When Neighbors Look Different

We were sitting in the bucket front seats of the 1967 green Mustang. Even though we were parked out in the woods and five miles from McCall up the East side of the lake, bucket seats make it difficult to do much more than kiss on a “parking date.” The other couple that had gone to the woods with us had decided to get out of the back seat of the car and sit on the trunk of the Mustang. For as late as it was, around 10pm this August night in 1968, the air was still quite warm. This was the most common type of dating in the Donnelly-McCall Idaho area for the late 60’s.

There was one odd out-of-place item in the area that we noticed on the way in to the parking space. A log that was not rotted was partially in the roadbed as if it had been dropped there. We all commented on it on the way in. It was quite a mystery for us. We have all spent most of our lives in the woods hunting and fishing. For those of you not used to the woods, here is the problem. Roadbeds that are used a lot do not suddenly have a four foot chunk of log tossed on them, particularly if the log has a diameter of about a foot and green enough to weigh around 100 pounds. It is even more of a mystery since it was not rotted at all. (Ok, if rotted it would make sense because bears will pick up and toss a rotted log, hope it breaks up a bit and dig all those yummy grubs out of it.) We have all seen bears with logs. Deer and elk will not usually move a log but they do play with them.

Well, back to the important business of the parking date. I was sitting in the front seat with my date, and my friend Don was sitting on the trunk of the car (which makes a good seat) with his date. Soon, there is a tap on my window and Don, at the closed window, is giving the universal sign for silence, a finger over the lips. So, quietly I cranked the handle, lowering the window, and giving Don a chance to whisper. What he whispered to me was that all the time they were on the trunk, something kept circling the car just out of view. He said it really stank badly like wet dog in a hot closet. Wanting to know what had circled the car, he then told me that whatever circled us was now directly in front of the car and close by. The smell was familiar, now that the window was down, but I have never figured out what made that smell. All four of us has had about 18 years in the woods from sometime after the diaper stage, and later when comparing notes, we had all smelled that smell without knowing it’s source. I slowly turned the ignition key to the power position which, by itself does not turn anything on. I grabbed the knob for the headlights and saying, “Ok, here we go…” and pulled the lights on bright.

So here are my thoughts as I remember them. Just add a dash of shock and a jigger of fear along the path of these thoughts to get the feelings of the moment just about right. In that first frozen moment when the lights came on, my very first thought was seeing a look of absolute fear in his face. His brown eyes were wide and the mouth partially open but not showing teeth; somewhat, if you were right now to say lightly “ahhhh.” His face was dark, even in the headlights and he had no beard. Then the second moment of realization swept over me. The face that made such a sudden impression on me was sitting atop the body of a person who was about eight feet tall and built like a line-backer for football team. His body was completely matted in thick hair generally six to eight inches long, except as noted, the clear face. I realized our neighbor was not human, even though much of what I saw said “he looked good,” “his eyes were brown,” or “he had no beard.” The personification was absolute. He was a person, a neighbor, but just not like the rest of the neighborhood – so to speak. By the third moment of thought, in real time likely not much more that four or five seconds, our neighbor spun around clockwise and with one lunge into the woods he totally disappeared. There was no doubt about whom we had seen. Without any doubt the answer was immediate—that was Bigfoot. It is a lot like looking for gold in the wild. You can see lots of yellow and shiny and wonder if it is gold, but once you see the real thing there is no doubt at all. No doubt about seeing gold the first time, and no doubt about seeing Bigfoot for the first time.

Whether it was the right choice or not, we went back to town. The girls were sisters and went to their house and Don & I stayed in his house for the night. Late the next morning we picked up the girls and went to the local café in the Lardo part of McCall at the west end of the lake. While there we met another couple who had an interesting story. They went out to park the night before and after about an hour they decided to head back to town. When they turned around to head out on the access road a large hairy creature that they later identified as Bigfoot was standing in the road. He had his arms over his head and holding a large log. The couple went around him between the trees and just as they got back onto the road Bigfoot threw the log at them, bouncing off the trunk of the car. As you can guess, we were at the same parking space as they were, but about an hour later. There is no way to account for the attitude of Bigfoot. In later years I would find that most of them are peaceful. It is just that once in a while one of our Bigfoot neighbors will be fed up with our human actions and then expresses the anger. At the time of this sighting I was in the Marines and home on leave.

