Original subtitles

Previously on expedition bigfoot.

I believe big foot are here in Washington in large numbers,

but something is causing that migration route to fork.

So what I want to do at this point

is set up a perimeter of trail cams around this area.

You ever get the feeling they're watching us right now?

I do.

What is that?

- Michael, did you hear that? - Yeah, I did.

We caught something on film.

What is that?

Holy.

It's massive.

Look at this. This is tied off.

That's freaking creepy.

That's definitely interesting.

There's definitely some flesh attached there.

Like it got pulled out of an animal.

Freaking creepy.

After tracking a potential big foot across a river,

biko Wright and primatologist, mireya mayor,

discovered multiple large tree structures

along with what appear to be patches of white fur.

It looks like it was actually tied off.

Look at how this bark,

it's almost like there's a cord running through it.

Yeah, a little bit of bark cordage.

That's definitely hard to explain there.

What's crazy is just a few days ago,

we ended up finding several trees

that looked like they had been stripped of some of the bark.

Holy.

There's a lot of trees here that are stripped.

I was just noticing that, too.

I wonder if that correlates now

to what we're finding here.

What stripped those trees?

And what made that cordage?

Because making cordage

takes some serious manipulation and time.

What's got that much white fur out here?

I don't know.

- Maybe a wolf. - I mean, that's a lot.

I heard a story from a friend of mine,

and him and his mom saw what they think was a sasquatch,

and he described the color

being different than anything he had heard before.

He described it as being like

a polar bear at the zoo color

that's, like, been dirty

and, like, kind of yellowish white.

So I mean, that kind of looks like that color to me.

As reported by eyewitnesses

as well as detailed in the accounts

of various first nations tribes,

sasquatch is reported to have a variety of hair colors.

In the him a lay as, where they're known as yeti,

they are often said to typically be white,

while the coastal salish people describe them as brown.

However, many eyewitness stories do detail accounts

of elderly big foot becoming gray, silver and white as they age.

We should definitely bag that up.

Our best chance, short of actually seeing the animal constructing this

is to collect a genetic sample

that will tell us exactly what it is that made this.

What I would like to do is come back in the morning

when we can look for more visible evidence

or just anything that left something as it moved through here.

I think that's a good idea.

- This is just way strange. - Yeah.

I don't know what these things mean.

I don't know what the structures mean.

I don't know why these things are all lined up

pointing in the same direction.

I don't know what's going on,

but there's some strange happening out here.

So I've been hearing sounds.

I keep hearing those clicking sounds.

The same sounds I heard from before.

Listen.

And I think that thing

is on this side of the mountain.

Same side of the hill as me.

5.5 miles from mireya and biko,

survivalist Russell a cord has been tracking

a possible big foot sixty-five yards away

from an abandoned cabin.

So the plan is.

I'm going to actually work my way back towards that cabin

and walk by the trail cams I set out yesterday around the property.

I think I've got the perfect trap set.

At the command center,

Bryce Johnson monitors the seismic surveillance array.

It's pretty late, but I just wanted to do

one more check in on the seismic trip wire,

see if anything has crossed over.

At the beginning of the expedition 13 days ago,

the team placed an 18-mile-long seismic trip wire

that spans the north edge of the target zone.

That first sensor should be online now.

Yeah, I gotcha.

It will notify them if anything bipedal crosses through in real time.

Here's some live feed that's coming through right now.

Look at this.

High pass filter enabled.

So that didn't actually trigger any of our alarms,

which is set to go off

when something large and walking on two feet...

It has that Cadence which those sensors will be able to pick up.

But the good news is is everything seems to be online and running.

I just got a text here from mireya and biko.

They found tree structures.

Multiple tree structures.

Take a look at this.

Look at that.

Wow, that's reminiscent

to the structures we found in norcal.

They said there's like three of them.

I wonder if they line up.

Those ones in norcal,

they actually lead us to a group of nests.

- Russ, here's the other one up here. - Wow.

I mean, right here, line of sight.

- Yeah. - That's huge.

Isn't this crazy?

Look, three nests.

Wow!

You see that fur?

I've never seen anything like that before.

Is this a new behavior?

You know, something specific to Washington?

