Colorado Hiker Witnesses Sasquatch Vanish Into Portal During Family Hike

Posted Saturday, August 22, 2026

By Squatchable.com staff

So I just came across this incredible video over on the BigfootStacy YouTube channel, and I have to tell you, this one is going to stick with me for a while. It's a witness testimony from a man named Jim Erland out of North Glenn, Colorado, and what he describes is nothing short of mind-bending. Jim comes across as your typical outdoorsy Colorado guy — a lifelong hiker, hunter, fisherman, and climber. The kind of person who knows the woods like the back of his hand. But even with all that experience, what he witnessed one day with his family left him completely shaken. It all started back in the '90s when Jim saw a segment on Unsolved Mysteries featuring a man named Dan Messias, who claimed to have strong evidence of Sasquatch in his neighborhood near Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. Jim was so intrigued that he actually drove out to meet Dan in person. Dan shared a lot of knowledge with him, but he also issued a chilling warning: "Before you go up, I want you to check with me first because I want to make sure you come back down." Apparently, people have gone missing in those woods, and it's actually documented. Armed with that intel, Jim started exploring the area with his family. One day, he took his wife and grandkids up a trail about five or six miles in. Nothing happened for most of the hike, but on the way back, they came to a saddle in the trail, and that's when everything changed. His granddaughter spotted something first. "Grandpa, look! He's there! There he is!" Jim raised his binoculars and saw a large figure kneeling under a tree, one hand on the trunk, knuckles on the ground, facing away from them. The figure got up, used its arm for leverage to hoist its massive body, and then turned toward the tree line instead of toward them. It walked out of the timber into a clearing on a blustery, sunny day. And here's where it gets wild. Jim describes a shimmer appearing in the clearing — something round, almost like a portal, resembling heat distortion or a reflection off a road. It started small, got smaller, and then closed. And the Sasquatch vanished. Right in front of him. In broad daylight. Jim stood there in shock, trying to process what he'd just seen. Solid matter doesn't just disappear. But before he could even wrap his head around it, a second one stepped out from the trees to the left. This one faced him directly. He estimates this one was around nine feet tall, weighing somewhere between 600 and 800 pounds. Very bulky, very huge. Hair on the arms and face, but the chest and body were relatively bare. Darker skin with lighter, reddish-blonde hair that was whipping around in the wind. Long hair on top of his head — Jim compared it to a rock star's mane. He also noticed white patches on the top of the head and shoulders, which made him wonder if this one was older, maybe turning gray. The eyes were dark brown, shadowed by a massive brow ridge. The figure just stood there in the deadfall, staring at Jim. Jim, being a lifelong hunter, immediately understood the danger. If this thing wanted to come after him, he wouldn't even have time to turn around. He started hyperventilating a little, but he managed to calm himself down, realizing the figure hadn't done anything threatening. It just watched him. After what must have felt like an eternity, the figure looked up at the sun, then turned its head back to Jim, and eventually stepped back into the timber. Not a disappearance this time — just a deliberate retreat. Jim's instinct kicked in, and he thought of the Cheyenne tradition of the Dog Soldiers — warriors who stay behind to interfere with the enemy while their family escapes. He lagged behind, ready to put himself between his family and whatever might be following them. Nothing happened, but as they got back to the parking lot, they could hear something skirting them on the ridge. When they stopped, it stopped. When they moved, it moved. They were being followed all the way down. Jim's theory about what he witnessed is fascinating. He believes the first Sasquatch was performing some kind of ritual or task required by his clan — perhaps a coming-of-age ceremony or a demonstration of power — and the second one was there as a sentinel, an elder watching to make sure it was done correctly. Jim thinks they knew he was there, and they let him see it anyway. Maybe they chose him randomly, or maybe there was a reason. The way Jim tells it, you can feel the weight of the experience. He's not trying to sell you anything. He's just sharing something that happened to him that he can't explain, and that has stayed with him ever since. The idea that solid matter can just vanish in front of your eyes — that's the kind of thing that challenges everything we think we know about reality. If you want to hear Jim tell this story in his own words, definitely check out the video on the BigfootStacy channel. It's one of those testimonies that makes you wonder just how much is really out there in those deep woods, and how much we still have to learn about the beings that might be sharing this planet with us. Green Mountain Falls and the surrounding areas of Colorado have a long history of Sasquatch reports, and stories like Jim's only add to the growing body of evidence that something extraordinary is happening in those mountains. Whether you believe it's an interdimensional being, a hidden species, or something else entirely, one thing's for sure — Jim Erland saw something that day, and it changed him forever.