The Spruce Knob area has fewer documented encounters than Dolly Sods, but reports do exist – and they suggest something wary and curious roams these ridges. In November 2016, only a few miles from here on Route 33 near Franklin, a local couple driving at night spotted a 7-foot tall, black-furred biped on the roadside​.

The creature ran off before they could take a photo, but both witnesses were adamant it was no bear – they had seen a Sasquatch. Hikers and hunters occasionally report strange wood-knocks and whoops echoing in the spruce thickets. In fact, a recent account from August 2020 describes two backpackers in the Spruce backcountry feeling “watched” and shadowed for miles along the Huckleberry Trail during a storm​. They heard heavy footsteps and breaking branches paralleling them in the dark, as if something was escorting them out of its territory. No animal was seen, but the experience left them convinced a Bigfoot had paced them silently among the trees.

With dense evergreen forest and abundant deer, Spruce Knob’s high country is plausible habitat for a large cryptid to stay hidden. (Notably, these mountains are also home to the Virginia Big-Eared Bat and the once-endangered WV Northern Flying Squirrel – elusive creatures in their own right.)

Use the remaining daylight for a short hike on the Whispering Spruce Trail, a half-mile loop around the summit. It winds through mossy, lichen-covered boulders and stunted spruce groves. In the quiet here, even a chipmunk scurrying sounds loud. The trail offers viewpoints where you can glass the valleys below with binoculars. You’ll see the dense second-growth forest cloak everything – imagine a dark figure moving through those woods at twilight, virtually invisible.

If you’re feeling ambitious and daylight allows, drop a bit down the Huckleberry Trail (which heads north from near the tower) to get into thicker woods, then backtrack up – this is the trail where the 2020 “escort” incident occurred, so it’s fitting to scout. Look for any tree structures or odd arrangements (some Bigfoot enthusiasts believe Sasquatch make stick teepees or twist-off branches as signposts). Also keep an eye out for tracks in soft ground; Spruce Knob’s peak has boggy spots where prints could be preserved.

Night 2 at Spruce Knob will have a very different ambience from Dolly Sods. Here, you’re enclosed by towering spruces that dampen distant sounds – it feels close and a bit claustrophobic in the dark.

Set up a trail camera facing the faint path you came in on – any curious visitor (animal or otherwise) might approach camp via that route. Tonight, you might try call blasting: play a recording of an alleged Bigfoot howl at moderate volume into the valley (be mindful not to disturb other backcountry users – likely there are none nearby, but use discretion). The valleys below act like sound basins; you may get a reply from far off. Alternate that with periods of listening. This area is also ideal for using the parabolic microphone if you brought one – aim it toward the woods and see if you catch distant whoops or chatter that the naked ear might miss.

Take advantage of the elevation for sky watching too. On a clear night, the Milky Way will spill across the heavens. Some Bigfoot researchers believe Sasquatch are most active on clear, moonless nights when it’s darkest. Others suggest moonlight aids your chances to glimpse one moving. Either way, stay vigilant.

Perhaps take turns with a partner to do hour-long watches so someone is always alert. Around the witching hour (midnight to 2 AM), do a “silent sit”: no lights, no fire, just you sitting quietly at the edge of the clearing, letting your eyes adjust. Listen for any soft footfalls or the snap of a twig. It’s in these subtle moments that many witnesses first sense the presence of a Sasquatch. You might catch a waft of an odor, or your peripheral vision might note a darker-than-dark shape against the tree line.

Remember, a Bigfoot can see you or smell you before you ever know it’s there – patience and stillness are key.

Spruce Knob’s summit has a long history of wildness (even Thomas Jefferson is said to have sent expeditions here, perhaps chasing frontier myths). As you finally tuck in, consider that you are the highest humans in West Virginia tonight – anything that goes bump in the night up here is truly unexplained.

Cheat Mountain has a long tradition of strange tales. Local hunters and even a few US Forest Service rangers have whispered of “white things” seen moving between the trees – likely referencing the Sheepsquatch/White Thing legend. While the most famous Sheepsquatch reports came from Boone and Mason Counties in the ’90s​, one can’t help but wonder if something similar could stalk these highland ridges (imagine a shaggy white beast slipping between snow-laden spruces – it fits).

