02x12 - Closer Than Ever

[bunniefuu]

[narrator] Previously on
Expedition Bigfoot...

[Russell shouts]

Something charged me
through the forest.

Charged at you?

[Russell] Look at that.
It's a lake.

Everything around this lake
screams Bigfoot habitat.

The objective for both of you

is to try to draw
this thing down

into the open area
of the lake.

[Mireya] Oh, my God,
it's huge.

There are multiple huge

heat signatures
in front of me.

Holy [bleep].

There's only one thing
I know that throws rocks

in the middle of the woods,
and that's Bigfoot.

[Mireya] Ronny,
look at this.

[Ronny]
This is a tree structure

right next to our camp.

[Mireya]
What the hell is that?

[Ronny] It's huge.

It's watching us.

[distant roaring]

[Mireya] Oh, my God.

What the hell is that?

[Ronny] That looks big.

It's huge.

What the [bleep]?

[narrator] While investigating
mysterious sounds,

Dr. Mireya Mayor
and researcher Ronny LeBlanc

have just spotted
what appears

to be a huge creature

on a ridge above them.

[Mireya]
What the hell is that?

[Ronny] It looks vertical.

It looks huge.

And without us knowing
how far away

it is, it's very hard
to determine the size of it,

but it looks enormous
and it's not moving.

It looks like
it's just standing,

staring at us.

What else would be up
in the middle of the woods

registering red hot?

[Mireya] I don't know.

Did you just hear that?

It sounded like a wood knock.

Coming from where?

Yeah, I'm gonna scan
the whole area.

-[Ronny] You got it?
-I'm not seeing anything.

[Ronny] Go back. Go back.

[Mireya] I don't see it
anymore.

I think it's gone.

[bleep]

So weird.

[Mireya] Wait,
what is that?

I got something.

[Ronny] What do you got?

It's just rocks.

It's definitely not
what we were looking at.

[bleep] We need
to look for Russ.

[Ronny] Okay. Let's go.

-[Mireya] Hey.
-Hey. Holy smokes.

Are you guys hearing
all the sounds?

-[Ronny] Yeah.
-It feels like,

once I got up
on the top here,

something was behind
all three of us,

coming up behind us.
What did you get?

We got a heat signature
up the hill.

-[Ronny] Huge.
-A huge heat signature.

It was just, like, standing.

Did it move at all,
or did it stay still?

No, it just stayed still.

It looks like
it's freaking this big.

We tried
to get a better look.

-We couldn't get it again.
-But then lost it.

Gone.

Shh, guys,
did you hear that?

I heard something
right by the water.

[Ronny] Yeah, look at that.

[Russell] All right.
Let's go.

-[Ronny] Mireya.
-[Mireya] Yeah?

[Ronny] How strange is it
that we end up

right back here
at the water's edge?

Yeah, this seems
to be the spot.

I mean, water also a
magnet for animals.

Do you smell that?

It smells
really gamey right here.

Looks like something
came through here.

[Ronny] Yeah.

This whole area's
patted down.

[Russell] We spent
a good bit of time

looking for tracks close
to the water's edge

and around,
and nothing came up.

It always feels like
it's a couple steps ahead.

And so far,

it's outmaneuvering us.

[Mireya] I think this trail
just got cold.

It's crazy that even
during the daytime

this place just
feels like a maze.

It's just so easy
to get lost in here.

[narrator] The team has
set out into the light of day

to search for clues
that may explain

what they encountered
the night before.

So quiet in here.

[narrator] They've divided
their search areas.

Russell will
explore the ridgeline

where the heat signature
was spotted.

Mireya, the dense forest
just east of the lake.

And Ronny,
the area surrounding

the possible Bigfoot
tree structure.

This is where I heard

the sound emanating
from something walking,

breaking branches
and popping.

It does dip down pretty good,

so path of least
resistance

is what they're gonna use.

