The thing that continually draws me back to Destination Truth each week is Josh Gates. Aside from him being devilishly handsome and funny, the man will literally do just about anything while investigating, and often risks his life in ways most people would never even dream of doing. Gates and his investigative team pull out all the stops this week, going above and beyond while in the Kingdom of Bhutan searching for evidence of the Yeti.

The Bhutan Yeti

In the Kingdom of Bhutan, the Yeti is a spiritually renowned creature. Also known as the Abominable Snowman, the Yeti is primate that some believe will close the DNA gap between man and his primal ancestors.

Reports from Bhutan claim that one of the best times to spot the Yeti in the wild is during the autumn, when the creature is foraging for food before winter.

After interviewing locals, they team head to the Yeti National Park, and find they can no longer travel by jeep because the road is flooded. “Always come prepared,” seems to be just one of Josh Gates’ mottos, and when they reach the watery impasse, he and the crew blow up a raft and forge the rapids. Nearly losing Bicha along the way, they arrive safely, and set out on foot to assemble base camp.

After setting up a host of motion detecting cameras around the camp, they break off into two teams and hit the mountainous trails.  One of the best pieces of evidence discovered is a lock of hair Jael locates dangling from a tree. She bags and tags it while Bicha photographs distinguishing claw marks on an nearby tree.

Josh and Mike chase down a large creature caught on thermal, which leads them across an unstable wooden bridge, that upon collapse would drop them at least fifty feat into dangerous rapids. They lose track of their charge, and head back to base camp for the night, before packing up camp and hiking on to the second half of their investigation.

Night two produces another ball of unidentifiable hair in a characteristic nest, and a curious thermal hit that leads the team across another dangerous ravine in a pulley-activated cart that stalls midway across. Josh manages to steer the cart with muscle power the rest of the way, and they continue on the hunt for the mysterious beast they’ve been pursuing. They manage to lose sight of the animal at the top of a ridge, and head back to base camp.

Once back in the States, Josh takes photographs of bones he obtained from a women in Bhutan, who claimed they were from a Yeti, but after consultation discovers they are from an Asian black bear. On his next stop, he heads to Texas with the hair Jael found and has it analyzed by an expert. After running the DNA samples through an international database with millions of animals on file, they discover the hair came from a primate that has yet to be identified by experts.

Is it the hair from a Yeti? Only further investigation will tell, but some of the most convincing evidence discovered by Josh and his crew has come from their searches for the mysterious Yeti. Perhaps we are one step closer to closing the gap between the primate species.

With Destination Truth taking a season break until March, I have no idea how I’m going to spend my Wednesday nights. Oh wait. I hear Ghost Hunters is kicking off a new series next week. Steve and Tango training potential paranormal investigators in the Ghost Hunters Academy. Now this I’ve got to see!