The Cabin at the End of Herrick Road. Derek Wachter
said Mark from the bar seating area by the front window.
Craig turned to look who was calling his name. Seeing the group of men by the window, Craig walked over to them.
“Mark Ellis,” said Craig. “Mark, Jim, Ed, and Paul.” As he pointed out each man sitting at the window with their cups of coffee.
“Any luck in your searches yet, Craig?” asked Jim.
“No, sir, nothing yet. All I’ve been able to do is cast a couple footprints of the creatures, and even those didn’t turn out too well. Haven’t even found a tuft of hair yet,” replied Craig.
“Did ya ever stop to think that maybe it’s because there’s not a god damn thing out there?” said Paul as the group of men laughed.
Craig let out a chuckle. “No, I don’t choose to believe that, Paul. If I believed that then I wouldn’t be doing my science its proper due diligence,” replied Craig.
“Well, where are ya headed to today?” asked Ed. “Ain’t gonna get stuck in the mud along the creek like you did last time, will ya?”
“No, that won’t happen again. Well, today I figured I’ll head south down to Elwha. Maybe camp out and have a look around the Elwha River area. More toward the Olympics and away from the town,” said Craig.
The group of men laughed again.
“I found some unique online experiences along the Elwha River. Testimonies from witnesses. It garners an effort to go at least check it out,” said Craig.
The men stopped laughing. “On the what?” said Jim.
“Online. The Internet,” said Craig.
The men looked perplexed.
“Gentlemen, the Internet,” said Craig.
The men continued to look perplexed as they stared at Craig.
“What the hell’s that? Enter where?” asked one man.
“Never mind,” said Craig as he turned to walk away. “I need to get going and set up while I’ve got daylight. You, gentlemen, have a good day. We’ll see you next time. Enjoy your coffees.”
“Oh, we will. Have fun with your enter something. And have fun huntin’ your ghosts!” said Ed.
The men burst out in loud laughter again as Craig walked out of the one-stop shop gas station. Craig was very used to the ridicule that he endured for the research that he’d been doing for the last two years. A well-known biologist from South Puget Sound Community College, Craig has taught biology for years there, shortly after he had graduated with a 4.0 in biology from the University of Washington and graduating from Oregon State University with his graduate degrees in biology. It wasn’t until recently when Craig had taken up a new research interest that involved a cryptic beast known to locals as the Sasquatch. Although locals found such a thing to be more legend and myth than actual beast and monster living in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Craig in his mind and his thoughts neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the creature, but in his heart he had a feeling that such a creature could possibly exist on account of how deep the forest of the Pacific Northwest was. There was a chance for creatures like this to be able to hide deep in the darkest places of the unexplored forests—undetected by human societies. And if it truly did, it could be the greatest scientific discovery ever made to present day.
Craig walked back to the trailer and inserted the pump nozzle into his gas tank and started the gas pump. After starting the gas pumping into his gas tank, Craig opened the side door to his trailer and out jumped an energetic young border collie. Beautiful color of black and white. The dog ran around his legs and jumped right back into the trailer. Craig opened the package of treats and fed one to the dog. The dog graciously took the treat and ran to the back of the trailer with it, jumping on the bed that was in the back of the trail where he began chewing on his treat. Craig shut the door and rolled up the dog treat package and stuffed it into the front pocket of his jeans.
“What a beautiful day here in the Pacific Northwest,” said Craig to himself. The temperatures were cool, and the sun was out—not a cloud in the sky. It was gorgeous summer weather for this area of the state. The gas finished pumping at exactly 43.27 dollars. Craig went into the trailer to check the fuel level before driving off and saw that it was nearly to the full mark on his dashboard. He had guessed this was close enough for where he was going. Plus, Elwha had a gas station, even though the gas there was nearly double as expensive as it was in Port Angeles. In a pinch though, he knew he could get gas there to get back to Port Angeles. He would have enough fuel for where he was going today, long enough for his weekend search. Craig took the dog treats from his pant pocket and set them on the dash of his trailer. In his other pocket, Craig took the beef jerky and stored it in the glove compartment in the dash. He took one piece of beer jerky and stuffed it in his mouth. Craig started up the trailer and pulled out of the gas station, looking back to see a couple of the old men giving him the middle finger from the inside of the gas station as he drove out. He could see clearly in the rearview mirror that the old men were still laughing at him too.
*****
The radio in the trailer was old, an old hand-dial radio, yet somehow still worked as good as an old hand-dial radio could work. Under the radio was a forty-channel intercom receiver, along with a corded microphone for Craig. He had used it before and it came in very handy, especially when you’re up in the mountains and something happens where you need to call out for help. Craig drove down the Highway 101, until he reached the small town of Elwha, Washington. Elwha was a small town—an unincorporated community along Highway 101. Once there, Craig turned off onto Herrick Road, the only road that ran right through the heart of Elwha. Craig followed Herrick Road until it ended. Near the end of the road, Craig found a small gravel dirt road, nearly overgrown by bushes that led down toward the Elwha River. It seemed Craig spent more time on these type of dirt roads driving down to the river than he has driving on paved known roads these days. The road was old, very unkempt, and filled with large bumps and holes left over from rainwater eroding the road away over the course of time. After what seemed like an eternity of driving on this road, Craig reached his destination—the riverfront of the Elwha River. Craig came into a nice clearing where he could park his trailer along the riverfront and begin his research. Craig parked the trailer about forty feet away from the river and got out. The silence in the area was eerie yet peaceful and relaxing to Craig. Coming from the bigger city of Olympia, Craig was used to the sounds of car traffic, alarms and sirens, electronic devices. Out here though, there is none of that. Perhaps that’s why Craig really enjoys doing this so much. Craig walked around the trailer and to the side door. When Craig opened the door to his camper, Max shot out like a cannon. Max ran around the area and made at least a dozen laps around the trailer, dispersing energy that had collected while he had been kept in the trailer for the past few hours. Craig pulled out a canopy from the side of his trailer while Max played nearby with a stick he had found on the ground. After the canopy covering was pulled out, Craig pulled a barbecue set out from the side of the trailer that was hooked up to the propane tank in the trailer. Max stopped running around the trailer, stood his ground, and began to bark at something in the front of the trailer, the hair on his back standing on end.
“Max!” yelled Craig. “Come here!” But the dog continued to bark. “Max?” said Craig as he walked toward the front of the trailer. Turning the corner of the front of the trailer, Craig looked and saw Max barking into the direction of the woods. Craig tried to peer through the thick tree line, but he couldn’t see anything past maybe the second or third row of trees. The forest was thick, overgrown, and dark.
“Max, come here,” said Craig.
Max stopped barking when he heard Craig’s voice and came back to him. Craig watched the forest for a minute, looking to see if he could see anything move in the thick bush, but he couldn’t see anything.
“Come on, Max. We need to set our equipment up for the weekend.”
Max came back with Craig to the side of the trailer. Craig opened the trailer door for Max to jump in. Max jumped in and Craig took a dog treat from his pocket