Derby woman, a former teacher, dies after bear attack near Yellowstone

A Derby woman described as a former teacher turned cross country hiker has died in a bear mauling incident. Her body was found Saturday morning near Yellowstone National Park.

She was identified as 48-year-old Amie Adamson of Derby by the Gallatin County Coroner’s Office, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said.

Adamson was hiking or running on the Buttermilk Creek Trail near Yellowstone National Park at the time of the incident, the sheriff’s office said.

“After investigation, the bear attack did not appear to be predatory,” the Facebook post said. “Amie’s cause of death was determined to be exsanguination due to a bear mauling.”

“The manner is accidental,” the post added.

ABC News reported that her mother, Janet Adamson, had posted on Facebook that “she was a free spirit adventurer that loved the outdoors, hiked, ran and explored. ... She died doing something she loved in a place she loved.”

She had been working in Yellowstone for the summer, ABC News reported.

Her body was found by a hiker Saturday morning on the Buttermilk Trail about 8 miles west of the town of West Yellowstone, according to a news release from the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department.

“FWP wardens and bear specialists, along with staff from other agencies, found that the woman had wounds consistent with a bear attack. They also found tracks from an adult grizzly bear and at least one cub near the site. They did not see any bears or signs of a day bed or animal carcass during the investigation,” the news release said.

Friends and family mourned Adamson on Facebook.

Amanda Young, principal of Education Imagine Academy in Wichita, posted four photos of her and Adamson together on Twitter.

“How do you say goodbye to your best friend?,” Young tweeted. “Amie left this Earth yesterday in her happy place — hiking in Yellowstone.”

“I love you Ames!! Until we meet again,” Young added.

Adamson was a English teacher for two decades and left the profession after being burned out, according to “Walking Out: One Teacher’s Reflections on Walking Out of the Classroom to Walk America.” The book, written by Adamson, says she left her job in February 2015 and drove to the East Coast for a 2,200 mile backpacking trip across the United States.

“She basked in the restorative task of hiking all day,” the book’s summary said. “Walking Out is her reflections of this hike: how far she went each day, what she thought about, things that happened, and what it was like walking halfway across America as a woman alone.”

The Custer Gallatin National Forrest closed down the area to visitors and alerted nearby residents while they searched for the bear involved in the incident. Wildlife workers put out bear traps for a third night Monday as they try to capture the bear, the Associated Press reported.