Big Foot Town and Ghost Tunnels!
Back in December, Mitch and I spent the weekend in Harrison, a small town in BC. It’s about a two hour drive away from us and is known mostly for its hot springs. But also known because of BIG FOOOOOTTT!!
There’s been a tone of sightings there, the most recent being in 2009. They really embrace the Sasquatch there including multiple statues around town and annually holding Sasquatch days.
We stayed in a little cottage just by the lake which had its own creepy views (mostly because it was very misty and secluded.) Also because the motion detector light kept going off all night. And because we’re city folk and it was so damn quiet out there!
Harrison is home to quite a few Sasquatch investigators including possibly the most famous, John Green. Green was one of the first people to investigate the 1967 site of the iconic Patterson-Gimlin footage in Bluff Creek. He is also the owner of the largest known database of Sasquatch research.
Harrison has some new Sasquatch researchers, Bill Miller and Thomas Steenburg, who have spent years researching and tracking Big Foot. They offer tours deep into the mountains every year.
Unfortunately for us, we did not see Big Foot. But we also didn’t leave the town to investigate the hills. We went in December when it’s very cold and rainy. I would love to go back in the summer and explore the caves of Mystery Valley. The lore is that Sasquatch hold a reunion there every four years in July. For four nights they meet and keep signal fires burning. 1940 was the last year the fires were seen burning though.
It was really fun walking around and seeing the town embrace Big Foot in all the best ways though!
At Christmas time Harrison is known for their “Christmas Tree Trail” where they light up all along the lake and the main street with Christmas lights. It was really beautiful and they have all kinds of lights and shapes on display. One of my favorites though was BIG FOOT CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!!!
Just a Big Foot casually riding a bike with square wheels…….you know….the usual. Also ya’ll know I couldn’t turn down a souvenir t-shirt.
On our way to Harrison we also stopped at the Othello tunnels. Unfortunately they were closed off this time of year because of rock slides. I really wanted to climb over the fencing and go explore anyway but Mitch for once was safer than me and said no. I laugh in danger’s face when it comes to creepy stuff and ghosts. I mean…kind of…
From 1911 to 1916 Andrew McCulloch built the Othello tunnels to complete the Kettle Valley Railway. It was a huge challenge to find a way through the Coquihalla gorge where the river cut a 300-foot deep channel of solid granite. Once the tunnels were finally completed, there were constant washouts and rock slides that plagued the railway line. It closed because of this in 1959.
We know that building railways back in the day was already treacherous enough, add in constant rock slides and washouts, and that’s a lot of unfortunate deaths.
While there’s not a tone of ghostly experiences in the tunnels, some people have caught bits and pieces of evidence here and there.
I really hope we can go back in the summer and actually walk through them all without risk of rock slides and breaking the law.
Overall, it was a great weekend away! Big Foot and spooky tunnels! But clearly more of a summer activity, although seeing the Big Foot Christmas lights made my year.
