Phoebe Nicholson described the 'intense' moment grizzly bears stalked her group of hikers in Banff. Photo / Screenshot
A guide in one of Canada’s most popular national parks described an “intense” encounter with nature, as her party was stalked through a trail by grizzly bears.
Guide Phoebe Nicholson, originally from New South Wales, was leading a party of hikers to Consolation Lake, on Tuesday last week.
The hiking guide, who is living in Alberta, said one of her guests saw the bears before she did.
“One of my guests noticed some rustling in the trees and noticed they had seen two big bears,” she told CBC.
In footage recorded by Jess Rogers, who was one of the hiking party, Nicholson can be heard encouraging the trampers to maintain a calm, steady pace.
“Alright guys, keep walking!” she told the party of five.
Her voice sounds increasingly harried as the bears get ever closer.
“Internally I was quite nervous, but I also felt prepared,” said Nicholson.
The two bears, which she assumed to be a mother and grown cub, followed them for 15 to 20 minutes, at points getting as close as 10 metres.
The young bear was the biggest concern. It tried a couple of “bluff charges” to see if the hikers would break into a run.
Eventually, they got to the trailhead and the bears left them alone.
“We got to Consolation Lake and we kind of just watched in awe, getting our breath back from what had just happened, which was pretty intense.”
Nicholson called the encounter a learning experience, saying that as an outdoor guide she had plenty of training for bear encounters, but it was the first time she got to put this into practice.
She encourages hikers to carry bear spray ready while in bear country.
There are roughly 65 grizzly bears in Banff National Park, a wilderness area of about 6641 square kilometres. In autumn these animals can be encountered anywhere says the national park, “be it on a busy trail close to town or in the remote backcountry” although they tend to avoid humans.
While a bear sighting is the goal of many international visitors, the national park’s official advice is to avoid the animals.
The National Parks’ official advice for anyone encountering a bear is to keep calm and not to be spooked by “bluffs”, such as mock charges or growling.
The Canadian National Parks provides a five-step guide to backing out of a bear encounter:
Stay calm. Avoid screams or suddenly breaking into a run that may trigger an attack.
Speak to the bear. Talking in a calm, clear voice lets the bear know you are aware of it and not prey. If a bear rears onto its hind legs, it is not attacking but trying to work out what you are.
Back away slowly. Never run! Running may spark a chase. They are faster than you.
Make yourself appear BIG. Stay in a group, gather small children or slower walkers so as to not provide easy pickings for bears.
Finally, do not drop your pack. It can provide protection.
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