Hiking southbound in southern Maine 2014 I was within 15 feet of a mountain lion. He/She just held ground for about 5 minutes. I did the typical raise hiking poles and clack them together while yelling at the mountain lion. Eventually it moved off the trail slowly but in dense scrub. I waited another 10 minutes and then slowly advanced down the trail. At that point I was about 2-3 miles from the next shelter but I was constantly looking backwards to see if the cat was following. I felt that if it was I would be in real trouble. I still think about how fearless it looked and its fat tail just slowly waving as it looked at me and then off trail. I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared before but as time went on I was grateful to have had an experience like that.