Report 3652: Driver has daylight sighting off CO 91 between Copper Mtn. and Leadville

I lived in Colorado for 29 years. Eighteen of those I spent working at ski resorts. Over the years I've seen hundreds of deer and elk as well as dozens of bear, everything from cubs to large 400 pound males. In the last 4 years I've had 3 separate sightings of 4 creatures that I hesitate to identify. The first happened in the fall of 1998 off the highway between Copper Mountain and Leadville. As I was driving towards Leadville, I saw what I at first thought was a large tree stump that someone had carved like a totem pole. It was about 100 feet to my left on the valley floor. While I was marveling at the detail of the carving the "totem pole" rotated from the waist up and looked at me. I slammed on my brakes and skidded to a stop on the shoulder. When the dust cleared the creature was gone. I turned the car around but no luck. What I saw was hairy from head to toe, very thick with broad shoulders and lacked the long snout and round rump that bears have.