A few years after their harrowing survival at the placer mine, cousins Jacob and Charles took jobs operating skiffs, ferrying caribou hunters along a remote tributary of the Yukon River. While meeting at a secluded floatplane transfer point, Charles pulled his boat to shore only to find Jacob frozen, rifle raised, and signaling for quiet. Peering across a small ravine, they spotted a massive, reddish-brown entity partially obscured in the thick brush. The situation escalated quickly when the creature stood up to its full height, towering over the six-foot vegetation.
As the men slowly retreated toward their skiffs, the creature rapidly closed the 150-yard gap. By the time Jacob pushed off into the water, the massive entity was standing exactly where the men had been just moments before, aggressively sniffing the air to catch their scent. In the panic of the escape, Charles flooded his outboard motor and began drifting helplessly in the current toward a downstream eddy. Realizing the creature was actively maneuvering along the bank to intercept Charles's drifting boat, Jacob raised his rifle and fired a warning shot to drive the creature back into the timber. Upon returning to base camp, a terrified client privately confessed he had also seen the massive entity lurking near the transfer point earlier that day, but had remained silent out of fear of being called crazy.
