Report 65862: Night time sighting by motorist in Feather River Canyon near Hwy 70 & 89 intersection.

This event took place 1992 in the Feather River canyon in Plumas County California. I and a good friend of mine were traveling north on hiway 70 just south of the hiway 89 intersection known as the Greenville Y. The time of year, if I remember right, was fall or spring. I remember it was not cold but not hot either and because it is heavily wooded with evergreens i can't place which season it was. It was dark, roughly 930 or 10pm. We rounded a left turn at 45 mph and half way through the turn the headlights caught an animal standing in the right hand lane. I had time to react because of the slower speed we were traveling at so i turned into the left lane to avoid hitting it. I was very awed at the animal because neither of us recognized it for something we knew. It was roughly 4 seconds from sighting to passing it. I saw a large animal on all 4's. It was facing left toward the left lane. Dark brown or black fur that was medium length. It was almost the size of a horse. As we rounded that corner I noticed the rear of it first then scanned across it's body toward it's head. As i was seeing it the legs were fairly long and then I got to the head. This is where I was surprised because the face was flat like a person face. No extended mouth or snout. As we passed it, it lowered it's head to peer in through the passenger side window of the 1987 Dodge Caravan I was driving. I live in the area, Susanville, and actually grew up here in Lassen County, but did live in Roseville California for 22 years and traveled through the hiway 70 feather river canyon to and from Susanville to visit with my folks. I have never seen anything like this creature again.