A hiking party of four cruise ship passengers encountered a brown bear sow and her cub while hiking on Mount Ripinsky in Haines on Wednesday. They set out from the Mt. Ripinski trailhead at the end of Young Road, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game Biologist Carl Koch, who investigated the incident with a state wildlife trooper.
At about 2000 feet, they surprised the bear in a steep area. It charged toward a male who fell over trying to get away and then came very close to a female who also fell over and suffered a minor injury.
“Bears don’t like surprises and they’re even more protective when they have a cub with them,” said Koch.
Koch says the injury is likely a result of the fall rather than contact with the bear. The hikers descended the mountain and were given a ride back to their cruise ship by Haines Police Department. Medical staff on board treated the hikers injury.
ADF&G will post warning signs in the area. Koch says the group was spread out on the trail with no bear deterrents. He recommends hikers stay together and make noise.
Here is an interesting note to this story. Alaska Fish and Game has determined (a few years ago, I did not search for the article) that research showed that people have a zero chance of being attacked by a brown bear if they are in a group of 4 or more. Almost zero chance if you are in a group of three. Unfortunately, this group was spread out along the trail. Better to stick together, make the group look big and make noise. Glad nobody was mauled!
‘Young Lake’?
Maybe you mean the trailhead off of Young Road, the one most maps label as Skyline Trailhead.
I know you reporters don’t care; you’re just putting in you your time until you can move on to a bigger market. But using place names which cannot be referenced is a continual problem in news reporting here.