All of the trees have
these limbs that stick out

and it's pretty likely
that anything big moving

by here is going to brush up
against one of these,

and that's one way in which
we may be able to collect

a hair sample
or some trace evidence.

If you look right down here
in front of me,

see the trees
on both sides of this path,

the branches are all
knocked off.

This has been used
by something through here.

Hold on a second.

Do you smell that?

[Ronny] There's something
really interesting here.

I don't know if you can
see this, but there's a deep

impression right here.

Looks like
a freaking footprint, man.

This is where I was hearing

something walking
and breaking.

We might have
something here.

[Russell] Look at this.

There's a rock
and it wasn't secure,

so something passing
through here

knocked that rock down.

So from right here
where I'm sitting,

if I was on this upper ridge
behind me

where that thermal could
very well have come from,

if I was aware of Mireya,

all I would have to do is
come down here

on the other side
and wait it out.

And I smell something nasty.

It goes down
a good over three inches,
so that's something heavy.

Whatever made these
impressions was really big.

And look at here.
This is broken off.

Definitely looks like
something's been traveling

through here quite often.

It's a straight line.
So it looks like

these prints are coming
down the ravine,

away from the lake, heading
towards a ridgeline above me.

[Russell] Look at this.

This was done
in the last night

because the leaves here
that are broken off

are still green
but they're dry.

Something big
stepped right here.

Something's been through
here last night,

there's no question
in my mind.

Hey, guys, I came down
over the hillside,

and I found a couple
significant spots

where the earth has been moved

by something large
with a big print

and aligned
with exactly what you saw
on the thermal.

Could it have been
something like

a bear or a hiker?

[Russell] It could've been
either one of those two,

but the odds of a hiker
being in this area,

pretty remote,
possibly a bear,

but it does line up with
where you saw that thermal

and where I am on this side.

[Ronny] I found something
interesting on my side here.

Three to four footprints,
deep impressions

going down the slope

of this embankment

and up towards where you
found your prints.

All right. I'm gonna head
to Russell's point.

Ronny, you wanna
meet us there?

Yeah. I'm on my way.

[Mireya] See you there.

[narrator] The team regroups
on top of the ridge.

[Ronny] Hey, guys.

-[Russell] Hey, here he comes.
-[Mireya] Hey.

[Russell] I think it knows
that we're here.

I think our element
of surprise is gone.

And I think that it's
exiting the area.

It looks like it's leading
out to this valley.

How about the two of you
stay on this trail

and follow out
to the valley and stay low?

And what I'd like to do

is get back up
on the high point

and work my way above you.

-[Ronny] Okay.
-Separate and divide

-and cover more ground.
-All right.

-Sounds like a plan.
-[Ronny] We'll get rocking.

[Russell]
The plan moving forward is

Ronny and Mireya
will stay down

in this lower level
where the water is.

I'm sticking
to this high ground.

I know beyond
a shadow of a doubt

that something came through
over this ridgeline.

It's a gamble,
but I think at this point

it's definitely worth it.

[Mireya] When you're in
an area that feels

like you're getting
a lot of activity,

there's a risk to leaving it,

but if you don't follow
that next lead,

there's a good chance
that whatever it was

could just slip through
your fingertips.

In order to make
a discovery,

you have to be able
to take risks.

If there is
a Bigfoot out here,

I'm determined to find it.

[Bryce] Man, wow.

[narrator]
At the command center,

Bryce Johnson is analyzing
a new threat

to the investigation.

[Bryce] I'm constantly
tracking the weather

and conditions
that the team is working in,

and we are in the midst
of unprecedented forest fires

taking place throughout
the Pacific Northwest.

After that dry winter,
the entire peninsula's

like a tinderbox,
so the situation

is not ideal
to say the least.

The good news is,
where we are right now,

we're not in
any imminent danger

but it's something
I'm gonna wanna keep

my eyes on for sure.

That being said,
time is really of the essence.

So I've set up Ronny
and Mireya with some skiff

so that they can
traverse the waterways

and just cover
more ground faster.

