Report 21271: Man describes road sighting in teen years near Pine Stump Junction

During the summer of 1986, my two friends and I were 16 years old and had aquired a bottle of home made apple wine.  We needed a place to consume said contraband without the prying eyes of the local police department that knew my two friends quite well.  We decided to drive north of Newberry to park on an old logging trail near Pine Stump Junction.  The three of us shared the one bottle.  It was not enough to get us drunk, but provided a slight buzz.  When our buzz had wore off, we started back for town.  It was around 10 pm and was quite dark when we were driving south on H37.  We were rounding a left hand curve in the road when our headlights shined onto a large black creature.  It was hunched down, kneeling over some roadkill. It was on the white line on the right side of the road and facing the right ditch, so it was broadside to us.  When our headlights shined on it, still in the crouched, kneeling position it turned and looked at us.  It stood on its hind legs and with two large steps, it disappeared into the woods as we passed at about 45 mph. It was about 7 to 8 feet tall, covered in black fur from head to toe.  The face was flat like that of an ape, not like a snout of a bear. I'm not proud to say this, but all three of us screamed like girls when we saw it.  We did not stop.  We rode in stunned silence for awhile, then I asked if we were going to report this.  My two delinquent friends agreed that we could not share the sighting with anyone.  They would ask what were we doing up there and then find out about the stolen wine.  I kept this sighting secret for all these years.  When I saw on Fox news that your organization was going into Marquette, MI, I found this web site.  I am thankful that I can finally share my story.