Searching For Bigfoot: Winter 2006 Bigfoot Expedition Diary

Bigfoot In Grants Pass, Oregon

March 2006

Still very excited about all the great friends we had made in Montana and the tantalizing stories and finds we had made, we drove straight through to Grants Pass Oregon to investigate a sighting made by a gentleman named James Jinks. We left East Glacier, Montana at 2 am and came into Grants Pass about 9 pm that evening.

Grants Pass, Oregon is in Josephine County, in the South Western portion of the state. It is located at the apex of a triangle formed by the intersection of two main highways. North West of Cave Junction on route 199, and North East of Medford on I5. It is best known for its fishing, white water rafting, and wealth of outdoor family centered activities. Grants Pass was named by a group of men working to improve the roads in Southern Oregon during the Civil War. News came to them of the capture of Vicksburg by General U.S. Grant and they celebrated the victory by naming the summit of the hill they were working on Grants Pass. The area is dominated by the Rouge River cutting its way through steep rock valleys on its way towards the Pacific Ocean near Gold Hill.

There is also a history of intrigue within this area. Some of the native peoples in the area have long told stories about strange phenomenon close by, in an area referred to as the “vortex”. The Indians of Southwest Oregon knew about the vortex long before the pioneers arrived. The Indians declared the area near the mouth of the Rouge River forbidden ground, due to the strange occurrences in that area. Near by Cave Junction, Oregon has had many stories and reported sighting of our elusive friend “Bigfoot”. It is believed that the cave system in this general area runs to Mount Saint Helens, Washington and beyond. The wild rivers, steep canyons, deep and heavily wooded forests, mild weather, sheltering caves, and rich wild food supplies that make this area an ideal habitat for many animals.

The team was extremely excited about this location. All of the ingredients were here! Mysterious cave systems, natural habitat, remote locations, ancient stories from the native peoples, and a recent sighting by an eye witness. We were ready!

We met James Jinks at a local restaurant when we got to town. We still had not stopped to sleep since we left Montana, but we were too excited about this one to care. All the ingredients were there! The team introduced themselves to James and his significant other, Sandy and we sat down to eat. After we had time to “break bread” and get to know each other a little bit, we got to hear about James’ encounter. James told us how he had found a small group of the creatures while he was out camping. Over an eight month period, he was able to return to a specific place and see and hear the creatures on a regular basis. It appeared to him, that these creatures were living in caves, just below the waterline on the Rouge River. They could be heard entering the water when he got close to the area, and coming back out again later. James also told us about a time while in this area, he was looking for firewood. He found an old piece of 2x4 lumber sticking out from under a large flat rock. He attempted to pull the wood out, but was not able. He removed the flat rock and found it was an entrance into what appeared to be a small cave. He got down on his knees and put his face into the opening and according to him, came face to face with a creature! He told us he slowly backed away and left the area.

We were at a loss for words. The idea that these creatures lived in caves had long been a theory of Tom Biscardi’s, but the concept of them entering through openings below the water line in rivers was a totally new concept that would require more investigation. We couldn’t wait to investigate the area. James agreed to send Sandy back home and bring us to an area very close to his sightings. In that way, we could find a motel, spend the night and all get up at first light, to head out to the location of the sightings, and see what we could find. We were all very tired, but sleep did not come easily for us. The excitement was palatable as we attempted to put it aside and drift off to sleep.

The following morning, we all packed into the truck. Our five member team with James as our guide. We started down a side road paralleling the Rouge River heading towards the coast. James had us pull over onto a small pull out that ended by a narrow trail heading down some extremely steep trails towards the river. By now the weather had changed and it was pouring down rain. We parked the truck and put on our foul weather gear. Once dressed, we followed James down the trail and climbed on down to the river. We passed some sandy spots where we could find foot prints of deer, dogs, fisherman, and other smaller animals, but no signs of our elusive friend. We kept following James, and soon he had us climbing up some rock faces towards the steep sides of the valley above the river. We climbed over rock pilings that did not show any openings, but you could hear water rushing underneath them! It was clear to us that there must be caves or something similar under our feet. Our expectations increased as we labored to get to the spot where James claimed to have seen the creature. Finally, James said, “This is it…. but I can’t seem to find the flat rock...” Our hearts sank!

Here is Tom Biscardi and JavaBob Schmalzbach (in the orange rain gear) at the area where water could be heard rushing through rocks. The photo on the right is the area that James claims to have seen the creature on several occasions.

The night before, when we heard James’ story, he told us his experiences with these creatures had been ongoing for eight months and were still going on. In our excitement and because of our lack of sleep, we made the assumption that meant up to the current time. Unfortunately, we found out now, that James had not been back to this spot for several weeks. During that time, a major storm had passed through the area and moved many of landmarks James had used to locate the exact spot. We were devastated, but so was James. We knew we had to share the blame because we had not asked all of the right questions the night before. We had allowed ourselves to build our expectations up much higher than we should have, and may have lost some of our objectivity during our interview process. It was time to re-think our plan. The river was running much too high and fast for us to be able to search the banks under the waterline for cave openings. We did not have the equipment required for an underwater investigation, and it was still raining. The storm and the current rain would make it very unlikely we would find any signs of a creature being in the area.

Disappointed, the team agreed to head on towards our next sighting location in nearby Northern California. We will come back to this location in summer, when the river level has dropped and we can look for caves or openings along the rocks now covered by the raging water. We thanked James and assured him that we would be working with him again. Tom Biscardi was able to share with James, that after more than three decades of searching for this creature, he was faced with disappointment many times more often than with success. However, the few times that Tom had actually seen a creature first hand were so rewarding that it makes the disappointments worth the discomfort. James will not give up searching for Bigfoot and neither will this team! We dropped James off and headed south towards California.

See more photos from Photos - March 14 2006 ...

Next stop Searching For Bigfoot In Bluff Creek, California ...

Visit some of the other locations of JavaBob's Winter 2006 Expedition Diary :