A local hiker came face-to-face with a large mountain lion on an Ojai hiking trail last week and captured video of the incident.
Courtney Rasura stated she decided to hike Gridley Trail on July 3rd around 6:30 a.m. She hiked around four miles and had yet to encounter anyone else on the trail.
“I usually play a podcast when I’m hiking alone on certain parts of the trail to make as to not surprise any wild animals,” Rasura stated.
She had just come back into cell phone service range and was looking at her phone. She then glanced up and saw a mountain lion walking directly toward her.
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“I was surprised because it was a little later in the morning, I kind of thought I was in the clear. I usually feel safest in those last two miles down the trail because it’s more open, there are more people, and there’s cell service.
Rasura knew not to run. All she had in her hands was her phone and her car keys so began to record the encounter while yelling at the lion.
“I was really hoping my yelling would make it go away, which it did, but after it retreated into a bush, it came back onto the trail,” Rasura said.
The mountain lion looked in her direction a few times while stepping forward before retreating up the hillside above the trail. Rasura then passed while looking over her shoulder to make sure it wasn’t following her.
“I have been hiking in Ojai for over 15 years and had never come across a mountain lion before. It was an amazing and terrifying experience all at the same time,” Rasura said.
Rasura stated she feels lucky but will be more cautious during her next hike and will carry an air horn.
The National Park Service states if hikers do encounter a mountain lion to remain calm, do not run, do not approach the lion, and do not crouch or bend over.
If the mountain lion moves in your direction, make yourself big and intimidating and yell at it, as Rasura did. If the lion continues, NPS advises throwing items at the lion to deter it from moving forward. And if the lion does attack, it’s recommended to fight back.
All sightings and encounters should be reported to the Forest Service.
Kudos to the hiker. I don’t think I would have been able to be that calm.
Wow, way to handle the situation. That’s intense.
right way to handle it, sometimes even that requires some luck for a happy outcome
I would recommend not hiking alone; there are too many hungry critters out there.
This one could have easily tracked along in the upper ground and then with one leap have her teeth in the back of the person’s neck, who would be instantly off into eternity.
Wow! When it first went into the brush, I was just waiting for it to pounce through it. I probably would’ve been walking back down backwards the rest of the way! Definitely buying new shorts!
Saying “No! No!” to the lion like it’s a house cat. Courtney is just freakin’ damned lucky the cat was so obliging. My housemate had an extremely close encounter with a 60-lb adolescent Mountain lion, up in Lockwood Valley. Housemate’s 50-lb dog was on-leash and the lion came up so close — the cat was batting at the end of housemate’s walking stick, like it was playing with a toy. A full grown Mountain lion like this one? Filming it and saying “No, No, No” is plain crazy.