A 43-year-old professor says she fought off a grizzly bear that stalked her and her nieces by throwing everything she had at it - including a package of macaroni and cheese.
Alyson Jones-Robinson said they encountered the aggressive grizzly while hiking Thursday at Chena River State Recreation Area, east of Fairbanks.
She said it wasn't especially big - perhaps a two-or three-year-old that weighed between 100 and 200 pounds - but it was not afraid of them or her dog.
"It was terrifying. On a scale of one to 10, it was above a 10," the North Pole resident said. "My adrenaline was going so fast, all I could think of was getting the kids and dog to safety."
Jones-Robinson told her nieces, ages 13 and 9, to run back up the trail while she confronted the bear.
Jones-Robinson, an English professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said the bear charged at her several times, including once after it tried to attack her dog.
That's when she smacked it in the head with her walking stick, which broke. She also attempted to distract it by throwing the package of macaroni and cheese.
"As it circled around me, I heard the girls yell, 'There's another one.
There's another bear up here,"' Jones-Robinson said.
She told the girls to drop their backpacks and come back. The first bear continued circling. Jones-Robinson fumbled for a bottle of mosquito repellent.
The bear eventually retreated, but followed them for about a mile, bluffcharging several times before finally wandering off.
