Agreed, bear spray is a last ditch defence with many drawbacks, not the be-all, end-all. And as chaosmagnet said, there are many ways a situation can unfold.

Has anyone heard about the berry crop in that area? North of the border, we've had drought, and a berry crop that was extremely poor in the mountain parks. This brings desperate bears into areas frequented by humans, and close contact does not end well for either species.