By Justine Kelsie

Grizzly bear encounter sparks learning opportunity for hikers

Aug 1, 2018 | 5:30 AM

A pair of Grande Prairie hikers with real-life experience have recently wrapped up two rounds of How To Use Bear Spray clinics. 

Instructors Phil Troyer and Lisa Lauzon from Walk, Run & More were inspired to start up the short workshops after they had a run-in with a grizzly and her cubs in June while hiking near Grande Cache. 

“I have seen a lot of bears, never that close before. In this case, the bear stood up and was about 10 or 15 feet away from us. It didn’t look aggressive and I honestly expected it to drop down and run because it couldn’t see us through the thick brush when it was on all fours,” Troyer explained. 

“But, it stood up, looked at us, dropped down, and ran toward us.”

As soon as Troyer realized what was happening, he grabbed his bear spray from the front of his pack. He said it took about five seconds for the animal to get onto the road where Lauzon, her dog, and himself were standing before he sprayed it. As they tried to keep the bear at bay, Lauzon managed to fall off the side of the trail. They then noticed two cubs had appeared on the other side of them separating them from their mother. 

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“I pepper sprayed them too. They were just running around us. It was just mayhem,” said Troyer. 

The sow appeared near Lauzon’s feet at the side of the trail and with quick thinking, Troyer reached over to spray the last bit of bear spray over her and her dog. Once Lauzon was up, they used rocks and a swipe of a hiking pole to get the bears to scatter away. 

“Had I not fallen and made it a long drawn out situation, (the bear) may have just done one charge and been gone. It wasn’t intended but it made a bad situation worse,” said Lauzon. 

They walked away unharmed, but they were lucky. 

Now that the two have experience under their belt, they want to drive home the importance of each person having bear spray while hiking as well as having it accessible. 

“The biggest thing we learned there is that everyone needs to have bear spray. In this case, she dropped hers. Think about if she would have been the only one with bear spray, we probably wouldn’t be here today,” said Troyer.

There are plans for more bear spray clinics in the future as the first ones were popular. The instructors use expired bear spray during the approximately 45-minute session to give a feel for the can, how to use i t, and what not to do. The Wapiti Nordic Ski Club allows the group to use their outdoor space with a faux-bear borrowed from Alberta Environment and Parks.

Contact Lauzon at Walk, Run & More on Facebook for details.