KAMAS, Utah — A group of about 45 people spent two days in the Uinta Mountains searching for the legendary Bigfoot.

Members of the Bigfoot Field Research Organization used sophisticated equipment such as parabolic microphones and night vision goggles to search for the beast on Thursday and Friday.

BFRO director Matt Moneymaker, a lawyer from Capistrano, Calif., said he founded the organization to be a clearinghouse for Bigfoot sightings nationwide. He says he once was as close as 15 feet from a Sasquatch in 1994 in Portage County, Ohio.

“Utah has a reputation of being a place with enough sightings and steep terrain where it is possible to see one,” he said

However, acting Kamas District Ranger Dave Ream of the U.S. Forest Service said he was not aware of any Bigfoot sightings. He said that campers should be more worried about bears, which are coming closer than usual to campgrounds because of dry conditions and wildfires.

Still, those who say they have heard or seen Sasquatch are never quite the same.

Scott Taylor of Tacoma, Wash., says he saw a Bigfoot in 2005 while deer hunting on the coast of Washington.

“It’s not like going out and watching deer and elk,” said Taylor. “These are creatures that don’t want to be seen. But when you see one, it changes your life forever.”