Airmen's Encounter with Mysterious Windigo in Boundary Waters Wilderness

A group of four Airmen from Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota set out for a canoeing trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northern Minnesota in May 1986. The bondades canoe area wilderness is over 1 million acres of lakes, forests, rivers, moose, loons, and great fishing, bordering Canada to the north. On the first day, they canoed Crane Lake and the moose river, ending up on Agnes Lake and setting up camp. That night, two bears came into camp and caused a ruckus with their food and camp, making it difficult for them to sleep. The next morning, they decided to leave and paddled across Agnes Lake to the one-mile portage to Rams Head Lake. After carrying all their gear and canoes across the portage, they found themselves in the middle of Rams Head Lake with a series of islands. They chose a larger island in the northwest part of the lake to set up camp, fish, and spend a couple of days. The following day, one of the Airmen, John, wanted to see a waterfall across the lake on Meander Creek. He paddled solo for about 20 minutes and heard footfalls behind him in the thick brush. At first, he thought it might be a moose or a deer, but then he heard a loud crack like a piece of wood hitting a tree. This startled him, and he heard it again off to the left, 60 yards away. It sounded like a gunshot, and at that moment, he got up, started running down the path towards his canoe, and paddled back to the island. As he was paddling back, two of his friends, Rick and Ken, saw him paddling furiously across the channel to the island. They asked him what was wrong, and he tried to explain what had happened, but he had a hard time articulating it. Roy, the highest-ranking Airman in the group, asked him to explain himself, and John tried to explain the loud sound and his suspicion that someone might be in the forest messing with them. Roy decided to confront the potential person in the forest and roped the others into going with him. They paddled back to the spot where John had heard the noise and heard the same loud crack sound again. They followed the sound, and Roy charged into the brush to confront whoever or whatever was making the noise. They could hear Roy moving through the forest, and then they heard the loud crack sound again, getting farther and farther away. After 10 minutes, they heard Roy yell that he was lost and needed help. They called out to him, guiding him back to where they were, and he emerged from the brush, scraped up and with a bit of blood on his arm. Once back at the island, Roy explained that he had been following the sound, but it kept leading him away from his friends. He felt like he was being led into a trap and decided to turn back. The group realized it was too late in the day to leave the lake and go somewhere else, so they collected firewood, made a large fire, and stayed in one tent together. John shared a story he had heard while doing volunteer work at the Lackler Croy Native American Indian Reservation just north of Quetico in Canada. The Native Americans there would tell stories about Windigo, the creature of the north. John had heard several stories about Windigo and started to think that what they had experienced might be related. He also remembered them talking about canoes going missing and blaming Americans on the other side of the border for stealing them. This encounter in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a fascinating tale of mystery and intrigue. You can watch the full video on the Base Camp Chris YouTube channel to get the full story and hear it directly from the Airmen involved. Remember, when venturing into the wilderness, always be prepared for the unexpected and have a plan in case something goes wrong.