I Believe

by

Christine Bruun

I have always believed in things like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and UFO's, even when it wasn't fashionable. It is just part of who I am. However, my interest was peaked one day a long time ago while driving along an Isolated Idaho desert road.

This road ran through the the vast Idaho desert southwest of Rexburg and north of Idaho Falls, Idaho, past a small park and picnic area called Beaver Dick Park. (I am assuming it was named after a trapper named Dick). This road ribbons between Sugar City, Idaho and Sage Junction, (a place where I-15 intersects with the road we were on). There are a lot of potato farms along the way, close to civilization. However, this stretch of roadway runs through an especially empty and harsh piece of desert that has occasional outcroppings of lava that has been heaved up from the bowels of the earth a millenium ago, probably at the very moment of the earth's birth.

Idaho is known for its lava. There are caves, lava tubes, fissures, & crevices that have no bottom. There are hot springs where the water bubbles from the ground hot and smelling of sulfur gases. There are vast deserts that run for hundreds upon hundreds of miles in all directions where antelope, rattle snakes, and jack rabbits are the only inhabitants. There are outcroppings of vast lava fields where the earth has spewed its insides into the open air of a new world in the making.

That day we were enjoying a day of relaxation and travel. We had driven from Idaho Falls to Rexburg via I-15. We decided to take a back road home and stop at Beaver Dick Park for a picnic. It was summer and rivers of heat rose from the pavement.

Suddenly the bare desert scenery was replaced by an isolated outcropping of lava. A large mountain of rock rose starkly from the floor of the desert--one of the a few that broke the desolate landscape. All of us in the car barely noticed the rock, except for my daughter who was absently watching it as we approached.

As we passed a scream shattered the relaxed silence.

"Stop!" she screamed from the back seat. "Stop!"

My husband replied in a startled tone. "What on earth is the matter back there!" He kept driving.

He explains it as having learned the parental art of blocking all the normal kid noises that always accompany an outing with his children. You know what I mean, the, "He's looking at me!" "He's touching me!" "He's making faces at me, mom," kind of stuff we parents all go through with our children. His foot never left the gas pedal as we continued down the road.

"Stop!" she screamed again, more wildly than before. "Stop! Stop! Stop!" Finally my husband eased the car to the side of the road and turned around, expecting to referee a major confrontation between siblings.

"What are you screaming about?" he barked as he turned in his seat.

"I saw something," she sputtered, trying to look out the back window from her cramped place in the back seat.

"What are you talking about. This better be good!" he bellowed in frustration.

" Something was sitting on top of that rock back there and it got up and walked away." She was breathing excitedly.

"Who got up and walked away where? " She wasn't making any sense.

" A Bigfoot!" she managed to spurt out in her excitement.

" A what?" he said as his eyes bugged out of their sockets. I wasn't sure whether they bugged in anger or shock.

" A Bigfoot, Dad."

"Got up and walked where?" he asked, still not grasping what she was saying. Five minutes had past since the first scream had emanated from the back seat.

"He was sitting on the rock. You know that rock that was back there? The one all by itself there by the side of the road?"

"Yes."

"Well, I noticed that it had a funny shape. The top looked funny so I was looking at it. There wasn't much else to look at so I was looking at the rock."

"Ok." he said more patiently.

"Well, as we passed, the thing stood up and walked away. I mean, it stood up and then disappeared down the other side. Like it climbed down from the top or something. Why didn't you stop when I said stop, Dad. We could have followed it." My husband just kind of sat there with his mouth open. The every one in the car was silent. "Can we go back and look?" she asked fervently.

"Ok, but we're not getting out of the car. We'll go back and see," he said reluctantly.

By the time we drove back we could see nothing. Of course, none of us got out or came even close to the rock. No one even thought to walk around to the back side of the rock where we would either have found the creature hiding, or perhaps a hidden entrance into the rocks where it escaped. No one did much of anything but stare at the empty rock.

Now, this rock towered high over our heads. This was no small rock. It was a rather large one. Who knows what we would have found had we been more adventurous. But I am sure that the age of our daughter and our own incredulous shock did not allow us to pursue the matter further. We just shrugged it off to youth and imagination and went on with our drive.

However, to this day, my daughter still swears that she saw a Bigfoot on that rock and she is now 29 years old. I think she was around 9 or 10 at the time she saw it. I believe her. I am going to urge her to contact Bill Asmussen, the Bigfoot artist ,to share her experience with him and perhaps have him draw her experience so we can once and for all, see what she saw on that day. Perhaps this will lead to other research into the possibility of Bigfoot in that area.

There was also a sighting on the Sho-Ban reservation south of Idaho Falls. You can read about that sighting on our pages at www.cactusventures.com/ferrybutte.htm or just go to our Sasquatch Watch Site for more of everything. For a map of the Present Indian Reservations that shows the location of the Ferrybutte Encounter location, Click Here

A brief introduction to South East Idaho

Rexburg, East of the sighting location is in Madison County located 80 miles from Yellowstone National Park & 65 Miles from Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the Junction of Highways 20 & 33.

Idaho Falls, which is south of the sighting location is in Bonneville County on the Snake River on Interstate 15 and Highways 20 & 26

Eastern Idaho is the gateway to the Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks. This area of Idaho is a spectacular scenic treasure. It also offers the finest outdoor winter recreation anywhere. With hundreds of groomed snowmobile trails to explore, you can discover mountain wildlife in its natural state.

The Wolf Recovery Foundation is located in Idaho Falls. You can contact them at: www.forwolves.org/indexx.html

Craters of the Moon National Park is located West of Idaho Falls. Grand Teton National Parks is located North East of Idaho Falls, and Yellowstone National Park is located north of both Rexburg and Idaho Falls.

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