Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide [Paperback]

Robert Michael Pyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 18, 1997

Robert Michael Pyle trekked into the Dark Divide, where he discovered a giant fossil footprint; searched out Indians who told him of an outcast tribe that had not fully evolved into humans; and attended the convocation in British Columbia called Sasquatch Daze, where he realized that "these guys don't want to find Bigfoot-they want to be Bigfoot." Ultimately Pyle discovers a few things about Bigfoot - and a lot about the human need for something to believe in and the need for wilderness in our lives.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A search for the Pacific Northwest's fabled Bigfoot provides a jumping-off point for nature writer Robert Michael Pyle's lyrical ruminations on wilderness, isolation, and the occasional triumphs of mystery over so-called progress. Pyle's well-researched stomping ground is Washington State's Dark Divide in the Cascade Mountains--this rugged country of loggers and recreationists has been the scene for many sightings of the elusive man-beast. Pyle's route alternates between desolate clear-cuts and majestic ancient forests, between the inroads of civilization and the dark recesses of the wild. But never does the author get too caught up in proving anything to himself or the reader; this search for Bigfoot has as much to do with locating the wild nature within each of us as it does with finding a legend.

From Publishers Weekly

Pyle, eminent naturalist (The Thunder Tree), ecologist and expert on butterflies, conducted his search for Bigfoot or Sasquatch, the perhaps-mythical giant, hairy, apelike humanoid, by trekking across the mountains and plateaus of Washington and northern California. In this leisurely, gracefully written meditation, he talks with Northwest Coast Indians who describe their purported encounters with Bigfoot; attends a Sasquatch conference in British Columbia in 1994; hobnobs with Bigfoot hunters and retraces some of their sightings. Pyle found some 16" footprints and heard eerie whistles that tallied with Sasquatch sounds as described by Native Americans, but the evidence he presents is inconclusive. Nevertheless, this enlightening report will intrigue skeptics and believers alike. Reviewing the battle between those who advocate finding and killing a Bigfoot specimen and those who only condone live capture, Pyle sets forth a protocol designed to protect our giant hominoid relatives, if they exist. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (June 18, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395857015
• ISBN-13: 978-0395857014
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,136,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ROBERT MICHAEL PYLE is the author of fourteen books, including Chasing Monarchs, Where Bigfoot Walks, and Wintergreen, which won the John Burroughs Medal. A Yale-trained ecologist and a Guggenheim fellow, he is a full-time writer living in southwestern Washington.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars more than bigfoot, October 29, 2000

By 

no longer a customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide (Paperback)

If you are a "Bigfoot Believer", a "Cryptid Connoisseur", or looking for photographs of huge hominids emerging from UFO's with Greys looking on, this ain't your book. If you are a regular person who loves nature and is intrigued by a good tale of "What If", this IS your book and you'll love it. Pyle shares with us his love for the Northwest and his concerns for its future. Yes this is largely a symbolic book, with "Bigfoot" symbolizing all we love, and fear, of those far forest places dark and deep and why we are fascinated with them. There is also a tinge of sadness in the book; the ravages of thoughtless environmental damage, the childish quarrels of Bigfoot "Experts". But this is largely a love story, about one last Wild Place, and how such places Haunt our imaginations. You'll love this book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, researched reflection on mystery of bigfoot., December 27, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide (Hardcover)

Where Bigfoot Walks Crossing the Dark Divide By Robert Michael Pyle Houghton Mifflin Company, US$25.00 The thing with most books about Bigfoot, the North American counterpart of Yeti, is that they often reveal more about their authors' obsession with their illusive subject than the actual beast itself. Robert Michael Pyle's book Where Bigfoot Walks is an exception to this general rule because Mr. Pyle is not obsessed - he's fascinated. And as an ecologist his fascination takes in the whole landscape from boletus and ghost moth to the tantalizing possibility of a huge, hairy hominoid living in the forests of Western U.S. and Canada. Mr. Pyle's report is written around accounts of his numerous treks into the Dark Divide a rare and beleaguered remnant of virgin forest in Washington State, U.S. Rich in Bigfoot mythology and sitings the Dark Divide could be one of the last redoubts of the mythical monster. It is certainly one of the last holdouts of old growth timber in the American Pacific Northwest most of which has succumbed the devastating efficiency of clearcut logging. It's from this setting that Pyle reflects on the myth of Bigfoot and the possibilities of a real flesh and blood beast. His often lyrical ruminations range from Bigfoot's implications for "forest management" - what if putative animal's existence is proven and old growth timber is its natural habitat? - to whether the land could biologically support a large reclusive ape. He even considers the ethical problems of how any "specimens" should be collected. All this is mixed with anecdotal accounts of sitings and portraits of the colorful and eccentric gang of Bigfoot aficionados - from charlatans to credible researchers - who in Pyle's words "don't want to find Bigfoot - they want to be Bigfoot." Essentially this is a book in search of mystery. And with logging operations never out of earshot, jets constantly flying overhead and much of the Dark Divide's remote trails trashed by dirt bikes and trodden by backpackers the possibility of even the myth of Bigfoot surviving- let alone the actual animal - seem remote. Yet Mr. Pyle still finds places and moments of natural wonder in the Dark Divide that astonish him and he writes about them with grace and respect. He never finds Bigfoot but he hears haunting whistles and has one uncanny encounter with something that leaves huge tracks. By the end of Where Bigfoot Walks you can believe there may still be mysteries in the last of the great forests of North America of which Bigfoot may be one. According to Mr. Pyle it's a possibility our unnatural culture may need. JOHN BETTS

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Excellent writing, but doesn't live up to the hype., August 6, 2001

By 

JoeLana (APO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide (Paperback)

As somewhat of a skeptic, but still keeping an open mind, I enjoy topics such a `bigfoot' when they're written intelligently and with a base of reason. As for "Where Bigfoot Walks", I should've looked at other reviews of this book a bit more, but when Midwest book review stated things like "...fascinating study of Bigfoot legends and realities..." I gambled- and lost. For outdoor enthusiasts, this is a rich story of a man's travels through the wilderness. And I must hand it to Mr. Pyle, he really does write well. It almost seems as if he anticipated readers interested in bigfoot to get bored with it quickly, like when he goes on about hitching rides from Indians because he runs out of water- or something like that, but his timing is right and just as you're about to toss the book aside he throws in something interesting enough to get you to keep reading. In the end though, it's all rather anticlimactic, and not what I was looking for.