By Justin Andress, The Mountain Times
It’s a small wonder that Mt. Hood hasn’t hosted an event like the Mt. Hood Sasquatch Festival before now. For decades, the mountain’s most famous resident has drawn thousands of tourists in search of evidence of the cryptid’s existence. It wasn’t until this year, however, that Bigfoot hunters had an official place to meet one another, swap theories, and buy merch. Enter the Mt. Hood Sasquatch Festival.
At more than a million acres of thick underbrush and steep-walled ravines, the Mt. Hood National Forest is the perfect place for a cryptid who wants to keep a low profile. Perhaps that explains the Bigfoot sightings that roll in consistently from visitors and cryptid hunters alike. In fact, Mt. Hood sees more Bigfoot sightings than anywhere else in the state (and possibly in the entire Pacific Northwest).
In years past, footprints, nests, and even Sasquatch sightings have been found in and around the Mt. Hood National Forest. The evidence piled up so high that bigfoot hunters established the North American Bigfoot Center outside Sandy.
Still, however, an annual celebration of Sasquatch eluded the Hoodland area until this year, when Lori Cabantoy and the rest of the team at Mt. Hood Oregon Resort decided to change all that. She set about inviting a diverse array of experts and vendors to the Resort to enjoy a weekend of cryptid-focused fun.
In our March edition of The Mountain Times, we covered the run-up to the event. At that time, Cabantoy said, “I know people are coming from all over for this event already. It’s super exciting.”
We’re thrilled to report that Cabantoy’s enthusiasm wasn’t misplaced. The Sasquatch Festival was an unqualified success. In fact, Cabantoy says the Festival “exceeded my expectations and was better than I had hoped. It was great exposure for the resort and the community. It brought many people to the area who had never been here before. Everyone was so happy to come together for such a unique event.”
Over the three-day event, more than 800 people spent time at the festival, attending presentations from experts and exploring the rich assortment of imprints, books, stickers, T-shirts, and wood carvings from some of the area’s most prominent vendors.