Sasquatchin': Hunting for Bigfoot in the Cascade foothills

ARLINGTON, Wash. -- In the Northwest, the legend of Bigfoot dates back hundreds of years.

Stories of Sasquatch, a giant creature that roamed the forest, have been passed from generation to generation -- and continue to this day, despite no concrete proof that the creature exists.

Some not only believe in Bigfoot, they say they've encountered it.

Q13 News This Morning anchor Bill Wixey, along with photojournalist Walker Anderson, went deep into the woods of the Cascade foothills to hear their stories and check it out for themselves.

In those foothills is the Jim Creek Recreation Area, 5,000 acres of protected military land.

"We're in this beautiful, lush private, secure area that has a lot of mystery to it....so there`s great potential," said Summer Dahozy, who manages the Jim Creek Recreation Area. "If there's going to be something, this would be the place. We love having little kids come up and finding our Ice Cream Sasquatch. And really promoting a friendlier Sasquatch instead of a scarier Sasquatch."

For decades, there have been countless reports of encounters with something deep in these woods. Something BIG. Something that can`t be explained. So we brought in John Ray, a Bigfoot field researcher, to investigate.

"I don't hunt Bigfoot," Ray explained. "I do investigate when other people say they have seen something, because I've had experiences. I've had sightings, my kids have had sightings, and you don't want to tell people a lot because they think you're crazy. The crazy factor is always there."

Ray has lots of stories to share, as does anthropologist and Bigfoot enthusiast David Grant. You'll have to watch the video above and have them explain it to you themselves. Whether you believe in Bigfoot or not, it's a fascinating mystery.

"As an anthropologist, I just can`t see how somebody would not be interested in this topic, because you have everything from it's a hoax, a hallucination, a cultural motif that is in our DNA, all the way to the flesh and blood mountain man apes, all the way to inter-dimensional beings, so you have the whole spectrum," Grant said. "And all of it is interesting to me, interesting people cultures any which way you slice it. Plus, it's a good way to get out in the woods and meet good, crazy people."

Q13's Bill Wixey and Walker Anderson must be some of those good, crazy people. Here's what happened when the sun set and the night walk began: