06x03 - Right on Track

[bunniefuu]

Previously on expedition big foot

I believe big foot are here in
Washington in large numbers,

but something is causing
that migration route to the fork

why is that taking place here?

We're ready to set up the first sensor.

This tech is unlike anything
we've ever used before.

We've set up a seismic tripwire

along the northern
boundary of our target zone.

If they are migrating up to Washington

they've got to come right past us.

Look at this.

That looks like a footprint to me.

And a big one.

We are rigging cameras.

If anything is on the side of the road

we're going to catch it.

That was pretty strange.

It was crawling across
the road like a spider.

It was a sasquatch.

There's a heat signature here.

What is that?

What the is that?

Definitely not human sounding.

After spotting an
unknown thermal signature

while monitoring the
area around base camp,

mireya and biko are startled
by a large, strange howl.

Biko, I don't recognize that. Do you?

Sort of sounded coyote-ish,

but it didn't quite sound
like coyotes to me.

It was pretty eerie sounding.

That was crazy.

How about those heat signatures?

Have you seen any movement?

I'm not seeing any movement at all.

Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

If that heat signature were an animal,

you would expect it to
have some kind of movement

and reaction to that loud sound.

But because there was no movement,

I suspected something like
residual heat off a log or a rock.

- Hey.
- Hey.

I'm hearing something
crunching around out here.

- Which way?
- Out here.

- That direction.
- Yeah.

- I'm not seeing anything on the thermal.
- -No.

Maybe we spooked it off.

Whatever it was.

There has been so much activity
in and around our base camp,

and whatever it is, it's been
really successful at avoiding us.

We need to figure out a way
to get more of an advantage.

Let's, like, go way
back to the base camp.

- Let's go.
- Let's roll.

I think we should call Bryce.

Hey, mireya, what's going on?

Hey, Bryce, there's been
a lot going on here at camp.

Really more than
the... the tents and stuff.

Biko actually spotted
something right over our camp,

literally watching over us.

Wait, wait, wait. So something
was watching you guys at your camp?

I saw some movement
come down the hill.

And I wasn't sure what it
was, but it looked upright.

We went straight over there,

and we actually found some prints.

Look at this.

That looks like a foot, and a big one.

Not even 200 yards from our tents.

So there's definitely signs of
movement in and around camp

and the trail cams aren't cutting it.

Do you have any tech that
you could help us with here?

I actually have an idea on something
that might help us cover that entire area.

And the tech is light years
ahead of the trail cameras.

That would be great.

Let me get on it and make some calls.

- Thanks, Bryce.
- Thanks, Bryce.

I'll talk to you later, then.

I'm hoping that with all
this tech that we can see it.

I want to put eyes on this thing.

Maybe it's a young juvenile that's
curious out here coming into its own

'cause some of the stuff that it's doing

would just seem counterproductive
to the goal of staying hidden,

and keeping away from humans,

which I think is a pretty
solid goal for, anyone, really.

I mean, I don't like
being around humans.

And I am one. So...

See if we can get something
coming through here.

Yeah.

Since last night. Right
through here. Look at this.

Someone's walking right through here.

Nine miles from mireya and biko,

Russell is searching for the source
of some strange clicking noises

he recorded on the
parabolic mic last night.

Sounds like we're coming
up to a little bit of water here.

You know, that parabolic
mic picked up something

that I've never heard out here.

That sound was... It almost
sounded like a clicking sound

or a... a popping sound.

It was just something
kind of out of the ordinary.

I know we're on the trail.

I think it crossed.

There's no two ways about it.

We're getting wet.

Let's get the walking stick.

Yeah, that'll work.

Look right through here.

Something's been pushing
these rocks through.

Something stood right here at this edge.

That's where it came out at.

Right there.

Whatever that was

came up through here, right here.

Right here.

And right here.

We're right on it.

Let's keep following this thing.

After getting across this waterway,

I'm seeing one, maybe
two sets of tracks.

The thing is that they're
moving really fast,

and my question is, why?

Are they trying to put some distance
between me and their position?

Or are they rushing to
get to some specific spot?

We know that this is a choke
point for these creatures.

So wherever they're headed, will
they be alone when they get there?

Or will they gather with more?

The only way I'm gonna
find out is if I stay on this trail.

