This beetle quickly ducked into a split in the log when I lifted the bark, so quickly in fact that I wasn't even sure it was a beetle. Fortunately the split portion was rotten and soft enough for me to pry it out.

The textured elytra reminded me of many Car*abus species, so I initially placed it on that genus level. Later, in the photo session back home, I discovered it had a very disagreeable odor unlike that of the smaller stinky ground beetles but strongly reminiscent of that given off by a large Carab*us I found in New Mexico last August. That further strengthened my notion as to genus.

However, the dorsal habitus was more reminiscent of a Pterostichus I had just posted so I did a google image search on Pterostichus and spotted an image partway down this page that looked like a close match. Further, the size and habitat notes were in agreement. This high-altitude species is uncommon, 15-18mm, and found only just below the timberline. This one was several hundred feet below the timberline at just over 3,000 feet elevation.