What is this hair?

What does it mean?

Check this out in the daylight.

You can see all three of them.

Just after sunrise, mireya and biko are back

at the tree structures they found last night

to further investigate in daylight.

I mean, they really are just in a straight line.

Yeah, that's wild.

Boom, boom, boom.

Heading in that same direction.

Really weird.

So I'd love to keep heading in that direction

and see if there are any other things that we missed last night.

Prints or any sign of what could have come through here

and made something like this.

Yeah. Sounds good.

It's critical that when we have a finding at night

that we go back to it during the day

because there's always things that we could have missed in the darkness.

You don't want to leave any evidence behind.

Whoa. Mireya, check this out.

There's a little bit of that same colored fur here.

- Yeah? - The white fur, yeah.

Looks really similar to the other one.

The other odd part about this

- is the height at which it's at. - Right.

Like something was moving through here

and brushed up against that stick.

Something else interesting about this that I just noticed.

This is more bark cordage.

It's almost hung like a Christmas ornament.

It's threaded here.

I mean, that takes some careful manipulating.

I mean, look at that.

Wow!

Now, that is definitely manipulated.

Wow, it's braided with more bark cordage,

more of the fur from the first evidence we found over there.

What I'm seeing here

is something that looks to be intentionally made.

Yeah.

But that wouldn't have a real use for an animal.

- Right. - That is really puzzling.

So if a human didn't make it, then what did?

Very puzzling.

I've left directional markers before while hunting, you know?

But these, I've never really seen anything like it.

I mean, it's like mireya says, you know,

she thinks that these are intentionally made.

But for what purpose?

If these creatures are gathering at this fork, possibly looking for mates,

could these be woven objects related to that in some way?

Like an advertisement or gift or sign?

I don't really know, but it's an idea.

See where these tree leans are pointing.

See if there's any natural landmarks.

It looks like there's a lake that way.

These tree leans are pointing in the direction of that lake.

All right, let's start heading that way.

Let's see what we find.

We might be able to catch up to this thing.

Look.

A stump is down.

Something tripped my wire.

Six miles from mireya and biko,

Russell returns to check on his surveillance array

to see if the plan to lure a potential big foot

to pass by his trail cameras last night worked.

Look at this.

It came right through here.

Look at my trip wire.

So it's coming this direction.

I think I caught this thing off guard.

Whatever moved through here is gonna be on these cameras.

Look at this real quick.

Okay.

Let's see what we got.

Okay, that's yesterday.

One nighttime shot, but it's nothing.

Check that out, look.

Look at my trail camera.

Look at this.

It got shoved off to the side.

Remember, if this thing...

It would be pointing right here,

right at me, and now it's pointed out that way.

There's a big gouge in the tree

where that something shoved the trail cam

off to the side.

It knew the direction of that lens would see it.

Look at this. Come here.

Look at this.

Do you see that?

It's a freaking hair.

Whatever pushed it.

Look at that. It just shoved it.

A couple strands of hair.

Whatever pushed this camera left something behind.

I want that.

And I'm hoping that whatever pushed it

is also captured on that card.

All right, let's see.

Holy.

Okay.

Holy.

Holy crap.

I can see what looks like the top part of a hand.

Something either grabbed it this way or this way

and pushed it.

Let me get the card out of this thing.

It's time to pull this card.

I cannot wait to show Bryce what we've got.

Holy crap.

Salmonberries and huckleberries.

That's a good sign for food.

6.5 miles from Russell's position,

mireya and biko have been following

in the direction

the tree structures were pointing,

which the maps indicate should lead them

right to a water source.

I see water.

Wow, look at that.

From the very beginning of this expedition,

all of these findings have been leading us

consistently in one direction.

We have been paralleling waterways.

We had to cross a river,

and then we find these tree structures

which lead us to this water source.

And what I'm hoping is that this find

is going to lead us closer

to an even more substantial discovery.

I actually think this is a great spot

for us to see whatever it is that's coming here

because there weren't a lot of water sources on that map,

which means that it's going to force

and drive animals into this area.

Also noticing that there's a ton of wild edibles around, lots of berries.

Some huckleberries, salmonberries.

