re: Grizzly Mauls Hiker in Yellowstone

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Further complicating matters is that apparently all bears haven't read the guide books and NPS literature. Black Bears are supposed to be more easily frightened than Browns and (allegedly) will run off if you yell or shine a light on them... There's at least one living along Root Glacier, north of Kennecott, who was unaware of the "rules" and was not afraid of me at all.

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Yeah, occasionally bears don't play by the rules. There are places, particularly along salmon streams or if you have set up camp, where bears lose fear of humans and can become more dangerous.

Most of the bear attacks in this area i am aware of happened on trails, and its usually when people surprise a bear and don't give it ample warning.

Regarding the color of black bear, the cinnamon does look like a brown bear with the exception of a hump, and the face. Also have "glacier" bears which are blue or bluish gray.

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you guys have any pro tips?

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The same as sharks.

If one attacks you punch it in the nose, if that doesn't work stab it with your nub.

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May have been a squatch. Gotta be careful to avoid those things man

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Samsquanches are way too smart for most people to ever get a glimpse at them. The poor videos we have of them are actually fakes that the squatches themselves made to make the idea of them seem ridiculous.

You're all wrong. You should try to scare it away by yelling "Stay tuned for an all new Ally McBeal"
It works every time. (Shameless Family Guy reference)

LOL... Now THAT'S an abundance of caution. Were you shouting "Hey, bear!" and beating the brush with your trekking poles the whole way back up the trail? I don't think people can really appreciate the adrenalin surge you experience, unless it has happened to them.

Towards the end of a long day backpacking solo, 15 or 16 miles of trail behind me, I was tired and kind of zoned out. The stretch of trail was straight and level, going through some fairly thick forest (Resurrection Trail, AK). I was making that final push to where I intended to camp that night and wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings (mistake!). All of a sudden I hear kind of a "woof" right to my side in the brush. It took me about a half step to wake up and realize that it was very likely an unseen bear huffing at me. I jumped about ten feet and spun around to try to see what it was. Never saw or heard another thing as I slowly backed up the trail away from the area (I was later told that it might have been a moose, which apparently kill more people than bears). I made plenty noise the rest of the way to my campsite and my antenna stayed fully extended!

I went from peaceful and relaxed to fully alert in about a second and a half. I'd love to know what my heart rate jumped up to!

Make sure you can run faster than at least one other person in your group.

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try not to shite your pants

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Like that is what I'm going to be worried about as I'm mauled by a Grizzly bear.