YEAR: 2019

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

DATE: Sunday 20th

STATE: California

COUNTY: San Diego County

LOCATION DETAILS: The tree knocks and whoops were heard while camping at Pinezanita Campground. I don't know if the campground owners would want the camp named in your report. This is a very quiet campground with many retired folks that stay here.

NEAREST TOWN: Julian

NEAREST ROAD: Highway 79 near Coulter Ridge Rd.

OBSERVED: We went camping for a couple nights near Julian, CA. in a location just a couple miles south of town adjacent to Hwy 79. We arrived on a Friday night and stayed thru Sunday afternoon. We were sharing a tent trailer with friends. Both mornings before dawn I walked my wife over to the nearby porta-potty/restroom. Both nights were clear and quite dark with partial moonlight but the area has a lot of trees so there are shadows even though you can see well enough to walk over to the restrooms without a flashlight.

The first morning we walked over to the bathroom without incident and it's very quiet there, especially in the evenings.

The second morning probably about 0540 as I waited for my wife I very clearly heard a tree knock. It came from north of our location. When my wife came out of the restroom I told her what I heard and asked her if she heard it. She did not. We walked back to the tent trailer and got back in bed as the sun was not rising until closer to 0700. We were both awake about 15 minutes later and both heard a single whoop sound this time from a bit to the east. Right after the whoop sound was heard there were blue jays in the trees around us that went nuts making all kinds of noise for about 20 seconds then all was quiet again.

A bit later, still before dark, I got up and kindled the fire a bit outside and decided to take my vehicle up the road to drop some trash off near the campground office. Another friend from a second tent trailer also camping with us was up at this time. I told her about the tree knock and whoop that was heard. When I returned from the quick errand to the trash bin. She told me she had also heard a tree knock, but this time it was to our west. A few minutes later I heard 2 more whoops one from the south east then a couple minutes after that to the south. These were not coyotes yipping. Not sure what else to say about it but it was interesting!

ALSO NOTICED: The tree knock i heard sounded just like someone hitting a tree trunk with a baseball bat or a solid limb. Very solid, clear sound like a we hit baseball. It had been windy earlier that night, but when these things happened it was quite still.

OTHER WITNESSES: My wife and a friends wife.

OTHER STORIES: Not that I am aware of. This was my 1st time camping here. I'd like to go back to see if there is anything else similar or related to what we heard.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 0540 am clear skies with partial moonlight

ENVIRONMENT: Pines and oaks, manzanita as well as some other trees similar to quaking aspens with some wild grapes, etc. Typical southern CA 4500' plants, trees and grasses.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

This area is a zone of sighting reports extending back many years. The "Borrego Sandman" legend comes from this area, generally.

More recently there have been encounter on the San Ysabel Reservation and closer to Mt. Palomar and Lake Henshaw.

The witness is a fire captain for a city in Orange County. He said the whoops were too low pitched to be a coyote or dog or owl. They were ape-like.

Here's what the area looks like.









Here's a statue of the local Bigfoot referred to as the Borrego Sandman.

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO