Sasquatch in the Pines

[ericsanjuan]

There is a tiny rest area on the west side of Lakehurst, I believe technically just over the border in Manchester, along Route 70 right outside of town. As kids we used to call it McKelvey Park. (At least, that's how I imagine it would be spelled. I don't know the origins of the name. It is a family name in the area, albeit not a prominent one, so there is a story there somewhere.) The trails backed up to the rear of Lake Horicon. You could follow them out to the tracks connecting Lakehurst with the rest of the world.

Anyway, one of my friends, about two years older than I, absolutely REFUSED to go in the woods there. We'd romp around the pines everywhere and anywhere else, but he just wouldn't go in that part of the forest. This is even when we were older teens. See, he claimed that years prior he has seen ... something in those woods. A big, hairy man, face covered in hair, standing slouched in the woods staring at him. Freaked him out. He wasn't the storytelling type, either. He was a big, strong dude not prone to spinning tall tales. But he insisted this is what he saw. This would have been in the mid 1980s.

Mind you, I don't believe he saw what he thinks he saw. The mind is a funny thing, and the woods and light and shadow can easily play tricks on you.

But there you go. Another story for the archives.

 

[manumuskin]

No pine nuts...learn something new every day, I guess I won't be using that argument anymore lol. But I think you're making a big assumption about this quote. Let me ask you this. Do you think you personally(being someone with good knowledge of the outdoors and the pines in general) could make your way through the pines either south to north or vis versa on foot 10 times without out being spotted by anyone(assuming you were trying to avoid being spotted)? And I mean if you gave it an honest effort.....like lets say there was 1 million$ waiting for you if you did it without being spotted. Do you think you could do it?

except for this week,yes I think i could.during six day hunting season i doubt it unless I holed up in a nasty swamp till it was over.Even during regular hunting season I'd risk being spotted by bow hunters.Anytime someone is sitting still to ambush prey they have the advantage over someone moving no matter how careful you are.Now if their wearing blaze orange that will help me out quite a bit but if camoed as a bow hunter would be and they were still and I was moving I am at a disadvantage.My hearing is pretty good,with glasses my eyesight is fairly decent also,my sense of smell is better then most folks but I am still human and no match for most critters in the sensing department but yeas outside of hunters I can avoid detection fairly well if alone and not running my mouth. I don't believe I could support myself long term in the barrens without running into people every so often,especially during hunting season.You would not believe the places I've found deer stands, About the only places safe from most hunters are the wettest,most impenetrable swamps like Great Swamp or Timber Beaver swamp.If I satyed in the inner recesses of these swamps and baited to bring deer in because these swamps are so thick I saw virtually no deer sign in either one but once I got them coming in I may actually be able to hide there for some time but I'd have to come out to get bait.I could hunt the meadows along the fringe without bait and do well but I would expose myself everytime I poked my nose out of the swamp.If there is a sasquatch in the core area of the barrens he will be in the Great Swamp or perhaps in one of the large swamps along the lower Mullica. That would be a nice place to survive in one of those swamps because you could sneak out at night and fish the mullica and perhaps escape detection?There are also more edible plants down there then in the barrens proper.Now if you want good bigfoot country head for the Bob Marshall wilderness complex of montana.three wilderness areas plus glacier national park offer an uninhabited area of equal in size to the state of NJ.150 mi long,60 mi wide no roads,only hiking and horse trails.hunters yes but nowhere mear the density you have here.wolves and grizz too.

 

[manumuskin]

There is a tiny rest area on the west side of Lakehurst, I believe technically just over the border in Manchester, along Route 70 right outside of town. As kids we used to call it McKelvey Park. (At least, that's how I imagine it would be spelled. I don't know the origins of the name. It is a family name in the area, albeit not a prominent one, so there is a story there somewhere.) The trails backed up to the rear of Lake Horicon. You could follow them out to the tracks connecting Lakehurst with the rest of the world.

Anyway, one of my friends, about two years older than I, absolutely REFUSED to go in the woods there. We'd romp around the pines everywhere and anywhere else, but he just wouldn't go in that part of the forest. This is even when we were older teens. See, he claimed that years prior he has seen ... something in those woods. A big, hairy man, face covered in hair, standing slouched in the woods staring at him. Freaked him out. He wasn't the storytelling type, either. He was a big, strong dude not prone to spinning tall tales. But he insisted this is what he saw. This would have been in the mid 1980s.

Mind you, I don't believe he saw what he thinks he saw. The mind is a funny thing, and the woods and light and shadow can easily play tricks on you.

But there you go. Another story for the archives.

was he anywhere near Tom Borwns survival school?They do crap like that to scare folks for kicks.

