“Skookum” is the Chinook word for strong, brave, or something that is good, it is also the word for big foot. There are a few reports of sasquatch in the vicinity of Skookum Lake. The accounts discribe rocks being thrown from the heights above, strange creatures investigating the camp, booming calls across the lake, and glowing eyes watching……Please listen to my geo-tale about some of the strange goings on at Skookum Lake…. If you attempt to follow my footsteps and find this cache you will have to do so when it is dark and use a flashlight or headlamp.
I left the light and warmth of our fire to take a short walk towards the stump containing the nearby geocache. I walked downhill from the picnic table and to the left of the cache. As I approached the moist area of the outflow stream I turned on my flashlight to avoid a large, spiney Devil’s Club bush. I was paying close attention to the bush as it is thickly covered with spines that break off and lie in your skin like slivers which then fester and work their way out over a few weeks… but I diverge, for that is another geotale dealing with a FTF at Surprise Lake…..
I heard a noise that sounded close and shone my light up the hill to the left and saw a pair of glowing eyes that seemed to belong to a creature some eight feet high!
Summoning up a bit of courage I paused to mark a nearby tree with a bit of flagging and a reflective thumbtack so that I could examine the area by the light of day. I heard some shuffling noises, and shone my light up the hill noticing a faint trail. I looked around for the eyes and noticed that the eyes had moved farther away! It seems that I was going to be watched, but from afar.
Heartened by this observation, I decided to follow the trail and see what would happen. The eyes stayed just at the outer range of my light. The trail was blocked a few places by tree trunks, and had some large holes; but I was careful and kept on the trail and followed the glowing eyes. I marked the return trail with more reflective thumb tacks.
The trail was fairly straight with the exception of a zig to the right for about fifty feet and then a turn to the left. I noticed a few old style trail blazes on the trees as I pursued the beast.
Suddenly the hairs on my arm stood up and I knew that something more was happening. I shone my light and noticed that the eyes had changed to a glowing red and seemed to be from a much larger creature. I let out a gasp and then heard the most horrible shriek! It could only be described as a long drawn hooting alternating with a deep gargling sound. Several hoots sounded in the surrounding woods and then the creature turned and I saw no more eyes and heard no more sounds save for the frantic beating of my heart and my own breath as I stood rooted in place!
Shining my light near where the creature had been standing I noticed a glint near the ground. Looking closer it seems that there was a geocache between the tree and a large rock! I seems that my “friend” might be a geocacher in spirit, but lacked the technology to properly list the cache!
I hid the cache a little better and got a set of coordinates. ? My GPSr said I was about 1.1 tenths of a mile from camp. I marked the cache location with a pair of red reflectors. I turned around and shone my light back up the trail and followed my markers back to camp, placing pairs of white reflectors on the trail towards the cache. I followed my return trail and soon saw the light of the campfire and heard one of my fellow geocachers regaling the others with a geo-tale.
Be aware that when you sign the log book that my partner will probably be watching you!