An account in Del Norte County, California

This report was brought to my attention on Nov. 24, 2002. I am posting for the reporting party. John Frietas called me and requested that I investigate a report that he had been contacted about. I contacted the lady, JW, and she took me to the spot where she had found a track. She had found the track on Nov. 19 (Tues.), 2002 while picking huckleberries with her sister. She had noticed a large track (13" X 7") in one of the few bare places in the area. I might add that it was just a week since it had rained and the ground was still somewhat soft. She went up to the area and made a cast of the track two days later (Thurs.). The track was found in an area next to the road that had been cut with a piece of heavy equipment to form a waterbar to drain the road. Since there was a slight incline to the drainage the weight of the track appears to have been on the downhill side. The cast also picked up a rock approximately 2"X2" which may have caused the weight of the subject to be on the downhill side, hence the reason for a deeper depression on the lower side than the place where one would expect it, on the ball and heel area. The local ranger, MS, was going by when she was doing the casting and saw the track. After talking with other people she was encouraged to report the incident.