 

[Adam Buchler]

except for this week,yes I think i could.during six day hunting season i doubt it unless I holed up in a nasty swamp till it was over.Even during regular hunting season I'd risk being spotted by bow hunters.Anytime someone is sitting still to ambush prey they have the advantage over someone moving no matter how careful you are.Now if their wearing blaze orange that will help me out quite a bit but if camoed as a bow hunter would be and they were still and I was moving I am at a disadvantage.My hearing is pretty good,with glasses my eyesight is fairly decent also,my sense of smell is better then most folks but I am still human and no match for most critters in the sensing department but yeas outside of hunters I can avoid detection fairly well if alone and not running my mouth. I don't believe I could support myself long term in the barrens without running into people every so often,especially during hunting season.You would not believe the places I've found deer stands, About the only places safe from most hunters are the wettest,most impenetrable swamps like Great Swamp or Timber Beaver swamp.If I satyed in the inner recesses of these swamps and baited to bring deer in because these swamps are so thick I saw virtually no deer sign in either one but once I got them coming in I may actually be able to hide there for some time but I'd have to come out to get bait.I could hunt the meadows along the fringe without bait and do well but I would expose myself everytime I poked my nose out of the swamp.If there is a sasquatch in the core area of the barrens he will be in the Great Swamp or perhaps in one of the large swamps along the lower Mullica. That would be a nice place to survive in one of those swamps because you could sneak out at night and fish the mullica and perhaps escape detection?There are also more edible plants down there then in the barrens proper.Now if you want good bigfoot country head for the Bob Marshall wilderness complex of montana.three wilderness areas plus glacier national park offer an uninhabited area of equal in size to the state of NJ.150 mi long,60 mi wide no roads,only hiking and horse trails.hunters yes but nowhere mear the density you have here.wolves and grizz too.

Well if you could do it I think a sasquatch could do it

 

[manumuskin]

Sure one could travel the length of the barrens unobserved but a tribe living there indefinitely won't happen and as far as passing through Jersey is a peninsulas and almost an island with the central jersey sprawl,were not a place to just pass through unless your a bird or a very good swimmer. I really hope you find one,that would be even cooler the bear and cougar but I don't see it in your future

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Al,

There is a mound next to Manumuskin Creek immediately upstream from Mill-May Rd. It was visible from the road as I drove by today. Do you happen to know what it is?

 

[Spung-Man]

Gabe,

Don't usually read the samsquanch thread much, too scary. But I'm getting tired of writing, so here I am. There are four Milmay Roads that cross the Manumuskin: the original trail; the 19th century Bears Head Trail; Bennetts Mill Road; and the modern Bears Head Road. Which one are you talking about? I spent my youth woodjining the Peaslee Tract, which was walking distance from our farm.

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Gabe,

Don't usually read the samsquanch thread much, too scary. But I'm getting tired of writing, so here I am. There are four Milmay Roads that cross the Manumuskin: the original trail; the 19th century Bears Head Trail; Bennetts Mill Road; and the modern Bears Head Road. Which one are you talking about? I spent my youth woodjining the Peaslee Tract, which was walking distance from our farm.

I'm thinking of Rt. 552, but I now see that this particular stretch wasn't constructed until relatively recently. The mound is probably from roadway construction, I'd guess.

 

[manumuskin]

The state now gates Bennets Mill road which of course pisses me off but yes I know the northern road too that headed to Doughty's Tavern. The bridge though in ruins still spans the creek but is uncrossable by vehicle. I don't know what mound you speak of Gabe.Was it on the west or east side of the creek?The east side has a dead end road extending back about .5 mi to Ingersalls Branch,a nice cedar swamp.I use it for a pee break whenever I need one when out that way . The big building thats sits back off the road on the west side of the swamp I believe is a shelter for I don't know if it's battered women or mentally challenged but when behind it on the old mays landing road once I walked up on a coon and it bolted up a 6 ft high sapling pine.I walked up to him at face level and he was obviously scared feceless,he was half grown.I told him he needed to pick his trees better but I resisted the urge to reach out and pet him. I know some fools would have

 

[ericsanjuan]

was he anywhere near Tom Borwns survival school?They do crap like that to scare folks for kicks.

Nah, other side of the county from it.

Which isn't to say it wasn't someone trying to scare him, of course.

 

[piker56]

Ok I missed this one but I'll chime in now. I used to "bandit" camp alone at a remote spot in the pines to hunt. One night at around midnight I heard what sounded like a hammer hitting a tree. I'll admit, it woke me up and really got my attention! As I lay in my sleeping bag, and after my heart had beat had slowed, I figured it was a buck either banging against a tree or fighting with another buck (it was during permit bow, so it was rutting time). I never thought big foot, or anything unknown, just normal night time woods noises that most (sane) people never get to hear. And yes, I knocked an arrow, just in case...
Greg

 

[manumuskin]

I found him! Sasquatch!

 

[Gibby]

Adam, just don't mess with him...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1IH32x1EQ0

 

[manumuskin]

I so love those commercials. I wish they were in the barrens. Could you just imagine one drunk?

 

[woodjin]

http://xfinity.comcast.net/ Russian yeti mystery solved

 

[Boyd]

That link just takes me to Comcast's xfinity site, with ads for all their programs...

 

[Adam Buchler]

i think it was supposed to be to a story about some russian politician who filmed a guy in a monkey suit to attract tourists to some charity event...or something along those lines. I guess he was trying to make a point that all BF videos are fake. I'll tell you what's not a man in a suit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuff6HTWGZo&feature=related 29 sec mark is a good shot of the right hamstring jiggle at the right foot lands as well as the muscle contractions that you can see in the legs and back. The more you watch it the harder it becomes to think that some amature made a costume that sophisticated in 1967....they didn't even have spandex back then for cryin out loud. And yea patterson was a bit of an eccentric and was out there trying to film one....so he had motive for a hoax I will admit that, but some people just get lucky...and I really think patterson just got lucky that day.

 

[Adam Buchler]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5tvXoGQ4UI&feature=related

 

[manumuskin]

looks like a shadow to me caused by the movement of his right arm???

 

[Adam Buchler]

idk Al you can pretty much see all the musculature of the leg....seems a little too much for a 1967 amature monkey costume....at least to me it does.