72-Year Sasquatch Friendship: Winter Recovers and Departs to Find Her People

If you've ever wondered what a decades-long friendship with a Sasquatch might actually look like, the latest installment from Cryptids Canada might just be the closest thing to an answer anyone has ever gotten. This is part four of an ongoing series featuring a woman now in her eighties who has been sharing her remarkable memoirs about her relationship with a Sasquatch she calls Winter, a bond that has apparently lasted an astonishing 72 years. The segment picks up in August 1973, with Winter still recovering in the narrator's father's old office, the same space where her dad used to sneak off for his gambling sessions. Winter's foot, initially feared broken, turned out to be badly bruised, and she was starting to put weight on it again. There's a sweet moment where the narrator, recalling a childhood doctor's visit, instinctively starts feeling around on Winter's foot to check it, only to get her hand swatted away. Winter wanted to know why she was doing that, and the narrator didn't really have an answer beyond mimicking what the doctor had done years before. It's a small detail, but it speaks volumes about the comfort level between these two. The tension ramps up considerably when the narrator recalls the enormous black-haired Sasquatch she spotted watching her from the tree line the day she picked up Elaine from the school bus. Neither she nor Winter could figure out what his intentions were, and that uncertainty weighed heavily on her. During a visit to her parents' farm, she opened one of her father's desk drawers and discovered an old wooden box containing a Colt 45 her uncle had given her dad for Christmas years earlier. Her father had been chased by a grizzly once while working the fields, and the gun had been his protection ever since. The narrator decided right then and there that carrying it made sense, given everything that had been happening. Winter's reaction to the gun was immediate and telling. Her eyes went wide, and she was clearly afraid. The narrator reassured her that she would never, ever use it against her, and from that point on, she made sure Winter never even knew she had it on her. The narrator often wondered what Winter had experienced in her life with humans and firearms, and it genuinely broke her heart to think about it. Things escalate when a rock the size of a red brick comes crashing through the narrator's kitchen window one evening while she's giving Elaine a bath. The sun had just dipped behind the mountains, but there was still enough light to see. She knew exactly what had thrown it, but nothing showed itself. She scrambled to board up the window with cardboard, then retreated to her bedroom to load her father's Colt 45 with shaking hands. Standing there in her own bedroom loading a weapon because she feared what might be lurking outside was something she never imagined she'd have to do. She tucked the gun into her waistband, pulled her shirt over it so Elaine wouldn't notice, and tried to act as if everything was perfectly normal. She couldn't bring herself to tell her daughter what had really happened. The next day, Winter announced she was leaving. She had dreamt about a place her father had loved, a spot connected to her grandfather who had been the "cook," which longtime Sasquatch researchers will recognize as the term for the lead male or patriarch of a family group. Winter wanted to find her people. The narrator understood. Winter loved her family, and she had to go. Before she left, Winter shared some fascinating insights into Sasquatch social structure. She talked about how some members are exiled for the good of the community, and how two males will sometimes fight to the death over the right to be the new cook or over a mate. Winter was genuinely surprised that humans no longer engaged in such practices. The narrator asked when Winter was leaving, and Winter simply said, "Now." There was no reason to delay. She didn't have anything to pack. Everything she needed was just herself. Both the narrator and Elaine cried, but Winter was happy. Sasquatch, it seems, focus on the future rather than dwelling on the sadness of parting. She promised she would come back and see them again. This is one of those accounts that really makes you stop and think about the depth of relationships that might be possible between humans and Sasquatch, and the kind of cultural knowledge these beings carry with them. The full story is worth sitting down with, so definitely check out the video over on Cryptids Canada for the complete experience.