[Mireya] Bryce said he was
dropping the stuff off

right around here.

[Ronny] See something
over here.

[narrator] Ronny and Mireya
are making their way

to a rendezvous point
where Bryce has arranged

for valuable supplies
to be dropped.

Hmm. He said he was
dropping off something

that helped expedite
through the river, so...

Oh, wow. All right.

[Ronny] Like little
inflatable kayaks.

Very cool.

-This is great.
-[Ronny] Yeah.

-[Mireya] So this is the pump.
-[Ronny] Oh, very cool.

I'm really excited that we're
actually back on the river

'cause we know that Bigfoot
is using these waterways

for food, for hunting,

and we've had so much activity
since we've been here

along these waterways,

so I'm super stoked
that we are gonna have

some inflatable boats
for us to actually

cover so much more ground
than we could on foot.

It's gonna allow us to access
areas where the water's

really shallow
and get to access points

that we probably wouldn't be
able to get to on the land.

[Mireya] One of the reasons
that this is such

a good strategy is that
when we go into the forest,

-we're making a lot of noise.
-[Ronny] Right.

[Mireya] And by the time
that we get to a place

where an animal's been,
it's heard us.

With this, it's sort of
a sneak approach

where we hear them first.

So I think this is gonna be
really useful.

Yeah, I love this.

[Mireya]
So let's set this up now

and then get on our way.

-Yep.
-[machine whirring]

On my very first
expedition in Guyana,

I went to one
of the most remote

and unexplored regions
of the Amazon.

And the primate
that I was in search of

had never been studied.

They were very
difficult to find.

What I did on that expedition
was actually live out

of a dugout canoe
for several months.

This proved to be
incredibly successful.

Having the advantage
of being on a waterway

where you can be very stealth
in your approach

gives us a much
better chance of seeing them

before they have a chance
to flee.

All right, Ronny,

let's see what's out there.

[Russell] You can really
smell the smoke now.

Holy cow.

That's getting bad.

Look how thick this stuff is.

Those forest fires
are getting closer.

I got to keep moving.

[narrator]
While Ronny and Mireya

search the lower waterways,

Russell is working his way
southwest

along the ridgeline.

[Russell] Hey,
check this out.

Looks like an old
logging road, man.

It's all grown over but...

it's a lot quieter
than what we're traveling.

I think I'm gonna follow this
road up this way,

kind of get a lay
of the land here.

Oh, look,
it opens up out here.

Oh, look at this.

Wow.

Look at this whole bridge.

That's crazy.

I thought
it was a logging road.

Look at that.
It's a railroad trestle.

Looks like it opens up
on both sides of this thing.

Let's go have a look.

Holy crap.

Look how deteriorated,
how much the termites

have just eaten away
this wood.

I'm trying to walk
on top of the wood

that's right on top
of the steel.

And a little sketchy for me
to be walking across it.

Holy smokes.

Look at that.

Nice creek that rests out
on the bottom of this thing.

This is great.

Even though this thing
is deteriorating,

being eaten away
by the termites,

and the steel underneath
is rusted and twisted,

you take advantage
of a situation like this.

I was able to look
up and down this creek

way down in the bottom
and get a perspective.

With the smoke,

the animals are definitely
gonna migrate

towards the water,
towards that low-lying area

where everything is cool
and damp.

It seems like every time
I get close to water,

I get a lot of activity.

You have to have water
to survive out here.

I'm gonna go down
the other side.

Want to work my way down
that creek bed.

[Russell] Holy cow.

Look at this place.

This is unreal.

All the stuff
is literally straight down.

I'm having a hard time
finding a way

to get down to this
water safely.

Looking at these banks,
it's cliff,

it's moss,
and it's muddy and slick,

and it was a dead end.

If I can find a way
to duck out the side

of this hill
and get to that point,

I think I'm gonna get a lot
more answers down there.

Can you see around
that corner?

It looks like it goes up.

Does it open up any more
over there?

