San Diego hiker Daniel Crago recovers from grizzly bear attack on Glacier National Park trail

Daniel Crago, a 32-year-old San Diego man, was mauled by a grizzly bear on May 28 while hiking the popular Grinnell Glacier Trail in Glacier National Park's Many Glacier area. Crago had separated from his hiking companion at a snow-covered section of the trail and was returning from a closure point when he spotted a grizzly cub that had already passed him, then noticed a larger bear just 15 feet above him on the mountainside. He attempted to alert the bear to his presence, but the animal charged and bit down on his arm, dragging him 20 to 30 feet before fleeing into the trees. Both bones in his forearm were broken and there was bone loss; doctors replaced a section of destroyed bone with donor tissue from a cadaver. Fellow hikers responded quickly — a pediatric emergency room physician stabilized his arm and applied a tourniquet, another hiker made continuous noise to deter the bears from returning, and a third used a satellite device to summon help. Crago was airlifted by helicopter to Logan Health in Kalispell, Montana, with the flight alone costing approximately $20,000. He has since undergone three surgeries and expects at least one more, and has launched a GoFundMe campaign that had raised more than $44,000 toward a $60,000 goal as of Friday, with any surplus earmarked for the National Park Service. The National Park Service classified the encounter as a surprise attack, noting that the sound of rushing snowmelt may have prevented either party from hearing the other. The attack was the second serious bear incident at Glacier this spring, following the fatal mauling of Anthony Pollio, 33, on the Mount Brown Trail — the park's first fatal bear attack since 1998.