Campers describe loud branch snap, howls, and possible track, northeast of Cougar witnessed in Skamania County, Washington

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I am 61-yo and have been an outdoorsman all of my life doing numerous backpacking and mountaineering trips in the Cascades and Olympics. I have a degree in psychology from the UW and currently employed as an Investigator. My 15-yo son and I made camp at twilight off FS road 25, after doing a recon of the Lewis River area for hunting. It is a rain forest there with huge cedar trees and large moss-covered maples reminding me of the Hoh Rain Forest. We set up camp on the east side of a creek. We had my 4-Runner parked and set up a tent. After a steak dinner, I made some howls in the manner of the "Ohio howls" that I had made that had called in a Squatch at Lake Ozette (report #65667). I am a trained vocalist and can project my voice considerably. After no response, we retired for the evening. At approx 10 pm, we were awakened by a loud crack of a branch very close to our tent. I jumped out of my bag with a 400-lumen flashlight and searched 360 degrees hoping to spot the culprit...