MILL POINT - Twenty searchers taking part in a four-day quest for Bigfoot along a stretch of the Greenbrier River in Pocahontas County emerged from the woods on Sunday without making any visual encounters with the legendary primate.

But members of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization's 2008 West Virginia Expedition did report hearing sounds and finding tracks believed to have been made by the elusive, apelike creature.

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Steve Willis tries out a Bigfoot call from the Kennison Mountain Trail near the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center following the end of a four-day search for the reclusive primate along the Greenbrier River in Pocahontas County. With Willis are (from left) searchers Chris Peterson of Concord, N.C.; Willis’ wife, Kathy; Pam Lovins of Kenova and Harry Oswald of Pittsburgh, Pa.

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"It's a sound that's hard to mistake. It sounds like someone taking a Louisville Slugger to a tree and trying to break it. But the knocks got progressively farther away as we searched. I guess we were boring them," he said with a smile.

Willis said two members of the expedition who "did not want their professional reputations tainted" for participating in a Bigfoot search found and made casts of tracks believed made by a Bigfoot female and juvenile.

"One track was 18 inches in length and the other was 13 inches long," said Willis.

The 2008 West Virginia Expedition took place near the site of similar searches in 2005 and 2006, when participants reported visual encounters with several of the elusive animals near the Greenbrier River. The precise location of the expeditions is not revealed, to prevent people from disturbing the legendary creatures in their home environment.

During the 2006 search, a group of 13 participants reported being approached at night by two to three Sasquatches as they hiked on a trail along a Greenbrier tributary stream. The searchers reported that the animals threw rocks in their direction in what seemed to be an effort to keep them "herded" together. At one point, a searcher's headlamp reportedly illuminated a large Bigfoot for a brief period.

The following morning, the 2006 searchers reported finding partial footprints and other signs that the animals had approached to within about 15 feet of them during the encounter.

"They don't really seem to be aiming at you," said Chris Peterson of Concord, N.C., who took part in both the 2006 and 2008 West Virginia expeditions, and observed the rock-throwing during the 2006 search.

"They seem to be very wary and at the same time, curious," Peterson said. "Are they out to get us? Not at all - but I think they would like to get a good peek at you."

During the 2005 West Virginia search, Willis' wife, Kathy, reported getting a brief glimpse of two Bigfoot adults she at first mistook for expedition members walking in the woods across the Greenbrier River from her location.

After spotting the two dark, lanky figures moving gracefully through the forest, she realized that all the searchers were bundled up for chilly, damp weather in relatively colorful raingear and coats. When other searchers appeared at the same location a short time later, she said they appeared to be much smaller, compact and colorful than the "tree-trunk-dark" figures she spotted earlier.

Willis said that while he has heard Bigfoot's whooping vocalizations and wood knocks and seen their tracks, his only visual encounter took place on the northern California coast during an expedition last year, when thermal imaging gear used during a night search illuminated a Sasquatch-like form.

MILL POINT - Twenty searchers taking part in a four-day quest for Bigfoot along a stretch of the Greenbrier River in Pocahontas County emerged from the woods on Sunday without making any visual encounters with the legendary primate.

But members of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization's 2008 West Virginia Expedition did report hearing sounds and finding tracks believed to have been made by the elusive, apelike creature.

"We heard wood knocks along the Greenbrier River last night," said Steve Willis, a Cowen native and retired Army officer now living in Virginia, who led the expedition.

"It's a sound that's hard to mistake. It sounds like someone taking a Louisville Slugger to a tree and trying to break it. But the knocks got progressively farther away as we searched. I guess we were boring them," he said with a smile.

Willis said two members of the expedition who "did not want their professional reputations tainted" for participating in a Bigfoot search found and made casts of tracks believed made by a Bigfoot female and juvenile.

"One track was 18 inches in length and the other was 13 inches long," said Willis.

The 2008 West Virginia Expedition took place near the site of similar searches in 2005 and 2006, when participants reported visual encounters with several of the elusive animals near the Greenbrier River. The precise location of the expeditions is not revealed, to prevent people from disturbing the legendary creatures in their home environment.

During the 2006 search, a group of 13 participants reported being approached at night by two to three Sasquatches as they hiked on a trail along a Greenbrier tributary stream. The searchers reported that the animals threw rocks in their direction in what seemed to be an effort to keep them "herded" together. At one point, a searcher's headlamp reportedly illuminated a large Bigfoot for a brief period.

The following morning, the 2006 searchers reported finding partial footprints and other signs that the animals had approached to within about 15 feet of them during the encounter.

"They don't really seem to be aiming at you," said Chris Peterson of Concord, N.C., who took part in both the 2006 and 2008 West Virginia expeditions, and observed the rock-throwing during the 2006 search.

"They seem to be very wary and at the same time, curious," Peterson said. "Are they out to get us? Not at all - but I think they would like to get a good peek at you."

During the 2005 West Virginia search, Willis' wife, Kathy, reported getting a brief glimpse of two Bigfoot adults she at first mistook for expedition members walking in the woods across the Greenbrier River from her location.

After spotting the two dark, lanky figures moving gracefully through the forest, she realized that all the searchers were bundled up for chilly, damp weather in relatively colorful raingear and coats. When other searchers appeared at the same location a short time later, she said they appeared to be much smaller, compact and colorful than the "tree-trunk-dark" figures she spotted earlier.

Willis said that while he has heard Bigfoot's whooping vocalizations and wood knocks and seen their tracks, his only visual encounter took place on the northern California coast during an expedition last year, when thermal imaging gear used during a night search illuminated a Sasquatch-like form.

Since Bigfoot is considered a nocturnal being, most searches are conducted at night, while daytime hours are devoted to looking for tracks and the stick shelters the animals are believed to build and use.

During the nighttime forays, searchers often play recordings of suspected Bigfoot whoops or sound their own Sasquatch calls in an effort to attract the elusive primates.

This year, the Bigfoot Field Research Organization is hosting 18 search expeditions in 10 states and one Canadian province. First-time searchers pay $300 to take part in the expeditions, while repeat searchers pay $100.

Willis said that on about half of the expeditions, "nothing happens," while on the other half, encounters range from hearing suspected Bigfoot vocalizations and spotting tracks to sightings.

Willis and five other members of this year's expedition were interviewed at the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center between Richwood and Marlinton at the end of their Pocahontas County search.

According to the searchers, the number of reported Bigfoot encounters has risen dramatically in recent years, thanks in part to television specials and Internet sites devoted to documenting the reclusive primate.

In West Virginia alone, the Bigfoot Field Research Organization has accumulated 54 sightings since the 1990s from sources it considers reliable.

Enough new information is being gathered, documented and analyzed that "scientists are at least becoming willing to talk to us," said Kathy Willis.

"Gorillas and giant pandas were considered to be mythical creatures until the 20th century," said Pam Lovins of Kenova, an investigator for the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization and a participant in the 2008 West Virginia expedition. "Maybe the same thing will happen with these creatures."

Willis and others in the Sasquatch community believe that Bigfoot may be a descendant of the Gigantopithecus, a huge, extinct primate known to have lived more than 300,000 years ago. One theory holds that the primate crossed the Bering Land Bridge from Asia to reach North America.

"Maybe they're not extinct after all," said Willis.

To report a Bigfoot sighting or visit the Bigfoot Field Research Organization's Web site, click on www.bfro.net.

To contact staff writer Rick Steelhammer use e-mail or call 348-5169.