Quietly retreat

Our local newspaper had a brief article today about an unfortunate man that was mauled to death by a Grizzly bear at Yellowstone National Park.

He was hiking with his wife along the Wapiti Lake trail when he surprised a female bear with her cubs.

The bear attacked and fatally wounded the man.

She was defending her cubs.

Two years ago we (my wife, son, daughter and I) were on the same trail.

I vividly remember the notices posted everywhere:

"If you see a bear and it's not aware, quietly retreat from the area. If you see a bear and it's aware, flap your arms (to make yourself look bigger), talk in a loud voice and retreat from the area. If the bear is aware and charges you stand completely still-it might be a false charge. If the bear continues to charge you, immediately drop to the ground and curl up in a ball."

At the time I remember that I had no problem with the first two sentences of instructions. The 3rd and 4th were a different story.

We saw a Grizzly while on the trip (an incredibly cool thing).

He was only about 30 yards from us.

Luckily, it was not aware.

We quietly retreated!