--- title: Barack Obama was 'Up for Anything' When on "Running Wild" description: Obama's episode of "Running Wild With Bear Grylls" airs on Dec. 17 canonical: https://time.com/4147621/president-obama-running-wild-bear-grylls-alaska/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-14T16:47:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:50.324Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Was 'Up for Anything' During Alaskan Wilderness Trek, Host Says og:description: Obama's episode of "Running Wild With Bear Grylls" airs on Dec. 17 og:url: https://time.com/4147621/president-obama-running-wild-bear-grylls-alaska/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7399863fd9a46013/69887539524fc01a50df5e9d/499822628.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Running Wild With Bear Grylls - Season 2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Was 'Up for Anything' During Alaskan Wilderness Trek, Host Says twitter:description: Obama's episode of "Running Wild With Bear Grylls" airs on Dec. 17 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7399863fd9a46013/69887539524fc01a50df5e9d/499822628.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Was 'Up for Anything' During Alaskan Wilderness Trek, Host Says ## Video: TIME Raw: Obama Discusses Climate Change and ISIS At Climate Change Summit [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Obama Discusses Climate Change and ISIS At Climate Change Summit](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/F8N2iR6W.m3u8) (1:14)  _Published 2015-12-01_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 14, 2015 4:47 PM UTC  Pictured: (l-r) Bear Grylls, President Barack Obama Pictured: (l-r) Bear Grylls, President Barack ObamaNBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 14, 2015 4:47 PM UTC When President Obama left the bubble of the White House to “run wild” in Alaska with adventurer and wilderness expert Bear Grylls, things got, well, a little wild. The full episode of the Commander-in-Chief’s “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” appearance does not air until Dec. 17, but the host offered a taste of what the two got into during their Alaskan trek—including eating a piece of salmon that a bear had nibbled before they got to it. “I found an old fish that a bear had munched on beforehand and cooked it up for him,”Grylls wrote for the [_Sunday Times Magazine_](http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/article1640800.ece)_._ “We shared water bottles, food…everything.” According to [_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-television-runningwild-obama-idUSKBN0TX1IP20151214?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews#1yqvBLtXJ3sS9lkr.97), Grylls told reporters Monday he and the President were accompanied by about 50 Secret Service agents, a food taster, snipers and a helicopter during the day-long adventure designed to give the President a close look at the natural environment and the impacts of climate change. Grylls said the President was “up for anything” during the trek. “He said it was one of the best days of his presidency,” Grylls said. “There were times along the route I had to pinch myself and think, actually, this is the President of America’.” Obama’s episode airs Dec. 17 at 10 p.m. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4147621/president-obama-running-wild-bear-grylls-alaska/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4147621/president-obama-running-wild-bear-grylls-alaska/"},"headline":"Obama Was 'Up for Anything' During Alaskan Wilderness Trek, Host Says","datePublished":"2015-12-14T16:47:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:56:50.324Z","description":"Obama's episode of \"Running Wild With Bear Grylls\" airs on Dec. 17","url":"https://time.com/4147621/president-obama-running-wild-bear-grylls-alaska/","keywords":["President Obama","climate change","Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7399863fd9a46013/69887539524fc01a50df5e9d/499822628.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7399863fd9a46013/69887539524fc01a50df5e9d/499822628.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Running Wild With Bear Grylls - Season 2","caption":"Running Wild With Bear Grylls - Season 2","creditText":"NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/president-obama/","name":"President Obama"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4147621/president-obama-running-wild-bear-grylls-alaska/","name":"Obama Was 'Up for Anything' During Alaskan Wilderness Trek, Host Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Obama Discusses Climate Change and ISIS At Climate Change Summit","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/F8N2iR6W/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-01T15:59:41.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/F8N2iR6W.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4147621/president-obama-running-wild-bear-grylls-alaska/","duration":"PT1M14S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4147621/president-obama-running-wild-bear-grylls-alaska/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```