Back in 2010 I wrote a series of articles about local legends here in Southern California. The articles featured stories about sea monsters, lizard men, UFOs and of course Bigfoot. These features were very well received by readers and many of them made it onto local websites. In 2012 my wife Terri and I capped off the series with a joint effort entitled "A Brief History Of Bigfoot In Southern California" which basically recapped many of the local stories that had been recorded throughout history dating back to 1700s. That story has been since quoted in numerous articles about Bigfoot and linked to by dozens of Cryptozoology websites.
In fact this story proved to be so popular that I have been contacted by a producer of the Discovery Channel program "Monsters and Mysteries in America" about using it and myself in a future episode about the subject. No word on if or when that will ever happen.
I have also been contacted by numerous eyewitnesses who have seen something that resembles Bigfoot here in Southern California in recent times. Up until now I have kept records on these sightings in hopes of writing a follow-up piece.
Since our 2012 article has seen a lot of new page views I figured the time to dust off those reports had come. Here is a summary of many of the eyewitness reports and shared stories that have been sent to me over the past four years.
(1980s) A local San Bernardino resident states that when he was young his family routinely saw a family of Bigfoot in the foothills near their home. Reportedly if the boy and his family got to close to Bigfoot family they would throw rocks to drive them away.
In 1985 a hiker in Modjeska Canyon (in Orange County) saw a large creature covered in black hair at about twenty yards away watching him as he used a drinking fountain. When the animal realized it had been spotted it ran away very fast, sometimes on all fours. The hiker stated that he had seen large human-like tracks in the area for years, but believed they belonged to a homeless man. He also mentioned that on several occasions his dogs would refuse to go in certain areas.
In 1997 a group of five teenage boys spotted a large hairy creature moving through the brush in the Mojave River bed near Hesperia, CA. Two days later one of the boy's sisters rode through the same area on horseback to investigate their story and came face to face with the creature. A local paranormal investigator searched the area and found an area that looked like a large animal had slept in it and large human-like tracks.
In November of 2000 a couple taking a late night hike around Hemet Lake (Riverside County) were startled by something large crashing through the forest some 400 yards away. The pair couldn't get a good look at whatever it was but noted that it was large and dark colored. The couple left the area for awhile, but returned later hoping that whatever it was had left. Upon returning they found that the picnic area had been ransacked. One of the large metal trashcans had a huge dent in it, like it had been punched by something with incredible strength.
In May of 2003 a Hesperia, CA resident found that one of her parents geese had been killed and eaten. Whatever had killed the bird also tried to rip the roof off the families chicken coop and left behind large four-toed footprints. It should be noted that there were a large number of similar stories coming out of the nearby town of Phelan at the same time that were linked to the Chupacabra.
In 2007 a resident of Hesperia, CA spotted a Bigfoot while horseback riding in a dry river bed in the foothills north of Silverwood Lake. She also stated that this was not her first encounter with a Bigfoot in the same area. Years earlier a similar looking creature had spooked her families horses several times.
In January of 2008 five local (Norco, CA) residents witnessed a large hairy man in the Norco River bottom. A local investigator surveyed the area of the sighting and found 22" barefoot human-like prints some distance away.
In August of 2008 a couple camping near Idyllwild, CA were woken up by the sounds of something hitting a nearby tree trunk. The couple's dogs coward in fear as whatever made the noises walked by their tent with heavy footfalls.
Also in August of 2008 a Native American resident of Yucaipa, CA was woken up by something making horrible screaming noises in his back yard. The man was able to scare off the animal, but it returned the next night. This time he got a good look at the thing, which he described as large and hairy.
In January of 2009 a father and son spotted a large hairy creature watching them from behind a tree in the woods near Silverwood Lake (Angeles National Forest). The animal reportedly swayed back and forth as it watched them. It was this movement that drew the hikers attention. The pair also mentioned that they had felt uneasy throughout their hike prior to seeing it.
In 2012 a resident of Mount Washington ( a neighborhood in the San Rafael Hills of Northeast Los Angeles ) claims that her property was visited on numerous occasions by a large creature with long hair and muscular build. The creature in question often times rummaged for food in the trash, crawled under the house, ripped the family's gate off it's hinges and looked into the homes second story windows.
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