[water splashing]

You hear that? Holy [bleep].

What'd you see?

Was it on the bank?

What color was it?

Did it look like
it was upright?
Did it look like a bear?

What'd you catch?

Right on this bank
right here?

Zack, I need
to get off this trestle.

How can we get down?

[Russell] Can you see
around that corner?

It looks like it goes up.
Does it open up any more
over there?

You hear that? Holy [bleep].

Zack, what'd you see?

Zack, I need to
get off this trestle.

How can we get down?

[narrator] Russell Acord
and his cameraman

have spotted
a massive creature

just several hundred
feet below.

Coming down this trail,

we've come across
this trestle.

Cameraman sees something
heading down the water

and it's big.
Daylight's fading fast.

If I can get down there
and get on that trail,

I need to get
on that trail quick

before I lose that creature.

I need you
to stay up here on the top

and be my eyes up here.

I'm gonna grab my radio.

I know that if I can get down
on the bottom there,

I can be right
where you saw it.

What other choice do we have?
You saw these ledges.

We can't get through
that stuff.

Nighttime's coming.
We have to act on this

or we're gonna lose
our window.

Either way,

I can't walk away from this.

[Mireya speaking]

[narrator]
One mile to the west,

Ronny and Mireya
are continuing

their search
of the waterways.

[Mireya] So it's been
a few hours.

Ronny and I
are going downriver

and we hear the strangest
sound in the distance.

Can we take a look at that?

[Ronny] Sure.

[Russell] All right, man,
let's go.

Look.

I'm losing light fast.

I know that it's not
the most safe thing to do,

I know it's dangerous,

but I've got to go over
this trestle,

hit the creek bottom,
and stay on this trail.

Going over.

The answers
that I've been looking for

for 40 years
could be right below us,

and I'm gonna find it.

There we go.

Holy crap,
this place is creepy.

There's something moving
out in front of me.

There's something
on that bank.

[bleep]

Oh, what is that?

Something's in that water.

Every hair on my arm
is straight up right now.

Something has
moved through here.

No way.

Oh, my...

Look at this.

[bleep]

Look at that.

That is a footprint.

There's a heel
all the way to the toes.

Oh, my God.

Look at these tracks.

Oh, it goes
into the water,

right into the water.

Zack. Zack!

I've got some tracks
down here.

I've got legit tracks
right here.

[Russell] Every hair on my arm
is straight up right now.

Something has moved
through here.

Oh, my... Look at this.

Holy [bleep]. Look at that.

That is a footprint.

[narrator] Russell Acord
has just discovered

what appears to be large
humanlike footprints.

[Russell] Wow, look at this.

Do you see that?

[bleep].

Look at the size of that.

That's a really big print.

It's like the heel
hit the ground

and it rolled off
onto these toes.

That's insane.

Oh, look,
there's another big one.

There's a set.

Zack... there's bigger tracks.

What I found
on that sandbar

are footprints


What else would make
a footprint like that?

I've not seen humans
for days.

It's out of place.

Does not belong here
in this space.

This is like the gold standard
of what you hope to find

in your research.

I would like to get

Ronny and Mireya
to scan this.

That combined
with the smaller prints

in the mud down below...

We have to bring them in.

-Russell, Mireya.
-Hey, Russell.

Mireya, I have something here

that I need
to bring you in on.

I found not just a print

but a series of footprints.

[Mireya] Oh [bleep]

Okay, we're pretty far
downriver though.

Send us your coordinates
and we'll be there first thing

-tomorrow morning.
-Roger that.

-[Mireya] Hey, Russ.
-[Russell] Hey.

[Ronny] What do you got?

[Russell]
What I want to show you

is just up above me here.

[Mireya] Okay.

[Russell]
What I found up here is...

amazing and we have
a significant find

that I need you guys
to have a look at.

Here's where it
gets really strange.

Tell me what you see
in front of me.

[Mireya] Oh, my God.

[Russell] These are fresh
from last night.

