[pct-l] Curious Cougar near HikerTown

[Jack and Barb]

Barb recently talked to a hiker (female) at Hiikertown (mile 517) who had a
very close encounter with a mountain lion.  She was hiking solo at night
somewhere between the Andersons and Hikertown, Saturday 5/25 and spotted
the cat about 15 yards away.  Fortunately, she did all the right things -
looked directly at it and growled/screamed as loud as she could, then
nonchalantly walked on.  She encountered it again further up on a
switchback and ignored it.  Never saw it again.  We suggest anyone hiking
in the area from Saufley's (mi 454) to Hikertown (517) refrain from night
hiking and if you do, go with a group and stay together.   If you encounter
one of these cats, DO NOT TURN AND RUN.  For more FAQs see this
http://mountainlion.org/FAQfrequentlyaskedquestions.asp