Adam's Appalachian Adventure
That Time I Saw Bigfoot 👣
I grew up in Pearisburg, Virginia. It's a small town in the middle of Appalachia that has some weird things going for it — weird even for Appalachia.
Pearisburg is located in Giles County — home to Mountain Lake, one of only two natural freshwater lakes in Virginia. Scientific studies indicate that an "unusual combination of natural processes" created the 6,000-year-old lake. You know the resort in DIRTY DANCING? That's Mountain Lake Lodge.
Secondly, the New River runs through Giles County. Ironically, the New River is considered by some to be one of the oldest rivers in North America and second only to the Nile as the oldest river in the world.
Also, the county is home to 65,000 acres of protected wilderness (Jefferson National Forest). There are also 253 reported caves in Giles, including the New River Cave, Tawney’s Cave, and Salamander Cave, which is over two miles long. So, you have an ancient river system and lots of untouched, undisturbed nature with small rural towns and cities in between.
Late one night in 2003, I drove home from a friend's place in Blacksburg (nearby Montgomery County). Headed west on Route 460, I crossed over Brush Mountain and went through a series of winding S-curves just outside of Giles when I spotted it - whatever it was.
At first, I thought it was just a tree with trash/litter stuck in its branches. It had been storming, after all — lots of wind and rain. However, as I got closer, my headlights revealed that it wasn't a tree but a creature of some kind.
It was a very tall (7-8’) bipedal animal with broad shoulders covered in fur. The 'trash' I saw was part of a torn tent or tarp — it was wearing it, I guess, like a raincoat. As I approached, it lifted a tree-trunk-sized leg over the guardrail and darted into the brush.
When I got home, my mom, a confirmed paranormal aficionado and horror film addict, started putting on her shoes — she wanted to go back and look for it. My dad, a very practical man, said it was probably just a bear that trashed someone's campsite.
Only this didn't look like a bear. It didn't look like an ape, either. Honestly, it looked more like Chewbacca. Tall, muscular but slender, with long arms hanging down at its sides, and wearing that tarp/tent as a hooded cloak.
So yeah, that's my story about seeing Bigfoot. Honestly, I'm not sure what it was — just something I can't explain. Giles County is like EERIE, INDIANA — there’s no shortage of strange stories, urban legends, and unexplained events there...