‘That’s a Big Boy’: Trail Runner Encounters Massive Bear on Trail

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A trail runner and his dog were on a hiking trail in Claremont, California when they turned a corner and nearly ran straight into a massive, cinnamon-colored black bear. Aar Jay Soria and his dog Canelo stood their ground and ended up with a viral video.

“Yesterday, Canelo and I were descending the Claremont Loop’s Cobal Canyon trail from the top of Marshall Canyon at a solid 7 minute mile pace when we turned a corner and ran into this full size bear,” Soria wrote in an Instagram post sharing the video. “He was standing in the center of the trail less than 20 feet in front of us when we saw him and immediately stopped.”

Thankfully, the bear didn’t want anything to do with Soria and Canelo. The pair started backing up slowly as the bear headed up the hill in the opposite direction. Soria clarifies that he only started filming once the bear left the trail and he felt he and Canelo were out of danger.

“That’s a big boy!” Soria says in his video.

Although the bear has brown fur, it’s a black bear (Ursus americanus). American black bears can have black, brown, or even blonde fur. Brown bears, including grizzly bears, no longer live in California (although they used to).

Watch as a trail runner and his dog encounter a massive bear on a hiking trail (warning: explicit language):

What would you have done in this situation?

Header stock image from kellyvandellen/Getty Images