-[Ronny] Whoa.
-[Russell] If you look

in the water behind it,
there's... it looks like

an impression
in the water back here.

[Ronny] Ooh.

This thing literally appears

to have come out of the water
and onto this bank.

-These toes are crystal clear.
-[Ronny] Oh, my God.

[Russell] Look at
where we are right now.

What are the odds

of somebody
walking through here

-with bare feet?
-[Ronny] Right.

[Russell]
And look just above it.

Right here was
the showstopper.

Now, look how big
this thing is.

It's a little hard
to make out,

but the details are there.

-[Ronny] Holy crap.
-[Russell] Look how long

-that thing is.
-[Ronny] That is big.

And these are going...

[Russell]
It appears to be going

straight towards the water.

That's a big stride.

This entire expedition,

we always felt like
we were a few steps behind.

Looking at these prints
just proves

to all of us
that we are on the right path,

and we are in a hot spot

that we've been
looking for all along.

[Mireya] Here, well,
let's measure it.

[Ronny] Yeah, we'll measure.

[Mireya] Nearly 16.

-Sixteen inches.
-Wow.

Yeah, that's definitely worth
taking a closer look.

Do you see behind me
right here on this back side?

There's a trail that comes
out of this thick.

-[Ronny] Oh, yeah.
-And it goes up

that embankment.
It was dark last night

when I came across these.

I did not go up in here
and do any more investigating.

Footprints have a way
of telling a story.

So I think that this was
a really good find.

A single impression
in the woods

could be really deceiving,

but the fact that there were
multiple prints

that verify each other,
they're the same size,

the same width,
there's consistency in them,

and more importantly,
there's a stride distance

between the two
that really makes me think

we might be onto something.

Sixty-two inches.

-Just over five feet.
-Just over five feet?

That's a pretty good
stride, yeah.

[Mireya] The fact
that we have a right foot

and a left foot
leads me to believe

that whatever made
these prints

was walking upright.

All right.
So here's the game plan then.

I really want to scan this.

And you haven't
touched it, right, Russ?

No. Absolutely not.

So I can collect
an eDNA sample.

-Perfect.
-And we should figure out

where this thing either went
or where it was coming from.

-[Ronny] Okay.
-Once you get done with that

and you've given me
the all-clear,

-I want to cast this thing.
-All right.

-Let's get started.
-Yeah.

[Ronny] This is incredible.

There's a good chance

we're gonna see dermal
ridges on this thing.

There's a good chance
that Mireya's gonna pull

some DNA
from the footprint.

I feel like a kid
in a candy store right now.

-This is awesome.
-[Mireya] It's amazing

how you can now pack
a piece of tech like this
in your backpack

and be able to implement it
in the field,

and this is something
that gives us such an edge

because here we have a print

that will very quickly
disintegrate

with the weather conditions.

[narrator] The scanner will
create an extremely precise

three-dimensional model
of the footprint.

It has a possible scan
accuracy of .04 millimeters

or half the width
of a human hair.

[Mireya] And you can already
see the definition coming in.

That's amazing.

When you don't have
an animal in front of you

and you're trying
to reconstruct

what it looked like
or its behavior,

many times
in the fossil records

we only have one
or two bones

to give us what the entire
picture looked like.

This is not dissimilar,

but the fact
that we have this print

we can actually analyze,

I feel like we can get a lot
of information from that.

All right, well,
the scan looks complete,

so now I'm gonna see
if I can actually render it.

[Ronny] It could be possible

whatever it was
came from this direction,

so that's where I'm going.

Whoa, look at this.

Something heavy and big
is stepping

up and down through this

because all of the soil
is displaced

and I'm seeing this path

definitely going right
down that line.

I clearly see something's
trampling through here.

This looks like a good little
spot to have a trail cam.

The most important thing here
is that we found this print

with still days left
on the expedition,

which gives us
a window of time

to make more strides
forward here.

We have a print.
We know we have a location

where something big
is coming down

to feed and get water.

