AI Summary
5 min readIn January 2025, Russell was driving past the casino exit in Ocean Shores, Washington, when he saw a Sasquatch standing right next to the road. It was still dark, and his friend in the passenger seat missed it. They drove on to McDonald's, waited for daylight, then circled back to check if a statue had been placed there. There was no statue. But this time, in the thin morning light, his friend spotted the figure again—a gray Sasquatch hiding behind a tree so slender that its body stuck out on both sides, about 200 or 300 yards away. By the time Russell whipped the car around, it was gone.
From Skeptic to Seeker
Russell's journey into the Sasquatch subject began in 2007, almost by accident. A friend mentioned a local family that had seen a Sasquatch, and Russell's immediate response was, "Do you want to go looking for Sasquatch?" For four years, he searched the hardest-to-reach places in Southwest Washington—"the worst place possible," places humans wouldn't go—and found almost nothing: one possible footprint in a pool of water. He lost confidence, thinking the task might be beyond him. "As soon as I had that thought," he says, he had his first encounter. Hiking up a hill, he smelled something dead, but there was no carcass. On a ridge, he heard three knocks. He knew then he was onto something real.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:19) **Guest Introduction and Origin Story** - Russell is introduced as a Sasquatch researcher since 2007 from Southwest Washington.
- 2 (04:59) **First Confirmed Interaction and a New Method** - Russell describes the physical signs of an encounter and how he developed a location strategy.
- 3 (08:52) **The Ocean Shores Gray Bigfoot Sighting (2025)** - Russell recounts a recent, vivid sighting of a gray Sasquatch near a casino exit.
- 4 (13:53) **Why Ocean Shores Has So Much Activity** - Russell explains the ecological draw for Sasquatch on the Washington coast.
- 5 (15:28) **The Beckland Family Encounter and the Scream** - A pivotal, terrifying moment that confirmed the reality of Sasquatch for Russell.
- 6 (18:36) **A Camp Visit, Guitar Music, and a Child’s Voice** - Russell describes how he shifted from researcher to friend by offering a musical gift.
- 7 (23:51) **The Heart-Shaped Rock and the Metaphysical Turn** - Russell’s relationship deepens from researcher to friend, leading to paranormal phenomena.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
In this episode of Bigfoot Society, Russell takes us deep into his experiences across Washington and the Pacific Northwest, beginning with strange tracks, powerful odors, unexplained knocks, and vocalizations in the Willapa Hills.
Then the encounters get closer.
Russell describes a January 2025 trip to Ocean Shores, Washington, where he spotted a figure standing beside the road before daylight. When he and his friend returned to investigate, his friend saw a gray-haired figure attempting to hide among the trees in a swamp.
Russell also shares years of experiences throughout the Olympic Peninsula and Wynoochee area: long screams echoing across valleys, rocks striking tents, strange voices in the forest, possible juvenile Sasquatch activity, trees coming down, unexplained gifts, and something descending a ridge and entering his campsite while he listened from inside his tent.
Some of Russell’s later experiences move into even stranger territory. He describes possible cloaking, mind-speak, unusual dreams, unexplained physical sensations, and his belief that certain locations may play a role in Sasquatch activity.
After nearly two decades of searching across four states and more than 30 areas, Russell has developed a very different understanding of what may be living in these forests.
This is one of those Bigfoot Society conversations that keeps getting stranger the deeper it goes.
Listen through the end and decide for yourself what Russell encountered in the woods.
Locations discussed include Raymond, the Willapa Hills, Ocean Shores, Wynoochee, the Olympic Peninsula, Lake Cushman, Staircase, and other areas of the Pacific Northwest.
Resources:
Russell’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Sasquatch-Shaman-Woods-Russell-Wiitala-ebook/dp/B09LTH43L9
https://www.youtube.com/@SasquatchShamanoftheWoods
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