Once my contract was up with the Marines I moved home and rented a house across from the Marina in 1971. One day an old blue pickup was lurching along the street and came to a rest just even with my porch. From that vantage point I had watched the progress of the pickup and now the owner walking around it cursing and kicking the truck. At one point he said to his truck, “If someone gave me $50 right now, I would sell you.” I dashed into the house, reached to the bottom of the cookie jar and pulled out $50. I ran out of the house to the pickup and flashed the money to the owner. His name was Tim from Missoula, Montana and he had not been sleeping well at night. Tim sold me the 51’ flathead pickup truck and I used my car to take him to North Beach on Payette Lake where he was camping. He said every night smelly bears were ransacking his camp and keeping him awake. They never bothered the tent. I knew there were no bears like he described and wanted to know more. Instead of picking up his camp, we returned to town and later went back out with my sleeping bag to spend the night. At about 3am with a full moon, we were awakened by shuffling noises around the camp. Bravely, or stupidly depending on your point of view, I opened the tent flap and stepped out. What I saw was three critters that were distinctly Bigfoot about 100 feet away and walking west along the beach. By morning light, the tracks were all over the area. Back in those days, up until the late 70’s Bigfoot used North Beach to cross the valley. I suspect that as human dwellings increased in numbers and density along the lake the Bigfoot changed their crossover location to Upper Payette Lake. Besides seeing Bigfoot just south of the beach in a “parking spot” and seeing them at North Beach, I also glimpsed quick views of them along the lagoons and gravel pits in the North Beach area. That whole region is now developed in to a busy park. However, if you camp in the hills east of the Upper Payette Lake, you will find that often at night the woodlands go suddenly silent and odd odors waft through the air.

Even though I have seen Bigfoot many times, my new bride has not. So we will be camping at just the right time up there by payette lake. There will be plenty of fresh veggies on the camp table.

Something Special

A chance to see something special

During the first two weeks of August, most every year now, there should be something rare happening in Payette Lake, McCall, Idaho. Many people have heard of these strange things around the world. The most popular strange thing is “Nessie” of Loch Ness, Scotland. This critter and similar around the world are known as cryptids, a term derived from the study of elusive or anecdotal animals or the study of cryptozoology. The third time I saw McCall's Sharley, was from Shore Lodge docks in 1969 having lunch with my Mother.

At the city of McCall, Idaho is Payette Lake. Don't confuse this lake with Upper Payette Lake which only has flying trout. Payette Lake is the home of Sharlie, seen by hundreds of people in modern times and is a long necked Plesiosaur. Native Americans have had stories about Sharlie since before recorded time and considered Sharlie as evil and dangerous.

I have watched for Sharlie all my life, half a century and I have made some critical observations from seeing Sharlie and extrapolated some very unique insights that answer some common questions. First the facts from observation: Sharlie surfaces once every three to five years, except lately, feeds both day and night remaining in this feeding mode for one to two weeks then vanishes. Sharlie is a “him” and Nessie is a “her," due to observational data. Feeding will last up to two weeks, never more, allowing a greater number of people to spot him. Since 1995 Sharley (or Sharlie depending on source) has been feeding at a minimum every August.


Some people believe that even if seen by reputable people, Sharlie –as well as Nessie—could not exist. This belief is based on modern observation, and not observations made before the food chain was obliterated with absorbed Iridium 192 worldwide. It is believed that there has to be a large population of breeders in order for the cryptids to have survived a mere 65 million years. Actually, Sharlie is a little older than that in measured years.  Dinosaurs lasted over 160 million years mainly because with very little death, time went by very slowly. Environmental pressures determined who lived and died over time. Keep in mind that there are no dinosaurs close to or within the iridium layer. Who would live or die had already been decided. Easy to figure that most lifeforms on Earth will already be gone before the next Earth killer arrives. In the future geologic record just a moment of time goes by between the end of most life and the next planet killer.

You are born, you live, you die. This is true for 92% of all living species on earth. No argument there. However, for any species prior to the iridium purge of 65 million years ago, this may not be true. Many creatures and even plants were born (or sprouted) lived, matured, and stayed in that stage, mature. Of course anytime along the way any critter or plant could be killed or eaten—no unkillable supersaurs. Sharlie was hatched, grew to adulthood, and has remained there ever since. Sharlie is likely to be around 66 million years old and younger than Nessie.

Sharlie nearly always surfaces in the first week of August. Sharlie has never gone more than five years without being seen and lately nearly every year. That means that this year starting around the 1st of August, be at Payette Lake with your camera and zoom lens in hand. When done feeding Sharlie will travel along the south end of the lake from east (old Mill) to west and around to a secret point north of Shore Lodge, dive down about 20 meters and enter an under water cavern to sleep for 1 to 5 years again. When making his last cruise of the lake, Sharlie will be within 50 feet of the shore. Their is nothing more beautiful than being on a dock near the McCall Hotel and seeing that sleek six foot wide body cruize by just a foot or so under the water, or near the outlet of the lake seeing the head rise three feet above the water, and look in your direction while gliding in the water at about 10mph.

Geologist say it is just a lake formed by an ancient glacier, but I suspect the lake was their long before and the glacier moved over the top of the lake. Some spots in the lake are very deep. Near the outlet of the lake where the Payette River begins, on the McCall side of the bridge is a park for picnicking. Great place to wait for Sharley. Another great place to watch is from the Shore Lodge docks if they let you. They should have Sharley parties every August at the docks cheap enough the locals can join in.