Backpackers have an early morning sound encounter with an unknown creature witnessed in Riverside County, California

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This is a late report, but however, it is a valid one. What prompted this report is the fact that I now currently reside in Snohomish County Washington and just read about local sightings in my area, surprised at the number of reports. I used to live in Orange County California, and an old girlfriend of mine and I, were camping up in Dutchman's Flats area, near Idyllwild. We were out-packing, not in a campground. We were awakened by screams that resembled the sound of a pack of coyotes that had just made a kill right outside of our tent. The screams however had a bit of a deeper tone than a coyote. At the time that is what we thought it was, so we stayed quiet not wanting to interrupt a wild animals meal. The screams and screeches continued for what seemed like an hour, but was probably about 5 or 10 minutes. The screams stopped, but we could hear what sounded like heavy footsteps right outside the door to our tent. We could hear sniffing sounds, and heavy breathing sounds. That is ...