Report 12916: Daylight sighting by motorists near the town of Big Lake

I had taken my kids for a drive on Mother's Day, 1980, in the mountains east of Big Lake, WA. As we came around a bend in the dirt road we saw something at a distance crossing the road to head up the mountain. It saw us, stopped to look at us, then ran back down into the brush and disappeared. It was almost black, with no variation in color. It was not a bear, nor a human.