On the morning of May 28, Daniel Crago, 32, and a friend headed out on the popular Grinnell Glacier Trail for their last day of hiking. Near the end of the trail, Crago’s friend opted to stay back while Crago went ahead with a few other hikers to snap some photos. He snapped a selfie standing in front of the stunning glacial scene, among other photos, then headed back toward his friend.
As he walked, he was startled to see a small bear. “I immediately checked my surroundings and no more than 15 feet above me on the mountainside was a larger grizzly,” Crago wrote on GoFundMe. With no time to grab his bear spray, Crago tried to make noise and alert the grizzly to his presence.
Glacier National Park officials said in a news release June 2 that they believe the sound of loud water in the area “made it difficult for either the man or the bear to detect one another.”
“As soon as we looked at each other, it charged down at me,” Crago told FOX5.
The bear bit down on Crago’s right arm and dragged him an estimated 20 to 30 feet before letting go. Other hikers in the area quickly came to Crago’s aid. One, who was a pediatric emergency room doctor, put a tourniquet on his arm, Crago said, while others used called for help by satellite device and continued making loud noises to keep the bears away.
Crago was airlifted to a hospital in nearby Kalispell, Mont. He wrote on GoFundMe he’s undergone three surgeries and “will need at least one more.” He is now recovering at his home in San Diego and raising money via GoFundMe for his “overwhelming” medical costs.
There have been two bear attacks in Glacier National Park this year. A few weeks before Crago was attacked, a 33-year-old hiker was found dead after going missing near the Mount Brown lookout. The deceased hiker had injuries consistent with a bear attack, park officials said.
Park officials remind hikers that if they do run into a bear, they should “stay calm, speak in a steady voice, back away slowly and do not make sudden movements.”