“We should do this more often!” Jackie and I get together every Monday evening. Last week, we went for a hike. We thought we would do the stairway to heaven section of the Appalachian Trail leading up to the pinwheel Vista in Vernon New Jersey. It’s a beautiful hike and short enough that I can usually fit it in after work before it gets dark. Unfortunately, we didn’t start until around 6 PM and we quickly realized we would not finish before sunset. On the way out is when Jackie expressed how optimistic she felt after hiking. That’s when she decided we should do this more often.
Fast-forward one week, and we were ready to do that hike again. This time we were equipped with headlamps, proper foot wear, and determined attitude. With the onset of daylight savings time we set out after dark. As we began our hike we chatted about binge watching the Walking Dead, how the ominous fog hung over the field yet the skies were clear once we were amongst the trees, and where our lives will lead. With a 10 year age difference it is surprising yet reassuring to know we are both at the beginning of grand adventures. She will be starting off at college soon, while I am planning and trying to finance a thru hike of the AT.
That’s when I heard it. Uphill leaves were rustling. Looking uphill, I saw two points of light aiming right at us.
“Hello?” I shouted.
No response. The lights flickered and moved. That’s when I realized they weren’t lights. They were the reflection of our lights, in something’s eyes. Clearly it was large.
“We should go.” I could tell by the urgency in Jackie’s voice that she was consumed with reasonable fear. I took hold of her arm and loudly said, “We are going to stand very still, and continue our conversation.”
In all likelihood, we were standing at most 30 feet away from a bear. The last think I wanted to do was startle it or make ourselves something to be chased. Those 3 minutes were incredibly long. This animal wasn’t moving towards us, but certainly not moving away either. We slowly began our retreat down the mountain, keeping our gaze uphill. By the time we made it to the car we were laughing at our own state of adrenaline induced hypervigilance.
On her drive home Jackie passed “A HUGE ASS FUCKING BEAR”. I think we will stick to day hikes for a while.