Searching for Bigfoot

December 9, 2023

The Universe is a mysterious place. Even in this technologically advanced age, there are still a lot of things that we do not know or understand. For example, is there intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe? What is the nature of consciousness and how does it work? Also, where did my mother’s car keys go after I gave them back to her in 1986?

Because of this, Kristi and I don’t like to totally discount fantastic stories even if they sound a bit ridiculous. A seemingly mythical creature, for instance, may one day turn up on our doorstep–humanity’s doorstep, not mine, specifically–and put to rest once and for all the question of its existence.

So, when a reliable and trustworthy friend, Allison, told us that she spotted Bigfoot near a road that runs along the western edge of the Sam Houston National Forest, we couldn’t dismiss her story without giving it due diligence. Therefore, we decided that we needed to make a quick trip to that area to see if we could catch at least a glimpse of the elusive cryptid.

Route: Searching for Bigfoot

Our target was Bay’s Chapel Road, which starts at FM 149 near the western edge of Montgomery County and runs north into Walker County, where its name changes to Pool Road. From FM 1791, we took the scenic route via Forest Road 209 in the Sam Houston National Forest. We chronicled our exploration of FR 209 a couple of years ago in the Old Deer Camp Road post.

Many of the forest service roads have spurs that lead deeper into the woods. Access to these roads by vehicle is prohibited if the entrance gates are closed–and they are often closed. FR 209-B was open today, so we did a little exploring.

We’ve had a colorful fall this year–better than usual in my opinion. And even though the colors were waning, there was still a lot left to see. The drives down FR 209 and FR 209-B were very pretty.

These little spur roads in the national forest are our favorites. They have significantly less traffic, if any at all, than the main forest roads and they run out into the remote corners of the woods. They can be a bit rough, though, and I recommend a vehicle with a high ground clearance. Since this road is not often traveled, there were pine saplings growing in the crown. The taller ones were scraping the bottom of the truck. I told Kristi that they were Nature’s Undercarriage Brushes. I just kept hoping that nothing got caught up in the spinny bits under the truck.

The road ended at a small clearing along the Richards-Raven Equestrian Trail. We didn’t see any signs of Bigfoot in the area, so after taking a few pictures we turned around and drove back to FR 209.

Trees always seek out the light. They don’t waste much energy on growing leaves and needles that sit in the shade. In the next few images note how the pine tree trunks are bare except at the very top. Those that are located in sunny areas next to the road and clearings have branches closer to the ground, though. The slower-growing deciduous trees tend to be located in clearings and along the road where the pines haven’t gotten a foothold.

So far, we hadn’t spotted Bigfoot or any other wildlife. But we did see a Deere:

Spring has its colorful flowers but fall has its colorful leaves and berries. Which is more impressive? Both are worth seeing, we reckon. Either way, we were enjoying the show as we drove through the forest.

FR 209 exited the national forest, and a short time later we turned onto Bay’s Chapel Road. There had been no signs of Bigfoot, yet, but we were now on the road where he had been spotted by our friend.

We drove about three-quarters of the way down the road without seeing a single sign of a big, hairy ape man. We did stop briefly at Bay’s Chapel, though. With pine trees on three sides, it sits atop a low hill, overlooking pastures to the north.

The structure is registered as a Texas Historical Landmark.

A nearby sign pointed to the Bay’s Chapel Cemetery. “Maybe Bigfoot is in the cemetery,” suggested Kristi. It seemed plausible that he might be guarding the cemetery or researching local history, so we drove down Bay’s Cemetery Road to find out.

Bigfoot wasn’t at the cemetery, but we did see these beautiful crepuscular rays shining through the clouds:

Heading back to Bay’s Chapel Road, we continued on our quest in search of Bigfoot.

We were both carefully scanning the roadside, not knowing what to expect. Kristi asked me, “What if we don’t find him?” “Then we’ll turn around and go back down the road until we do!” I replied.

Then something caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted what appeared to be a large figure standing among the trees along a small creek. Could it be…Bigfoot?

“Look! Look!” I shouted. Kristi saw it, too. It was definitely something unusual. But was it, in fact, Bigfoot? Or was it just some tall, hairy guy walking around his pasture? We stopped and Kristi took these pictures.

Yes! It was Bigfoot! Just as Allison said!

Oh, did I mention that she also said that he was a metal Bigfoot? I wasn’t sure whether that was a Bigfoot made of metal or a really cool, awesome Bigfoot. Well, it turned out to be both!

So, there you have it. Our search ended in success! Bigfoot lives on the western side of the Sam Houston National Forest on Bay’s Chapel Road. Case closed. We have concrete…uh…metal proof. Bigfoot is real!

But our adventure wasn’t quite over, just yet. We continued down Bay’s Chapel, crossing the line into Walker County where the road changes name to Pool Road (and the quality of the road surface goes down dramatically). We then made our way back to FM 1791 via Preston Road. We spotted a large ceramic frog sitting on a tree stump, but felt it wasn’t worth the risk to get close enough to take pictures because there were numerous signs warning against trespassing.

At the end of Preston Road, I saw these two figures, which I’ve dubbed the Mini-Amigos after the Two Amigos I have written about before.

I love how when we start these adventures, we never quite know what we’re going to find. Even if we have a specific goal in mind, there is often something unexpected and, sometimes, even better to find along the way. Go out and explore. I guarantee that you will nearly always find something fun and exciting that you never expected to see.