Back at the command center,

Bryce Johnson monitors the surveillance
array they placed just five days ago.

So right now I'm just going
over the, seismic sensors.

Bryce and the team placed an


We're good. I just turned the device on.

That spans the northernmost
part of the target zone,

just below the fork,

that will alert them if any
bipedal creature passes through.

Nothing seems to be
triggering them right now.

So I'm actually gonna go ahead
and, take a look at the camera footage

from last night's car investigation

because around 3:30

I was driving down this dark
road on the eastern quadrant

of the target zone and something
just darted, behind my car.

That was pretty strange.

So now I just want to go
back through this footage.

I want to start by scanning
the rear-facing thermal here.

Right there. Right there.

That's the thing that went behind my car.

Did you see that?

Look at this.

But unfortunately, because
this thing went behind the car,

you know, as I'm driving down that road,

the distance is just
getting greater and greater,

and the detail is getting less and less.

So, there's just not
much information there.

If I check the footage
from the other cameras

for the same time that this happened,

I might have a better shot of it.

Okay, so here's some of the ir footage.

Because if this thing was,
like, close to the side of the road

and I know I passed by
it and I got it on the rear,

I should have it on the
passenger facing cameras.

Yeah, nothing.

Damn.

I do have some, some
thermal here off the side.

You know what?

If it's back there and it's got body heat,

it doesn't matter how far back it is.

Right there. Right there.

There it is.

Look at that.

Wait a minute.

My gosh.

There's two.

Holy crap. That's two.

At the command center,

Bryce believes he just
discovered two possible big foot

while examining footage from
his car experiment last night.

I'm seeing two individuals, not just one.

But I see like a head,
shoulders, like a hunkering down.

I feel like one is standing
over the other one.

This is not a bear. That's not a deer.

No way. This is incredible.

Two upright walking creatures,
approximately the same size.

What's really intriguing is
the way they're positioned

almost in a strategic sense.

Maybe they're like
waiting to cross the road.

Let's go back to the rear-facing thermal.

Take a look at that thing again.

I can barely make it out.

But right here, look.

So here's the first one.
Do you see this right here?

And as I pass almost
another quarter mile

there goes the other one.

Did you see that?

Wow.

You know what? I
wonder where this was?

This essentially is our target zone.

And I was over here.

That is really close to
where Russell's position is.

Hey, Russ.

Hey, man, it's Bryce.

Hey, Bryce.

I was doing a car investigation last night,

where, you know, I had all of the
cameras basically equipped to the car.

And I captured something
going behind the car.

But I'm reviewing the footage right now.

I got a great thermal,

and you're not gonna believe
this, man. There's two of them.

Holy crap.

I took a look at a map,
and what's really interesting

is where these creatures cross the road

is about 3 miles from
where you are right now.

So these could be the creatures
that you've already observed.

Yep.

Or if they are using this valley to gather,

then it could be another
pair headed into the area.

This is huge.

I'll get you those coordinates from
the direction I think they're going.

- All right.
- I'll stay on it.

Okay. Sounds good, Russ. All right.

So.

We've got the two prints
that we found right here.

Just outside of base camp,

mireya and biko are
returning to the hillside

to collect evidence from
the site where biko spotted

an upright animal
watching him yesterday.

All right. Go ahead and measure that.

- Looks to be about 16.
- Sixteen long. How wide?

It looks to be about 6 inches wide.

These are a little bigger than the
prints we found down by the creek.

Wow.

That's a nice-looking footprint.

It's about 15 inches.

Maybe this is not the same animal,

and we're actually
dealing with two creatures.

What I'm really curious about
is the distance between this

just so that we can get an idea of stride.

Stride. Right.

Heel to heel.

That's almost 5 feet.

So if you think of a typical
human that's 6-foot tall,

they would have about a 3-foot stride.

So, this thing could have
been about 10 feet, potentially.

Exactly.

The fact that there is a left and a
right impression of the same size

tells me that these belong to one animal.

The first thing I'm gonna do is take the
edna sample before we contaminate it

and collect dirt from the very top surface.

Because as animals move around,

they're just constantly shedding DNA.

What will this end up showing us?

Edna is basically a tool
that we use in conservation

to get a snapshot of anything
that is coming through the forest.

