Ghost Rider Investigations

I have always wanted to write out a story about this creature. There is another article written about it that I am very close to, but I dictated it to the Bigfoot Society, and they posted it in their magazine. Why you ask did I do that? Well... I must tell you I've seen of these creatures during my life and they are unforgettable.

I have seen two and one of them left footprints that are currently housed at the Anthropology Lab at Washington State University in Pullman. I saw this one in Coeur d'Alene Idaho back in 1976.  I will NEVER forget it.

Our family had friends that had a few cabins just above Lake Coeur d'Alene and we used to go there for a few weeks in the summer and hang out. Me and my sister were allowed to bring friends with us, and it was always a good time.

We would spent the long summer days boating, skiing, playing kick the can and getting spooked in the woods at night. If you have never been to Coeur d'Alene, it in itself is pretty creepy. It is kinda like being at Camp Crystal Lake in the movie " Friday the 13th."

We would walk this trail that went through the woods down to an old day camp..complete with old cabins, bunk beds with just the wire springs for mattresses still on the beds, and an old fire pit. It was weird, and you got the feeling that you were being watched. So many shadows, and sparse, looming tall fir trees to complete the scene.

The camp itself is about 100 feet from the water. Where the camp is you can wade out on this clay shelf in the lake for about 20 to 25 feet before it drops off into the regular lake. It was shin deep.

Everyday, someone was grabbed by the hands and ankles and the " one, two, three!! " was done and they were thrown out in the water, and everyone else would run up the hill into the woods..leaving the hapless victim to be at the camp by themselves for a few minutes.

There were 9 of us kids there, so everyone got a chance to be chucked into the lake. The day came when it was MY turn. I was the smallest at 5'3 and 90 pounds. Being so small, I was thrown pretty far out, and everyone waited until I surfaced, then they took off..leaving me my thongs and a towel.

"HA HA very funny" I thought. I got out of the water and grabbed the towel. As I began to walk towards the cabins I was aware that I was being watched. To the left of the cabins, there was a slope that went down to bleached out tall grass, and above that was the woods and the trail to our cabin.

Before I continue I must tell you that my dad had always told us what to do if we encountered a bear while we were there. It is not uncommon to see Black Bears at Cour Da' Alene, and he always told us to stand still and try to stand down wind from them. So who knew that would ever come in handy?

As I stood by the cabin I saw out of the corner of my left eye a dark figure in the grass. I turned my head and watched it, though my heart was pounding in my chest. I thought it was a bear, until it stood up on its feet, hands to its side, and looked back at me. This thing was about 8 to 9 feet tall, dark brown/black fur, and weighed probably 900 pounds. It was HUGE!! I figured if I was gonna die I was going to die getting away from this freak..so I took the hell off up the hill.

I actually passed everyone on the trail, made it back to the cabin, up the stairs, and into my bed. I was shaking so bad the bed was moving. My parents wanted to know what the others did to me to cause me to act like this, and my sister said no one did anything.

By the time I calmed down enough to say what had happened, my dad and the other dads went back down to the camp, and saw some big footprints in the clay by the shore. The Bigfoot Society came out to cast the prints. My dad and the others jumped up and down on this clay and couldn't dent it; whatever this thing was left prints about 3" deep, and it was walking. Turns out 4 other people saw this thing walking along the shore. I was interviewed for the magazine, and my story made the final print.

I shall write about my other experience later. This is all true and I will never forget the experience. I feel lucky and blessed looking back on it that I was witness to this elusive creature, and if seeing IS believing, I cannot deny I'm a believer.