Back in 1979 I drove from Toledo Ohio all over the Country in my Wagoneer and eventually found myself in Eugene Oregon, out of money and out of gas...so I sold my jeep and headed East...I remember a little town called McKenzie Bridge..the reason I remember that is some really nice lithe young lady picked me up as I was walking along the road with nothing but my Bear Super Kodiak and a small backpack with essentials...not even a tent! Not even any food! I figured I'd snare or shoot something along the way!!
She was going up to help her Mother move that day, Her name was Laura, she had two small children, Willy and Sarah, and she was a fresh divorcee, lonely and vulnerable........Being a Gentleman, I helped with the move of course.....As the evening approached, she dropped me off at a trail head going into the Three Sister Wilderness Area...I probably shoulda never got out of her car! We woulda made a handsome couple! Anyway...I was already in love with my current Wife, who didnt know it at the time.
My plan was to hike over the top and down into Bend and catch a bus to Minnesota and ask my future Wife out on a date...which I eventually did...But yeah, during the trek, something big and furry woke me in the dead hour darkness standing on my chest and breathing in my face! Then it slapped me around and knocked the royal hell out of me! I blacked out and woke up the next morning in all sorts of various violation!...I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure I was buggered...
True story...I still have that Super Kodiak Bow....right here in my office..and amazingly I still have my Wife! so besides the whole Bigfoot Buggering deal, 1979 was not a bad year considering!
I will add, That big area is no place to wander around and try to 'live off the Land'....I was moving too fast to snare, and there wasnt anything out there to kill! Not like walking along an Ohio soy bean field with a woodchuck every 100 yards and bunnies galore! I didnt have anything to eat for 4 days! My senses got REAL sharp! I managed to shoot a red squirrel out of a pine tree...and once I got down on the eastern side of the mountains, I found a really nice corn field with field corn in it! I gobbled up that field corn raw! The best corn I ever had in my life!
I learned a lesson! This Planet aint fit for Humans! Also, eating half an acre of raw field corn on an empty stomach right before taking a long bus trip is not a good idea...Like Cousin Eddie so eloquently stated, "5hidders Full!"