And in a lot of cases,
animals that are very elusive,

rare, that just don't show themselves,

this is a great way of confirming
their presence in an area.

Right.

With the edna collected,

mireya and biko employ a
powerful new hand held 3D scanner

to capture the image of the footprints.

All right. So now that
we've collected the edna,

- it's okay to contaminate this area.
- -Okay.

Because the print is
embedded in the dark,

uneven soil of the forest floor,

mireya uses a scanning
spray to create a finish

that will allow the scanner
to pick up more detail.

The scanning spray adheres
to the surface like spray paint.

However, the solution evaporates
over the course of four hours,

going straight to gaseous form,

and will leave no traces or
damage to the area of the footprint.

This is the most powerful scanner
that we have ever used out in the field.

I'm more of a sticks
and rocks kind of guy.

So all this tech is very alien to me.

Here we go.

The creaform hand held 3D scanner
has four cameras and one projector

- and captures data at a rate of 1.
- 5 million measurements per second.

While 3D scanning is widely used
in industries such as aerospace,

healthcare and robotics,

it is also the perfect tool for
preserving artifacts and evidence

by turning the footprints
into a 3D composite image.

All right. The sooner
we get these all scanned,

the sooner we can get it over to Bryce.

Overall, this could be a very big find

because of the
correlation of the evidence.

Biko had a visual
connecting to those prints.

If we're able to get a hit from the edna

that tells us what this
was or what it wasn't,

we could have the information
on a specific species

in an exact location at an exact time.

This could be huge.

- All right.
- -Do you want to get out of here

and see if we can find
anything else in this area?

Yeah, definitely. We've still
got some daylight hours left.

It looks like there's more
than one moving through here.

That's a lot of disturbance
for just one set of tracks.

Seven miles from mireya and biko,

Russell makes his way towards
the coordinates that Bryce sent him,

while also looking for any sign of
whatever animal made the clicking noises.

I think... I think they're
moving in a group.

More than one at least.

Back at the culverts, I
found two sets of tracks.

Holy crap. That's toe prints.

But look at this. There's a second one.

You see the pad, the heel.

We have two separate
types of tracks here.

Look at that. Hey, hey, hey, hey.

That looks like a track. Look at this.

Let me get some
measurements on this thing.

Yeah, there's no claw prints in front of

that's not a bear track.
That looks like a big toe.

Look how that's laid out through there.

That looks like the pad of a foot.

The ball of the foot, back to the heel.

Get a picture of this.

Fifteen, 16 inches.

It's pretty wide.

Right there, 7, 8 inches.

I'm gonna bet whatever
made that clicking sound

made this track right here.

That's a pad. That's a flat-padded
foot with a separated big toe.

You can see how these
ferns are flipped over.

Some are dark green.
Some are light green.

That's something stepping on it.

This thing is moving in that
direction right through there.

I want to get a real quick
cast while we got time.

What was that?

What as that?

Did you hear that?

Let's go. Let's go.

Keep your camera out there
in case something moves.

Okay. Let's go. Let's go.

If I can get a visual on this thing,

it will be any footprint
I can get off the soil.

Look at that. Look at that.

Right through here.

After hearing those
sounds the other night,

I wasn't quite sure what it was.

But after seeing this print and hearing
those sounds directly out in front of me

there's no question I'm on the right path.

Whatever was making that sound,

is doing its best to
conceal where it's going.

When I think I'm hearing
something and then it's quiet,

I start second guessing.

And out here, you can't do that.

I know I'm on the right track.

But I wonder how many of these
creatures could be in the same area.

And if so, are they gathering in
a much larger group somewhere?

- Hello.
- Hi. How are you?

- Good. How are you?
- Good.

Eight miles from Russell,

mireya and biko gather with
a team of lidar tech specialists

sent by Bryce

to install a groundbreaking
security system

fortifying their base camp
against future intrusions.

So Bryce was telling me

you guys have had some
interactions here in the base camp.

Well, that's right. I mean, both of
our tents were virtually destroyed,

like the tent Poles were out.

There was a very sort
of skunky, foul smell.

So something was definitely
running around in here.

I mean, we do have trail cams
set up all around the camp.

A couple of them were triggered,

but there was nothing
discernible in them.

So you don't know which
direction they came in

or how many of them they possibly were.

No idea.

