A 72-Year-Old Reports a Daylight Bigfoot Near Shaver Lake

The Shaver Lake flume trestle over Musick Creek, 1912 (Fresno Flume and Lumber Company, public domain). Historical place image, not the sighting spot.

What happened

Close to 11am on Sunday 28 June 2026, a 72-year-old woman was driving her grandson to his summer job at Camp Chawanakee, a Boy Scouts camp on the south side of Shaver Lake in the Sierra Nevada. As she turned from Dinkey Creek Road onto Camp Chawanakee Road, she looked past her grandson and out of the passenger window, and saw a figure standing in a grassy clearing under the power lines.

On 1 July she filed a report with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO). BFRO published it as report 81308 and rated it Class A, its top category for a clear sighting. Puget Press covered it on 7 July.

Timeline

• 1912: The Fresno Flume and Lumber Company photographs its flume trestle over Musick Creek near Shaver Lake (our featured image).
• Early 1920s: According to Yosemite National Park, the last known California grizzly is shot outside the Yosemite region. Any bear in the Sierra today is a black bear.
• 1995: Matthew Moneymaker founds BFRO.
• 28 June 2026, about 11am: The sighting, in clear weather with no fog or rain.
• Between 28 June and 1 July 2026: The witness goes back to the spot and photographs it.
• 1 July 2026: She submits the BFRO report. Moneymaker interviews her and adds notes.
• 7 July 2026: Puget Press publishes “Woman Reports Daylight Bigfoot Sighting Near Shaver Lake”.

What believers claim

BFRO treats the account as strong. Moneymaker’s notes describe the witness as “a very credible witness”. He cites her decades of work with horses on ranches, a supervisory role in the 2000 census and four years as equestrian director at Camp Chawanakee. He writes that there are several unpublished reports from the Dinkey Creek Road area, one about 350 yards away, and says “That is why I am so sure she saw a sasquatch there.” Puget Press adds that the Finding Bigfoot TV series filmed in the area more than a decade ago because of the number of reports.

What the research found

1. The witness’s own words are short and specific. The report reads: “I saw a figure standing in the field. It was facing south Brownish red hair that I could plainly see skin through it. Small head like right on its shoulders. Long arms past knees.” She adds: “It didnt move. Stood frozen as I very slowly drove past.” She saw it from the side, in grass that hid its feet, and did not see its face.