Unmasking the Myth

**Unmasking the Myth** is the 4th episode in the Hunt for the Yeti special on Expedition Unknown.

## Plot Synopsis

Josh continues to explore the backwoods of Bhutan on his search for the Yeti. He discovers shocking evidence in the forests and heads back to the United States to have it analysed and to learn once and for all if the Yeti is really roaming the Himalayas.

## Summary

Josh and Casey continue to explore the forests of Bhutan and find a large print that is too big to resemble any local species. They set out trap cameras and bait and go back to camp. In the middle of the night, a rustling noise awakes them and they check the cameras, one of which has fallen. There is a video of a bear and they head down to the village for the rest of the night. In the morning they check the rest of the traps and see a couple of deer. They decide that bears that are standing on their hind legs may account for some Yeti sightings.

Josh goes to Jakar, Bhutan and meets Gerry Moffatt, an explorer. They got to a cultural festival and meet Yeti eyewitnesses. Gerry and Josh raft to the Tang Valley where many sightings have occurred. They explore the forests in the valley and set up motion sensors. They find three big prints that are bipedal-like and are able to cast one. Josh heads back to New York City and meets with Todd Disotell who he has been sending samples too. The hair sample from the Mongo area tested human and the scat sample was goat. The yeti hand was most likely a young bear and the scalp from the Khumjung monastery was treated with a harsh chemical preservative and so the DNA couldn't be removed.

Josh visits Los Angeles and the Museum of Natural History where he meets with Jim Dines, a mammalogist. Jim has realised that the scalp may have been stitched together to create a dome shape. Josh finally stops in Pocatello, Idaho and meets Doctor Jeffery Meldrum, a professor of anatomy. Josh shows Jeff the footprint from Bhutan and he decides it looks like a bear print but it's too big for any bear in Bhutan. However, it may be the print of the Himalayan Brown Bear which was thought to be extinct in Bhutan.

## Final Words

"My hunt for the Yeti led me to the edge of the inhabitable world. In Nepal, I learned that my own Yeti experience all those years ago is part of a vast tapestry of stories. I met dozen of witnesses, held venerated artefacts, and experienced the sheer power of belief. And then, in Bhutan, the shy jewel of the Himalayas, I came away with a new piece of evidence. We recovered a clue that a bear species once thought to be extinct here could still be alive and well."

"In the end, my journey revealed two different but I think complementary answers to the Yeti legend. On the one hand, the near-religious status of the Yeti and the lack of compelling DNA evidence leads me to believe that it is rooted in folklore, a Himalayan myth for the ages, a proxy for the holy mountains. But I also think that every eyewitness I met was sincere in his belief. The footprint from Bhutan reveals how little we really know about what's living in the Himalayas. To me, there's little doubt that bears make up the vast majority of reported Yeti sightings. But questions do remain. The footprint impression I found years ago, the print we saw in Monjo, and the depressions in the snow on Everest and in Bhutan, none of those match bear prints at all. And could 100 percent of eyewitnesses really be mistaken? The answer is, I'm not sure. There will always be a part of me, the wishful part, that says the Yeti could be out there waiting in the frosted unknown. And I raise my glass to the intrepid explorers who continue to search for answers, and to the people of the Himalayas who continue to pay respect to the Yeti and who share its legend with the world."

~ Josh Gates

## Notes & Trivia

* *This is where you can put notes and trivia, anything that is interesting or strange can be included here*

## Quotes

* "While I try to block out the single most terrifying and annoying noise I've ever heard -"
* "Moo-ve. That's cow humour."
* "I learn what it's like to take orders from a testy Scotsman."
* "This isn't the middle of nowhere. It's the place the folks from the middle of nowhere call the sticks."

## References

1. ↑ https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullrights/2016/08/24/0/TEHY104H\_230658\_826335-1365504.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491593557435.jpeg