"I felt the vibration of the noise in my chest..." Barb Horn Hartman's story

Barb Horn Hartman (all photos in this story courtesy of Barb Horn Hartman)

This encounter story comes to us from a friend of Sasquatch The Legend: Barb Horn Hartman. Barb runs a private Facebook group for respectful discussion of Sasquatch encounters. For more information, visit No Drama Bigfoot and Cryptids.

"I promised that I would share my best encounter so here it is! I have only shared this with a few people and I have never shared this in any group.

In early October, 2022, after finding some pretty startling evidence of Sasquatch on our property on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington, I consulted with my friend, Michael Scott, who has been researching them for years. Michael has a Youtube channel called Understanding Bigfoot, where he shares insight about Sasquatch gleaned from his own encounters as well as those of others. I had been sharing my evidence with him for a few months. I told him I wanted to check out an area close by to me where I had seen some odd wood structures which appeared to be potential shelters. (I am not able to disclose the exact area where the structures are because my chief concern is protecting the Sasquatch clan in my area.) Michael gave me great advice on how to handle myself while in that area in the event that I was actually dealing with a clan of Sasquatch. He told me to act as I normally do while I’m hiking in there.

He said specifically not to have my phone stuck out in front of me, like I was trying to record them or get photos. I decided use my waterproof phone case that hangs around my neck by a tether, that I usually wear when when I’m outside on my property or hiking around. I decided to keep my phone recording while I was out there even though Michael warned me I may not get results with my phone. To be perfectly honest, I really couldn’t even fathom actually encountering a Bigfoot in person and I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. 

I set out to what I now call “my research area”, which is within walking distance. As I entered the deep woods, I turned on my phone to record and spent a few pleasant hours walking around and acting as I normally do. I hum, I take random pictures, and I’ll exclaim to myself in delight at the beauty of a plant or the way the sun dapples down through the tree canopy. I even talk to the little squirrels who chitter back at me. 

A tree structure 

I decided to head back home but before left the woods, I wanted to check out two of the most interesting structures I had found a few months earlier. I had saved the best for last. 

 As I got within about ten feet of the first of those last two structures, I heard (and felt) two loud and deep grunt/huffs. I could actually feel the vibration of the noise in my chest and I stopped dead in my tracks. Whatever made that noise was very close to me and it was very large. I instinctively backed up a few feet and tried to gather my thoughts. I was really trying not to panic. I knew that for my own safety, I shouldn’t turn around and run. I wasn’t completely sure what kind of large potential predator I was dealing with. I was also pretty amazed and slightly exhilarated that I had actually heard this sound. It didn’t even seem real!

Another tree structure 

I was definitely sure that it didn’t sound like a bear, canine, or feline. To me, it sounded just like the silverback gorillas that I seen several times in my life. After a few moments, I backed up even further, my heart still pounding, and I decided the safest thing to do was just to head back home immediately. I turned around slowly and began to walk forward, glancing over my shoulder to make sure nothing was following me. Within about 30 seconds, I became very disoriented and had extreme vertigo. I stopped and turned back around, taking deep breaths to calm myself, while continuing to check in the direction of those grunts.

I  thought that the dizzy feeling maybe just be a result of the adrenaline so I took a few more deep breaths and that feeling completely stopped. I slowly turned to continue back towards my house only to realize that I had been heading in a different direction than I first thought. I corrected my course and started walking.

Within a few moments, the disorientation and vertigo hit me again and I began to panic as I again felt that I wasn’t sure where exactly I was. Fortunately, I could see my garage’s roof so I just forced myself to continue walking towards it. Within a few moments, I came into a clearing by our property and that feeling of disorientation and vertigo left me and I felt completely normal again. (I have never experienced that before or up to the present time).

It wasn’t until I got back to my house that I remembered that I had been recording with my phone. By that point, it was completely dead so I had no idea whether or not I had captured those grunts on video. 

While waiting for my phone to charge enough to turn back on, I excitedly told my family about my experience. After charging my phone enough that it powered back on, I discovered that I had, in fact, caught those grunts on video! The sounds are very faint on the recording because I had my phone in that plastic packet, which blocked the phone’s microphone to some extent. 

My husband wasn’t able to hear the grunts through earbuds but could hear them slightly when I broadcast the video to our TV, blasting the volume. My daughter and her fiancé could hear them very well. My daughter said, “Well, that’s absolutely terrifying. I am never staying in this house alone again!”

Of course, I shared the video with Michael, who was able to hear it. He told me that I shouldn’t feel that this was an aggressive encounter, that the Sasquatch was probably just letting me know it was there.  

A few days after the experience, I was listening to a podcast on Sasquatch encounters and how people are hit with infrasound, which can cause extreme vertigo and disorientation. I really believe that’s what I experienced. 

We’ve continued to have some activity off and on. In speaking with other locals, I believe the main part of the clan has migrated to the mountains for the winter, leaving a watcher or two. 

Due to a visual encounter our daughter had a few months prior to this, I now believe that what I heard was a female who was probably protecting a baby or juvenile. She gave me a little warning but didn’t want me to come any closer, hence the grunt and then the infrasound. As a mom, I completely understand this!

Campsite in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest  

Another encounter happened at the beginning of August, 2019. My husband, son, daughter-in-law, their dog, and I went dispersement camping in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We left the main road in Randle, Washington, and took a somewhat treacherous forest road a few miles in to the forest. We found a spot we loved because it was very secluded and we hadn’t seen or heard another soul or vehicle since entering the forest. We had no cell phone service so after taking a few photos, I plugged my phone into the charger inside our vehicle. 

After dinner, my daughter-in-law and I walked down the road together to find some spots to relieve ourselves. It was completely pitch black out. Their dog went with us but he started acting weird, yipping with a low growl. He was about ten feet from me. We tried to called him back to us but he refused to come, which is very unlike him. I ran up to him, grabbed him by the collar, and he sort of snapped at me, which is completely out of character.  

When we got back to our campsite, my son made his dog go in their tent for a little timeout. Within a few minutes, it started to rain, so we hurriedly cleaned up and got into our tents. I am a light sleeper so it took me a while but I finally fell asleep to the continued sound of pouring rain. 

I awoke to a screaming yell like I had never before. I soon realized that there were approximately six to eight creatures howling/screaming/yelling back and forth and over each other. The sounds were terrifying, like absolutely deranged humans. They seemed to be about half a mile from us. I tried to run through in my mind every animal I knew but it didn’t sound like anything I was familiar with: not a dog, coyote, elk, cow, cougar, or bear. It certainly wasn’t any sort of bird. The only thing remotely similar was recordings of Sasquatch audio that I had heard over the years. 

I was facing north, and the sounds were coming from my right and my left. I was absolutely terrified. I was afraid to wake my husband or even move because I did not want to call any attention to ourselves. Fortunately, whatever was making the sounds didn’t come any closer. I also realized that if I had not left my phone in the car, I would have a really good recording of what I was hearing. 

These sounds went on for what seemed like well over an hour as I continued to listen in absolute terror. I’m not sure how, probably from the adrenaline crash, but I eventually did fall back to sleep. 

The next morning I shared what I had heard with my family and we all decided to move out of the forest to continue our camping trip. My son and I have talked about going back there to camp but I’m not sure I want to hear that again. I surely don’t want to hear it any closer than that, either.

I posted videos with audio of some of my encounters in my Facebook group."

-Barb Horn Hartman

For more information about Barb's encounter and the encounters of many others, visit and request to join the group No Drama Bigfoot and Cryptids on Facebook. 

For more great stories, check out our News & Views section, here.