods, ridiculed for praying privately in my tent, and generally made fun of, when I questioned the wisdom of leaving a "geocache" for young Girl Scouts to find.  Even then, I knew that 'leave no trace' was a serious thing. I suppose the case could be made that it was on private property owned by the GS but I will never carpool again, and I don't care what it does to global carbon emissions.

In general, it was a ridiculous exercise in trying to bond with two out of five,  of the most un-likeminded females anyone has ever met. 

Looking back, I felt Denise was strange for many reasons and much of what she said to me was truly "not okay." There was a lot of projection and snide, passive agressive comments made to and about me. 

 But regardless, that's how I started.  And it was the absolute end of camping with anyone else, ever again.  From then on, I decided I would not be a slave to others' opinions and preferences, nor would I spend any time with people who demanded it, silently and sneaky, or otherwise.

It wasn't until I took my solo trips a year later that I really enjoyed it. So, I guess I have to thank Denise, but will do so only once.  She can forget she ever knew me and that would be great.  By the way, I use real names, unless the person involved is a victim of something or someone.  

In short, I love to camp because it gets me away from all the terrible adults who seem to have multiplied in the world.  They are everywhere now:  arrogant, self-serving, and self-absorbed, they have little to no moral compass and will take from anyone who crosses their path.  

I camp because it heals me from PTSD among other things, and rescues me from myself.

I love the solitude I can find while camping, and enjoying God's creation.  Yes, I said the word 'God'.  I believe in him and I feel that most people either do not understand it (or Him) and no one hates God as much as redditors, IG-ers, youtube creators, and internet people in general.   They seem to hate me too, but that's okay.  I don't care for them either.

I really enjoy being self-sufficient and on my own out there.  I know now, that I can surmount any challenge, in the main, without crumbling in defeat.  It's just that depression seems to dog every step I take, and an urban environment is not healthy for me anymore.  But I can't afford to move away.  So, camping is the only option I have. And I have learned to fully embrace it and love it.

I camp for my own soul health.  Notice I didn't say 'mental health'.  That's because I believe that soul health is more important.  If my soul is healthy, my mind will be also.  And the only way to achieve that is to spend time with God in his true element: nature.  

The Wilderness is my Cathedral, and the trees that tower above me, are its spires, reaching to the heavens in supplication.  And out there, no one is demanding money from me that I don't have.  God doesn't care how shallow my pockets are, only the depths of my heart.

Gear:  Chevy Trax AWD, Night Cat Tent, and assorted necessaries.

How to Make Real Cowboy Coffee

I make cowboy coffee with eggshells. :) Here is the recipe: - it's the same from all over the internet.

Ingredients:

• Water
• Coffee grounds
• 1 egg, fresh not boiled - never from boiled eggs - you will get sulfur.
• Some say to toss in a little dirt, but I pass on that. It's a joke on greenhorns.
• I do put a dash of salt in the pot after it has been sitting for 20 minutes (old waitress trick.  If you know, you know.)

Instructions:

• Crack the egg and separate the shell.
• Wash the shell thoroughly so there are no remains of the egg white or yolk.
• Cover the shells with a paper towel (to protect your hands) and crush them into smaller pieces.
• Add crushed egg shells to coffee grounds, using a quarter of the egg shell for one cup. (that's what the internet says, but I just throw the whole damn thing in there, and I use a jumbo egg shell. I like brown ones. )
• Brew your coffee as usual.

I don't know what percolator to recommend to you, but I have noticed that at events like Coffee With a Ranger, the Rangers use the old-fashioned, blue enamel percolators from Stansport or wherever. And they always make GREAT Coffee. :) Just look for those enamel pots in thrift stores, or buy one from any sporting goods section at your favorite store. Mine is a Balkan/Greek style pot , copper lined with aluminum (photo below.)


If you buy one used: please boil it in a huge pot of water 3x to remove any oils from previous use. You'll thank me later for this. You should start fresh, and over time, your pot will be "seasoned". To clean the pot: never use soap of any kind. Just boiling water to sterilize it. This way, the oils from your coffee will build a bit to season it. (some people think that's gross. I think it works.)

One last thing: I use Cafe Morro espresso from the dollar store - yes, the dollar store. It's fantastic if you can find it. It comes in a 6 oz brick . Yellow package. I just translate the measurement from espresso to coffee - in other words a heaping tablespoon per 1.5 cup of water. Cafe Morro is ground extra fine, so fewer grounds to stick to your teeth. :)  Of course, cowboys and cowgirls wouldn't really care if they did. ;)