My son Christopher and I started the hike via Redbox Canyon at 6am. Beautiful morning with clear conditions and I am so glad we started early to beat the heat.  The hike is in good condition. I loved the narrow trail that bends around the mountain. The first half of the trail to the summit was in the shade and had a nice cool feel with hot pockets here and there as the sun was rising. As we turned the corner on one of the bends and approached a tree covered thick in brush, the whole tree shook violently with all of the brush. My son and I stopped in our tracks and as soon as we did that we heard a low deep growl which to me sounded similar to a tiger or lion growl. My son and I remained calm and we went in the opposite direction. I took out my emergency whistle and got my trek poles ready to wave high in the air just in case the mountain lion started following us. Thankfully what I assumed was a mountain lion left us alone. We warned other 4 hikers what we encountered that were headed in that direction about what we assumed was a mountain lion encounter. After a discussion with the other hikers we decided to not let this stop us from summiting Strawberry Peak. We decided to start blowing our whistles and walking back in the other direction and whatever was in the tree was gone by the time we got back. I am extremely grateful to have been prepared, after doing research on what to do if you encounter a mountain lion, bear, or rattle snake. I am also extremely grateful the size of our hiking group increased when we ran into other hikers on the trail. As our group approached the top of Strawberry Peak I felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and pride as I saw an American Flag on the top of the peak that somebody must have just placed in observance of Independence Day. This hike was quite the adventure and I am happy that we came out safe and sound.