YEAR: 1998

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: California

COUNTY: Tuolumne County

LOCATION DETAILS: Approx. 2-5 miles after the upper river campsite at
the first sharp 90 degree turn.

NEAREST TOWN: Yosemite

NEAREST ROAD: Tioga Pass

OBSERVED: I had spoken to an apparent field biologist in the area and he (whose name I do not remeber) who did not seem too interested. This pleased me because I felt that if there was a trail of denial maybe the creatures existence would be kept safe. The incident goes as follows:
Late at night while travelling with my wife in the passenger seat in the front and my 2 kids sleeping in the back we passed by the upper river camp site where I had stayed about 10 years earlier. We had been on the road sometime and were still responsive but tired. As we passed a tight hairpin turn we had not said anything for hours because of the monotonous trip. When we viewed the creature in our headlights, she stated"Did you see that"? In her mid-sentance I stated"What was that".
I notice extreme detail because as a nurse I have had 5 courses in human anatomy and am in Pharmacy school at UCSF. I've had physiology and numerous science courses. I am the first to admit I am no expert but here is the description. My wife noticed the eyes as reflextive, I did not. I noted the eyes of the creature as black melting into the darkness of it's face. The creature was standing on a rock, balancing very well as if to have a bend in the middle of it's foot.
The rock it stood on tapered to an almost 90 degree angle. When I first saw the creature it was bent over directly facing us. As we came around the corner it very very slowly and methodically pivotted in an upright standing motion as its head looked directly up at us. I will never forget it. It had a black coat with a silvery gray. It appearred "old" and my wife afterward felt similar.
The chest and torso were almost cylindrical. The arms extended far, alittle below the pelvis and looked long and cylindrical and thin.
The most amazing thing about this creature was the stealthy survivalist mode. It mimiced the actions of nature. What I mean to say is instead of for instance a human seeing an oncoming car and displaying a startled response
by moving irratically and uncontrolled. The creature was very deliberate, meticulous in it's actions moving no more than the branches around it trying not to attract attention. It went from a bent over position to standing upright.

ALSO NOTICED: There was no odor at all. The feeling I had was that it was elderly. Probably scavenging from the side of the road from people throwing trash out of their cars.

OTHER WITNESSES: Neither of us were intoxicated or on any substances including alcohol, caffeine or tobacco. We were driving from Nevada back to California and had not said a word until the sighting.

OTHER STORIES: I have never heard any similar stories.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: About 2-3 am in the morning. Probably the only car on the road for 50 miles.

ENVIRONMENT: It was approx 60 F degrees at night. The creature stood on a rock beside the road staring straight at us.

Follow-up investigation report:

I talked with the witness by phone and the following details can be added to the report:
--It is likely that the campground was Crane Flat Campground.
--Height was 5'5" to 5'9".
--Estimated weight was 140-160 pounds (very thin build).
--Hair was silvery-black.
--Creature appeared to be looking at something in the road (and bent at the hip in a 90 degree angle), then slowly righted itself. It lifted its head first and was looking at them as they went by.
--While standing on the rock, its feet gave the appearance of being able to grip the rock surface. Witness had the impression it had at least four toes.