On the hiking trail?! I saw one in the alley behind my house. Life in Tucson. Luckily he was walking away from me and all was well. But it was a funny morning to go out in the alley and think “oh that’s a big cat” and then take a closer look and realize no no that is a Big Cat (tm).
I have a hard time imagining where there would be mountain lions (cougars) in the Bay Area. Maybe down the peninsula and close to the ocean - Santa Cruz mountains but otherwise????? The writer should have been more specific as the Bay Area takes in a number of cities surrounding the City of San Francisco and across the bay...and I don’t believe people HIKE there....unless you call walking UP the streets in SF as hiking.