WATCH: A Brave Yellowstone Hiker Avoids 2 Huge Grizzly Bears
It's June in Wyoming and in some parts of the state there is still snow and the temperatures are pretty cool. One of those areas is Yellowstone National Park. Even though the temps are cool, the action is heating up.
Stan Mills is a YouTuber that has dedicated his YouTube channel to the beauty and nature of Yellowstone. Stan is an experienced outdoorsman that has spent plenty of time hiking and exploring Yellowstone. One of the hikes that Stan takes is the Bighorn Pass trail that runs 19.8 miles and is quite the popular trail.
During his hike on June 1st, Stan encounters not one, but two different grizzly bears on his journey. Being skilled and experienced, he was able to avoid any major conflicts with the bears, but he was able to document and share his experience as a teaching moment.
Being Bear-Wise is very important.
The standard answer to the question, how far should you be away from a grizzly bear?, is 100 yards. So one full American football field away, any closer and it could be trouble. During his first encounter, Stan sees a grizzly #1 heading in his direction and does everything he can do to let the bear know he's there, but still keep that safe distance between he and the bear.
When the bear notices him, the bear starts to figure out his best path forward. Stan continued to film and explain what was happening and what he was going to do. First thing he started to do, is get the heck out of dodge. There was no way he could continue on the trail, so he started to retreat and head back the way he came. After moving at a pretty good pace, he decided to find a higher point and see if the bear was still on the same path.
It was then that he spotted grizzly #2. It's at this point that Stan realizes it really time to vamoose. Grizzly #1 was coming one direction and grizzly #2 was coming from another, he says on the video:
they could meet and it could be a BAD situation. The bad situation could be that one grizzly could see the other an run in my direction, so, I'm going to have to get outta here
If Stan wouldn't have found the higher spot off the trail, he would've come face to face with grizzly #2.
The video is 21 minutes long and was very suspenseful. Check it out and remember before you head out on a hike or camping trip in the backcountry, to be prepared and know what to do if a situation like this arises for you.