The Resort Municipality of Whistler has closed Rainbow Lake Alpine Trails following a defensive encounter between a grizzly bear and a group of hikers.
On October 2, the bear charged a group of six hikers. The hikers responded appropriately and deployed their bear spray, RMOW said.
No one was injured in this incident.
RMOW and Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRO) have been aware of the bear’s presence in the area since September 21.
However, the bear had not shown any defensive behaviour towards humans before this incident.
Based on the change in behaviour, a joint decision was made by the RMOW and FLNRO to close all trails in the area to protect the safety of both the bears and the public.
The following trails will be closed until further notice:
- Rainbow Lake Trail above the Flank Trail
- Hanging Lake trail and campsite
- Beverly Lake
- Pot of Gold and Ninja Lakes Loop
This was me and my friend Dahlia…scariest moment of our lives. Happy to be home with my husband and kids. He ran up the hill at us. And follows us on the trail. I dropped my socks, container lid and we rushed away, but he kept coming. 😭😓☹️
Following Linda’s comments Janet and I feel fortunate as well. The way this grizzly pursued us was unrelenting. We keep backing away to the point of sprinting and it kept coming; along the boardwalk, across the lake outflow and charging up to the highpoint, then down the descent trail another 300 metres. Whenever we would look back … it kept coming. Running and hope it would finally lose interest was our only salvation.
Rugged Canadians! 🙂
I’m so glad you are all ok!