Daytime sighting on the edge of Lost Lake, near the Continental Divide witnessed in Jackson County, Colorado

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This sighting took place in the summer of 1996 at Lost Lake which is about five miles north of Rabbit Ears Pass by a four- wheel drive road and trail in northwest Colorado. It was late June and I was on a fishing trip to several lakes and beaver ponds in the area. I was supposed to be taking a friend along, but he had to cancel at the last minute. I left my camp at Dumont Lake in the morning and headed up the four wheel drive road to the trailhead that leads to Fish Hook Lake and Lost Lake. It is usually possible to drive the three miles to the trailhead, but the road was closed by the Forest Service due to lingering snow drifts, so I had to hike the road. I arrived at Fishook Lake in the late morning and spent a couple of hours fishing and eating lunch. About 1:30 I left that lake and began to hike to Lost Lake which is only a few hundred yards to the northeast. The trail I was on kind of funnels into the lake, and as the lake came into view I noticed a large, dark animal about 20 yards to my right near a boulder. My first thought was that I had suprised a bear, so I froze and waited to see what the animal would do. It was soon obvious that this animal was not a bear or any other animal I had ever seen. The animal was standing on two legs and was slightly crouched, it appeared to be staring across the lake. When it saw me, it fully crouched next to the boulder with its left hand resting on the rock. What I saw is best described as a large, hairy bipedal animal that had features of both a man and an ape. The animal was covered with shiny, dark hair that was approximately 3-4" long and was somewhat shorter in the face area. The animal was huge and the arms appeared very long as opposed to a person's. The head was somewhat dome-shaped and was set on massive shoulders, the neck appeared very short. The animal's eyes appeared below a slightly sloping forehead and there may have been a brow ridge. The eyes were dark and the nose was flat and wide. The face was dark and the lips appeared thin. I never saw the animal open its mouth or display teeth. After the animal crouched, it again looked over the lake then back at me. The animal then stood up and to my relief pivoted away from me and began to walk away from me at an angle. I moved forward to get a better look and the animal must have heard me move because it began to move quicker and glanced back at me. The animal walked briskly into the trees and I heard it moving for a couple more seconds then it was out of earshot. The whole event lasted between 8 and 12 seconds. I realized at this time that this must be the bigfoot of legend, but I had thought that they lived in the Pacific Northwest and were probably a myth, I certainly had never heard any reports of sightings in Colorado. I briefly thought about following the animal or looking for some good footprints to show the appropriate authorities, but I was alone and the animal was big, I would conservatively guess it was around 7 feet tall and weighed over 300 pounds, so I left and hiked quickly out of the area, not slowing down until I got to my truck. After getting back to camp, I debated about what to do and finally decided the potential ridicule if I reported this to someone and the animal was not found was not worth it. I watched the media for any unusual reports of bigfoot-type animals in Colorado in the months and years after my sighting and a few reports did indeed trickle in. I got on the internet to further research the subject and eventually spoke with a BFRO researcher about my encounter and he urged me to submit a report.