A group of 13 hikers in Banff National Park became 15 when two grizzly bears decided to follow them for 20 long minutes. "Keep walking, keep walking," the guide, Phoebe Nicholson, said repeatedly in a steady albeit strained voice. "Nice and slow." (See 48-second clip recorded by Nicholson below, posted by CBC News.)
About two-thirds of the way up a very popular tourist trail, one of the hikers alerted Nicholson to some rustling noises in a nearby bush, according to CBC. That's when the group noticed what looked like a mother bear and her adolescent cub. The grizzlies then joined the group, ambling between 30–60 feet behind them.
At times, the smaller bear made a "few quick runs" toward the hikers, "which may have been what we call a 'bluff charge,'" Nicholson later explained, "which is where they kind of run at you to see what your reaction is going to be."
Fortunately, the group's reaction remained calm, thanks to Nicholson — who had never encountered a grizzly bear on a Banff trail before, being new to the area, but managed to put what she learned into practice. "The best thing to do is, of course, to stay calm and keep a slow, slow pace, so that's exactly what we did," she said. And eventually, the bears took a turn and went their own separate way.
