A mom who’s no stranger to backcountry camping with kids shared online about a terrifying bear encounter that could have been deadly. Despite all of her family’s efforts to create a bear-safe campsite, her kid puked out of the front of their tent in the middle of the night, and the lingering mess/smell they couldn’t quite clean up in the dark attracted a grizzly bear within an hour. The grizzly sniffed around but never attempted to enter the tent.
Adrianna Skori is founder and CEO of Kids Who Explore, and she frequently hikes and camps with her kids in the Canadian Rockies. She shared the story, which thankfully did not end in tragedy, on her Instagram account, saying that the experience really scared her. As the bear explored the campsite looking for food, which was hidden away in the bear lockers, Skori says her family stayed in the tent, trying to remain calm, with their bear spray at the ready.
“I didn’t want to share this story because I didn’t want to scare other families from creating beautiful backcountry memories together too,” Skori says in her Instagram post sharing the video. “But the Canadian Rockies is home to grizzlies and it’s important to share as much bear safety awareness as possible.”
In hindsight, Skori says she wishes they’d had emergency puke bags. Of course, she didn’t expect to need them. As a person who also camps frequently with kids, I admit I’ve never once thought about this . . . but I will now.
See this mom’s post about how her kid’s puke attracted a grizzly bear to her backcountry campsite here: