I'm calling BS on the story about the DII runner hiding in a tree to avoid a bear attack

Frank Booth wrote:

I am amazed at everyone’s gullibility. There never was no bear. She changed her usual morning run into an evening run because she was meeting up with friends in the woods to get high. She ended up hooking up with someone and passing out. Or worse. I do wonder if it is worse. And the bear story is a horrible cover story. No one makes up stories like this without having a reason. So the question is more what’s that reason?

Unfortunately, I think you are right. I hope it wasn't worse and she is ok.

Frank Booth wrote:

I am amazed at everyone’s gullibility. There never was no bear. She changed her usual morning run into an evening run because she was meeting up with friends in the woods to get high. She ended up hooking up with someone and passing out. Or worse. I do wonder if it is worse. And the bear story is a horrible cover story. No one makes up stories like this without having a reason. So the question is more what’s that reason?

^^^This.

You're chased up a tree by a mama bear. So you throw your shoes, socks, and sports bra at it, pee yourself multiple times to stay warm, then only find the shoes (both!) in the morning. Your friend fortuitously finds you the next morning at 10AM while the searchers who have been looking for you for hours have no such luck, then you are found to have toxins in your system at the hospital. Pretty much how it always goes - got it!

fact checker 642572498 wrote:

https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a33850667/rachel-smith-spends-night-in-tree-to-escape-bear/

I grew up in bear territory and my father was a park ranger for 40 years. Bears would not chase for 5 miles, nor would they circle a tree like she described. Unless she produces a picture of the tree she climbed and the bear scratches on it, I am calling BS

LRC note: We have merged to threads on the same topic into one:

One was entitled "Some of the RW commenters don't believe the story about the DII runner hiding in a tree to avoid a bear attack, do you?" The other was called "Calling BS on this bear attack story ."

Let's see if we can land on the most likely turn of events here

She was out running and saw a bear some distance away with cubs. This scares the sh$t out of almost all of us. The bear may have acknowledged her and taken some steps towards her out of curiosity/statement of protection. The girl took that as being "chased by a bear" and tore off, completely driven by fear (understandable at this point) and got lost. It started getting dark and she was terrified of aforementioned bear, even though the bear was probably long gone. Her brain still on lockdown and dysfunction because of irrational fear, she takes any and every little noise around her as a bear and climbs tree to avoid the now fictitious bear. Climbs a tree and stays up a night up a tree for no reason and needs a story to do the mental gymnastics and justify her actions, hence the "circling bear".

I don't doubt she saw a bear, I don't doubt she ran off through bushes, climbed a tree and stayed there a night. I do doubt the bear chased her (because if the bear wanted her it was getting her) and I do doubt the bear circled a tree below her (because the bear would have eaten her already and black bears can climb 100ft up a tree if they have to).

I also don't doubt this young lady, like we all did as teenagers, has some kind of social issue that pertains to the gross exaggeration and attention seeking nature of this story.

But she will grow out of it and I'm happy she really didn't get mauled by a bear.

These two posts sum it up perfectly. There are many red flags, getting chased for 5 miles by a mama bear who abandoned her cubs, escaping by climbing up a tree, scaring the bear away with a sports bra, faulty Garmin, etc. but getting a ride from a friend at 10:30 am despite hundreds of search volunteers is the biggest red flag of them all!

This story isn't even loosely based on reality. She was out doing something at night that she wasn't supposed to be doing, probably got completely s@#$faced and when police, the media and search parties got involved, she made the whole thing up to cover her tracks.

I don't know how many of you have ever been interviewed by a journalist, but what you say is often not what ends up in print.

This is very embarrassing for the bear. Can't catch a jogger after 5 miles.

Frank Booth wrote:

I am amazed at everyone’s gullibility. There never was no bear. She changed her usual morning run into an evening run because she was meeting up with friends in the woods to get high. She ended up hooking up with someone and passing out. Or worse. I do wonder if it is worse. And the bear story is a horrible cover story. No one makes up stories like this without having a reason. So the question is more what’s that reason?

How did it take so many pages for someone to state exactly what happened.

It's scary to me that a town of several hundred believes this, so does RW and many others.

"All she could see was the animal’s eyes looking up at her."

It was dark and she could see the beady little black eyes of a black bear. And that's "all she could see?"

Interesting.

The truth in this will come out in t-minus a week or so. No point discussing until then.

100% she faked this. An off chance she may have seen a bear and panicked but everything else is a lie or super exaggerated.

usagedenied wrote:

The truth in this will come out in t-minus a week or so. No point discussing until then.

100% she faked this. An off chance she may have seen a bear and panicked but everything else is a lie or super exaggerated.

Any chance we can get super sleuth Derek back in here to help us out? Maybe someone can parse through trailcam pictures to pick out the color of her sports bra and catch her riding by on a bike...?

Could it be possible she saw a bear, freaked out and ran into the woods (bear territory) for a couple of miles without looking back, came across another bear which she assumed to be the same and climbed a tree to wait for any bear(s) she could see to leave the area (whether the bear was bothered by her at all or not)?

dadsfadsfdasfdsafdas wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

Both threads about this completely miss the point of tall tales. It doesn't matter if you believe the story, only if you like the story.