So what exactly is the
technology you guys are bringing?

So what we have is an
array of lidar sensors,

utilizing lasers,

and they can track those moving objects

with a pan-tilt zoom infrared camera.

- In real time.
- In real time.

Wow.

That's amazing because
usually we have lidar,

but generally it takes
hours for the data to process.

This is the first time that
we've been able to use lidar

in real time.

Give us a few to set it up, and
then we'll show you how it works.

- Animals, they're not stationary.
- They're moving.

The fact that the cameras would set off

and point at whatever it
is that it detected out there

is gonna really give us a
huge advantage out here.

There we go. I got it.

We're gathering evidence,
but we still don't really know

what's going on out here.

There's something
moving past our camp.

Or are we in its territory

and it's coming in curious, investigating?

Hopefully, with this 360-degree lidar,

we'll be able to get some answers.

There you go.

While the team continues to
set up the real time lidar system,

I got an email from Russ.

He recorded some
strange sounds last night.

Back at the command center,

Bryce has downloaded the audio
recordings from Russell for review.

All right, let's take a
listen to this thing here.

Okay. Yeah, that's strange.

Let me play that again and just loop it.

It almost sounds like a
little bit of wood knocking,

or maybe even some
teeth chattering. I'm not sure.

Listen to this section right here.

It's almost like something you would
hear in a zoo like in the bird section.

Right?

Like, listen to this.

That is so strange.

Because we get a lot of reports
about vocalizations and howls,

even screams.

But to be honest, something
like this, is pretty rare.

I've never heard anything like this,

so I'm a little out of my depth here.

So I would love to speak with an expert

who can just give me some context

as to not only what could
have possibly made this sound,

but what they think it could mean as well.

Man, look at this view.

Well, well, well,

watch your step, this log is slippery.

You good?

I told you that log is slippery.

After tracking a possible pair of big foot,

Russell has traveled 1400
feet to the top of a nearby Ridge

to survey a valley for activity based
on Bryce's recent car experiment.

I think this is a good spot.

Now it's pretty steep.

So for me to set up here, I
have a great vantage point

because everything
just drops out below me.

So I'll be able to watch through thermals.

This couldn't be a better
spot to watch tonight.

Settle in tonight.

Pull out the thermals, see if
we can see or hear anything.

I don't know if what Bryce saw

are the same two that I've been tracking.

If they're the same or if
they're part of a larger group,

either way, if they come in this
direction, I'm gonna be ready.

Right there.

And get into position.

All right.

From here we just sit
and wait for nightfall.

Back at mireya and biko's base camp,

the lidar team has completed
installing the security system.

Okay, so we have this all
set up, all calibrated now,

ready for the protection
of your base camp.

So what we're seeing on this screen

is that how the lasers
are perceiving our camp?

That's absolutely right.

And the way that you've set it up,

this whole area is now basically secure.

Anything that moves through here,

we're going to pick up on it.

That's correct.

Mireya, why don't you
walk into the center of this

and we'll actually see exactly
how the lidar picks you up.

Yeah, sure.

This lidar sensor array sends
laser pulses in 360 degrees

precisely rendering a three
dimensional image of the environment.

And that's her right there.

- Wow.
- Can you see me?

Due to the laser erased precision,

it can detect even the smallest

amount of movement inside the camp,

instantly triggering the thermal camera

to begin tracking the target in real time.

Biko, why don't you go out
back into the center there.

All right.

While the lasers can reach up
to 70 meters in every direction,

the thermal camera
range for this surveillance

is contained to the
boundary of their base camp.

It's a real time tracking device.

- That's right.
- Incredible.

I like how he's walking like a big foot.

Yeah.

This addresses so many of
our biggest limitations out here,

like at night, in this dense area,

it's obviously hard for
us to... to see things.

And by the time we hear something,

it might be too late to get to it.

This is amazing.

Thank you so much for coming
out here and helping us like this.

It's absolutely our pleasure.

We're gonna make
our way back to the car.

We're all good to go
and we'll see you later.

- Thanks so much, guys.
- Pleasure to meet you guys.

Bye now.

We know that something's
come in to explore a camp.

Let's just use it to our advantage.

We use this as a
blind, throw the walls up.

And then we're going to be
able to basically see from here

anything that moves out there.

