I’d forget about skeptics. At least about trying to justify anything to them.

Unfortunately for true skepticism, I can say one thing about most – not all, but the vast majority – of people who self-identify as “skeptics” on this topic: They’re ignorant of the evidence and ignorant of the scientific process.

There are exceptions. (Several of them check in here fairly frequently.) But they are few.

All the searchers can do is ignore the goofball chorus and focus on gathering the evidence. More strength to your arms.

There were 13 people on the expedition. Several of them brought their own casting material. I usually carry three 2.5 gallon plastic buckets full (about 75 pounds). Dr. Fish liked how I set these up and asked for me to bring him a 100 pound bag of Hydrocal B-11 as well during the expedition. When I got there, he already got himself some, so he didn’t want it. So, I had 175 pounds in camp.

75 pounds of plaster is not that much, unless you are packing it in, when you consider that a good original Bigfoot track cast should have between 12 and 17 pounds of plaster. Dr. Fish had 25 pounds and added that to the mix. We both were hoping to be able to cast a trackway series during the expedition… not just one track.

The Skookum cast used 175 pounds of my own Hydrocal B-11 and 6 aluminum tent poles. We then added Dr. Fish’s 25 pounds. Other material added towards the end such as POP and Fixall just fell off the back side of the cast. They did not adhere. When making casts with Hydrocal B-11 you use 2/3 plaster and 1/3 water for any given volume of mix… in this instance about 7 pounds of water for each 25 pounds of plaster… about 228 pounds. Of course the 28 pounds of water disappears when the plaster cures.

Detractors of the cast that know very little about it because personalities are really what is at issue for them with it usually start with your type of statement as an argument… they then move on to why how did we get so much plaster out there and the hardened cast back out of the woods and finally on to would an animal sit down like that when they could just reach down and grab what they wanted… thus it all begins again.

325 pounds include the heavy duty tires, steel frame and protective plywood box and bolts encasing the cast, applied months after its making.

To me the top of the body in the print (slanted to the upper right corner on the right hand cast) very strongly resembles the head and shoulders of a large gorilla lying down. The scale of the actual print area measures out to me as about three by five feet. Those are just my impressions at this distance.

These testimonials were assembled to document various participant opinions regarding the phenominon as a whole, and the Skookum cast in particular, as a possible introduction to the subject for professionals in relevant fields who would be approached to examine the cast.

Many others have copies of these documents, including Jeff Meldrum and Richard Noll, both easily contacted for verification.

It’s a bit surprising that there is any question about Grover’s view on the Skookum cast, as it is well documented both on film, and in writing. It seems the people doing most of the questioning have not contacted the principals involved in the examintaion of the cast to simply ask them if they knew of any additional documentation of Grover’s views.

Perhaps some feel that if something is not freely available on the internet it does not exist.

As for Bruce Barcott’s statement in Outside Magazine; when Bruce was writing that article Grover was in the final stages of a very painful death. As people who knew Grover would attest, even when in perfect health he could be cranky. It seems likely that any conversations he might have had with Mr. Barcott just weeks before his death may have been colored by what he was enduring.

That said: is there a source for the statement above? Something we can observe independently of this blog?

Blogs aren’t scientific papers. We have to live with that.