So now with a few days left,
we are confident

that we're gonna get
what we came here to get,

definitive proof
that Bigfoot

does indeed exist
in Washington State.

All right,
we are armed.

[Russell]
How we doing over here?

It's processing right now,

but I think we're gonna get

-a good scan.
-Fantastic.

Yeah. This is all
clear for you.

If you're ready,
you can go ahead and pour.

[Russell] Boy, this stuff
is drying quickly.

[Mireya] Russ,
when you're done with that,

you got to take a look
at this.

I cannot wait to see
what you got.

Check this out.

[Russell] Wow, you can see
toe separation in there.

[Mireya] Yeah, you can.
Very clear arch.

Holy smokes.

-[Ronny] Hey, guys.
-You are just in time.

-[Ronny] Really?
-[Mireya] Check this out.

-This is awesome.
-[Ronny] Holy [bleep]

[Russell] Look what she got
on the scanner there.

That blows my mind.

[Mireya] So between
this and that,

I think we've really
covered this.

Yup. Think about
all the stuff

that brought us
to this point.

We've been chasing tracks,
we've been chasing

vocalizations,
thermal imaging.

We've got
a few more days left.

I think we should just focus
our attention here,

-set up a base camp...
-Yep.

[Russell] ...start
canvassing this area.

We need to call Bryce.

[Ronny] Definitely.

[phone rings]

[Bryce] Hey, Mireya,
what's up?

[Mireya] Bryce, we have made
a discovery.

-What did you find?
-[Mireya] Not one

but two sets of really
good-looking footprints.

-Mireya, that's huge.
-[Mireya] Yeah, I think

you should pack up
and make your way over here.

We're gonna need
an extra set of hands.

We need to spend the last
few days that we're here

-in this location.
-Oh, definitely.

I want to see these.
Look, I'll, uh...

I'm just gonna find out
your coordinates

and I'll meet you guys
right down there.

-Great job.
-[Mireya] Yeah. Thanks.

All right.
I'll see you soon.

Wow, this could be it.

Yeah. What's up?

What's going on?

[man] Fire departments
already strained

by unprecedented wildfires
in the region

are fighting a new fire

that has broken out
on the Olympic Peninsula.

The blaze was sparked by
a lightning strike

and is not yet contained.

[Bryce] So now there's a fire

that's near the team
on the Olympic Peninsula

and obviously fire
is extremely dangerous,

but now air quality
is extremely hazardous,

so it's too close
for comfort.

[Russell] We've got a lot
of activity down here

and using this space
and this time

is gonna be
absolutely perfect.

Tonight we're
gonna be waiting.

Now I feel like we're really
onto something.

This is a real critical
moment in our expedition

and it's time for the whole
team to come together.

Having Bryce join us
is super important

so that we can really
divide and conquer

and get to the bottom
of what made these prints.

So if I zoom in here,
turn it this way...

-Yep.
-Hey, guys.

-[Ronny] Hey.
-[Mireya] Hey, Bryce,

-you made it, man.
-How's it going?

Check this out.
Got the scan,

the footprint
that Russ found.

-So we're hoping that...
-[Bryce] Wow!

...whatever was there
is gonna come back again

-to that water source.
-[Bryce] Yeah.

And we've got the place
blanketed in trail cams.

-[Ronny] Yeah.
-So the next three days,

we'll cover a lot of ground,

maybe a quarter mile up.
If you--

[Mireya] And I want to go
across on the other side.

You know what?
I need to actually...

I need to stop you guys.
I know that, uh,

that we're getting really
excited about all the things

that we're anticipating,
but unfortunately

I have some really bad news.

Due to the wildfires
in the area

and the smoke
that has settled in,

the air quality index
is over 300,

which is hazardous.

Our production team
has been informed

by the authorities

that we have to
shut down today.

Unfortunately,
I have some bad news.

Our production team
has been informed

by the authorities
that we have to shut down.

[Russell] What?

-Today.
-[Russell] Come on.

