What began as a scenic hike in Alaska quickly became a frightening survival moment when three hikers came dangerously close to a grizzly bear.
The group had just rounded a bend on a narrow trail at the Anan Creek Wildlife Observatory in southeast Alaska when they encountered the bear, known locally as “Scuba Sue,” as it searched for salmon nearby.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” the hikers recalled how guidance from park rangers helped them remain composed while they were stuck on the trail with little room to move.
“We’d actually been watching bears, hoping that there were salmon coming up the river. We saw about four or five bears earlier. Those were black bears. And then coming back on the trail, we had an unexpected encounter,” Dr. Michelle Lynn Thaller said. “Right around the corner came this grizzly bear.”
Footage from the encounter shows the bear approaching the hikers at extremely close range.
With the animal blocking the route, the hikers spoke steadily to the bear and slowly backed away, trying to create enough space for it to continue down the path.
“Oh, [I] was definitely terrified. And then we remembered what the rangers told us, which was what you said, to be big, talk to the bear, keep it calm and get out of its way,” hiker Tanya Thompson said.
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“There was no place where we met the bear to get off the path. So we had to back up a little bit in order to get off so she could run forward,” she added.
Hiker Tony Cutraro noted that the group had been briefed by park rangers before the hike, but they already knew they were in deep bear country and had seen evidence of them on the path.
After a few tense moments, the bear passed by the group and continued on its way.
Thaller noted that a delayed salmon run this year has left the local wildlife starving, raising the stakes of the encounter.
“Well, that was something that actually made me a little bit nervous because these bear are here to fish salmon. There’s going to be salmon running up the river and spawning and the salmon were not running yet,” Thaller said.
“And so, in years past we had seen salmon. They were eating salmon. The salmon were a bit later this year. And so these bears, they’re hungry. They’re waiting for the salmon to come,” she added.
The National Park Service has a few tips for hikers in these situations.
They advise hikers to identify themselves by talking calmly to the bear, so it knows they are human and not prey.
They also recommend remaining still and avoiding running away.
