Hiker scales cliff to escape grizzly bear on Glacier National Park trail Visitors to Glacier National Park knew Sean McKnight, of Durham, North Carolina, was going to run into a big bear and tried to warn him. However it was too late. The hiker had to climb off the trail ‘in the worst place possible’ to get out of the bear’s way.
BY
Nicole Hensley NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, August 2, 2014, 6:11 PM
Philip Granrud/Philip Granrud Photography A hiker from North Carolina had to scale a cliff to get out of a bear’s way in Glacier National Park.
This trail wasn’t big enough for a hiker and a grizzly bear in Montana’s Glacier National Park.
Parkgoers tried to warn the hiker from North Carolina he wasn’t alone on the Highline Trail, but the distance stifled their shouts from a scenic overlook near the Logan Pass Visitor Center.
Through a telephoto camera lens,
photographer Philip Granrud watched the lone hiker trek the narrow chunk of trail along the cliff before he spooked “the bear in the worst place possible,” he told the Daily News.
The hiker, later identified as Durham resident Sean McKnight, spotted the big bear only 50 feet away as he rounded a corner. He had only seconds to figure out his next move as the bear rambled down the trail.
Philip Granrud/Philip Granrud Photography The bear had no choice but to stay on the trail along a sheer cliff.
EnlargePhilip Granrud/Philip Granrud Photography
The hiker hid under a boulder as a grizzly bear passed above him on the trail.
EnlargePhilip Granrud/Philip Granrud Photography The bear jumped on the trail after being shooed away from a parking lot by a Glacier National Park ranger.
McKnight knew he couldn’t run or fend off the approaching predator with a bottle of bear spray because he conveniently buried that at the bottom of his pack, he recalled in an interview with the Daily News.
“The bear had no place to go except down the trail,” McKnight said. “But I did what they tell you do: Be calm, back up and don’t be aggressive.”
When he was out of sight, the experienced hiker had no choice but to scale the cliff where he found shelter under a boulder just moments before he saw the bear hovering where he had just been standing.
"He could have easily fallen to his death," Grandrud added.
Philip Granrud/Philip Granrud Photography The hiker waited minutes for the bear to head down the Highline Trail before climbing back up. Philip Granrud/Philip Granrud Photography The bear galloped down the trail because it was too close to people for comfort.
Previous Next
But bear gave him one last look before continuing its journey.
He dug out his bear spray anyway, which has only been used on aggressive mountain goats, he said, but the bear was already gone. It went on with its business, down the trail before diving into the forest.
“He just gave me a couple of huffs and scampered on by,” McKnight said.
It’s unusual to see bears using the same trails as people since they generally try to avoid humans. Rangers had just shooed this particular bear away from the visitor center parking lot, he added.
McKnight’s encounter happened only five miles from an incident last weekend where a hiker from Texas shot another grizzly bear that charged him.
nhensley@nydailynews.com