-Are you serious?
-I'm dead serious.

[narrator] Massive wildfires

have caused the air quality
in the area

to be extremely hazardous.

I fought them tooth and nail

but there's
an uncontained wildfire

that's not far from here.

You can see it's
getting worse by the hour.

And obviously you guys
have noticed

you can't even
see a hundred yards

in front of you
it seems like.

[Ronny] Yeah.

So are you saying
we have to pack up right now?

That's exactly
what I'm saying.

Our team has given so much
and we've come so close

and it's absolutely
devastating

that something like these
wildfires has taken place.

So there's no way about it.

We have to shut
production down.

But look,
we're not done here.

Obviously, seeing
something like this

and all the evidence
that you guys have amassed

told me that not only did
our algorithm work again,

but we were getting
really close.

[Russell] We've never
been closer, Bryce.

We've never been closer.

Yeah.

[Ronny] Man,
I am crushed right now.

-Yeah, I know. Me too.
-[Russell] I'm heartbroken.

[Bryce] But for right now,
Bigfoot hunting is done.

We have to go.

It feels like we're
getting really close

and then to have just the rug
pulled out from under us,

it's not an easy way
to walk out of here.

There's usually a feeling
of closure,

like you've set out
on your mission

and you've achieved
your goals.

We don't get to walk away
like that from here.

And the frustrating part is

we're not even sure
if we can come back.

It's very possible
that this forest

will no longer be here.

It's hard to describe
what I'm feeling.

We have put
our heart and soul

into this expedition.

We have sacrificed so much

and we've come so close
to something

that for me I've been
looking for all my life,

but it's just
one of those things

that it's out of our control.

So I am just praying

that we're able to come back
to this location

and we'll pick up
where we left off.

This just gets me
more fired up

and gets me more excited
for the future

because we know
that we have now evidence,

definitive proof, that
Sasquatch does indeed exist.

This is just the beginning.

[Russell] We're not
leaving empty-handed.

This cast is the first piece

of significant
tangible evidence.

I'm not a quitter,
and the toughest thing

I'm gonna do today
is to get in my truck

and drive away
from this spot.

And that doesn't
feel good... at all.

[coughing]

Yeah, can't even see
out in front of you.

I'm heartbroken.

You know, this couldn't have
happened at a worse time.

Miss those few days
that I think

would have been
absolutely key.

We literally got the closest
we have ever been.

That's gonna keep
eating away at me.

And even though
this expedition is over,

it's not over for me.

It's not over by a long shot.

[Ronny] This isn't how
I saw this ending.

[Bryce] Yeah, I know.
Me neither, man.

[Mireya] It's insane.

Look at how smoky it all is.
You can barely see the sun.

Any longer, we could have
got stuck out here.

[Bryce] Yeah, no kidding.

-But that's nature for you.
-[Bryce] Yeah.

[Minera] It's a lot stronger
than we are.

Right at the onset
of this expedition,

we were seeing the power
of nature.

We started with COVID.

We had a lot of challenges
and struggles getting out here

and now we're ending
the expedition with yet

another example
of how powerful nature is

with these wildfires.

There's a real clear message

from beginning to end
on this expedition

that nature will always win.

[ringtone]

-Hi, Jeff.
-Hi.

Hi. Nice to see you.

You too.

I have been really anxious
to get on this call with you

and see what you thought about
the cast that we sent you

because you're the guy
and I couldn't think of anyone

more perfect to take a look
at this find.

Oh, I appreciate
the confidence you put in me.

-Thanks.
-[Mireya] There is no one

more qualified in the world
to analyze these prints

than anthropologist
Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum.

For decades,
he's been researching

and investigating
the phenomenon of Bigfoot.

And he has amassed
this amazing collection

of alleged Bigfoot prints
from all over the world.

So I am really hoping
that he's able to tell us

more definitively
if what we got here

is a really strong
piece of evidence.

So I have been really
on pins and needles

wanting to know
what your analysis is

of this cast
that we sent you.

