average<\/a> only two or three times a year. When Bentzel and Nelson faced off with that bear a decade ago, they were ready for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tJon Bentzel and Micah Nelson at the southwest saddle of Thunderbird Mountain the day after they came face to face with a grizzly.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Jon Bentzel<\/p>\n
\n\tTHE DAY THEY ENCOUNTERED the grizzly, Bentzel and Nelson were on the second day of a four- to five-day peak-bagging trip in Glacier National Park. They aimed to complete the 45-mile-long Traverse, which follows the north-central Continental Divide, over 25 miles involving off-trail navigation through some of the highest grizzly bear densities in the contiguous United States.<\/p>\n
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\n\tBentzel had lived in Montana for over 10 years, although he grew up in York, Pennsylvania. Nelson was born in Kalispell, Montana, near Glacier National Park. Both men enjoyed weekend climbing trips. They were familiar with the outdoors, each having more than a decade of experience working on trail crews in grizzly country, where they built and maintained hiking trails for the public. Bentzel, who was 39, had summited many of the park\u2019s named peaks and had invited Nelson, then 30, to join him on the expedition that July of 2015. They packed lightly, bringing sleeping bags, small tents, and food.<\/p>\n
\n\tDuring the two previous days, they had noticed occasional bear digs and piles of bear scat, but weren\u2019t alarmed \u2014 after all, they were in northwestern Montana.<\/p>\n
\n\tTheir goal that day was to head toward a notch between two mountains. Their first threshold was crossing a steep, snow-filled gully with a creek flowing through it. Bentzel crossed easily using his ski poles, but Nelson hesitated, struggling with his old, slick, treadless shoes. The weather turned for the worse; temperatures dropped, and winds increased. Low-hanging clouds obscured their view of the peaks they intended to climb, so they decided it wasn\u2019t ideal to get up high, though they still wanted to make progress.<\/p>\n
\n\tNext, they had to traverse a steep, snow-covered goat trail along Guardhouse Mountain\u2019s east face. One misstep could send them sliding into a waterfall, and they were uncertain about what lay on the other side. Without ice axes, they carefully kicked steps into the snow. They were relieved knowing they wouldn\u2019t have to return the same way they came.<\/p>\n
\n\tDropping below the snowline, they marched through a rocky scree field an hour later into a copse of stunted conifer trees. Suddenly, two little fur balls \u2014 grizzly cubs born six months earlier \u2014 blasted out of the bush in a blur only feet away, passing them and then disappearing into the forest. \u201cI could\u2019ve reached down and touched them,\u201d Nelson tells me.<\/p>\n
\n\tBentzel and Nelson looked at each other. \u201cDamn! Did you see that? Ah, man, where\u2019s Mom?\u201d Bentzel asked. Sows will charge humans or other animals if they approach their cubs too closely.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe men heard rustling in the bushes uphill to their right. Terrified, they both yelled, \u201cHey, bear, hey bear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs they turned to investigate the noise, a large, wet, haggard grizzly, dark brown with cinnamon streaks, charged toward them from 50 feet away. Its ears were erect and pointed forward as it closed the distance in just two or three bounds, reaching speeds of approximately 35 miles per hour.<\/p>\n
\n\tThey had seconds to react and zero time to think.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe bear was inches away when Nelson fell backward, uphill. He could smell the musky, wet dog smell. The bear blew right past him in a straight line toward Bentzel.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tA road sign warning of dangerous grizzly bears alongside the highway near Glacier National Park, Montana.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBuddy Mays\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
\n\tMeanwhile, Bentzel fumbled with his bear mace canister, which contains a carrier agent and a propellant that enables it to shoot 20 to 40 feet. He kept his eyes on the animal as he struggled to undo the holster attached to his pack. He was about to pull it out, but the bear came right at him when he dodged backward into a scrubby little fir, the closest thing around.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe bear blew past him half a stride, dug its front claws in the dirt, then spun a quick 180 and lunged at Bentzel.<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter swatting him, the bear roared into his left ear and rolled him back and forth with its paws. The bruin straddled him with all four legs and thrashed Bentzel\u2019s head repeatedly before trying to roll him. Bentzel stared at his stomach and protected his organs.<\/p>\n
\n\tDuring a grizzly attack, experts like Manley suggest lying in the fetal position, covering your stomach, being quiet, and playing dead. Manley thinks it\u2019s all about knowing bear behavior and if the bear is defending something.\u201c If the bear was surprised, protecting cubs and guarding food then the bear is just trying to neutralize you and move on,\u201d Manley says. If the bear is acting predatory, he recommends trying to act aggressive. The former is what the bear did with Bentzel and Nelson, otherwise they wouldn\u2019t be here to share their story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tNelson wondered how they would get a Medevac flight out of there if Bentzel were in too bad shape to walk out. The cloud level was so low, with strong gusts of snow and rain, that a chopper couldn\u2019t land and a ground rescue might take days.<\/p>\n
