Mateo Arguello
Colorado
Date: Fall of 2004 Time: Around 7:30 PM to 8 PM Grid: Colorado. Elevation: 6,309 FT
I used to work at a tourist attraction called ________ during the summers and winters as general maintenance. It’s located in a large canyon on the steps of the Front Range and the foothills of Pikes Peak. One day during the fall around 7:30 PM we started getting reports from customers coming into the canyon about dead dear on the side of the road near the entrance. So my manager and I went down to the entrance to investigate, upon reaching the entrance of _________ we saw the first deer to the North East side of the road in a mini reservoir by 4 ft width and 7 ft length that looked almost completely intact, no bullet wounds or evidence of animal attacks were found, It did however have an opening in its belly and its guts had been partially taken out. Upon further search we found another dead dear in the same manner along the side of the road to the NE about 10 meters from the last, and another deer about 6 meters on the other side of the road to the SW all in the same fashion, we both commented on how odd it was and assumed it was the work of “devil worshippers”. The deer where juveniles and the way their necks were positioned made me wonder if their neck had been snapped. What I found most curious was how no one had seen them being dumped while it was still day light – during one of our busiest times of the year where we get hundreds of cars in a day that are constantly driving back and forth on the road where the juvenile deers where found.
Date: Winter of 2005 Time: Around 11 PM to 12 PM Grid: believed to be north of Woodland Park Elevation: 7,904 FT
Occurring in the winter of 2005 my friends and I went night hiking near Woodland Park, we drove from Colorado Springs and past Woodland Park heading northward till we got to a rest stop on the west side (I think) of the road that had trails going into the woods and we assumed it was National Forest, so we got our gear, mainly food, water and a spot light and started heading west for about 300 meters in 1 FT deep snow until the terrain started to angle upwards at about a 45 degree angle. The snow became about 1 1/2 FT deep almost to our knees, half way up the hill, about 900 FT hill or so, I abandoned my friends and started heading up faster cause they were talking and taking there time, I was almost 45 FT from the top when all of the sudden I heard a terrifying human part animal scream –a screech like nothing I’ve ever heard before (like that of a screaming woman and an animal)! I stood motionless unable to move, with a fear I could not understand nor explain, part of my brain found it illogical that a scream would have this effect but yet there I was petrified like some survival instinct had just kicked In that made me stand perfectly still. Eventually my friends showed up, I thought it was only about 2 mins later, but after asking them if they had heard the screams, I learned they had not. This made me wonder how much further off they actually were and how much time had actually passed. At first they thought I was joking, mainly because I don’t get scared easily and this is the first time they had seen such a reaction; like I saw a ghost or something. When it had finally become clear that I was not joking they got worried and wanted to go back. Though by this time, I had regained my composure and had come back to my senses.
I insisted we push on to the direction of noise. Finally convincing my four other companions to continue, we made sure to use my 1 mil candle lit power spotlight that I had brought along on the way up; we had to pass a barbed wire fence on the left had side (south side?) in order to reach the area I heard the scream originate from. It only took about 3 to 5 mins of traveling through snow to reach that spot that was located on the top of the hill. Upon reaching the area that the sound came from we came across a stump and around the stump were tracks, but because the snow was so deep there was no way of knowing what it was. About the same time the scream was heard the dogs started barking wildly, they were probably about 2 km out further west on the other side of the hill we were climbing – where we could see lights from a house. I remember talking about why they were barking and thought that maybe there was a bear nearby or something (retrospect: It was winter!). We eventually returned back to the car and called it a night, and it was not till later that I started investigating what the strange sound I heard and that others had heard it too which I concluded could have been a Sasquatch.
Date: 08.14.2012 Time: 11PM Grid: Colorado Elevation: 6,000 FT
A very strange experience just happened to me and my girlfriend at the time around 11 PM so just 40 mins from writing this! I work as a manager at ________ which is right at the foothills of the Rockies and near the city, normally, like tonight when I work nights I meet my girlfriend at the picnic sites right outside the canyon where there are a lot of flat open spaces, a creek and lots of deer where we hang out and talk and sometimes other stuff ;). Anyway I met her there as usual, she got there before me and she was out of her car doing something in the back seat when I pulled up. I got out and talked to her and the first thing she said was that there was noises in the bushes right across the road, which I quickly responded to was a deer on a deer path which skirts the road and where we hear deer all the time at night when we hang out.
