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Cliff Barackman has made searching for Bigfoot his life’s work. Over the past 30 years, he has hosted the Animal Planet show Finding Bigfoot, founded the North American Bigfoot Center in Boring in 2019, and looked for Sasquatch himself about three times a week (he claims to have one definite and one possible sighting under his belt). So when two men were found dead in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest on Dec. 28 after going Bigfoot hunting on Christmas Eve, we called Barackman for some perspective.
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office has not yet released the names of the 59- and 37-year-old Portland men, saying only that they appeared to have died from exposure “based on weather conditions and ill-preparedness.” The men were reported missing at 1 am Christmas morning. They were found after a “grueling” three-day search by the sheriff’s search and rescue coordinator involving 60 volunteers and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Barackman spoke to WW from his home in the woods outside of Sandy, where he lives strategically to increase his chances of a ’Squatch sighting.
WW: Do you know who the late Bigfoot hunters are?
Cliff Barackman: No. I’m very anxious to find that out, not only because I’m very well connected in the Bigfoot world—being a pretty high-profile Bigfoot nerd like I am—but we also have a membership program at the museum. If these people were in Portland, then they almost certainly have been to the museum by now, and I’m concerned that they might be members.
Do you have any hypotheses of what happened to them? Did they have a dangerous encounter?
No, probably not. Sasquatches are like bears or whatever else. People see them, and they’re a perfectly normal animal. People do see them more frequently than perhaps most civilians know. But the [Skamania County] search and rescue people said they died of exposure, and that’s almost certainly what happened because it is wintertime and Gifford Pinchot National Forest is no joke.
Is seeking Bigfoot inherently dangerous?
Someone going Bigfooting is like someone going hiking or camping or skiing or rock climbing; it’s just one of dozens and dozens of outdoor pursuits. Whenever you go out in the Pacific Northwest into the mountains or into wilderness areas, it’s a potentially dangerous situation.
They actually did some things right, that’s for sure, based on what little information we know. They told people where they were going to go and what they were doing and when they expected to be back. That’s one of the biggest things.
What do you typically bring when you go Bigfooting?
Basic preparedness sorts of things, like backpacking and survival supplies. For Sasquatch stuff, I always bring a camera. I walk with a video camera in my hand. It’s not always on, but it’s in my hand because if you have to fish for it out of your backpack, you’re not going to get pictures of the animals. I bring a notebook to collect data, so if you find a footprint, GPS coordinates should be taken. And, of course, plaster of Paris, in case I find footprints.
You say “of course,” but it actually doesn’t sound that obvious to me.
Oh really? You gotta remember, I live in a pretty weird world.