YEAR: 1977

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 4th

STATE: Colorado

COUNTY: Teller County

LOCATION DETAILS: Below the treeline on the west side of Pikes Peak looking toward the north in the direction of Horsethief Park.

NEAREST TOWN: Cripple Creek

NEAREST ROAD: Pikes Peak Highway

OBSERVED: In the summer of 1977 my brother and I had ridden up to the top of Pikes Peak on the cog railway. We made it to the top around noon, ate at the snack bar and headed down the West side with our backpacks for a few days of fishing the high country streams and beaver ponds.

We picked our way down the steep slope and reached the treeline about about an hour later. As we hiked thru an opening we noticed something about a half mile away in a large meadow. At first I thought it was two people walking down the sloping hillside, one above the other. When we pulled up our binoculars we realized that it was an unusually tall, dark, hairy creature with exceptionally long arms and a very long stride. We watched it move downhill into the trees in approximately 10-15 seconds.We were both stunned and couldn't believe what we had seen. Neither one of us thought pull a camera out of our packs, it happened so fast.

After we got over the initial shock we went on down to a small lake, set up camp and spent an uneventfull night. We hiked on down for the next two days, fishing and camping without any further sightings. We never did hear any sounds from the creature and it didn't appear to be the least bit concerned by our activity.

ALSO NOTICED: No, I've hiked, hunted and fished in the area for 30 years and have never seen anything remotely resembling what we saw that day.

OTHER WITNESSES: My brother witnessed the incident although the last time I brought it up he said he didn't remember it happening. I think he is embarassed by it and doesn't want anyone to think he's nuts.

OTHER STORIES: I remember hearing about someone on the northeast side of Pikes Peak having trouble with something at night that left large footprints in the snow around the same time period. I think that was reported on Unsolved Mysteries. I have since read several stories about other people having similar experiences in the general area, some of which are posted on this website.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Typical sunny summer day, early afternoon, calm with no rain showers.

ENVIRONMENT: Mixture of meadows and Pine forest approximately 11,000 feet in elevation.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

I spoke with the witness by phone and can add the following details to the report:

• The witness did not believe that the animal knew it was being watched.
• The animal was six to eight feet tall and lean.
• The animal was dark brown or black in color.
• Its movement was very fluid.
• Due to the distance, the witness did not observe any facial features.

About BFRO Investigator Stan Courtney:

Stan Courtney has a special interest in wildlife audio recording. He has attended numerous BFRO Expeditions. See Stan's blog StanCourtney.com for recordings he has collected over the years.

Stan Courtney can be reached at illinois@bfro.net