Best to let the family of bears have the right of way.
Coming face-to-face with one bear on a hiking trail is bad enough. Running into three bears while you are out in the great outdoors? That’s about as unlucky of a nightmare scenario as there is. This wildlife expedition guide – and Alaska bear guide – named Brooke Bartleson recently lived through that nightmare.
Though I suppose if she’s an Alaskan bear guide… an encounter like this is part of the job?
There are believed to be around 30,000 grizzly bears in the state of Alaska. In case you didn’t know, they are arguably the most “apex predator” of all the bear species, and your best bet to not be mauled by one is to not get close to a grizzly in the first place. However, not every outdoorsman (and outdoorswoman) has that luxury. Sometimes, as much as you can try to avoid bears, the big furry creatures end up finding you.
With these hikers running into a grizzly bear on this Alaskan trail, it was more so just a matter of wrong place, wrong time. Or right place, right time… the fact that Bartleson is a bear guide complicates things. And if you are wondering what this grizzly family was doing on a trail in the first place, it’s actually more common than you might think.
Hiking trails and roads are commonly used by animals as well as people for no other reason than… it’s easy to move. Would a bear rather weave its way through the thick forest, or just mosey on down the road? Animals often times opt to take the road/path, which means run-ins with people are inevitably – and dangerously – going to happen. Those hiking in bear country should always be prepared for a potential run in.
These hikers were somewhat prepared, and Bartleson definitely knew what to do and what not to do when faced with an entire grizzly bear family. She and those that were with her stayed calm, stayed still, and moved off the trail that the grizzly and her two little ones (might be more appropriate to just say “littler” because they were pretty sizable) were using.
Fortunately, the grizzlies kept things moving, and seemed to barely notice or pay attention to the group that Bartleson had just off the beaten path. Though it all worked out, there’s no doubt that the the bear guide and the others with her had a heart-pounding encounter. Grizzly bears are dangerous, and Bartleson obviously knows that.
She handled the run in exactly how you are supposed to, and even managed to get it all on video while she was at it. In her social media post, the bear guide mentioned that you’ve got to be ready to be calm and think quickly out in bear country:
“This bear family came barreling down the trail as we were getting ready to walk up it. We were backed up as far as we could go, and gave them as much room as possible to pass by – which they did. Gotta be ready to act fast out here and stay calm.”
