Local Legend Tripping

Recently I got an email asking me where I like to legend trip. I answered places I’ve never been, but this time of the year I pretty much do most of my legend tripping in Florida. I like going on weekends Bigfoot hunts and paranormal investigations in and around Florida. During the summer I really like going to different states and seeing what legends are there. So when it comes to where to go legend tripping during certain times, of the year, I recommend your backyard, or locations close to you. Every state has legends, you just need to go research and find out where they are. The internet is a great place, plus you’ll find an abundant amount of books and publications that each state puts out about the tourist attractions and legends.

 A map of the Green Swamp

Now here in Florida where I live, the area I especially like to go legend tripping is called the green swamp. It is north of Lakeland and part of the Florida Water Management system.  Green Swamp consists of 50,692 acres in Lake, Polk, and Sumter counties. The area is part of the approximately 110,000 acres purchased to protect the land and water resources of the Green Swamp Basin. The swamp has four rivers that go through it (Hillsborough, Withlacoochee, Ocklawaha, and Peace rivers). Deer, hog, and turkey are quite abundant in the swamp and a popular hunting area. It has four popular camping areas and a Boy Scout camp affectionately called the Bigfoot Wilderness Camp.

The Bigfoot Wilderness Camp

 

There is a particular area with the green swamp that I like to go Skunk Ape hunting, is called Devil’s Creek swamp. It even has a scary name. The deep marshy swamp has more legends than any other place I’ve been to. Not only are there numerous Skunk ape sightings, but also there is old 1916 homestead, where the owners were hacked to death with an axe and robbed by their grandson and friend. The sight is now supposed to be haunted and now hunter will go near the area at night. Go figure. If you saw the site, you’d know why.

 A plaque near the site of Axe murder

There has been reports of strange lights and mysterious aircrafts and there is legend of a crashed cargo plane full of money located deep back in the swamps, where even hunters will not venture into.  There is reports of two missing hunters that to this day, they or their bodies have never been recovered. There are stories of the military illegally dumping chemicals back in the swamp and last but not least, in 1976 a Taiwanese sailor was found hiding in the swamps. He was living off of armadillos and living in a huge cypress tree. He was caught only when something scared him out of the swamp. Could it have been the legendary swamp ape? Nobody knows, not even the interpreter that translated for him during his time in jail. Later he hung himself in his jail cell to prevent deportation back to his homeland.

So as you can see, for a legend tripper, the Devil’s Creek Swamp is a target rich environment. I like the area, because of all the Skunk Ape sightings, that appear almost regularly. Two years ago a hunter contacted me and related that in 1012 he took a video of a skunk ape from his cellphone, while he was perched in a hunting stand, not far from the axe murder site. He took me out the area and showed me exactly where he saw the strange animal. At first he thought it was a person in a gilly suit, but when the animal looked up at him, he knew that the skunk ape was real. We search the area and were able to find tracks but unfortunately because of the rainfall, they weren’t good ones. But we did make castings and my wife Tracy and I were able to measure the animal’s gap between tracks and found it to be over eight feet and impossible for a human to do. We later examined the video and while not good quality, it did show a large bipedal animal standing out in the palmettoes. I stood in the exact location and we estimated that the animal was about eight feet tall. Because of the hunter’s reluctance to share this sighting with public and not seek money, I believe that he did in fact see a strange animal that can’t be explained.

My stepdaughter Kera and I at Devil's Creek Swamp looking for the Skunk ape

Now this is just one of the many stories that come out of the Devil’s Creek Swamp. With that in mind, my family and I are getting our legend tripping gear together and heading out to the swamps. I encourage all of you legend trippers to find out all the legends in your area and go check them out. Another source to look at is the popular Weird US book series by Mark Moran and Mark Sceurman. There are currently thirty books about individual states. I use Weird Florida by Charlie Carlson all the time to do local legend tripping.