SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A hiker is recounting a harrowing face-to-face encounter with a mountain lion inside Mission Trails Regional Park, one of several sightings in the park over the last 5 weeks.
Gabe Yanez was several hours into a hike on the Suycott Valley Trail in the central part of the park just before 7 p.m. two Thursdays ago when the experienced hiker, who was jogging down the trail, spotted the big cat in the brush about 5 feet off the trail.
“Freaked the heck out of me,” Yanez said. “I thought this was the end of me.”
Yanez said he immediately tried to make himself as threatening as possible.
"I see it, and I put my arms up and roared!" Yanez said.
He said the mountain lion kept low, ready to pounce, as he maintained eye contact with it.
"Waving, yelling, screaming at it. At one point, it showed its teeth, and I ended up showing my teeth," Yanez said.
After a several-minutes-long standoff, the mountain lion backed off slightly.
"Once it backed off enough, I started to move off to the side, and it was moving side to side with me, hiding behind bushes," Yanez said.
Yanez then took out his phone and photographed the animal. About 5 minutes after the encounter began, the mountain lion took off.
Park Ranger Christian Navarro said Yanez handled the situation correctly.
"Gabe sounds like he did exactly what he should have done, stood his ground," Navarro said.
Navarro said there have been several mountain lion sightings in the park since late June. Mountain lions are native to Mission Trails Regional Park.
"We are monitoring it. We think it's the same mountain lion. They are usually solitary animals. Their range is large," Navarro said.
Navarro said the mountain lion is believed to be a juvenile.
Yanez said he is sharing his story to raise awareness for other park visitors who may cross the animal's path.
"Be aware. It can happen to you," Yanez said.
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