So this is somewhere

that has a lot of foraging opportunities,

as well as, I'm sure there's critters living in this.

So this area reminds me

a lot of how we watch gorillas and elephants.

In Africa, there's these areas called bis,

and they congregate there.

They spend, in fact, a lot of time.

And what we do is we actually build a platform so that we're elevated

and we can see at a distance all of the animals that are coming into this one area.

And it's a great way to observe everything that comes into there.

We could do the same and build blind, right, so that you're hidden

and you're not scaring off anything that might want to come in.

Right. That seems like a really good plan.

I think the fact that this is kind of alone,

and we're not near any creeks or rivers at the moment,

that means animals are going to come into this no matter what.

I'd really actually like to get in the middle of this.

So let's go call Bryce.

All right. Sounds good.

Hey, mireya, biko, what's going on?

- Hey, Bryce. - Hey, Bryce. What's up?

So, hey, when we went back to check out

the tree structures this morning,

we found even more stuff.

What did you find?

Some of them had upside down trees in the construction.

And we did find some more of that strange cordage.

Are you serious?

I mean, when I took a look at that first picture

that you guys sent, I was floored.

Are you guys telling me you found more like that?

Yeah.

Bryce, it reminded me a little of when we were in northern California.

I mean, these tree structures, these weren't quite as,

let's call it intricate,

but they did progressively get larger.

And like in northern California,

there was sort of this directional pattern to them.

They were all lined up in a line

about 50-75 yards apart,

pointing in the same direction.

We took a look at the map,

and it seemed to be pointing in the direction of a water source.

So we're at that watering hole now.

Yeah. What were you thinking?

I actually want to get into the middle of this marshland

where I would have a 360-degree view.

I want to stay hidden around the perimeter, up in a tree or something,

in case anything comes up so I can start to track it.

We're gonna need something to pull this off.

- Yeah, whatever you need. - Let me know.

I need you to drop off that inflatable raft,

and then I think that we can build something.

I love that. Yeah.

Yeah, I can do that. Absolutely.

Remember the hand print that I found?

I have a call with an expert about it,

so I'll make sure to get that boat out to you asap.

We'll get you the coordinates

to the nearest logging road.

- Okay. Sounds good. - Thanks, Bryce.

- Thanks. - All right.

All right, let's start heading that way.

Sounds like a plan.

At the command center

at the southernmost point of the target zone,

Bryce is meeting with Dr. Esteban sarmiento...

Hey, Esteban. How are you?

Good. How are you doing?

A primatologist with over 39 years of experience,

specializing in hand morphology,

to discuss and analyze the handprint he discovered just 48 hours ago.

Thank you so much for taking the time, not only to speak with me,

but to analyze this crazy handprint

that I found on my cabin.

So I know you have taken a look.

But just to give you some context,

this was a lone handprint on a glass pane

right next to the screen door of my cabin.

Looks like a handprint.

It's pretty big, too.

Someone, or something came up here

and pushed its hand up against there.

But that's a big hand.

What is the morphology of this huge hand hint at for you?

The number one thing that I was impressed seeing it from the beginning

is that the hand was flat against the window pane.

So that it got a palm print and a handprint.

And other great apes certainly don't.

I mean, a chimp would probably just touch it with the tip of its fingers,

but he wouldn't put it full on like that.

The abilities to put the hand flat like that are in some way human-like.

- When I compare it to the great apes... - -Right.

Some of the width and breath, length of the palm,

end of the digits, is very human-like.

You know, I measured this thing at 13 inches long.

I mean, it was just huge.

Let me ask you this.

How many 13-inch hands are there?

I've never seen one.

- Really? - No.

- I've never seen a 13-inch hand. - No, I never have.

Well, then, what the heck are we talking about here?

I've never seen a 13-inch hand.

No, I never have.

Well, then what the heck are we talking about here?

You're talking about an animal

that would leave a 13-inch handprint.

Thirteen inches is bigger than any human hand I've ever seen.

According to the guinness world records,

the largest human hand ever recorded

measured a length of 12.75 inches

or 32.

3 centimeters from the wrist to the fingertip.

These hands belonged to Robert wadlow,

who lived from 1918-1940.

