I grew up in a town called Hawthorne, located in Nevada. Hawthorne is located right next to Walker Lake. The main highway leading from Hawthorne to Reno is Hwy 95, which if you use Google Earth, you can see runs right between Walker Lake and a mountain range. This creates a small area of the highway that is affectionately known to locals as "The Cliffs."

 

When I was 14, my grandparents, mom, and I were coming home late from a long day of doctor's appointments in Reno. My grandfather was driving, and we hit The Cliffs a little after 11:30pm. I was in the passenger seat, to help keep my grandfather awake, but I still think it was just so I would sing folk songs with him. Anyway, about 1/3 of the way around The Cliffs, heading toward Hawthorne, there is a small area where the road pulls away from the mountain and creates a small out-cove area. As we started to come up on it, we saw a large animal crossing the road, dragging another animal in its mouth, and it stopped in this out-cove. Grandpa thought, at first, that I might get my first look at a live mountain lion, so he slowed down. When we got within 100 feet of it, he turned on the brights of the car. To our surprise, it was no mountain lion. We only had a couple of seconds to look at it after grandpa turned on the brights, because right after the light hit what ever the hell that thing was, it turned to look at us one second, and the next, it lept straight up the side of the mountain, and out of sight, leaving the mangled body of a fox. Grandpa hit the gas and the old Buick we were in jumped, waking up the women in the back seat. I had never seen my grandfather truly scared before, but even he was physically shaking afterward.

 

I remember the sheer bulk of the thing, and the fact that it looked like a really large bodybuilder., when it jumped in the same fashion as a human, with its arms reaching up, toward the rocks almost over its head. It had long, thick fur, but you could see the muscle definition. I don't remember the facial features, but I remember the pure terror when that thing turned and looked at the car with shining yellow eyes. I even pissed myself!

 

I have come practically face to face with a polar bear, and I wasn't as scared as when we saw this thing. Now I don't believe in werewolves, and I haven't seen anything like it since, but I hope I never do again!