A thirty-year-old Eagle River man called 911 at 7:42 am this morning after being mauled by a brown bear on the Penguin Creek trail a few miles off of the Bird Creek Trail.

Ben Radakovich was hiking alone this morning when, as he was moving up a steep portion of the path, he came upon a bear cub. The encounter spooked the cub off, but the mother charged at Radakovich.

Even though Radakovich had a backpack,which managed to afford some protection from the bear, it still managed to inflict wounds to his lower back, neck and head. Radakovich said he managed to fend off the bear with ski poles long enough to take refuge in a tree where he waited for two hours until rescuers arrived.

The Girdwood Volunteer Fire Department medics, Alaska State Troopers, Chugach Statte Park rangers, and ADF&G responded to the scene on foot and by ATV to the location where Radakovich was treed.

Radakovich was transported to Anchorage’s Providence Alaska Medical Center by Helo-1, where he was treated and released.

Both Bird and Penguin Creek are due to be closed because of the attack, the first for a few days and the latter for perhaps longer.

ADF&G attempted to track the bear and its cub, but were unsuccessful.