YEAR: 1998

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

DATE: 12

STATE: Washington

COUNTY: Yakima County

LOCATION DETAILS: Highway 12 near where the PCT crosses, just before the ski area.

NEAREST TOWN: White Pass Ski Area

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 12

OBSERVED: It is early fall or late summer, around 1998. My daughter and I were driving west on Hwy 12 going to our cabin in Packwood. It was late, probably midnight or 1 a.m. As I recall it wasn’t raining, but was a dark night, either overcast or no moon.

Just before we hit the top of the pass, probably right around where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses the highway, something ran across the road in front of us, about 100 yards in front of us. It crossed from the right side of the road to the left side. I think it took 3 or 4 long steps, and was across the road. My daughter thinks it was at least 7 feet tall. It was covered in hair but difficult to say what color as it was dark out.

It walked across the road upright, on two legs. We joked that maybe it was a bear, but bears don’t walk on two legs. Honestly, I was more focused on the right shoulder of the road, as when animals cross the road, often another one will follow. The elk I’ve barely missed hitting while driving at night have always been the 2nd or 3rd ones to cross.

I remember slowing down, but saw nothing else, it crossed in front of us quickly, and was gone. We didn’t give it a lot of thought at the time but we both remember the event the same to this day.

OTHER WITNESSES: Two. Driving westbound on Hwy 12

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 12:00AM

ENVIRONMENT: Typical Cascades fir forest.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Scott Taylor:

I talked with this witness extensively. He has experienced many strange, possibly sasquatch related, occurrences over the past 30 years in the Packwood area. This particular report is a classic road-crossing sighting. It is the most common circumstance for a sasquatch sighting -- a fleeting glimpse as it quickly crosses and disappears into the forest.

Points to note are:

1. Time of day approximately 12:00AM so traffic would have been minimal.

2. The location near White Pass and the Pacific Crest Trail crossing.

3. Definitely upright bi-pedal movement.

4. The speed of crossing; 3 or 4 long steps.

5. Estimated height of seven feet.

6. Covered in hair.

This was definitely a sasquatch sighting.

This satellite image below marks the approximate location of the sighting.












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Investigator Matt Moneymaker notes:

The proximity to where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Hwy 12 is significant. If you have been reading bigfoot sighting reports and followup notes for a long time you will recall that patterns of sighting reports in many states showing them occur near (within 2 miles of) long trails like the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), the Florida Trail, the Buckeye Trail, etc. These trail pass through several states, avoiding towns so a hiker can avoid towns and move through forests as much as possible. Not all the reports in those states are near those trails, but enough occur in their proximity to suggest that sasquatches follow those same pathway. They may not walk right along the those trails, but it seems they parallel those trails within a few hundred feet, as in this case.

About BFRO Investigator Scott Taylor:

Scott Taylor is a retired aerospace manager. He lives in Mason County, Washington. He had his first bigfoot encounter in October 2005 where he was stalked and later heard vocalizations.

Scott has attended official BFRO Expeditions in the Washington Cascades in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. He also attended 2007 Central Oregon Cascades and 2007 Utah. He now organizes BFRO expeditions in Washington and has participated in bigfoot conferences over the past 17 years.

Scott will be leading a Washington BFRO expedition in 2025 (July 17-20) which is open to non-members. For more details and registration information for that trip click here.