Campers observed by unknown animal witnessed in Siskiyou County, California

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Dear BFRO, I had an interesting and very frightening experience back in 1984. I was backpacking with two friends in the Marble Mountains Wilderness in Siskyou County, Northern California. We were camped by a lake in the southern portion of the wilderness about 20 miles from the Klamath River east of Somes Bar and north of Fork of Salmon. It was just after dusk and we were settling down for the evening, having spent the day hiking and fishing. We heard the sound of a tree limb break about 50 yards from camp. At first we thought we heard a black bear attempting to steal our food, which was in a nearby tree hanging in a bear bag. When we approached the tree, a friend noticed two amber-colored eyes staring at us from the woods up the hill. The eyes were reflecting the light of his flashlight. We watched it and it watched us for about a minute. Assuming it was a bear or deer, I tossed a rock in its direction, hoping to scare it away. The eyes then rose vertically several feet, as if t...