Up in the Park, the Highline Trail remains closed from Haystack Butte to the Granite Park Chalet after an encounter with a bear early Thursday morning. A 35-year old man from Washington, hiking the Highline, surprised–at close range, a bear near the Grinnell Glacier Overlook trailhead. He was bitten below the knee before his hiking companions used bear spray to drive the bear away. Using a satellite phone, they called Ranger Headquarters, where they received instructions on how to bandage the wound. A first-aid kit was used to stop the bleeding.
We’re told the hiking party was hiking into the wind, facing foggy conditions. Supervisory Wildlife Biologist John Waller says the party was well-prepared with bear spray, a sat-phone and a first aid kit. They were hiking as a group and, when the situation called for calm, they were ready.
Park Rangers took the man to the Granite Park Chalet, where Two-Bear-Air flew him out to Apgar, where Three Rivers Ambulance took him to Logan Health Whitefish. We have no more information on his condition.
While Rangers haven’t found the bear yet, they have enough information to determine it was most-likely a male grizzly. We understand that no further action will be taken against the bear, since it was a surprise encounter.
