Dr. Robert Michael Pyle is a writer, biologist, and Guggenheim Fellow who holds a PhD in Ecology from Yale University. In 1995, he trekked for more than a month through Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest, a 76,000-acre region that is home to old-growth forest, in an area called the Dark Divide. His mission was both personal and professional: to study new butterfly species, explore alleged Bigfoot habitat, and come to terms with his wife’s terminal cancer diagnosis.
In September, 2020 Strike Back Studios, REI Co-op Studios and the National Wildlife Federation released a film based on Pyle’s journey and his book that details it, Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide. The film, The Dark Divide, provides an intimate portrayal of Pyle’s expedition. Dr. Pyle also appears in the 2021 film Hunting Bigfoot.