A search is ongoing for a hiker near Palmer who was reportedly charged by bears on a local trail.
According to Alaska State Troopers, the department was notified at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday that a hiker needed help on the Pioneer Ridge Trail.
AST said the woman contacted her husband, telling him she had been charged by multiple bears and had used bear spray. Shortly after that, she stopped responding to phone calls and messages.
Troopers searched the first section of the trail but did not find her.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center responded later in the day with an aerial search. The Alaska Mountain Rescue Group and a local search and rescue team are conducting a ground search.
