Where are these 3-1/2 inch deep tracks? Why not cast these? If your foot is sinking that far into the soil, you will indeed walk funny and leave some very messy footprints.
I don't believe for a second that Patty left any such tracks.
Right. Patty was a bloke in a suit. The tracks made in the creekbed by this bloke were not cast, filmed or photographed. The soles of the suit feet were flat, featureless, flexible platforms.... like house slippers or clown feet. Can you recall the "Paddlefoot" animated gif that I posted here last summer? These fake feet created large but "worthless" impressions on the ground.
What I believe happened with the PGF hoax is close to this:
1) Patterson films Heironimus walking in the Bigfoot suit at Bluff Creek several weeks prior to October 20, 1967. Gimlin is with them and assists.
2) Patterson has the film developed and begins editing it for maximum "believability".
3) Patterson creates a fake trackway at Bluff Creek on October 20 (a Friday). Gimlin is with him. They make plaster castings of some of these fake tracks and also filmed the tracks. The night of October 20th, Patterson begins to inform people that he has filmed a Bigfoot earlier in the day.
4) On October 21st, Lyle Laverty visits Bluff Creek and observes and photographs some of the fake foot imprints that he finds.
5) Also on October 21st,
The Times-Standard newspaper (Eureka, CA) runs an article/interview of Patterson and his filmed encounter with Patty.
6) On the morning of October 22 (a Sunday), a group of people (including Patterson) assemble at Al DeAtley's house and watch the film of Patty that was supposidly filmed about 44 hours before this time. Patterson did not show them the "2nd roll of film" (which he claimed contained the filming of the trackway). I suspect this is because it had not been developed yet, nor any time allowed for editing.
At some time, Patterson & Gimlin concoct a mutual fake storyline that melds 1) & 3) so that they are conceived to be a single event that happened on October 20th. They add details to give credence, complexity and flavor to the supposed encounter and filming. A contemporary examination of their story (which differs between them) reveals preposterous claims of their actions which cannot realistically be shoe-horned into a functional timeline.
There are certainly more things to say about the creation of the hoax film itself and also of the continued hoaxery that followed. In many ways, the hoaxery of the PGF still exists through secrecy and obfuscation by those who support its authenticity.
