Boater finds footprints on bank of Rogue River witnessed in Curry County, Oregon

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In the lower Rogue River canyon, about 10 miles above Agness, Oregon, I found some odd tracks while on an outing with my great grandfather. The plan was to pick huckleberries and fly fish for steelhead. I was about 10-12 and got bored picking berries real fast. I was old enough grandpa would let me row the boat alone but not use the motor so I went back to the boat and rowed as far up as I could 'til the current got too strong, beached it, and hiked a couple hundred yards up the bank through a big boulder pile at the bottom of a steep clay bank. Between the bottom of the clay and edge of the water was a rock shelf with the boulders lying on it, about 20-30 feet wide. The river had dropped overnight and there was a layer of mud about an inch, maybe 1.5 inches thick on the rock shelf. Just below the pocket I was going to fish I noticed a set of large tracks coming out of the water, crossing that ledge, and heading up the clay bank. Back then, the minimum size limit was 8" for trout an...