Have You Ever Wanted to Go Squatching?
I guess that all depends on whether or not you believe he exists. But with Christmas in the air and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on television, you might want to sit down and have a chat about the Abominable Snowman. This giant white guy may actually be better known as the Yeti
Here, in the Pacific Northwest, he’s better known as Sasquatch or “Squatch,” for short. Some people simply call him BIGfoot—can you guess why?
Yes, he has a very big foot…or actually two.
With the Abominable Snowman everywhere right now, today just might be the perfect time to get out and explore your local forest or wooded areas to do something you've never done before—Go Squatching—and you just might find an adventure that's been waiting for you all your life.
Folklore and Legends from around the world tell tall tales of very similar cryptids who might all be related. These cryptid cousins could very well be part of one big, extended, family.
And, before you dismiss the idea that Bigfoot is a reality, I would like to include more evidence to help dispel the myth:
CRYPTID NO 1:
Bigfoot / Sasquatch is said to be a large, hairy creature that many shows claim lives in the forests of North America (specifically the Pacific Northwest) and Canada.
Perhaps a mythical monster, this creature has taken on such an iconic status and is so popular today that people go on hunts to find the “shy” creature who is said to get easily spooked. There is even a term for their quest. It’s called "Squatching" or "Squatch'n" and it has become so popular you can find hats and t-shirts with the words and pictures of a giant ape-man.
CRYPTID NO 2: Yeti – comes from Himalayan folklore where history and the Sherpa people who live at high altitudes in eastern Nepal describe the Yeti as a dangerous and monstrous apelike creature, which may be the inspiration for some “legendary” products that are marketed using the very popular name of the creature.
CRYPTID NO 3: Abominable Snowman - this is the creature depicted in the famous children’s cartoon Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and is said to be a Tibetan snowman or large hairy apelike being who lives in the Himalayans just at snow level, south and east Asia.
With stories from all around the world about these elusive creatures, anecdotal evidence has come from China, Japan, Russia, Bolivia, and the United States. This wide range of evidence depicts just how prevalent this creature has been throughout history.
Perhaps some of this evidence will help instill a desire in you to pursue this mystery.
I found a wealth of evidence at the North American Bigfoot Center (“NABC”) in Boring, Oregon (yes, it is a real place).
Plus, we have a local Bigfoot celebrity in our midst. The owner of the NABC has appeared on Animal Planet and other shows where he has shared his story.
He was kind enough to say I could share some photos from his Bigfoot Museum, which hopefully provides some inspiration for you to bundle up and get out in the beauty of nature where you can traverse the trails and hike hidden paths in search of BIGFoot, because there are other people out in the wilderness every day collecting data and evidence to support these elusive beings’ existence.
These people make casts of tracks, gather droppings, and accumulate as much evidence as they can find to help establish the existence of this iconic cryptid.
Parents and children will enjoy the fun and fantastical journey by simply going to some natural areas such as The Bigfoot Museum, on the way to Mt. Hood National Forest, where they can search for this beauty, which some people think of as a beast. But remember, if this creature were truly a beast, we would have caught one by now. Instead, we search for this shy individual with little success.
Whether or not you find BIGFoot along the way or even some tracks you can put into a plaster of Paris mold, it will be a fun and festive way for the family to stay fit and have some fun outside, in a scenic setting, while, perhaps, making a new holiday tradition like Going Squatching.