On Saturday November 1st, 2008, fellow NESRA investigator Kevin Humphrey and I traveled to Hartford County in northern Connecticut near the Massachusetts border. We were scouting out an area there Kevin has been researching. He has heard some distant and questionable/possible wood knocks there in the past, so this was the reason for our trip. We were attempting to confirm possible Sasquatch activity there by either recording possible Sasquatch vocalizations, more distinct and more easily identified wood knocks or hopefully even having a visual sighting of a creature.
I drove up from Long Island and met Kevin around 2 pm in a town near our target area. We talked over our plans for an afternoon scouting hike of the area in question and the surveillance we would conduct once we selected a night time observation post. Satisfied with our plan, we decided that our first priority was to get something to eat before heading out on our hike since neither one of us had eaten lunch yet.
After lunch I followed Kevin as we drove to the trailhead parking area arriving there around 3 pm. We parked our cars and began to assemble the gear we would need for our planned day hike and night surveillance. Kevin then suggested we travel light and make a quick hike to check out the area he was considering for our night time surveillance. This spot was further into the forest so if we didn’t choose to make it our stake out location, at least we wouldn’t have to hike in loaded down with all our gear only to then turn right around and hike back out of the area.
We left most of our gear behind to make better time and made our way into the forest at a double time pace. We reached the area Kevin had originally selected as a possible surveillance location and found the visibility to be extremely limited due to the thick brush there. We could see about 50 feet through the foliage where it was thinnest but only 20 feet in most directions. We decided that if we set up here and heard movement in the brush at night we would never get a look at whatever was moving past us so we had to come up with a new location. On our way back to the cars we checked out a large clearing and decided this would be our best bet for our stake out.
We returned to the cars and began packing up the gear we would need for the night. With our gear packed up and ready to go we strapped on our backpacks, camp chairs and other equipment and once again hiked back into the forest.
We followed the trail back to the clearing arriving just as it was beginning to get dark. We quickly debated the merits of sitting within the tree line and observing or going out into the open directly in the clearing. The clearing was a large area approx 200 - 250 yards across north to south and 400 yards across east to west. The problem was a small patch of land near the center of the clearing was the high ground while all the rest was lower. So if we stayed at the edge in the trees we would only have a partial view of this area because we would be looking uphill. We hiked out to this high ground and from here we had a commanding 360 degree view of the entire clearing so this was the spot we choose for our night time observation post. With our 1st Gen night vision monoculars we would be able to pierce the night and scan this entire area in complete darkness. The trade off for the great visibility of the high ground versus the tree line was we were completely exposed to the winds blowing across the wide open clearing.
We took off our backpacks, set up our camp chairs and got our equipment ready. Both Kevin and I had our Zoom H2 digital recorders and night vision monoculars out ready to go. It was already starting to get cold at this point so I decided to put on some extra layers of warm clothes, a hat and gloves. Once I had finished dressing it was time for dinner so I broke out my sandwiches and protein bars. I had to take off my gloves to eat my dinner and I could tell the temperature was dropping fast because my hands were practically numb by the time I was finished eating.
We sat in the dark scanning the clearing looking and listening for any signs of movement for about three hours. But except for a few coyote calls the only thing we heard was the howling of the winds and the sounds of the brush moving as a result of the winds.
By 9 pm the wind chill had really begun to become uncomfortable and since we hadn’t heard any unusual sounds or seen/heard any movement we decided to pull out early and head back to the trailhead. We quickly packed up our gear once again, strapped on our packs and headed out across the clearing towards the trail.
We made it back just before 10 pm and loaded our gear back into our cars as we prepared to leave. Kevin and I left the parking area around 10:15 pm both of us heading for home. In the end we didn’t find any good evidence that would allow us to say if there might possibly be Sasquatch activity in this area with any certainty. So unfortunately the question of possible activity here at this point remains inconclusive.
I've included some pictures here that show the clearing where we conducted our night time surveillance, the trail we hiked and the general terrain of this area.
Trail picture
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Another trail picture
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Small creek we passed on our hike into the original location we decided against because of the limited view
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The clearing where we conducted our night time surveillance
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Kevin checks out the field of view
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