And I'm really hoping that

you have some
new information.

I do. Interestingly,
when it comes to whether this

is a human footprint or not,
we're looking at

a good 15-inch track here.

The number of humans who have

a 15-inch foot is miniscule.

I mean, we're talking
like tenths of one percent

of the population
if even that.

So unless you...
unless you happened
to bump into some

professional basketball
players out there

in your field exploits,

I think it's pretty
unlikely that it's...

that it was a human
traipsing around,

which brings us
to the next criteria.

And that is, was it hoaxed

-or not?
-Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Did someone
on your crew salt the mine

or did someone,
interloper from outside,

leave some evidence
for you to find?

Could a hoaxer
be knowledgeable enough

to incorporate these
subtleties of anatomy?

I mean, one thing that
was interesting that I...

that caught my eye
right off the bat

is, I don't know
if you can notice here,

but on the side here,

there's a pair of bulges

which anatomically
correspond to the bone

that lies right here
in the instep,

what we refer to
as a metatarsal.

-Mm-hmm.
-Here's another...

-Wow.
-...example that shows that

remarkably well,
this one not far

from where you were
in western Washington

and illustrating
that same kind of a feature.

The same bulges.
That's remarkable.

It's remarkably similar.

A subtle detail
of anatomy like that

most people would be
totally unaware of.

Few people would have
the wherewithal

to incorporate
the distinguishing aspects

of the Sasquatch
foot anatomy

into one of these fake feet.

Really?
So let me ask you this.

Given that,
how easy or difficult is it

to hoax a Bigfoot print

that has all of these
different characteristics?

Early on, it was suggested
that all Sasquatch footprints

resulted from these very
crude carved wooden feet

with leather straps
to attach them

to your hiking boots.
And all one has to do

is to experiment with that
a couple of times

and realize how unlikely
that would be the case.

I mean, first and foremost,

attaching that
much larger foot

has the effect
of a snowshoe.

You float on top
of the substrate

rather than sinking in.

Right.

So given these
clear characteristics

that you look for,
how does the footprint

that we sent you add up?

Well, the first impression
that I had looking at this

was there was anatomy
to be seen.

Right off the bat,
it was obvious

that there was a toe row

and there were five
distinct toes

that were of an appropriate
proportionality.

I made some
very careful tracings

of the outline of the foot.

In the center
is the footprint in question

and I took just a couple
of examples.

I was immediately struck
by the overall resemblance

in proportion and size
to the footprints

from the Patterson-Gimlin
film site.

And so, on the left

is a tracing
of one of those casts.

-Mm-hmm.
-And then on the right

is another track, and it

bears some striking
resemblances as well.

Wow, I see that.

But having said that,
I got in there, you know,

really close with a...
with a strong light,

and there are some patches

where there looks
to be skin ridge detail.

-Really?
-Ever so slight,

but that's typical
of primates.

That's incredible.

So what you've presented me
with comports with...

a real Sasquatch footprint.

Wow.

[Jeff] There looks to be
skin ridge detail.

-Really?
-Ever so slight,

but that's typical
of primates.

-That's incredible.
-So I'm confident

you haven't misidentified
a human.

It's clearly not a bear.

I'm leaning to
real Sasquatch footprint.

-Wow.
-Yeah. [laughs]

So, you don't think
this is a hoax?

You think this one
looks pretty consistent

-with the other ones?
-I do. I do.

There's always this specter
hanging over us

-of is it credible or not.
-Yeah.

But, I mean, given
the context and circumstances

you described, I think it's
a solid piece of evidence

that there was a Sasquatch
there on that stream bank.

Wow. Amazing.

That's a real
accomplishment.

[Minera]
I'm completely blown away
by Dr. Meldrum's findings.

And to go as far as to finding
dermal ridges on it

really makes me feel
that we're onto something,

that we have the best piece
of evidence to date

from these expeditions.

There's a real possibility

that there's something
out there

and that we might make
this discovery.