Thanks, guys! It’s definitely not that bad a climb, only four miles round trip and the first half is pretty level overall, but the view at the top is fantastic. One of our favorite hikes around here.
Yeah, the kid is our little fussbucket, but we love him. His numerous facial expressions are constantly keeping us laughing.
To answer your question, TAC, there are both around here, but encounters are rare. The bears prefer to stay away from trails with humans, and even so, they’re usually docile. The cougars, however, are not to be fucked with. We heard one growl at us (which was later confirmed by a YouTube video) on the way down from a day hike a couple years ago, but we never saw it. Took us a second to realize it was an animal we heard, and my wife and I grouped together and picked up some rocks in case it showed itself and was threatening. I don’t own a firearm, so it was the best we had. The fact that neither of us are small people probably helped our cause as well in deterring it from some form of aggression as they prefer easy targets. In any case, not in any rush to have that happen again!