More concretely, Bigfoot sightings dot the periphery of Cheat Mountain. In 1989, two hunters near Elkwater (on Cheat’s western slope) watched a 7-foot bipedal creature walking below their tree stands – a Class A sighting that left them stunned​. In 2008, a group raccoon hunting by night outside Valley Head (south end of Cheat) had rocks thrown at them and heard guttural grunts, a classic Bigfoot intimidation behavior​. Randolph County overall has 10 reports in the BFRO files, one of the higher totals in WV​.

The pattern suggests something has been roaming these woods for decades, largely unseen except for the occasional brief encounter. The high plateau of Cheat, with its bogs and lonely trails, even prompted old-timers to call part of it the “Bearwallow” – implying a place where big animals have their refuge. Tonight, you’re probing one of the most remote parts of that refuge.

Spend the late afternoon hiking a segment of the West Fork Trail, an old railroad grade that traverses Cheat Mountain’s slope. Access it from FR 44 near your camp and walk north. This trail is isolated – you might only encounter piles of old railroad ties and perhaps fresh bear scat. It’s an ideal place to look for footprints in the soft moss and mud beside the trail. Bigfoot prints, if present, would be obvious (huge and flat-footed with a broad toe line). Carry plaster casting material from your kit just in case you find a good imprint to immortalize.

The forest here is thick, but occasionally you’ll cross small grassy openings (old logging camps or grassy glades known as “sods”). These are good places to scan with binoculars for any anomalous movement. Also keep ears open for knocks – the quiet here means a knock could echo a long way. Interestingly, Theodore Roosevelt hunted in this region in the 1890s; some say he heard tales from trappers of “unknown ape-men.” True or not, it adds to Cheat’s mystique. By the time the sun starts dipping, head back to White Top camp. Prepare a hearty meal – it’s your last night and you’ll want energy for a long vigil.

The final night, and it’s a doozy. The dark on Cheat Mountain is thick and heavy. Often a cold wind picks up at night, rustling the spruce needles with a constant hiss that can cover subtle sounds. Plan accordingly: you might do more active listening with the parabolic mic to cut through the ambient noise.

Set up your thermal imager on a tripod if possible, facing the clearing’s edge, so you can periodically glance at the screen hands-free. Given Cheat’s history, this is a good time to try an experimental lure: pheromone chips.

Believe it or not, researchers have used synthetic pheromone impregnated chips (combining primate sex pheromones) to attract Bigfoots, with some promising results​. If you have any (the BFRO curator Dr. Bambenek once distributed some), hang a pheromone chip or rag doused in primate pheromone in a tree near camp. The scent, undetectable to you, could travel in the breeze and intrigue a Sasquatch if one is in the vicinity – it’s a high-risk, high-reward tactic. Even without that, your presence with campfire smoke and food odors might draw in a curious visitor on its own.

On this ridge, you may hear distant owl calls or fox screams – don’t mistake those for monsters. However, pay attention if you hear a long, siren-like howl or a whoop in response to your knocks. As the hours creep on, try a “lights out” period as before. Given the openness around the clearing, you might spot stars or the silhouette of trees. If a Bigfoot steps into your clearing, you may only see a blacker shape against black or a quick flash of eye shine in your flashlight.

One effective method: use a red-light headlamp (less startling to animals) to scan the tree line occasionally; eyes of animals will reflect red under it, potentially giving away a watching creature. Also consider placing a glow stick or two at the far end of the clearing – sometimes Sasquatch are reportedly drawn to small curious light sources.

In these moments, reflect that Cheat Mountain’s deep lore also includes ghostly tales: Civil War soldiers’ spirits at Cheat Summit Fort, and the “Cheat Mountain Salamander” (a rare creature that’s real, albeit not a cryptid). The imagination can run wild here. But you’re grounded in the task – observing, recording, and staying alert for that one piece of evidence. Maybe it’s a heavy bipedal crunch, crunch on the gravel behind your tent… a low grunt from the darkness… or if fortune truly favors you, a brief glimpse of a tall, shaggy figure between the tree trunks before it melts away.

This is your last vigil, and the mystery feels palpably close. Few people have ever spent a night on this lofty, lonesome ridge on purpose listening for monsters. Whatever the outcome, the experience itself – the uncertainty and thrill – is why you came.