Sasquatch at the Hot Springs

Cloudy skies hung over the bright green forest, which itself emanated a nebulous mist, inviting us onward. Spring in Idaho is not a warm time, and the crisp winds made me glad that we were going to a hot spring. To get there, we followed a fast moving river downstream through a magnificent forest. The pathway was soft and spongy from spring showers, and I walked barefoot, having left my shoes in the car.

I was touring southern Idaho with a friend, stopping at as many hot springs as we could find. As we walked through the enchanted forest, something unusual caught my eye on the trail ahead. I approached, quizzical. My eye saw it immediately, but I couldn't easily jump to what seemed to be the most obvious conclusion....

A nicely formed indentation had been made in the trail, in the shape of a giant footprint. Surely somebody fashioned it by hand as a joke. I knelt to inspect. I have played around with making forged footprints before, and I know how hard it is. What I was looking at it did not look like a hand pressed imitation. It looked very much like a real footprint. I checked the trajectory, and if it had been a sasquatch, it would have been coming downhill, crossing the path perpendicularly. I followed the course and to my delight, I found another print, almost twelve feet away from the first one. This one was right on the edge of the trail where there was more forest floor debris, so it wasn't as marked or obvious, but was definitely another footprint, of equal size, and with the rough shape of a right foot, the first having been a left.

I went further off the trail to see if I could spot more prints, but the slightly packed but still impressionable loam of the trail was the only place to get such a good mold. I went and looked at the first print again, convincing myself that Sasquatch had been here, some twelve hours before, I guessed, looking at the pine needle build up. Too bad I had missed him/her! I've always wanted to meet one.

A twelve foot stride! Big fella must have been in a hurry. To give you an idea, my own footprints on the trail, even when I ran, barely dented it down. If I were to jump and really drive down with my heels, I could get a dent not even half as deep as the print I found. Whoever made those prints must must have been weighing in at some six, seven hundred pounds.

The hot springs were lovely, and I took a cold dip in the river as well. I love a natural hot springs, with no admission , no facilities, no rules. Just a free, completely natural hot tub out in the beautiful forests of the inland northwest. As we walked back out, I checked the print again, deciding to see if I could get lucky. I scrutinized it closely, and sure enough, my eye caught hold of what I was seeking. A hair! I pulled it out. It was maybe an inch long, thick and brown. I saved it, putting it in a baggy and making big plans to have it sent off to some forensic lab.

Instead, of course, I just lost it. So I guess we'll never know. I mean, I know Sasquatch is out there, but until I can get a picture with him/her, I won't be able to prove it to any of you skeptics out there. That's okay though.

What's funny is that so many people believe in this crazy, fantastical idea that you can give ultimate power to a small class and that they will make decisions that are good for the whole group, but then the same people will scoff at the idea of sasquatch, or aliens. They believe politicians on the campaign trail enough to vote for them, but fairies? Unicorns? Hornswaggle!

I say, if I'm going to believe in something fantastical, it might as well be fun, and not result in all my liberties being commandeered whilst the ecology is destroyed. Sasquatch, the unicorns, the fairies, elves, and gnomes, all want the same thing for us. They want us to stop cutting down the trees and polluting the rivers. They want us to eat magic mushrooms and run naked through the forest. They want us to look at the stars and swim in the lake. To sing songs around the fire, and to plant seeds and harvest fruits and nuts. This is our heritage. This is our world. To whom are we entrusting its management? Obviously not Sasquatch.