MARBLEMOUNT — A tour along the upper Skagit River usually includes breathtaking and colorful wildlife — eagles, soaring across the sky or lighting in trees to catch salmon in the river; raccoons, scrounging for eggs and any leftover garbage from careless campers; deer; and ever so occasionally, a cougar.

But look a little closer, into the shadow of the tree cover, and some say you might find something that puts a new spin on the “wild” in wildlife.

Dave Button, owner of Pacific Northwest Float Trips, loaded up his small bus recently to lead a group of visitors on one of his most popular river tours — to see where the elusive and legendary sasquatch has allegedly been sighted.

A clever marketing scheme? Maybe. But the 65-year-old river guide, a man with a tenacious gift of gab and friendly wit, will happily tell you he’s never seen the hairy ape-like creature himself. But he’s met more than a few credible folks who have.

“People get really mad about it,” Button said, while tromping toward the river at the boat launch in Marblemount, where two large “Rough River”-type inflatable rafts sat bobbing on the surface of the water.

“One lady jumped up and said, ‘I’ve never seen sasquatch!’” Button howled, throwing his hands in the air and leaning forward. “I said, ‘Ma’am, have you seen a

mountain lion?’ She said, ‘Well, no,’ and I said, ‘But they’re out there.’”

The group of 12 — some firm believers in the legend that is known by a variety of names around the world, and some just along for an entertaining and relaxing ride on the river — climbed into the rafts, on that overcast and drizzly day, armed with binoculars, rain jackets, cameras and carefully packed sack lunches.

In many ways, that river tour was less about sasquatch and more about the people looking for him.

The searchers

Last month’s trip was the first for sasquatch researcher Jason Valenti, although he often heads into the Cascades at night in search of the mysterious creature.

Valenti, 38, is always eager to share his own personal encounter on a spring morning in 1996 with what he suspects was a sasquatch, or a “humanoid.”

“It was a class-one Bigfoot sighting,” said the tall man with the quiet demeanor that all but disappears when he explains his experience. He had been driving through the Appalachicola National Forest near Tallahassee, Fla., when he spotted a massive figure in the roadway.

“If Dennis (the passenger in his vehicle at the time) would have rolled down the window, he could have reached out and touched her arm,” Valenti said, insisting that what he saw was “definitely a female form.”

Valenti’s outlook on life changed, the foundations of his existence shaken to the core. Since that early morning encounter, Valenti has been driven to uncover the secrets behind Bigfoot.

He moved to the Bellingham area in 1999. At least once a month, he takes to the hills in eastern Skagit and Whatcom counties trying to catch a fevered glimpse of sasquatch.

Any luck?

No sightings locally so far, he said. But he has plenty of audio recordings of what he estimates are probably Bigfoot.

Several of the curious visitors sitting next to Valenti on the raft leaned forward as he ticked off various Bigfoot facts: They weigh anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 pounds; their eyes glow red, just like the local Native Americans have said; they’ve been known to kidnap people; they have a foul odor that can be detected for quite a distance.

As far as Melanie is concerned (she didn’t want her last name used), there’s no reason to be skeptical. Some might consider the sasquatch legend a myth, but Melanie said she likes to keep an open mind — especially after having seen the famous footage of what was allegedly a Bigfoot caught on film in 1967 by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin. Melanie saw the film for the first time while she was attending the University of Washington in the 1970s.

Melanie said she’s never seen a sasquatch herself, but “When I’m deep in the woods, sometimes I feel their presence — a consciousness that is very intelligent and loving,” she added, while listening carefully to Valenti’s stories.

Melanie’s friend, Irene (who also did not divulge her last name), is quite sure that sasquatch exists. She decided to take the river tour on Melanie’s suggestion and see for herself where the giant creature has been spotted locally.

“I’m considered weird in some circles,” she said with a hearty laugh. “But I don’t care.”

Sasquatch — also known as Kala’litabiqw by the Upper Skagit Tribe and See’atco to the Coast Salish — has been a part of the local lore for generations, said Kenney Cuthbert, an Upper Skagit tribal member, as he stood in front of the group just before leaving on the rafts.

Cuthbert has never seen a sasquatch, but has heard tales from those who say they’ve been frightened by something ape-like, hairy and imposing while picking wild blueberries in the forests of Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties.

“My dad has seen them on the Suiattle River between here and Darrington,” Cuthbert said, quietly, as the group listened in rapt silence. “I knew three kids in Darrington that went over a hill on the Suiattle to pick blueberries. They saw something they thought was a bear. All the sudden, it stood up, and they said it was about 10 feet tall. It scared them so bad, they had to get out of there.”

Tour mixes lore, nature

As the rafts made their way along the relatively quiet 10-mile “wild and scenic” section of the Skagit River between Marblemount and Rockport, they moved by houses tucked behind clumps of trees set back from the river, as well as numerous rocky islands. Button, the guide, pointed out several locations where he’s been told sasquatch lurks.

“The Native Americans own 40 acres and they’ve (sasquatch) been known to come through there,” Button said, waving his hand toward a distant hillside. “They’re migratory,” he added, “and they live in caves.”

So, if he’s never seen one, how does he know?

Well, through the years, he’s heard stories and done some minor research on the subject himself.

Button started up special “Quest for the Elusive Sasquatch” river tours this spring. He used to conduct them as part of other river tours.

The Skagit County native and former teacher came up with the idea in the 1980s after chatting with a sasquatch expert from Sedro-Woolley.

Button began guiding the tours with the idea of highlighting the Native American legends of Bigfoot along with the eagles that populate the area in the winter and the local habitat.

Since then, the tours have turned into a healthy mix of Native American lore, socializing and some of the most beautiful sight-seeing in the world, he bragged.

And people are enthusiastically interested in the Bigfoot angle, he said.

Always the gregarious storyteller, Button is quick to infuse humor with the rumor to entertain his guests.

As he rowed the oars of one raft past a discarded piece of blue fabric, he joked loudly, “And there’s sasquatch’s long underwear!”

The guests smile and point — not at the sasquatch location, but instead at a bald eagle hunched in the branches of a tall Douglas fir. After all, at least half of the tourists ignore the hidden sasquatch in favor of the more visible wildlife.

Julie Engel of the Redmond area came north with her 14-year-old daughter and two of her daughter’s friends to take the tour — not so much for a chance to see a sasquatch but to get out of the busy city and enjoy a relaxing river ride in rural Skagit County.

Tilting her head thoughtfully, she considered the sasquatch legend. She’s heard plenty about it, having grown up in rural Oregon.

Does she believe it?

“I don’t believe it, though I guess it could be possible,” she said, laughing.

“Then again,” she shrugged, “It could be just a bunch of hairy hobos living out there.”

n Beverly Crichfield can be reached at 360-416-2135 or .