Manti La Sal National Forest
I was not a ranger but worked for an environmental non profit that contracted out w/ the parks service.
i was in Manti La Sal National Forest on a fuels reduction project, working pretty far down a long atv trail that was accessed by an incredibly steep switchback. it was the last day of the project, and our project partners in the parks service had been schlepping gear out all day.
once of them was an absolutely gargantuan man, probably about 6'5" and with ginger hair, but darker, like mixed with rust. he had been helping me with a lot of the heavy swamping (clearing the chopped up debris from my chainsaw) for the duration of the month long contract.
I was hiking back at the end of the day alone --like an idiot. the rest of my crew was a half mile or so behind me (i like to push myself on hikes to keep myself in shape). i was coming around a wide bend in the trail, heavy foliage to my left when i heard a rustling coming from behind the impassable wall.
i slowed down and craned my neck (i'm pretty tall myself, 6'3"), and saw what looked to be the shaggy mop of my project partner through the small gaps in foliage.
and then it moved.
when it moved, i could see there was a whole lot more fur than just a shaggy mop, and also that this hair was covering something much, much larger than even my jotunn of a coworker.
i saw it begin to take one slow, quiet step, and decided not to stick around any longer. ran til my lungs burst, and practically crawled my way back up the switchbacks to our trucks. hid in one of the trailers til the rest of my crew showed up.
i asked if anyone had seen anything on their way back. no one had.
i still dunno what i saw. i tell myself it was an elk. makes sense, given the season and location.
but i never knew an elk to walk on two legs.
#Location/US/Utah #Creature/Humanoid/Bigfoot #Area/Woods