That's speaking my language.

I've spent a lot of time hunting
from blinds and it's super effective.

I think big foot knows this
environment a lot better than we do,

but with all the tech we have
and a little bit of woods craft

we've got a good damn chance
of finding out whatever the heck's

been messing with our base camp.

With the walls of the
tent up and secured,

mireya and miko use it as a blind

while monitoring the 360
degree real time lidar system.

It takes Patience.

Sitting in a blind always does.

What's the longest you've spent
in a blind waiting for an animal?

Twelve hours.

- Did it come?
- No.

How long have you sat in a blind?

It's really different for me
when I'm doing research.

I don't use a blind because
I don't want to be hidden.

- I want to be seen.
- Totally different.

And then I want to be
accepted into the group.

But in this case, I feel like
we want to draw in anything

that wants to move through here.

- Yeah.
- So by remaining hidden like this,

we might get some
prey that moves in here.

- And hopefully the predator would follow.
- Right.

Look. Look. Look. What was that?

Something just flew through here.

If we can see a bat moving through here

just imagine how well it would detect

a large, upright animal
moving through our camp.

It's not a question of
will it work? It's when.

I'm on my way to speak
with a guy named Chris.

As mireya and biko begin to
monitor their real time surveillance,

Bryce heads to the west
edge of the target zone

to meet with a local who
could provide more insight

into how these creatures
move around these roadways.

I'm really looking forward
to talking with this guy.

He seems really credible.

He works in cyber security.

He saw this creature cross
the highway in a strange way.

And what he was describing
to me sounded like a big foot.

And after going through
my car experiment footage

and seeing those two
creatures just kind of hiding

and hunkered down
on the side of the road,

well, it just got me thinking.

How many other tactics are these
creatures using to avoid being noticed?

Because if these creatures
are gathering in this area,

at the numbers that I think they are,

then there's probably way more
road crossings than we even realize.

So I'm really looking forward
to speaking with this guy

and hearing about his encounter.

Thank you for taking
the time to speak with us.

I understand you had an encounter.

Yeah, I was on a trip and I
was driving back to Seattle.

There was a massive winter storm
bearing down on the pacific northwest.

It was like one of the
biggest ones in years.

So I was being careful and I
was near centralia, Washington.

And there was about five
lanes of highway on this stretch

is like no buildings, no houses.

It's very dark. It's just forests.

The median in this section of
the highway is bigger than most.

It's probably like 5 feet tall that.

Is this a concrete wall?

It's a concrete wall,
yeah, a concrete median.

And I saw this black object
come out of the forest,

and it was like gliding across
the highway, like floating almost.

It freaked me out. Like I've never
seen anything move like that before.

And I've seen animals
move like bears, you know,

and the way they kind of
lurch when they're running.

It was literally just like
gliding across the freeway.

Yeah.

And as I approached, it crossed my path,

hit the median and popped right
over the median like effortlessly.

Almost like slither over the median

like just instantly kind of pop over it.

Chris said that this
creature seemed to glide,

which reminded me of another
witness that I spoke to named Alan

and his road crossing
encounter with a creature

that moved in an unnatural way.

It was crawling across the road

like a spider.

It wasn't a man.

It was a sasquatch.

This could be more evidence of these
creatures being able to move in ways

that helped them avoid detection,

and that would help to explain how
they've been evading the team so far.

Now, are you still driving or
have you slowed down at this point

and you're sort of turning your neck?

I slowed down and I
was turning my neck

and I was looking out my
window as I was passing it by.

"What is that?"

And these car's headlights that are
heading southbound illuminated it.

So I can see it's this silhouette.

It must have been 8-feet tall because
it was like towering above this median,

and it had that that classic
silhouette, like that classic shape.

The big foot shape.

I saw that silhouette. I saw the head.

I saw shoulders. I saw arms.

But I also felt like there was this sense

of like this thing was
really calm, whatever it was.

To be standing in the middle
of the highway at 12:30am

during the biggest
winter storm of like years.

A detail I find particularly compelling

is how when this creature
crossed the median,

it stood on the other side with
complete confidence and calm.

Almost as if it just knew
nothing was gonna see it.

This feels more like the
behavior of an experienced adult.

Now, when I compare that to
the body postures of the creatures

that my thermals picked up while driving,

they seemed more cautious or wary.

