Belief is a powerful thing. There are some people who believe ghosts are real, that Elvis never died, and that the Earth is flat. We even talked about how some flat-earthers literally went to Antarctica to prove their theory. Sometimes those beliefs get in the way of common sense and safety. Which is what happened to two men in Oregon while searching for one of the most famous cryptids of them all, Sasquatch.
On Christmas Eve, a 59-year-old and 37-year-old left home, reportedly in search of Sasquatch. The creature is known by other names, but most commonly as Bigfoot in the United States. It’s rumored to be a large apelike creature that could be around ten feet tall and seems to be more human in its posture and stance. Does it actually exist? Who the hell knows.
The two men had still not returned by Christmas morning. They had travelled to Washington to explore the Gifford Pincho National Forest. It took a sixty-person search team and an infrared aerial scan to locate the men. Ultimately, they were pronounced dead due to exposure to the elements.
It can be easy to laugh given the nature of how absurd the situation sounds. It’s not like they were stranded from an accident they had no control over and were trying to find a way home. These were two grown men trying to find a mythical creature from folklore, and died because of it.
It’s vital to always plan for worst case scenarios, especially when it comes to the weather. It could always end up being colder or warmer than what you anticipated and if you mix this in with other potential elements like wind and precipitation, a situation can go from bad to worse. Even experienced outdoorsmen can find themselves in perilous situations, so either plan for every contingency or don’t go out at all, especially in the winter.
