Hi everyone! I am a historian who studies how people have related to the unexplained throughout history. I write a weekly online column and this week, I compare my own unusual encounter in the Bugaboos of British Columbia in 1994 with reported sightings of sasquatch. It all happened during a solo autumn hike through this remote mountain region. "I was in quite a calm, relaxed state when I suddenly heard crashing through the trees. I stopped, heart racing, alert that it might be anything from a deer to a bear making the racket. The crashing ceased and I continued walking, only to be confronted by the stinkiest smell imaginable, very strong in the pristine, frost-covered woods. It was very much like an incredible human body odour. I’d never smelled anything like it in the wild, and never have since in my many hikes."

Was it a sasquatch that I came close to crossing paths with? When compared to another case in which an Oregon state trooper saw a sasquatch-like creature cross the road in front him, he was also confronted with the strong B.O. smell.

Click here to read my column about this.

Hope you enjoy and I welcome your input!
Chris

Im not sure if you should automatically jump to the conclusion that bad smell = sasquatch. In British Columbia there are a few plants that could possibly give off the scent that you describe, the White Spruce or the Western Skunk Cabbage. You stated that there was a loud noise as if a large animal was abounding through the woods. This only adds to my suspicion that the smell was merely from local plants; both the White Spruce(also known as the Skunk Spruce) and the Skunk Cabbage release a pungent body odor aroma when the leaves/needles are crushed. The animal that you heard most likely crushed either one or both of these releasing the smell.

its hard to say, but I'd imagine that a sasquatch would probably stink if it was running through the bushes all day.

Thanks Obsidian. You're quite right. There certainly are many plants that create pungent smells, and I've smelled skunk cabbage - it grew near where I lived in BC. I'd have to say what I smelled on the hike was definitely not that. White Spruce, however, I'm not sure of how that smells.

I'm not jumping to any conclusions, and I don't discount that there is likely a non-sasquatch explanation for what I experienced. I do find the possibility intriguing though, especially since I'd never smelled anything like it before or since in all of my wilderness hikes.

cheers,
Chris

Did you have any type of "fear" or "flight" reaction during the encounter? Many people have the theory that Sasquatch emit a underlying pheremone discharge with that odor causing unreasonable fear. Hunters in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey that I have spoken to all reported that "fear factor".


Lapiche

I imagine it smells probably as bad as a bear, or a moose, or a monkey?

Hi Lapiche - Yes, it spooked me. But I was also very curious as to what could have caused it. I was looking for what the source was as I walked out of the area, thinking it could even be someone who'd forgotten their deodorant stick camping in the woods for a bit too long. I didn't really want to face off with anything aggressive - be it a sasquatch, bear or half-crazed woodsman. I do remember wanting to get out there as swiftly as possible, not knowing what I was up against.

I'm honestly not sure what the source of the sound and smell was. I can verify it made me feel quite uneasy - but I did not flee immediately as I've heard people often do in sasquatch reports.

cheers!
Chris

I wish they would bottle that aroma it would sell like hot cakes. I know the mrs would go nuts for eau de sasquatch. Bet she wouldnt be able to keep her hands off me.

I'm not sure if it helps you out but i have written in here before about my Father's encounter with what he saw in florida about 30 some odd years ago, and he still says that the smell that went along with his sighting still lingers inside him, i've asked if he could somehow explain the smell and he said it's a mix between a skunk and a homeless person who hasnt seen a drop of water in a while.

Ha - thanks for your reply. Sounds pretty stinky, and certainly goes with other reports of the strong B.O. and/or skunk-type smell.

cheers,
Chris

"La pi'che" is your eqivalent of "cheers" in Nanticoke "Baybilly" or "Piney" jargon. Since "Nanticoke jargon" is a jumble of Ashanti and Coastal Algonquian I don't know it's specific origin.
In all my experiences guiding in the Pines I never met a "crazed woodsman". The only "crazies" I met were people "from somewhere else".
Pheremonal sensitivity could play a large part of it. Some people are heavily affected. Others, it doesn't affect at all.

Lapiche n'wel nitis. Wani Nokhtekene ki mitsi takta....
( Keep well friend. Those Bigfoot will eat anything....)

I recenlty found a tree formation terrioty mark piney im gonna take a pic and send it to u.

Okay, you encountered a bigfoot.
That smell was one of a kind in this world.
The reason you smelled it is because that bigfoot was just behind your back.
But you won't see it. I'm not joking.

I'd imagine if it were Bigfoot, it would smell aweful. It could have just as well been any other large animal (I've heard bears smell really bad).

It's best when you can smell both...but hearing it, you won't know the difference.

The southern version of Sasquatch is called the "skunk ape" for this reason alone. It seems to be a commonality of this creature, even the ones seen and "smelled" in Arkansas. Pheramones generally do not stink and are usually rather subtle in any mammal, so I think the odor is just indigenous to these creatures. The mountain Gorillas to not have this overwhelming aroma either. Our Sasquatch friends just simply may need a good scrubbing down once in a while.