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Expedition 2: 19-21 June, 2008  Preston Smith, Mitch Waite, Alex Hearn and Tom ( Azparanormal)

The purpose of this trip:  Our objectives  were to follow up on the Hot zone, and to place game cameras with bait.  We also wanted to try to pull some fur using duct tape stung from trees and bushes in that area.  We also wanted to interview more Forest Service Rangers about their knowledge of the area.

Preston and I departed from Mesa about 4:30pm.  Our plan was to meet Alex Hearn from the Arizona Cryptozoological Research Organization (AZCRO) and Tom (Arizona Gone Wild) at the campsite for our base of operations.  We arrived at the campsite just before dark only to find the entire camp ground had been taken by the Boy Scouts.  There were tents everywhere.  We found a small clearing near the campground entrance that was just big enough for our tent.  Most of the evening we listened to the scouts run up and down the road shouting at each other.  I guess they were all very excited about being in the outdoors.  We listened to them play steel the flag, and flash light tag and playing in the creek. 

Preston and I retired early an laid on our cots listening to the occasional shout and pranks being played over in the campground.  About 11pm we began to hear the whistle from we had heard while we were on expedition 1.  It came down off the mountain past our camp and stopped just prior to the first campsite in the campground.  We could hear the scouts asking each other about the whistle.  Then the cadence of the whistle got very fast. Same tune, but almost like it was enticing the scouts to come out and follow it.  I got up and could see the flashlights coming down the trail as they were chasing the whistle.  It lead them up the small game trail past the turkey kills (locations we found during expedition 1).  And finally both scouts voices and the whistle faded in the distance.

The next morning Preston and I were up and fixing breakfast when we saw the first scout vehicle pull out of the campground.  They were leaving.  On a Thursday, they were leaving.  We thought that to be very odd.  We  had anticipated they would be staying over the weekend, but that was not the case. 

Preston and I went fishing in the creek not too far from the campground.  We did fairly well and caught 6 trout.  We decided to keep two of the trout and use them for a bait/duct tape trap that we would set up later.  Eventually we worked our way up the creek to the Lookout tower.  We stopped and talked to Ranger Red.  He was a very likable person and told us all about the history of the peak on which the tower stood.  And he invited us up to take a look from the top.  But, every time we asked him about bigfoot sightings, he would just shake his head and politely change the subject.  Then just before we left, he commented that the ranger in the tower to the north of us had seen one.  He had been riding a horse and it went bonkers.  The ranger looked up just in time to see the bigfoot running up the mountain.  He said it would reach up and grab the pine trees pulling himself up the mountain as it ran up the hill.  He had never seen anything like it.

After the story we said good bye and headed back to our camp.  We were expecting Alex and Tom to be there when we got back.  It was a strange and eerie thing when we drove into the campground.  All the scouts were gone.  Not a trace of them.  We decided to take our pick of the newly available campsites.  We had the whole campground to ourselves. 

About an hour later, Alex and Tom arrived in the camp.  We went through our introductions and set about making camp and dinner.  Alex had just came from his car and was passing in front of my truck when a rock came crashing down from above.  It caught our attention so we moved under the trees in case more rocks came our way.  Nothing further happened until the next morning I noticed a big hole in the side of my trailer.  On the round next to the trailer was a rock a little bigger than a softball.

\Both Alex and Tom were anxious about going to the site where Susan had her tent squished.  This area became known to our group as the HOT ZONE.  But we took a walk around camp.  We showed them the two turkey kills from the previous expeditions.  We found no foot prints other than humans (Boy Scouts).  Breakfast was ready and waiting so we returned .

We made our way up the rugged road to the Hotzone.  Once there we went down to where we had found several trees that had been woven into shelters which we dubbed habitats.  We found a tall tree and strung a sting over a limb and tied it to one of our trout.  We hoisted it into the air to where it was about twelve feet in the air.  Then we placed strip of duct tape all round to where if something reached up for the trout, it would loose some hair on the duct tape.   We placed two game cameras on the area. 

Working our way west we found a small game trail and followed it.  We ran into 5 scat piles.  It looked almost human, but it was way too large and it was very light weight.  We later learned that this was the type of scat Ranger Dave had found.  It was black, and consisted of mostly plant matter.  Finely chewed with exception of some elkweed leaves.  Look up the medicinal value of elkweed.  Very interesting.

We worked our way back to the road and decided to go visit the Ranger up in the Lookout Tower.  Red was there.  He talked to us for quiet some time until we mentioned the Mogollon Monster.  He avoided the question and moved on to the history of the area.  How the Army used the peak to signal the location of raiding Indians back in the 1800's.  He also told us how 27 people lost their lives in a flashflood area by the water falls.

It came time to leave.  Preston and I took the lead in my truck.  Alex and Tom followed in their vehicle.   On our way down the steep little two rut road, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.  I turned to see the Mogollon Monster stand up in front of some rocks.  I slammed on the breaks which caused a curious reaction of the Mogollon Monster.  It was only 50 yards away and I could see it's face.  Its countenance was "OH Crap!  I've been seen!".  Preston thought I had
seen something in front of us and was busy looking ahead.  Alex and Tom had fell
back too far to see what was happening other than I had slammed on my breaks.

I took my eyes off the monster long enough to find the gear shift to slam it into reverse and look back.  Within that short of time, it had covered nearly 30 yards and was entering a thicket of trees.

As soon as Preston and Alex knew where I was looking they lit out on foot to give chase.  However, it was too late.  The Mogollon Monster had dropped over the ridge and disappeared.  They never got a look at it.  They soon returned to look at the rocks.  It turned out to be a shallow cave system with three entrances.  It was a perfect shelter with more than one escape.

 The interesting thing about the rocks is I had Preston stand where I had seen the Mogollon Monster.  While he stood in the entrance of the cave, his head was about equal to the entrance rocks.  These same rocks only came up to the Mogollon Monster's waist.  Preston is 5'6".  This means the monster was nearly 8 feet tall.

We were all kind of in shock.  We just hung around discussing the event.  Eventually, we had to leave, break camp and head back home.