Bearsun: The Life-Size Teddy Bear Walking from LA to SF

ACROSS CALIFORNIA — Jesse Larios likes to think he's a puppy dog. But he uses a bear suit to chase his dreams. Don’t worry, though — he’s friendlier than the average bear.

He calls himself Bearsun when in costume, and he’s currently on a 400-mile journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco — completely on foot. He decided to make the trek on a whim because the 33-year-old told CNN it sounded like fun.

“I'm like a puppy, I guess. I just see something and I chase after it,” he told the network.
This isn’t the first time Larios has pulled something with the Bearsun costume. He wore it to run in the Los Angeles Marathon in 2019 and 2020.

For his latest stunt, he set off from Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district on April 12 and headed north. Larios has been documenting the journey on his Instagram page, sharing things he sees while in the suit, such as an encounter with a herd of cows and a lost motorist nonchalantly asking him for directions.

His goal is to walk between 30 to 50 miles a day; but Larios told CNN some unexpected obstacles, including road closures and rough terrain, have made that objective tough to meet. He’s also had some run-ins with law enforcement.

Several police agencies have checked in on Larios after receiving calls from passing motorists worried about his well-being. Larios said on an Instagram post he was stopped 13 times in a single day by police.

An officer with the California Highway Patrol even offered to drive him to the next town over, but Larios was adamant about completely making the trip by foot, according to a Facebook post by the agency.

During his 400-mile journey Larios hopes to raise $10,000 on GoFundMe for a new costume so he can keep going out into the world as Bearsun. The remaining money would then be given to a yet-to-be-determined charity, he told CNN.

"This is what I want to do. I just want to run marathons in my bear suit," Larios said. "It makes other people happy, too, and I'm all about laughter and smiles."

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.