The helicopter being "too far away" to see her in a dark forest at night is classic. What would it have done if it had seen her? She's gonna be saved by a passing helicopter?

You seriously don't think if the helicopter saw her that they couldn't have radioed in for someone on the ground to pick her up? I think it is more believable that she ran 5 miles from the bear that someone is stupid enough not to know about radios......

Why would a helicopter do that just because someone climbed a tree? In the unlikely event that they see her in the murky darkness below (perhaps because of her radiant bared breasts), they would look down and say "oh, there's someone who climbed a tree" and then proceed with their flight plan. There is no way they would see the bear below, for it is on the ground.

In the VERY unlikely event that they bothered search and rescue with a likely false alarm, they would still have not made it out there until after dawn probably, and it would have made no difference. Remember this if you get a pilot's license and are tempted to waste everyone's time and a lot of fuel on foolish heroics. Your job is to fly the machine from point A to point B, period.

You do have one point, though: it would have made the story better if the chopper had seen her and radioed in. Then maybe the rescuers could have their own encounter with the bears.

Rebulphitudinal wrote:

Unconfirmed reports of bear wearing a red hat.

She saw an 80's add about Smokey the Bear.

dfjkdfbsvbv wrote:

... Maybe throwing the clothes was not a defensive strategy, but she just was out of options so she threw a dart in the dark. Perhaps the bear would like to chew/smell the clothing and become distracted.

That's a female black bear we are talking about, not a skinny virgin HS letsrunner. So, it just wouldn't work like that. But yes, peeing oneself as a means to stay warm and comfy is 100% legit. Confirmed by millions of crying babies around the world.

(I feel bad cracking jokes about it, tbf. The girl could have really had an actual encounter with a bear, ran away and got lost at some point. Being embarrassed about it and about causing all the fuss afterwards, she might have added some extra details to her story later. Clearly, the girl is not a Rambo and likely had a genuinely rough time that night. It's the ethics of the journalist trying ultra-hard to sell the "tough cookie" narrative that raises more questions.)

A few things to remember:

Eastern Black Bears are different than Western Grizzly Bears. If you see a Grizzly, you basically get down in the fetal position and cover your head/neck. If you see a Black Bear, you make loud noises and NEVER turn your back on it. Running from it is the worst. It appears she knew this.

Author clearly did no fact checking. She just wrote what she wanted to write.

Regardless of the kind of bear it is, you will NOT outrun it. It may let you run away, but the thing is going to catch you if it wants to catch you. There are people on this thread who seem to think it is possible to outrun a bear. You cannot outrun a bear, no matter what the distance.

Couple Thangs wrote:

A few things to remember:

Eastern Black Bears are different than Western Grizzly Bears. If you see a Grizzly, you basically get down in the fetal position and cover your head/neck. If you see a Black Bear, you make loud noises and NEVER turn your back on it. Running from it is the worst. It appears she knew this.

Author clearly did no fact checking. She just wrote what she wanted to write.

Regardless of the kind of bear it is, you will NOT outrun it. It may let you run away, but the thing is going to catch you if it wants to catch you. There are people on this thread who seem to think it is possible to outrun a bear. You cannot outrun a bear, no matter what the distance.

Onceuponaroadrace wrote:

Couple Thangs wrote:

A few things to remember:

Eastern Black Bears are different than Western Grizzly Bears. If you see a Grizzly, you basically get down in the fetal position and cover your head/neck. If you see a Black Bear, you make loud noises and NEVER turn your back on it. Running from it is the worst. It appears she knew this.

Author clearly did no fact checking. She just wrote what she wanted to write.

Regardless of the kind of bear it is, you will NOT outrun it. It may let you run away, but the thing is going to catch you if it wants to catch you. There are people on this thread who seem to think it is possible to outrun a bear. You cannot outrun a bear, no matter what the distance.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/07/07/the-rule-is-to-not-run-away-from-a-bear-this-professional-runner-did-just-that/

That is a great article! I love that guy.

Granted, the article says the house's porch was 20 yards away and by the time he got there the bears were within 10 yards!!! He wouldn't have made it if the house was even 10 yards further. Lucky man.

21:33 5K PR according to her college cross country bio.

She's not out running a bear or any other forest creature.

Until there's a Strava or Garmin upload, this event is beyond suspicious.

Something else happened to her and this is just a horrible cover story.

DanM wrote:

rojo wrote:

I agree with you. Why would anyone publish the story? At a minimum, write she "alleges" this happened. But then again a town of several hundred also have apparently bought the story.

Check out the link below;

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/public-safety/2020/08/19/jogger-found-safe-after-escaping-bears--getting-lost

The latest story is believable because of the 2013 incident in the Adirondacks where a young woman, hiking alone, stabbed a bear in the face when it charged at her. She claimed that several bears followed her for over a mile.

I personally know the person who stabbed this bear. We worked together the summer after. She actually felt really bad about being so widely known for stabbing a bear, considering her job was educating people on recreating safely in the park.

Anyway, I lived in Placid for a while, which is pretty close to Old Forge. I buy this story, but do think the distances are off. That's all.