Canmore man shares harrowing story after surviving grizzly bear attack

A Canmore man says he will hit the trail again, in spite of a harrowing grizzly bear attack in September that left him with life-long scars.

It’s been one month since Peter Graham was attacked by a charging mama grizzly bear in Kananaskis Country.

But every second of the terrifying ordeal is still vivid in his mind.

“I’ve encountered many bears before, but at that moment it was like part of my brain knew exactly what was going to happen, but the other part of my brain was in denial of what was happening,” said the 38-year-old, “Because I knew with her two cubs there, I was in serious danger.”

Graham has been exploring the mountain ranges around Canmore since he was a teenager. He often hikes alone and is drawn to the paths less trodden by the masses.

On Sept. 26, he set out to the Highwood Pass area in Kananaskis Country, but he said it was crammed with cars.

“There were hundreds of people at Highwood Pass  and I wanted to be somewhere that was off on my own,” he said, opting for a different trail a few kilometers away. “I had been in that area before,” he said.

But about an hour and half in the splendor of the turning larches, his solitude was shattered when he and a bear startled each other.

“It was so close that we surprised each other. I remember that she turned her head to look at me and she started running toward me in a full sprint,” he said, ” It was too late to do anything. All I  could do was put my hand in front of me.”