\n\tNelson climbed to his feet, pulled out his bear spray, and sprinted toward the bear. Distracted, the bear leapt off Bentzel and charged Nelson, getting within a foot as he sprayed it directly in the face. The audible release of the pressurized gas, followed by the burning, blinding, and gasping sensation. The bear veered off and disappeared into the greenery. But not for long.<\/p>\n
\n\tNelson approached Bentzel as he staggered up, grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked square into his eyes. Trees still surrounded them. They needed to get into a clearing. They were both amazed he was alive.<\/p>\n
\n\tTheir heads swiveled as they fretted that the momma could still be around as they left the forest and backtracked 50 yards into the scree field. With the rain pouring down, it seemed like Bentzel\u2019s hand was losing blood by the liter. He patted down his body to see if anything else was hurt, broken, or bleeding \u2014 all clear. His pack was surprisingly unscathed. They planned to bandage his hand.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut suddenly, the bear charged back out of the trees 100 feet above. The same momma bear dropped down, darting down the hill like she would steamroll them, but she slammed the brakes and skidded in the scree within 20 feet. Then, the roughly 400-pound mother stood seven feet tall, bluff-charging by standing up and dropping down repeatedly. The bear growled, huffed and clacked her teeth \u2014 making sure her message of getting away from her cubs got across.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tBentzel near Jefferson Pass shortly after the sow left and the bleeding stopped.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Jon Bentzel<\/p>\n
\n\tThey stood there holding their bear spray at the ready. Finally, after a few seconds, she gave them one last glare and bolted off.<\/p>\n
\n\tBentzel now felt comfortable inspecting his hand. His brand-new red raincoat had a perfect slice in the sleeve by his wrist. His glove was soaked with blood. His adrenaline was pumping so hard he couldn\u2019t feel anything. He peeled it off and saw the bear had slashed a few-inch gash in the lower, meaty part of his hand above his wrist. Skin was peeled back, but he could still move it. No tendons or muscle damage. There were claw marks across his watch. Nelson applied gauze from his first-aid kit to stop the bleeding.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWell, what do we do now?\u201d asked Nelson. \u201cWe\u2019re halfway through this trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI want to get the hell out of here,\u201d Bentzel answered.<\/p>\n
\n\tThey decided to backtrack \u2014\u00a0it was the shortest way, and they worried Bentzel might need stitches. Nervously, they kept looking over their shoulders, hoping they weren\u2019t being tracked by other bears as they returned to the ridge silently, trying to comprehend what had just happened.<\/p>\n
\n\tHours later, they reached the unnamed lake where they had stayed the night before. That evening, they illegally made a fire to get warm, dry their gear, and gorged themselves on food.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat night was sleepless. They freaked out about attracting other predators that would be attracted to the smell of blood. Bentzel had a bloody bandage on his wrist and hand, and all night, they stirred at the slightest sounds.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe next day was a beautiful, clear day. They were bummed they weren\u2019t still bagging peaks but relieved to be alive. They arrived home late Saturday night, and Bentzel drove to North Valley Hospital in Whitefish Monday morning. A week later, he returned to work in the backcountry.<\/p>\n
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\n\tTen years later, Bentzel believes, \u201cOnce, the mother knew her cubs were safe\u2026She wouldn\u2019t shred me, but she told me, Hey, stay away from my kids.\u201d Bentzel also believes that the weather saved him. Since leaving camp the morning before, he\u2019d placed a Gore-Tex pack cover over his pack and had worn his climbing helmet because of falling rocks, which he kept on all day. His hood over his helmet also helped shed rain. Normally, he would attach his helmet to his pack, but he couldn\u2019t stretch his pack cover over it, so he wore it. The helmet prevented the bear from splitting his head open like a melon or tearing his face off.<\/p>\n
\n\tBentzel feels fortunate it wasn\u2019t any worse and it hasn\u2019t deterred him from seeking adventure. \u201cMom was only doing what comes naturally by protecting her young. I hold no ill feelings towards bears. Being a dad now makes me realize that your child\u2019s safety is paramount to anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The grizzly swung with its massive right paw. In a desperate attempt to protect his head, Jon Bentzel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[7029,44517,44518,70,16,15,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-94836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-climate","9":"tag-grizzly-bear","10":"tag-long-reads","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114493821656658687","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}