In bear country, you're probably better off carrying a Magnum, even if it isn't in a caliber starting with a number of .4 or greater.
A Desert Eagle .50 cal AE would probably be a good bet.
I've heard of .357 Mag just bouncing off of some bears' skulls. Give me a .44 Mag, .45 ACP, or something bigger.
Definitely what you want in serious bear country is this. You want an unplugged shot gun with the following loads. You want number 6 load two shots, 2 loads of magnum buckshot, and two slugs. You fire the first two right in the bears face when it pops it't teeth indicating an attack. This will somewhat blind the bear and damage it's sense of smell. Then as it begins it's charge you fire point blank in the face with the buckshot. Then as it begins to hit you place the gun straight into its body mass (hopefully chest area) and let the two slugs go into the body.
The important thing to remember is that a grizzly at prime may have up to 8 inches of fat between skin and muscle so you are going to have trouble making even the buckshot penetrate, the 6 shot and buck shot are mainly for gross bodily damage to the face, nose, eyes, ears of the animal. The slugs are to try to penetrate the body of the animal.
However, this bear that they are refering to is merely a 400 lbs grizzly, which is not large by grizzly standards. It probably was out for summer fattening up. These bears are not great for eating fresh meat, unless the woman is on her period. I didn't read whether or not the woman was, but any woman who travels in bear country at or near her period is asking for trouble. For some reason it sets bears off and causes a lot of attacks.
I have a friend who took a 750 lbs black bear in NC and that thing was somewhat aggressive, but not anywhere near that aggression of a grizzly. Fortunately for us grizzlies do not like to eat fresh food and would instead prefer to eat food that has been killed and left to rot. That reality has saved many people from actually being eaten by grizzlies.
A good handgun would work if you had something that wouldn't flatten out and use up all it's energy in the fat and hide. You need something with deep penetrating power. Remember also, a grizzly will keep going for some 8-10 minutes after his heart is blown clean out of his body if he is attacking. Some suggest that the 6 load and the buckshot can give you a chance to roll out of the grizzly's way, and the two slugs there to just set against the body of the bear and fire dead close range.