San Diego hiker survives grizzly bear attack in Glacier National Park

Daniel Crago was 3.5 miles up Glacier National Park’s Grinnell Glacier Trail when a grizzly bear turned a hike into a life-or-death scramble. The San Carlos, San Diego man first saw a cub, then a larger bear about 15 feet away on a snowfield near the trail, before the animal charged, bit his right arm and dragged him a short distance.

Crago was hiking on the final day of a weeklong trip that had already covered more than 20 miles. He said he tried to do what he had been taught in bear country, but the encounter escalated almost immediately. Park officials said loud rushing water may have kept both Crago and the bear from detecting each other sooner, a reminder that even experienced hikers can be caught off guard in Glacier’s backcountry terrain.

Help arrived quickly. Nearby hikers rushed to Crago’s side, including a doctor and a pediatric emergency room physician who applied a tourniquet and stabilized him until park responders got there. Glacier dispatch received an SOS at about 12:51 p.m., minutes after the bear encounter that the National Park Service said occurred around 12:45 p.m. on May 28. Crago was then airlifted to Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell, Montana.

His injuries were serious. Park officials said the bear fractured his arm, and Crago has since undergone multiple surgeries. Doctors have told him recovery could take one to two years. Glacier National Park temporarily closed the Grinnell Glacier Trail after the attack.

The episode has renewed attention on bear safety in a park that the National Park Service says provides habitat for nearly 1,000 bears. Officials advise visitors to hike in groups, stay alert, make noise near streams and dense vegetation, and carry bear spray. Intentionally approaching bears within 100 yards is prohibited. With another serious bear encounter in Glacier just weeks earlier, the latest attack has reinforced how quickly a routine hike can turn dangerous in one of the country’s busiest bear-country landscapes.