Daytime sighting by hiker, off West Sopris Creek Road witnessed in Pitkin County, Colorado

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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. My second sighting occurred during February 2001 near Aspen. I was hiking with my dogs on BLM land at the base of Sopris Mountain. I was on a steep trail that snowshoers had packed down firm. My dogs began to sniff the air and get excited, so I knew they had picked up the scent of an animal. Then two dogs that live on the other side of the road and up the hill began to bark. When I looked down at them I realized they were looking at something ahead of us, not at me or my dogs. Sure enough not 50 yards ahead of me sat what looked like a gorilla sitting in the snow under the shade of a pine tree. It was looking at the barking dogs across the little valley. I could tell it hadn't spott...