Tyler Nord doesn't remember the moment the grizzly pounced on him. He couldn't tell you what her breath smelled like or how soft her fur was. All he remembers is summoning the adrenaline that was coursing through his body to his legs to push her off.
The memories of the attack are like a strobe light of images playing through his mind, he said Thursday in talking of the encounter involving him, two mountain-biking companions and the bear on Resurrection Trail.
The bear bit or clawed into Nord's thigh, but he wouldn't notice that until later, after the grizzly and her cubs had retreated to the woods, bear spray in her face.
Nord, fiancee Kimi Elliott, and a friend on vacation from Portland, Kyle Eisenbach, all 25, were riding mountain bikes on Resurrection Pass Trail near Hope on Tuesday when they were attacked by the sow protecting her two cubs. All three bikers received superficial scratches, with Nord's puncture wound to the thigh being the worst. Their 2-year-old dog, Kobi, an Australian cattle dog, was uninjured, despite its own confrontation with the bear.
"None of it really seemed real. I wasn't scared because it seemed like a dream," Nord said.
Read the complete story at adn.com
Comments