A hiker described a terrifying moment when a grizzly bear charged toward her and a group of companions on a trail in Glacier National Park. The experience, which the hiker detailed on Instagram, initially seemed to involve her breaking standard wildlife safety advice by running away.
"Life flashed before my eyes… 'Go on a hike,' they said. 'It'll be fun,' they said…," the hiker captioned a video of the encounter. She admitted to running, acknowledging that it is generally advised against when a bear is charging.
However, upon reviewing the footage, the hiker noticed a surprising detail: the bear was not directly charging at the group of hikers. The animal was observed to be in their general direction, which was still enough to cause panic.
"But the bear was actually chasing a chipmunk, which you can see if you look for it," she explained in the video's comments. She later reflected on the incident, stating, "Still, learned a VERY valuable lesson: I desperately need to work on my flight response."
The hiker concluded that despite the scare, "No dumb tourists were harmed" and described the experience as "10/10 experience. Would NOT recommend."