PAYSON, Ariz.– A 28-year-old woman believes she came across an unidentified animal Monday morning while hiking the Canyon Point trail located in the region of the Mogollon Rim.

Y. Estevez, a sociology student who claims she was alone at the time of the incident, says she saw a “troll” looking creature drinking from a pool of water.

“It was on its knees, drinking water, when I found it. Drinking, making noises like a pig, so at first sight the animal looked like a pig to me.”

She then reached for her digital camera inside her backpack, when the creature noticed her presence. “I tend to take pics of every animal I see on the trails, so this was no different to me. Like I said, I figured it was just a pig…kind of hairy though, which seemed a little odd for a hog. As soon as I made a little noise, the animal turned its head and looked directly at me. Now that’s when I freaked out. It was staring at me.”

Estevez says she began making herself look bigger to the creature. “Just like what you do with cougars. They always tell you to make yourself look bigger and to get very loud, and in theory, the animal will leave. So I start making noise and moving my arms up and down, the creature gets off its four legs and stands on its hind legs. It had long hair, grey and bluish, and I swear it looked like one of those trolls from a fairy tale. Ugly stuff. The face was human looking, no hair on it, but full of bumps. The eyes were kind of a brown-red. Thick big nose, small lips. No expression on its face at all. It then took off running like a person.”

Common sightings of the Mogollon Monster allegedly happen in the Ponderosa Pine Forests By Jedijoe82 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0]

The locals describe the Mogollon Monster as a bipedal humanoid living on the plateau of the Mogollon Rim, which extends from Arizona into New Mexico. About seven feet tall, this cryptid has a hairless humanoid face, with a pair of big and long red eyes. Some claim it hunts small animals –and even medium sized mammals– and leaves the carcasses next to bodies of water. These creatures appear to be nocturnal in nature and usually avoid coming out during the day, although there have been witnesses who claimed to have seen them in the early mornings of winter time.

“From now on,” says Estevez, “I will make sure I don’t hike alone. At least not around here.”

Most of the Mogollon Monster sightings occur along the the Ponderosa Pine forests of the region, and it is not uncommon for a sighting to be reported around this time of the year.