The North and Middle Forks of the American River have black bears and cougars, but the creature to fear on a hike is the lowly tick carrying Lyme disease. While the black bear and the cougar generally want to avoid an encounter with humans, the tick wants to latch on at any time.
A canyon trail is a thin ribbon surrounded by vast tracts of land that people rarely enter. Consider the spot on Stevens Trail where the mountain lion was killed last month. This was near the town of Colfax. Stevens Trail is a very popular hiking trail in the Sacramento area. Families with small children use it. People stick to the trail and rarely venture beyond it. There's little reason to stray from the trail - the hillsides are steep and full of trees and brush, and the river is the goal of the hike. So the trail has many hikers on weekends, fewer on weekdays, and is quiet at night. Nearby in the woods lives the mountain lion. It keeps away from the trail during the day, perhaps uses it at night, and upon hearing the rare human in the forest it quietly goes in the other direction.
Remember as you're hiking the canyons that you're in something else's territory. But since the likelihood of being attacked by a bear or a mountain lion is very, very low, enjoy the hike. Just check yourself for ticks, you don't want to get Lyme disease.
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