Anyway I kept hearing the breaking of sticks and rustling of leaves on the other side of the road so I decided to quietly walk over there and see if I could see one of the deers. My girlfriend did not want me to go so she stayed on the other side of the road. It was dark and the only light I had on me was on my cell phone so as I approached I shined my light into the dense vegetation where the noise had come from. Suddenly a little rock was thrown behind me, I turned back and saw my girlfriend walking back to the car and assumed she had thrown it out of spite for me leaving, then I heard rustling further up ahead and continued walking to the area and it went silent, I figured 2 deer, they normally move in small herds so I figured nothing of it, I turned and started heading back to the car, when another little rock was thrown at me, this time in front of me from whatever was moving in the forest, this time It could not be my girlfriend as she was in her car waiting and I could plainly see it! So then I started getting interested as to what could possibly be throwing rocks at me. If it was not my girlfriend, I know of no deer that can do this! Granted, trying to stay objective and critical I went back and confirmed she had not thrown a rock. This only made her more uneasy and she accused me of trying to scare her, we talked for a little but I kept hearing the noises coming from the trees to the point where I wanted to investigate further.
My girlfriend did not believe me about the rock throwing so I eventually convinced her to come with me and we went up a man made trail thats nearby about 20 ft in then skirted the road on the deer trail to where the sound had been coming from with cell phone lights on. We found nothing, but we heard people on a trail on the other side of the road about 60 meters away walking on a trail by the creek, so we decided to try and scare them so we turned off the lights and made strange howling noises sounding very creepy. In the past we have been able to scare everyone out of the canyon! So I did a few more howls and we forgot about the whole incident and were just enjoying a good laugh, so after that we headed back to the car with the lights off and were at the car for a mere 20 seconds when loud crashing sounds came from the area we had been making noises from. The crashing noises started coming closer to the road and to where we were with the large scrub oaks being shaken violently. Tree limbs and small boulders were being thrown only meters from the tree line. My GF got scared and I got frightened as well and I quickly escorted her to her car and then I went to mine and follow her out. We left in a hurry and I met her at a gas station nearby where we confirmed what we both heard and saw the same thing, she said that when she first got there before I arrived that she kept hearing things being thrown on to the road and thats why she pointed out the noise when I first arrived cause she thought it was strange and after the sticks and rocks being thrown so close she had no choice but to admit something very odd was going on.
Honestly, if it had been the deer or even people I’m confident when I went into the woods and howled loudly they would of left the area and not come back and try and get closer like that. So I’m left to conclude that it was ether a Bigfoot, other being or a person. Also, a reminder, this area is about half a mile from where the 3 juvenile dead deer were found in one of my earlier stories.
The following day I dragged that poor chick with me to check out the site in the daytime haha. We brought a tape measurement, camera and whatever else we needed for documenting. We found footprints in the heavy leaves and undergrowth on the ground. I tried to replicate them by stomping and jumping on the ground to mimic what it would take to make a mark. I even tried on the slanted downhill part of the terrain with no avail. I could not make a dent in the undergrowth and the steps aligned with what we heard and saw the night before. There were even freshly broken tree branches at about 4 and a half feet that went right in the direction of the foot prints. Ironically, I was confused at first because I though the branch was to low for a large bipedal creature and thought maybe it was bear. It was not until I touched the branch that I realized it had already been broken and was only holding on by a section of bark and looked intact until touched. Whatever was there was a very heavy creature indeed. Later that night with my GF at the time I headed back out there with more lights, chemlights, radios – the works! Yes, she even went back with me at night to the same place were we before encountered such terror. I must inspire lots of confidence or she must have been very loyal lol. The brush was so thick that being a mere 10 to 15 ft into the tress and undergrowth made me almost invisible while using an IPhone light and even a regular head lamp. I set up chemlights at various distances and could not see them at all from the road, the closest being only about 25 ft away. I even walked around and had my GF try to find me with and without a light on. It was impossible to see me with the lights off and not easy at all with them on.
This has been the only close encounter where I have had someone else living it with me. The rest where by myself even if I was with others; there has never been someone right next to me the way it was in this experience to verify that I didn’t just go crazy. They are always in the position of power, they always use key points on the terrain and come close via my most vulnerable approach which does not leave very much confidence for me to investigate further in order to have a direct face to face. I’ve been so close to what I can only conclude as a bipedal being.