Wadlow's hands were nearly three-quarters of an inch longer

than the second-longest hand in history,

the hands of leonid stadnyk,

whose hands measured 12 inches.

These two men are the only two known humans ever

to have hands that measured 12 inches or longer.

But otherwise, the hand does look human in its proportions

that it seems to have what could be a reduced thumb.

Does that mean anything

if it did have a reduced thumb?

Well, there's differences between all the great apes and the humans in their hands.

You know, distinguishing differences.

And humans have a very large thumb.

But great apes in general have a reduced thumb.

That means, in fact, really, the differences

show up between each genus in the hands.

And those proportions reflect what the animal does with its hands.

I love what you're saying

about this sort of reduced thumb on great apes.

But that makes no sense

for how and where I found it, here in Washington.

Dr. Sarmiento, let me ask you,

what are some of the implications

of a reduced thumb?

Generally, it's associated, it seems, with arboreality, a reduced thumb.

Hanging and using the hand as a hook.

Right.

Like this, with the thumb to the side.

- Here's the orangutan hand. - Yeah.

You see the fingers, that's the thumb.

Right. Wow.

And then, right next to it, the human hand.

And you can see how much bigger the thumb is in the human

even though the other fingers are so much shorter.

That's wild!

That's incredible.

It almost looks like this hand is a mix between the two.

The handprint you found has proportions like humans',

but the thumb seems to be small.

But in other proportions, the hand is very human-like from the fingers to the palm.

So I would say that this hand

is very in between humans and gorillas,

almost, in its proportions.

I'm going to put it to you this way.

We're coming across a lot of tree structures out here.

Some of these structures we're finding,

it would take a very capable hand

to weave and manipulate

some of these smaller and even huge branches.

In other words, this looks like a hand

that could make some of those structures we've been seeing.

Yes, I would agree that it could.

It could weave.

A hand like that has the ability to weave.

Dang.

Thank you so much.

This conversation has been absolutely enlightening.

I'm just so grateful. Thank you.

In the eastern quadrant of the target zone,

Russell continues to review trail camera footage

to create a game plan

to try to lure whatever came near the cabin last night.

It was a good place for those cameras.

I do want to turn this file over.

West of Russell's position, after hiking two miles,

mireya and biko get ready to assemble the boat

in preparation for tonight's stakeout.

As a field researcher,

something that I'm keenly aware of at all times

is how my presence will affect an animal's behavior.

If I'm out looking for an elusive and reclusive animal,

the last thing I want to do is for it to see me.

So ideally, what I want to do

is get into the middle of that bog

so that my presence does not affect the behavior

of any animal out here.

Just drop it here.

A lot of good material to work with here, I think.

It's pretty sizable, and I want to remain hidden.

Right.

What's gonna make it look so that it just blends into that environment?

I can make it blind.

Some of the stuff that's growing along the edge here will work great.

What should I start looking for?

I think, first things first,

we need some more rigid, like, branches like this,

for just the framework, you know?

Four posts, maybe.

And then once that is up and we've got a sizable framework,

then we can kind of weave in foliage to conceal you in there.

- Try and make it camouflaged. - Awesome.

It sounds like a plan.

- Sweet. - Yeah.

Let's get started.

For a strategy like this to work,

we have to use our natural environment

because we don't want it to stand out.

That's why having someone like biko

on this expedition is so valuable

because he has these bush craft skills

where we're able to actually create something

so that we can get the job done.

One of the reasons I wanted to use

as much natural material as possible

is to make this thing not stand out.

I've built blinds before to hunt from,

but this will be the first time

I've ever tried putting one on a floating boat.

How does that look?

- That looks perfect. Yeah. - That looks good.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

That's right.

So I think it's coming along pretty good.

We've got all the framework in.

All right, great.

So now we hang ferns.

Yeah. These ferns are kind of the perfect thing to use

because they're so plentiful.

My idea is to hang as much sword fern blades or leaves

until this thing is completely covered.

It'll be just a great little hiding spot

where mireya should be able to see from all sides.

This is looking good.

If we're dealing with an intelligent nocturnal creature,

it's gonna see into the dark a lot better than we are.

