SC EP:1291 The Skookum Thermal

September 20, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In September 2000, a group of Bigfoot researchers from the BFRO left fruit as bait in a muddy wallow in Washington’s Skamania County. When they returned at dawn, the fruit was gone. In its place was a body-sized impression in the mud: a hip, a forearm, a heel, the press of something large that had reached in and then vanished. The group poured hundreds of pounds of plaster and pulled from it the Skookum Cast—a three-dimensional impression so detailed it showed dermal ridges and hair patterns. The cast became one of the most famous pieces of physical evidence in Bigfoot research. Twenty-six years later, in May of this year, a field researcher named Grey Bear went into the same county with a group called the Squatch Docks and Skamania Chronicles. They came back with a thermal video that shows a large, heat-signature figure standing behind a tree, watching them from thirty feet away.

The night walk and the thermal capture

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What you'll learn

1 SC EP:1291 The Skookum Thermal
2 Timestamped Outline
3 (00:03) **Opening Encounter Descriptions** - A montage of witness quotes describing a large figure, gliding movement, and gibberish vocalizations
4 (01:33) **The Meaning of "Skookum"** - Host Wes explains the Chinook Jargon origin and cultural history of the term
5 (03:37) **The Skookum Meadow Cast** - Background on the famous BFRO body impression cast from 26 years ago
6 (04:09) **Introducing Guest Grey Bear** - Grey Bear, a tribal member from Northern California now living in Washington, joins to share his thermal footage
7 (05:22) **The Expedition Setup** - Grey Bear describes joining the research group and the plan for the night of May 1st

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

GrayBear who lives in Trout Lake, Washington writes "I've attached a thermal video that I believe shows a female Sasquatch. If you watch the beginning of the video on a large screen, you may notice a smaller thermal signature appear on the left side of the tree. You can see what appears to be glowing eyes before the figure backs behind the tree.

A moment later, the larger thermal signature emerges from the right side. A very large Sasquatch then bends down, and it appears that she may be picking something up. I refer to the larger figure as a female because of the apparent juvenile nearby.

Pay close attention to the size and proportions of the figure especially the large arms, hands, thighs, and torso. I was also able to enlarge a still frame from the video, and I believe I may have captured what looks like a face. I've attached that still image as well.

This occurred on Friday, May 1st. We returned to the area Saturday morning to review the site and found what appeared to be 15.6-inch footprints around the same tree where the Sasquatch was filmed. We went back again that night and experienced some additional high strangeness, including an X-shaped glyph that still has me completely baffled. Needless to say, it was quite a field-research weekend.

Take a close look at the still image and let me know if you see what I'm seeing. Follow the arm upward toward the shoulder and neck area. From there, you may be able to make out what appears to be a face. To me, it looks like the nose is glowing, followed by what appear to be the eyes and an ear.

I'd really like to hear what you think.

We're getting ready to head back out into the Gifford for another couple of days of field research, this time with thermal drones and audio equipment. We've had some unusual audio activity in the area previously, so we're going back to see what happens during our night walks.

Another field-research adventure is about to begin."