Carpenter Hit Ground When He Saw Bear Glacier Officials Issue Reminder That Bears More Active In Fall

With a grizzly bear charging him and his pepper spray in a tent more than a mile away, Norman Ashwood had no choice but to hit the ground and await the inevitable.

“I just kept thinking to myself, ‘I hope it goes away, I hope it goes away,”’ Ashwood said from his Kalispell hospital bed Wednesday, a day after the attack.

Ashwood, 38, who works in Glacier National Park as a carpenter, said he didn’t have much time to be scared before the 300-pound bear was on top of him.

“I just thought it was a rock at first, but then it started to move,” he said. “I wasn’t scared because I didn’t know what it was, but when I figured out it was a bear I got into the fetal position. He headed straight for me and never stopped.”

Ashwood said the attack lasted only 15 to 20 seconds, but before the bear left, it sat on his leg, grinding it against a rock. He suffered puncture wounds, bites and a torn tendon.

After the bear wandered off, he made his way back to the Fifty Mountain campsite, where his wife, Rita, was waiting for him.

“I didn’t know he was attacked by a bear until he told me,” Rita Ashwood said. “He was very calm, cool and collected.”

An emergency medical technician staying at the campsite treated Ashwood.

Two others volunteered to hike out to notify authorities, but they got lost and returned to the campground. Rita Ashwood then hiked about 12 miles to Granite Park Chalet to summon help.

While Ashwood waited, the Helena man said he drank a lot of water and moved around regularly to keep from getting stiff.

He still was plenty sore on Wednesday.

“I feel like I got hit by a train. I ache all over,” Ashwood said.

Park officials closed the Fifty Mountain campground and several trails in the area.

They reminded hikers that bears are especially active this time of year, foraging for food to gain weight for winter hibernation.