Grizzly kills Yellowstone National Park hiker (Jackson: home, campgrounds, live)

[paintersspouse]

Jackson Hole Daily | Grizzly kills YNP hiker

[yr2012]

Oh well, the good news for her is that she has cubs and that will keep her alive. No cubs = death warrant

Most of the backcountry trails and campgrounds were closed on account of flooding

[eiafjam]

Never ever turn your back on a griz...especially with cubs...they will eat you.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by yr2012

Oh well, the good news for her is that she has cubs and that will keep her alive. No cubs = death warrant

Most of the backcountry trails and campgrounds were closed on account of flooding

When we have a problem with the wildlife in Alaska, we relocate the tourist causing the problem.

Every bear mauling I have read about, with only one exception, was the result of humans not paying attention or being aware of their surroundings. The one and only exception was Timothy Treadwell, who basically walked up to the bear, fully aware that it was there, and said "EAT ME!" So it did.

[shadowwalker]

Well now I guess they didn't have any of the famous Bear Spray everyone wants us to use on them.

[Elizabeth60]

One of the headlines I read this morning stated, "Killer Grizzly....." A bit redundant.

[sugarsugar]

We just got back from a trip out east, spent the last week in Grand Teton NP.

Were out hiking there near a river on the flats in GTNP, and dh spotted a grizzly bear. We've never seen any kind of bear in all of our hikes/travels in over 30 years (scat yes, bear, no).

We realized we were downwind of it, that it had neither heard or smelled us yet (maybe 1200 feet away), which meant that if the wind changed, we could startle it by our presence. Which meant it would either run or attack, depending...it just isn't a good thing to be rating the odds of happening in real time. That grizzly could have covered that short distance in seconds, not minutes.

But the fact that he/she didn't know we were there also meant that we could beat a hasty retreat while conditions favored us and we grabbed our packs and got the heck out of there. We had bear bells, firearms that were too small to make a difference as it was an amazingly large animal, and unfortunately, were wearing clothes that likely reeked of an earlier lunch in the truck. Someone protected the stupid in us on this hike.

We've both spent time in AK, and shouldn't have been so ill prepared. We'd hiked so far to get to this spot that I was reluctant to leave so fast, but only just for a moment, until I caught a small glimpse of the bear in the distance (dh had his binoculars on him as I quickly repacked our packs and threw them on my back). Our truck was miles away, and we also had a herd of bison heading toward us from the other direction (and climbed a steep hillside via a game trail to get out of that area, although there was also a large herd of elk up there as well).

Any doubts I held over retreating from that grizzly sighting instead of staying to enjoy the view that we'd hiked so far to reach have vanished after hearing about this fatal attack. I'd told dh that I'd rather regret not staying, from the comfort of my campground, than to regret staying when I was in an ER somewhere, if we even made it there without dying.

It was a beautiful trip and a wonderful place. You can have the time of your life or breathe your last breath there. We've been there before and will be back again, but this has really driven home the risk that we'd almost put out of our minds over the years.

P.S. We'd planned to stop in Yellowstone NP next; however I'd already read that 3 campgrounds on the edge of the park had closed to tent campers due to last year's fatality of a Grand Rapids man in a fatal bear/tent attack there, and after seeing this one, I just wasn't all that into spending more time right then in bear country. One thing I noticed was that everyone likes to feed these bears, like they are picnic table "pets" - that is so asking for trouble, for everyone who uses the park. Fed bears aren't as likely to run when they see humans.

[jody_wy]

just a black , last week

[CTC]

Originally Posted by sugarsugar

One thing I noticed was that everyone likes to feed these bears, like they are picnic table "pets" - that is so asking for trouble, for everyone who uses the park. Fed bears aren't as likely to run when they see humans.

Really? You have seen people feeding bears in GTNP/Yellowstone??
Where did you see this??? This HIGHLY illegal-you need to take down some license plate numbers and report to the rangers

I know back in the50's/60's this happened. It is hard to believe that people still do this

I have spent a fair amount of time in Yellowstone and have never seen this kind of behavior

[CTC]

Originally Posted by jody_wy

just a black , last week

great photo. thanks for sharing.