Last time I rode Salmon Falls (outside El Dorado Hills), I rounded a corner to see a full grown lion standing on the boulder about 4 ft over Bubba's head. It was the perfect place to stalk prey. Bubba (my DH) had stopped there to wait for me because it is right at the end of the nasty narrow beginning of the trail where folks fall waaaay over the side (for the last time). I always take it slow and easy through there. He's decided that he'll wait for me in another spot in the future. I've seen lots of mtn lions (specially Cool area) but that was the only time we felt any danger. The poison oak is more likely to kill off Bubba than a mtn lion.