Tote-n-Float Pacific Northwest Adventures

When the lion suddenly stopped, Peterson grasped his pack and swung it at the lion, missing it repeatedly as the lion easily dodged his swing. Once again he started backpedaling down the trail with the cougar staying inches away, evidently toying with him. When his escape path dropped down steeply through a series of boulder steps, he hurtled down, skipping over the boulders. The cougar launched into the air and tore into him just as he hit the ground. For a second time they rolled together, down the trail. When they landed, Peterson was on his knees, over the lion that was on its back. His head was in the lion's mouth, a large tooth an inch in front of his left eye. The lion's teeth were sunk into the top of his skull. Its jaws loosened slightly, then bit down a second time, searching for a firmer hold. Blood cascaded down over his face.

With his knife still in hand, he slashed at different angles, aiming at the lion's throat, but because of the lion's thick fur and skin, he failed to draw blood. Raising the knife high over the animal's head, he plunged it into the back of its neck. Once. Twice. Nothing, not even a whimper as the lion clawed his face. With an effort he was able to see that the knife's blade had closed on his index finger, cutting halfway through. Reaching over the cat's head with his other arm, he managed to pry the knife open, just as he also realized that his right hand was touching the cougar's right eye. With all the desperate force he could muster, he plunged his thumb into its eye, simultaneously sinking the knife into the cat's skull with his left hand. The lion shrieked, releasing its hold on his head and pulling it's claws from his neck. The lion jumped backwards.

Peterson hurled a rock the size of a volley ball at the lion's side. Then, backing down the trail, out of sight from the lion, he turned and ran. Peterson was losing blood fast and was still almost three miles from the trailhead. Halfway down, where the trail went through a thick stand of ponderosa pine trees, in full stride, he glanced over his shoulder and believed he saw the lion eyeing him from a distant tree! Feeling futile and panicked, he managed to call on his legs to drive him even faster, and again he glanced over his shoulder. This time he saw a "divine vision" instead of the lion, and felt saved. He continued racing down the trail where he encountered a group of hikers. After 30 minutes with a mountain lion and 2½ miles at a dead run, his body shut down. When he heard the thunder of an approaching rescue chopper he knew his nightmare was over.

Jim Jones, an area wildlife manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, was quoted in the newspaper as saying that the lion probably wasn't driven away by the hiker's action, but instead "just lost interest", since lions are used to receiving wounds from their prey. Later he was quoted in a magazine as saying that mountain lions have been known to retreat from prey that fight back.

The lion was baited and hunted but was never found. The residents in the very nearby and "upscale" Roxborough Park suburb outspokenly rooted for the lion, as they didn't want even an attacking lion shot. About 9 months later in Lakewood, Colorado, (an established Denver suburb) about 15 miles away from where Peterson was attacked, artist Joe Beckner spotted a mountain lion in the ponderosa pine beside his barbecue grill. He called 911 only after he carefully studied the lion since he wanted to capture it in a watercolor later. It was missing it's right eye. The police tranquilized and moved it.

Hospitalized in fair and stable condition, Peterson received several dozen stitches to his face, neck, upper chest, both shoulders, and right leg. He set a record at Swedish Hospital in Englewood, Colorado by requiring 70 staples to close his head wounds. The encounter with the mountain lion has divided Peterson's life into pre- and post-attack. He used to be an avid solo hiker; now, he rarely hikes, and never alone. Even when walking to his car at night from a shopping mall or supermarket, Peterson looks over his shoulder. He has nightmares. But because of his "vision" while losing blood and running toward safety, Peterson also perceives a divine purpose behind his attack. Even though he grew up Catholic, Peterson said he never had a relationship with Christ: "I was taught that God was way up there and I'm way down here. I never knew it was as simple as a best friend relationship with Jesus. Religion didn't make any sense."  Both print and broadcast media came out of the woodwork to cover bits and pieces of the story with only Oprah Winfrey and a Colorado TV station permitting him to mention Jesus' name on their programs. Oprah's viewers will remember Peterson by his response to a question about how he knew he saw the face of Jesus. "Well it wasn't the ice cream man," he quipped.