Date: 01. (Beginning of month).2014 Time: 12PM Grid: 38°53’49.34″N 104°52’56.56″W Elevation: 6,636 FT
There is this large area by Colorado Springs called the scar that is adjacent to Glen Erie. My friends and I go up there to explore and hike all the time. It’s on private property for the most part so not many go in. The terrain is low valleys and shallow forests to the north, large rock hogbacks like Garden of the Gods to the south, also there is a natural rock wall when you enter. The foothills start to the west where a large hill has been half way mined off long ago and now is a big horned sheep sanctuary. Now, my friends and I like to go there at night to play long distance hide and seek, it’s a lot of fun and a great work out where we get to track one another and I get to practice all the training I learned in the Marine Corps Infantry. In the southern quarter in between the large Garden of the Gods looking formations are some paths that are exclusively used by Navigators (organization) and are not used very often that eventually lead about a mile back to William J Palmers Castle.
One night, we decided to meet there as usual and I got there first and ran into the cliffs and waited for my friend Tom to arrive. I was being hunted and he was to hunt because he came late. He called me to let me know he had arrived and I gave him what I thought was a fairly descriptive location as to the area I was at. He was taking a while and I found one of the Navigators trails and ran about 350 meters down it to the South where I found a monument erected and where the path widened. I figured that would be a good location to see down the trail and have a good egress route if need be. It was very steep and rocky on both sides and I could see well down the slope and had a huge patch of brush on the upper facing slope that I knew if he came that way he would be slow to get to me and id be able to take off. So I waited and still nothing from him.
We howl at one another when we play so we keep the game going and keep it intense so someone is always on your tail. I began to howl and he was really far away so I howled some more and it sounded like he got closer. The howls seemed to be getting pretty close by this point and then I heard him creeping on the slope, from where the trail was at, as though he had started heading off and was trying to go above me and sounded about 75 meters away or so and I howled again to make sure he picked up on exactly where I was. This time I heard his howl again, but he sounded even further away than he had before and I thought he was just employing a tactic of howling more softly and away from my direction as I do in order to mask my scent so to speak. I heard him creeping closer to me, he’s trying to be quiet, but he’s a big guy and so I can here the rocks and gravel under his feet moving as he moves closer to me. He’s trying to out flank me, I’ve gone dead quiet by this point he’s so close, I hear him just above the patch of brush and then he stops, he about 40 feet away and all that separates us is this little patch of brush and a pine tree. I keep waiting for him to come and chase, as it is customary of course. Still not a sound, I heard him walk quietly and gently all the way over to a flanking position, I know he is there; he came so close that It was so obvious where he was. Its not like him to wait, he’s a lot faster than I and so if he sees you, he’s running! I finally get impatient and I say in a normal voice “Ok, Tom I know you are there, come out already, I’m tired of waiting.” After saying this, Tom, lets out another Howl, except his howl is coming from as far away as he was before! This set a panic into motion because who ever had just snuck up on me on two feet was not Tom at all… I stood frozen in place and drew out my phone because I needed to confirm, because Tom cannot be in two places at once. I got a hold of him and told him, “please tell me you are standing right next to me in the brush” he replied by telling me he was not and I then found out he was over a half mile away and he had thought I was on a whole different ridge line! I told him I had to go. This is where the thought finally crossed my mind that what was watching me and flanking me had the possibility to be a hairy man of the forests. Now, in such a situation where I did not feel like I had the advantage, if anything I had given myself a disadvantage, I was not prepared to see who had snuck up on me. There was no easy way to go back with the flanking position I was in, it would have been to go deeper into the woods and the valley and the opposite way of where Tom was. I was shaken and not in any position ready to see what I concluded may have been standing there watching me. So I concluded that if it was a mountain lion I would be screwed if I ran, but I was confident based on its step pattern I heard that it was not, so I ran down the trail toward Tom as fast as I could and made a lot of loud noises in hopes of being intimidating, I did not look back, finally made it to the ravine and found Tom on the other side, I howled at him and told him to come over in haste. He took a while to come over, I was confused why he was taking so long I finally took my light out and flashed him and he headed my way up the ravine where I told him something very strange had just happened to me, but I still felt too close for comfort and we walked and ran up to the old quarry mill where there is no trees and is open on all sides for a good 200 meters in each direction looking over the city.
