Report 13037: Possible nest nest and food remains found by retired soldier near the Sandy River

The Sandy River originates high on the slopes of Mt. Hood, located about 50 miles east of Portland, Oregon. The headwaters are beneath Reid and Sandy Glaciers at 6000 feet in elevation. From there the river flows due west through the Hoodland Corridor. It cascades past the communities of Welches, Brightwood and Sandy, then turns north to enter the Columbia River near Troutdale, which is 10 miles east of Portland, Oregon. The river drops swiftly through rugged canyons. It has deep boulder-studded pools with clean, gray gravel bars often shaded by tall, wet green trees. It is fishable most of the time and fishes well from 700 to 4,000 cfs. Nowhere else in the world does such a wild and scenic steelhead river flow through such a brawling, boulder-strewn, plunge pool mountain stream, supporting an amazingly rich and diverse food chain composed of mammals specifically adapted to their very tumultuous dispositions. It was mid-summer 1970 when this happened.  I had returned to Oregon after a two year stint of duty in the Israeli Army as a Border Guard (post '67 war).  Weekly, I would drive along the Sandy River to find a new place to target shoot (keeping up my military skills).  This one particular day, in a meadow above and east of the Sandy River, I encountered a clump of birch tree saplings (4.5 inches in diameter) snapped off at about the 6 foot level and the tops were made into a family "nest" (space for 3 to 4 people)... Nearby I noticed the aroma of death... There was a pile of dead rabbit, neatly gutted. Only their guts had been eaten ... The nearby woods were ominously silent for a summer's mid-day. I quickly left the area in search of a nearby Forest Ranger Station. One of the rangers believed my story and accompanied me back to the meadow. He took photos for the other rangers. Both of us became "Bigfoot" believers after that day !