{"id":16771,"date":"2026-08-26T21:46:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=16771"},"modified":"2026-08-26T21:46:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:46:55","slug":"lost-hikers-rescued-after-bear-encounter-in-wyomings-thorofare-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=16771","title":{"rendered":"Lost Hikers Rescued After Bear Encounter in Wyoming\u2019s Thorofare Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>Stranded 20 miles from the nearest road, disoriented, and out of food, two men were flown out of Wyoming\u2019s Teton Wilderness after a chaotic run-in with a bear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">he dramatic Grand Teton Mountain Range is viewed from the Snake River Overlook<!-- --> (Photo: George Rose\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Published August 26, 2026 03:27PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Outside<em> contributor Suzie Dundas spoke with Anthony Stevens, Grand Teton Search and Rescue chief advisor in Wyoming, to parse through the details of this backcountry rescue.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Search and rescue personnel saved two brothers on the evening of August 25 after they became lost in Wyoming\u2019s Thorofare Valley, one of the most remote wilderness areas in the Lower 48.<\/p>\n<p>The two men, both in their 30s, stumbled into a wilderness camp, disoriented and low on food, a Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR) spokesperson told <em>Outside<\/em>. Authorities have not released the name of the men, but did say neither was injured.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were kind of disheveled and dehydrated,\u201d Anthony Stevens, TCSAR chief adviser, said. \u201cThey were obviously scared by this encounter. And I think they were really worried about the fact they didn\u2019t have any food.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2753303\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"red helicopter shown in a field \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1350\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2753303\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hawks-Rest_backpackers_8.25.26.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Hawks-Rest_backpackers_8.25.26.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Search and rescue personnel saved two brothers on the evening of August 25 after they became lost in Wyoming\u2019s Thorofare Valley, one of the most remote wilderness areas in the Lower 48<\/span> (Photo: Photo courtesy of TCSAR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Thorofare Valley is considered the furthest point from any road in the contiguous United States. Given their remote location, the two men were lucky to find help.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the closest road is 20 miles as the crow flies,\u201d Stevens said. The valley sits about three miles from Yellowstone National Park\u2018s southern border, and roughly 20 miles east of Grand Teton National Park.<\/p>\n<p>The two men walked into the remote <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yellowstoneoutfitters.com\/wyoming-elk-hunting-trips\/\">Hawk\u2019s Rest Wilderness Camp<\/a> in Teton Wilderness, located in Wyoming\u2019s Bridger-Teton National Forest. Personnel at the camp contacted TCSAR, the group wrote in a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tetoncountysar.org\/latest-news\/2026\/8\/25\/tcsar-rescues-backpackers-in-distress-in-teton-wilderness\">statement<\/a>. The hikers said they came into contact with a bear, though Stevens says it\u2019s unclear whether the bear attacked.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width:100%;border:none;display:block\" title=\"Script Content\" async=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>During their encounter, the men deployed one of their two cans of bear spray, and one tore his rain pants, though Stevens said it was unclear what caused the tears. Neither man showed signs of bear-related injuries, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Camp staff gave the men food and water and directed them to a nearby ranger cabin to wait for rescuers. Rescuers initially feared \u201ca full-blown bear mauling,\u201d Stevens said. But once TCSAR determined the men were safe and not in immediate danger, it opted to wait until the following day to send a helicopter to avoid flying into remote terrain at night. Responders flew the men to the TCSAR headquarters in Wyoming. Neither required additional medical attention.<\/p>\n<p>The encounter is one of a few in a series of bear-related incidents around the region this summer, including an August 10 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/wgfd.wyo.gov\/news-events\/game-and-fish-investigates-bear-inflicted-human-injury\">black bear incident<\/a> near Teton Pass and a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/yell\/learn\/news\/26008.htm\">May grizzly encounter<\/a> near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park that left two men in serious condition.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><span hidden=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/exploration-survival\/thorofare-wyoming-bear-encounter-rescue\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stranded 20 miles from the nearest road, disoriented, and out of food, two men were flown out of Wyoming\u2019s Teton Wilderness after a chaotic run-in with a bear. he dramatic Grand Teton Mountain Range is viewed from the Snake River Overlook (Photo: George Rose\/Getty Images) Published August 26, 2026 03:27PM Outside contributor Suzie Dundas spoke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}