Whitehorse women abandon bikes, jump in Yukon River to evade bears
Michelle Beaulieu and her friend were biking toward Canyon City when bear suddenly ran at them
Michelle Beaulieu was talking to her friend Anya Zimmerman as they were biking down a popular trail outside Whitehorse last week, when Zimmerman suddenly yelled, "Stop!"
A mother bear and her two cubs were running toward the two women.
"[The bear] sort of hesitated and one of the cubs went up a tree," said Beaulieu.
This was the beginning of a 30-minute encounter that would not only derail their trek to Miles Canyon, but culminated in the pair abandoning their bikes and jumping into the Yukon River.
Zimmerman's first move, according to Beaulieu, was to yell at the bear and assertively tell it to stop, which did cause the bear to enter the forest at the side of the trail.
Now, the two women weren't sure where the bear had gone, but at least had some time to think about what their next move should be.
"We didn't feel safe where we were," said Beaulieu.
"The trail is really, really narrow and we felt at any minute she could just pop out in front of us, or beside us. Because she had been running and didn't want to stop, we already felt that she was agitated."
'She's sticking around'
They figured the best way to go was down a slope, toward the Yukon River. That way, they would give the bear some space, they could make lots of noise, and they could keep their bikes with them.
Beaulieu and Zimmerman continued on like this for about five minutes.
"Suddenly, we saw her staring down at us from the trail," said Beaulieu.
"Obviously at this point, we're realizing she hasn't gone into the bush with the cubs and kept going — she's sticking around."
The women continued to make noise and move away from the bear, but it kept an eye on them and would sometimes even advance down the slope before moving back up toward the trail.
This went on for about 20 minutes.
Beaulieu said she felt a little safer to at least have her bike on her, so she could keep it between herself and the bear should it decide to charge.
Suddenly, we saw her staring down at us from the trail.- Michelle Beaulieu
More time passed, and the bear was continuing to come down the ridge closer to the women.
Beaulieu and Zimmerman eventually reached the edge of the river, where the terrain obstructed their view of the bear.
Beaulieu said at that point, they had no visual of where the bear was, or what it was doing. They realized there was only one more place to go.
"That's when we decided to swim," said Beaulieu.
Luckily, the women had experience paddling that portion of the river and knew the current is fairly calm. It was also a hot day, so after the initial cold-water response Beaulieu said she felt, the swim wasn't half bad.
"It probably helped calm all the adrenaline pumping through our bodies," she said.
Their saving grace came once they made it to the other shore, deciding what they should do next.
Along came a boat, upon which they were able to get a ride to Canyon City after retrieving their bikes.
Beaulieu says the whole ordeal was enough to make her feel more nervous about being in the woods.
Now, she's stressing the importance of bear awareness when out on the trails.
Written by Randi Beers, based on an interview by Elyn Jones