Even with our fancy tech like thermals and night vision,

this thing is gonna have a one-up on us,

and we need all the help we can get.

I gotta get these things charged up.

I need to get hold of Bryce.

After reviewing

all of the trail camera footage from the day before,

Russell contacts Bryce

to discuss the strange activity he captured.

Looks like it's Russ.

Hey, Russ, what's going on?

Hey, do you know how I set up that perimeter

of trail cams around this abandoned cabin?

Yeah.

I've got some stuff I want you to see as quick as possible.

I got a hit on one of them.

And Bryce, from what I'm seeing in this clip,

looks like a large hair-covered hand

pushed this trail cam to remain unseen.

Wait, are you serious?

Yeah.

It's like even with the cameras camouflaged, it knew how to avoid them.

But you can see some hair and maybe part of a finger in the frame

as the camera gets pushed.

So I want to get this to you so you can enlarge the frame

and see if there's any detail.

Okay. Sounds good, Russ.

Bye.

Ready? All right.

6.5 miles from Russell's position,

mireya and biko

prepare for their water blind stakeout

at the water source

where the tree structures lead them.

All right.

- Here's a push stick for ya. - All right.

I'll go ahead and push out into the middle of this bog.

I'll take the thermal out, I'll start scanning.

You go ahead and get in position in the tree.

Sounds good. Yeah, I've got a thermal, too.

So I'll get up high in there.

- I'll be your boots on the ground. - Sounds good.

What I really like about this strategy

is that it's really the first time

that we have removed our presence

from anything that wants to come to the water.

If prey wants to come down to the water,

I'm no longer standing in its way.

And most importantly,

if a predator wants to go after that prey,

I'm going to be able to see it from a 360-degree angle.

How's my positioning in the bog?

You look like an island.

I am an island.

There could be numerous creatures out here

roaming this area.

And that's why I think stealth is going to be so important tonight.

We need to have people in position

to cover as many sides as we can.

Biko for mireya.

Go for mireya.

Hey, I'm in position in the tree.

I got eyes on you. You got eyes on me?

I've got you on my thermal right now.

Awesome.

I'm actually able to scan the entire periphery of this bog.

So if I see anything, I will let you know immediately.

Sounds good.

Yeah, if you need me on land, I can be there pretty quick.

I'm eyes on the water, you're boots on the ground.

And now we wait.

Boy, those bullfrogs are sure talking up a storm.

I wonder if bigfoots eat frogs.

I call them swamp rabbits.

Tastes a little bit like rabbit

and a little bit like swamp.

Biko for mireya.

Go for mireya.

You picking up anything on your thermal?

No visual as of yet.

Not even the frogs.

Not much going on out here tonight.

Biko and I, in a way, set up the best of both worlds.

I had complete visibility, but no mobility.

But having biko perched above in a tree

made it possible that if I spotted anything,

he could immediately start going after it.

The frogs are really, really loud right now.

But if anything walked past them, the chances are,

is that they would go very quiet.

And who knows what else is in this freaking water?

Mireya for biko.

Go ahead, mireya.

I heard something coming into the water,

and then suddenly all the frogs got quiet.

I'm gonna try and scan the view that I have,

see if I see anything.

I don't see anything.

Everything has gone silent.

I hear nothing.

The forest is silent.

Like there isn't a thing alive in miles.

But I know that's not the case.

I know that it's more likely

that there's a large predator in the area,

and I'm going to lay in wait

until that thing comes through.

We have heard and recorded some very strange audio

on this investigation

that we believe could possibly be coming from big foot.

When I reached out to my sources

to see if they had heard of anybody who's had encounters

of hearing strange noises or audio in the woods,

everybody immediately told me, "you've got to talk to Randy."

Randy is an experienced bow hunter.

He's lived here forever, hunting his entire life

right in the heart of the fork, and apparently,

he had such a haunting experience,

it completely changed the way that he looks at the woods.

Randy, I understand you had kind of an encounter while you were hunting.

Can you walk me back through your experience?

Yeah. It stuck with me.

I was out hunting one morning by myself

and got into some snow,

and in the snow, I crossed some elk tracks.

