A 25-year-old woman claimed she stabbed a small bear that attacked her Thursday while she was hiking on the Pacific Coast Trail in the Vasquez Rocks area near Agua Dulce, but she came away with just a scratch.

The hiker reported the encounter occurred about noon, according to the Deputy Trina Schrader of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The woman went to the sheriff’s Parks Bureau office at 10700 Escondido Canyon Road to report that she was hiking and saw what appeared to be bear droppings and decided to turn around and walk back the way she came to avoid a possible encounter, but soon after, she heard something running toward her from behind, Schrader said.

“When she turned around, she saw a small black bear fast approaching,” Schrader said. “She removed a knife from her backpack and stabbed the bear in the left shoulder. The bear stopped the attack and fled the scene.”

The woman sustained a scratch to her wrist and refused medical treatment, Schrader said.

Deputies evacuated the area and searched, along with personnel from the California Department Fish and Wildlife, but only found bear droppings and no blood, knife or bear tracks.

The park was reopened after a few hours.

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