Bearing the Truth about Yeti

Most things have a basis in reality, albeit a thin one in some cases, but still a basis.
Lycanthropy accounts for werewolves.  Porphyria gives us a leg to stand on for vampirism.
Zombies have their anchor in Vodun, as Canadian ethnobotanist Wade Davis wrote about in The Serpent and the Rainbow.
But what about the humble Sasquatch?
Yeti, Sasquatch, Abominable Snowman, have been around a long time and pop up around the world from Tibet to California to our own Canadian Rockies.  Some 21 years ago hunters called the newspaper I worked at to tell the tale of seeing a Sasquatch one fine Saturday in the bush.
I didn't cover the story so I've forgotten the finer points, but I do recall that we decided it was probably a bear. A bear looks awfully human standing up and at a distance.

Photo by my husband Mike Mayrl.

 But there is a legitimate basis for the legends, at least in Tibet.
Mountain climber/adventurer Reinhold Messner spent a great deal of time there searching and wrote a book about it.
Mike and I read it years ago as a bedtime story. In it, he describes an encounter with a Yeti and later finding out about a Himalayan bear called a Chemo. It is his position that the Yeti is this bear.
No, that doesn't explain our Sasquatches, but it does give a reasonable basis for the legends, and that's what matters.
Like I said, I believe there's a basis in reality for everything, but that does not mean everything is real.

Another Big, Hairy Deal

Lake Abraham was created when the Bighorn Dam was built in the early 1970s.
The North Saskatchewan River was dammed and the waters flooded a Native burial ground.
The photo shows the east side of the lake.











So we have a new wrinkle in the Sasquatch legend. A purported body that appears to be impressing no one.
Well, the finders have told three different versions of how this poor Yeti got offed and into their freezer.
Y’know what guys? It works way better when you pick a story and stick to it.
I’d love for this to be real although I hate it that something has to die first.
And it’s not the first weird wild creature of the Georgian forest. This is the state that gave the world the magnificent Hogzilla.
That aside, my own area has had its share of Sasquatch stories. Back in 1989 some hunters were out on a fine fall morning and say they saw one of the bashful critters northwest of town. Based on the description we concluded it was probably a bear up on its hind legs.
But the best of all was the Sasquatch who watched as the Bighorn Dam was being built west of Nordegg back in the early 1970s.
You can even follow in the big fellow’s hairy footsteps if you want as it’s quite an easy hike and is known as “The Sasquatch Track.”
It’s a 5.4 km (about 3 ½ mi.) walk with lovely views. You’ll stroll along a ridge and through a meadow and you’ll even see some hoodoos along with your mountain and lake view.
So let the nice men keep to their story about finding the body and being paced by other Sasquatches and their offer to guide people to the area for the low, low price of $499.
You can come up here and follow in Yeti’s footsteps for free.