Maybe they were younger and less
experienced at hiding from humans.

All of that makes me wonder if
creatures are gathering in this area

at different developmental stages.

I'm no expert in any
of this by any means.

The only thing I would
say is that the world

has more mystery than it does answers.

Well, listen, Chris, thank you
so much for telling me your story.

- I really appreciate it.
- Thanks. I appreciate it, Bryce. Yeah.

Have you switched to ir yet?

All right.

Stationed on a mountain,

Russell scans a valley
overlooking the clearing.

Bryce believes the creatures
he observed are heading toward.

There's a couple of places down
there that are pretty interesting.

I like that clearing down there. There's...

There's a lot of stumps.
If you can see that,

we're still holding heat
from the sunshine today.

They still look like they are hot.

Keep an eye on that.

Up here on the hill

there's a couple of spots
that are kind of warm.

But I'm wondering if any of those
are just some animal laying there.

I would love to see something
cross that span of open space.

It's interesting to scan from this high up.

To be able to see so much.

This little spot right here caught my eye.

It just looks odd.

Do you see this thing right here?

That right there.

It's out of place because
right in the middle of the forest.

I don't know. It was... It almost
looks like it's getting bigger.

But I can't tell.

Whoa!

Did you see that?

Back in 1847, a French
Canadian painter named Paul Kane

was working on a series of
projects for the Canadian government

that depicted the
remote pacific northwest.

Now, during one of his long expeditions,

he ventured off into the wilderness

- in the hopes of capturing mount St.
- Helens in all of its majesty.

But to do this he needed the
help of the multnomah tribe

to guide him along the Lewis river.

But to his surprise, they
flat out refused his request.

They informed him about a
tribe they call the scookums.

A race of giant, hairy cannibals
that lurked near the river

surrounding the mountain,

and these monsters were
feared and respected by the tribe.

And the area was strictly off limits.

As a result, Kane was forced
to find an alternate vantage point

because no one in the tribe
was willing to risk their life.

So he can make a painting.

While scanning the valley
below with his thermal camera

for a possible pair of big foot...

Whoa.

Russell is startled by a
large moving heat signature.

Where did it go?

There's something down there.

It looked like something upright.

He's right in here. Right in the trees.

From this far away to
see that over a mile away,

that was big.

Man. My heart is racing, man.

I'm not... seriously, I got goosebumps.

That thing stepped back into the trees.

This is right below us.

We've got to get down there.

Let's see if we can pack
up and get a little closer.

Just keep pushing.

That's what I've been looking for.

Up until this point, I've
been tracking what I believe

is a pair of creatures.

But this is the first visual I've
gotten since landing in Washington.

And if we want to find out why
this place is so important to them,

I need to get to where
that heat signature is.

And that way it can verify
that this is one of the creatures

that I've been tracking.

Are you ready?

I need one of these for my backyard.

Back at base camp, mireya and
biko have spent hours monitoring

the 360-degree real time
lidar array for any intrusions.

What would draw a creature
like a sasquatch in is the question.

Well, if it's anything like a
highly intelligent primate,

then curiosity would be, I
think, your best bet as to why

that would move into
an area where it knows...

Yeah.

- That we're here.
- Yeah.

That makes sense
because it's, you know,

dealing with an
intelligent animal like that.

It's going to be a lot different

than dealing with something
like a mountain lion,

or a coyote, which is just trying to
make a meal out of whatever is there.

Yeah, I mean, primates are known
to even detect when there's cameras,

like, trail cams around,

and they'll mess with
them and play with them.

'Cause it's just something
introduced into their environment.

What's that? Did you see that?

Little movements.

Something's coming.

Something's moving towards
us, -it's coming. Zoom in.

I see it.

It just ran away.

You can't see it anymore.

How is that possible?

There was something
moving towards here.

Did you just hear that?

That was two branches
breaking right outside.

Something came from
the creek side direction.

I'm gonna zoom out a little bit.

I wonder if whatever
moved through there

was enough to trigger
the thermal camera.

All right. Nothing triggered the camera.

So it must be outside
the camera's perimeter.

Let's grab our lights and just head out.

Let's try to be quick.

Let's head towards the creek.

I think it's over this way.

There is something
definitely moving out there.