Went in the woods after 'em,

and I was getting fairly close to the elk.

I was beginning to smell 'em.

All of a sudden, this squall came roaring through the woods that shook me.

What do you mean, a squall?

It was a kind of a high pitch, echoing squall

that just lasted for, I don't know,

five to seven seconds, I would guess.

And it just echoed through the canyons.

- You said it was high-pitched. - High-pitched. Yeah.

You know, it wasn't an elk, and it wasn't a cow crying.

It wasn't a calf.

It was just so intense.

It just echoed and echoed and echoed.

I couldn't tell where it was coming from.

So intimidated that whatever made that noise doesn't want me here.

The types of sounds that Randy is describing

line up perfectly with what the team is experiencing in the field.

And what's even more fascinating

is that it took place right here.

So if what Randy is saying is true about these sounds,

that these creatures are using them

as a way to Mark off territory,

then that's incredible,

but they also could be used to alert others

of our presence in the area.

So in your mind, do you think it might have been sort of

something threatening

or waving you off the hunt perhaps?

I kind of take it as that. And it worked.

So you got out of there?

I did.

What type of creature do you think can make something that loud of a call?

Yeah. There was only one thought in my mind at the time.

- What was that? - Bigfoot.

It was always in the back of my mind

that he could be watching me.

6.5 miles from mireya and biko,

Russell begins to circle the area

surrounding the abandoned cabin,

hoping whatever moved his trail cameras

last night will return.

Did you hear that?

Tonight we're in a little bit tighter area,

smaller trees, lot more undergrowth.

Literally impossible to move through this brush

without making a ton of noise.

What the hell was that?

What?

It's not smashing through.

You're hearing little bits and twigs snapping.

It's something that is either

trying to move quietly away from us

or working its way to us.

We're close to something here.

We're surrounded by darkness,

and there's enough undergrowth

that if something is within ten feet of you,

before you realize, it's already coming at you.

Come here, come here, come here, come here.

Stand right in front of me. Stand right here.

Come in front of me. Come here.

Whether you're hunting an animal for food

or tracking an animal for science,

the skills and the mindsets needed are the same.

When I'm coming into a new area,

the first thing I'm gonna want to do

is to get up high and glass for a while and survey the area.

Look for any obvious animal trail

going down the mountainside.

I like to get into the timber and see what's been fed on.

A lot of times, in my area,

you'll see the huckleberry bushes chewed off by animals.

When you can see that everything is kind of mowed,

you know that that's a frequent feeding area.

Other things I'm gonna start looking for are signs of scat and tracks.

I want to make sure there's a water source because all things need water.

The bottom line really is

if you know how to read the land,

then you're going to find a detailed road map

of everything that's going on out there.

Okay.

Keep it close.

In this environment, this tight of space,

smelling something that close

is a little bit nerve-wracking to say the least.

Something just moved out here in front of us.

Not more than a hundred feet out there.

Can you smell that smell?

Okay, let's be smart

and back out this way.

Did you hear that? That's a cat.

That's a damn cat.

What we're smelling is a mountain lion.

What this thing is equipped with

with the claws and the teeth,

and maybe 150 to 200 pounds,

that wants to do nothing more than to devour you

or bring you down.

Go back out the way we came.

We are at the worst disadvantage possible.

Dark, closed in,

and certainly not equipped for a threat like this.

Keep moving.

Don't worry about noise right now.

That thing is close.

Let's move. Let's get out of this area.

You cannot outrun this thing.

Is that?

I'm not seeing anything on the thermal.

It sounded pretty big.

Biko for mireya.

Go for mireya.

I heard something on the shore,

but I couldn't see a visual.

On the shore opposite you or near you?

Near me.

Was it approaching the water?

Yeah. Come down from the forest.

All right. I'll scan again.

Biko, I just heard something moving on the shoreline.

Give me a few minutes to scan that area.

Whoa.

Did something just hit you? I just heard a loud bang.

Something got thrown in the water,

but didn't come from me.

There's something there.

Holy.

There's something out there.

Mireya for biko.

Biko, there is something moving right underneath you.

Biko, what I'm seeing is on two legs.

Honestly, it looks like as if

a human is walking near where you are.