I told him my story and he then recalled that he had some confusion because he heard howls that he was not sure were mine that kept coming closer and so he thought I was coming to him and had stayed on the other ridge-line. Then he told me that when I got closer and ran to the other side of the ravine he saw a dark shape moving below him and thought that was me, and again thought I was heading towards him till I flashed my light and realized I was on the other side and then lost track of whatever was moving below and came to me. I have been playing this game a long time at night and I’ve ran into all kinds of animals from deer to black bears, there are clear differences between 4 legged animals and bipedal noises. What I heard was a heavy set person trying to sneak up on me on a steep gravely slope and make its way into a flanking position where it was still hidden from sight. It could have been a person, though I doubt one would come hearing some of the creepy howls and noises we make, and I do not think any random person would come in a flanking posture as whatever that was that was 30 feet away. The extra echoes or howls we heard could have been from it bouncing around the large rock formations which makes it hard sometimes to pinpoint where its coming from or could of just been our imaginations. The one thing I know for sure, is that Someone large, tried to sneak up on me and flank me, got within 30 feet, and if I had not thought it my friend, I would have done things much differently and placed myself in a safe place where I could have seen whoever or whatever was coming. I won’t lie, because I felt vulnerable in the position I was in, I did not have the desire to investigate further and I don’t fear much. This was the last time I ever went out again for many years to come – after the first encounter this sealed the deal, I no longer felt safe in the wilds, and refused to go out at night. I did not even come back the next day to investigate I knew deep down inside what I had run into and my days of night hikes and runs; were over.
Date: 10.26.2015 Time: End of Dusk Grid: 38°50’59.22″N 104°59’23.15″W Elevation: 9,655 FT
I have a story for you that occurred last night. I did not witness it myself, but my friend that is a skeptic in many regards did. I have started building a cabin at a campsite I started, which is situated far into National Forest. It’s about a 10-mile walk just to get to civilization. Though, part of the journey is on a regularly used trail – the trail is used to summit Pikes Peak in Colorado. We left late to travel back yesterday, at sunset. I normally don’t hike after dark anymore, but since he was with me I felt safer. It was the end of dusk with a bright moon shining. We had already been walking for probably an hour. I’m a faster walker so I normally take lead and will eventually get about 20 to 30 meters before stopping to let my friend catch up. This is the first time we had ever left so late. As I was ahead a little bit of fog rolled in, we both commented on the large moon rising into the sky and continued walking. As usual I continued walking faster and was making robot noises to pass the time. I had walked at least 30 meters before stopping to see where my friend was. I turned around and he had his machete out with a daunting look on his face only feet from me. I was surprised that he had it out but assumed he felt safer with it unholstered. I asked him why and at first he was reluctant to tell me, but eventually confessed his peculiar behavior.
I had never seen him so physically spooked before, the kind where your body goes into its own fight or flight whether you want it to or not. He told me that as the breach between us kept getting larger he noticed something about 30 ft up the hill off the trail; he had his light on and illuminated his beam in its direction. He describes what he best concludes as looking like a windigo. Being the size of a regular tall person, looking skinning, but still strong and having some sort of crown or horns on its head. What scared him more was that it clearly flanking him from above us and moving quick as in a manner of trying to be stealthy, he only saw if for a few seconds before it vanished behind some trees. He got the instinct impression that it was trying to cut him off as I continued walking further away in order to break the prey from the heard and isolate him so to speak. We were probably at about 9,000 FT around 7ish on a well-used trail during the day. I can vouch for his behavior which was a very defensive and one of fear, much of which was beyond his control. It took him a while to tell me because he thought he was crazy, but I immediately believed him because he was so shaken. We have come face to face with 3 bears at once in the middle of the night while being 40 miles off in an isolated part of the mountains in the past and he had sound resolve. I took out my Springfield XD – 40 from my pack and strapped it on, he was thankful; we went lights illuminated the rest of the journey. He kept a quick pace all the way back, almost to the point I was working to keep up with him. He normally likes being a distance behind, but this time he made sure to stay close and kept looking back.
Obviously my first reaction was a Bigfoot, but his description does not match. He also said he got the feeling that the creature or being had malicious intent. He said it looked more shadowy and he was not sure whether it was because it was just to dark or that’s how it actually looked.