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Welcome back to Scary Bear Attacks! Today’s episode takes us to the Pogo Gold mine about 340 miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska. The gold mine opened in 1989 and sits in steep and brushy country about 40 miles northwest of the town of Delta Junction. This area has been the site of environmental research ever since mining started and the GoodPaster River Drainage is one of the locations scrutinized and monitored. The elevation of the drainage varies around 2400 feet above sea level with rolling mountains to the south and larger ones to the north. The dense brush covering the land is comprised mostly of alder, willow and other brush under ten feet in height, with occasional stands of spruce and birch trees. The animals common here are moose, and caribou primarily with predators being coyotes, wolves, black bears and brown bears.
At 10:30 AM on Monday, June 19th, 2017, 27 year old Erin Johnson and 38 year old Ellen Trainor were taking soil samples along Goodpaster River. Ellen hailed from Fairbanks and worked as a biologist for Alaska Biological Research Inc., which was contracted to do biological impact studies by the mine owners.
Erin worked there in the same role and grew up in Chugiak near Anchorage. She spent her youth wandering the nearby forests and playing sports. Erin’s interest for sports and the outdoors probably started with her family owning a chain of outfitting stores called Jax Outdoor Gear in northern Colorado. She was a member of the U.S. Junior Olympic Nordic Ski Team in 2006 and 2007. Erin was trained as a geologist and botanist at the University of Montana and the University of Alaska Anchorage. She had already adventured her way around some of the most secluded corners of the globe by this early age. Erin and her husband Gabe were married just two weeks prior to this day.
At their role of biologists for ABR both women had completed numerous classes on bear safety. Their broad and extensive experience outdoors only added to their knowledge base.
Erin and Ellen had packed into their site about 5 miles from the mine, for soil samples and still had the backpacks on their shoulders. As they pushed their way through the thick brush they chatted about being bear aware. Erin was about 5 yards up the trail when Ellen heard a rustling in the bushes just behind her.
Ellen turned to find the source of the rustling and watched a 300 pound bear appear only 15 feet away from her. The bear looked like it could be a grizzly bear but before she could analyze it, it was already rushing toward her. Ellen reached down toward her bear spray in its holster on the waist strap of her backpack. Before she could touch the can of spray the bear closed the distance and drove Ellen into the dirt facefirst. The bear started to tear at her backpack with savage and irresistible force, jerking her around with each toss of its head.
Erin watched as the bear straddled Ellen during the attack. She began to yell at the bear in an attempt to drive it off, but it didn’t relent. After only a few seconds, the bear lifted its head from Ellen and fixed its gaze on Erin. Her screams had finally drawn its full attention and now it approached her.
Now, we have already mentioned how Erin had had training on how to handle a run in with a bear. Undoubtedly she had been taught to do the same thing that Ellen had done. While the bear attacked Ellen she may have had time to reach her bear spray and pull it from the shoulder strap of her backpack. But, she did none of these things, and the reason why can only be attributed to overwhelming fear.
I have been there myself many times in Idaho and Alaska. When a bears eye fix on you, all the plans you have to protect yourself in your rational mind go out the window. The unpredictable nature of a bear becomes a reality and you realize you have no way of anticipating precisely what it will do next.
Ellen’s face was buried in her hands as she stared at the ground, she could hear Erin’s screams turn into gurgling as the bear mauled her. She reached her hand down to her bear spray and pulled the canister from its holster.
Ellen flicked off the safety cap from her bear spray and discharged a cloud of irritant in the bear's direction. The bear immediately charged back toward her and tore at her backpack with continued fury and showed no effects to the spray.