While at first glance these hikers may seem absolutely nuts for following a mountain lion, you may want to reserve a bit of criticism. The correct action to take when encountering a mountain lion is to act defiant, make noise, seem as loud as possible, and slowly create distance. This includes not running away from or towards the animal and maintaining eye contact. While the hikers probably should've backed away when they first spotted it, they were right to stand their ground during the encounter, and not to panic and run. 

Check out the incredible footage below:

^{Jukin Media}

While standing your ground is absolutely the right thing to do, we really don't recommend following or chasing mountain lions. This could have ended much, much worse for the hikers.