This post will be posted on my Jewish outdoors blog as well. If you would like to add my outdoors blog to your blogroll I would appreciate it and obviously do the same.
At about 6pm last evening I had the sudden urge to be hiking along a quiet trail in the woods, so I headed to Harriman State Park which is essentially my backyard- merely 15-20 minutes away depending on how many people are blocking traffic at the intersection of route 306 and maple ave.
I decided for the first time ever to hike the trails accessible from the first parking lot, I haven’t hiked up these trails since I was a kid, mostly because being the first trail head its always crowded- and the last thing I want to see in the woods are people, or mountain lions.
I headed in and hiked for a little over an hour until I reached a flattened area with some wild blueberries- Harriman has the most wild blueberries I have ever seen and I know of some great raspberry patches as well. I davened mincha and headed back down the way I came, rather then making it into a loop. I had forgot my headlamp and didn’t feel like navigating a down mountain trail in the dark.
The sun was giving off its brilliance as I ran and walked down the trail, I trail run uphill and walk downhill, to raise my heart rate. After dropping below the mountain line where I could see the sun it began to get pretty dark, it was already 8pm.
I have this fascination with the bracha asher yatzar, its one of my favorite things to say in the woods- I just like it. So I decided to take a piss even though I didn’t “really” need to. I finished draining the lizard and said the bracha. As I looked up at the trail I saw a medium sized black bear turn around about 50 feet up the trail from me and run away.
Oh man did that freak me out, I did let out a big “THANK THE LORD” but I stood there stunned for a several seconds and then looked where the bear ran, I thought I could see it standing behind a tree looking at me. The last thing in the world I wanted in the woods was a bear stalking me.
So I debated, I figured that I shouldn’t go down the trail I was headed, but it was getting dark and I needed to be away from that bear. I decided to bushwhack downhill to this creek I could hear and follow it out of the woods- I knew where it would take me.
I quickened my step and screamed out Mr. Bear every 10 seconds or so. How could this happen in Harriman of all places, this was the first time I ever met a bear on the trail. I have hiked all over in some of the most rural places on the continent and had never come in contact with a bear this close.
I saw bears on the trail in Alaska, but they were over a hundred yards away busy gathering berries for the coming winter, plus, I had a shotgun loaded with six 3inch slugs- way more then enough to take down a bear. I have seen Grizzlies in Montana, but also from several hundred yards away and that was from the road. The only other close call I have had with dangerous animals was when I was riding some ridge trail near Jackson , Wyoming when my buddy Jason and I came across several huge moose, moose are dumb and will charge and you don’t want a moose charging you.
So obviously I made it out, but I was scared- mainly because bears in such a crowded park are probably not as scared of people as they are in places like Alaska and Montana. In fact, its so unlikely to see a bear in these places because they smell you from miles away- depending on wind direction of course.
Anyway if I wouldn’t have decided to pee at that time or immediately said ahser yatzar which I sometimes forget to do, I would have walked right into the bear- which was obviously watching me- but I didn’t notice nor could I see that far in the fading light.
I find it good to document situations where Gods hand is present so we shouldn’t forget who is boss.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, that is some crazy shit yo!
The most I’ve ever seen was some deer on the way to Mon-shit.
BTW, wheres Ice Horse?
I have no idea- he hasn’t commented in ages. We miss him dearly, as long as he stays clean.
That’s a cool and freaky story, but I gotta ask – was it a bear of the brown fur, big claws type or one of those Monsey bears you commented on a little while back? Personally I don’t know which I’d be more frightened of were I to run into one in the dark woods… In all seriousness, I’m glad you’re ok.
He didn’t have peyos as far as I could see. But he may have been wearing a homegrown streimel
Did you know that Harriman state park was once owned by Harriman, the Governor of New York, who was at the time the third richest person in the world. He donated the entire land to the State as a gift.
Awesome story. You should send in to the Yeshiva World.com
They will love the hasgacha pratis part but will be totally bewildered by a Jew from Monsey hiking (and bushwacking) in Harriman State Park (if they know where that is).
Good story, even if you did defy the hiking ban :>)
W Averil is da man
Did you really call out “Mr. Bear”? I’m imagining you doing that all the way down and it’s hilarious.
Up here in CT we still get bears sometimes, and plenty of foxes. Never had anything stand its ground in front of me, it all runs, which is exactly what you’d want. They keep their young very remote to humans whenever possible so the only ones to come into the populated areas are usually gallivanting males and tend not to stick around.
Nice though that you’re unperforated by bear claws. That would bite.
It seems it is the overdevelopment in the area and in the counties North that drive many bears in Rockland down to human territory. We had an entire family in the neighborhood one year. No one would do a thing about it. We were told to just let them be. That doesn’t count the cute guy that got stuck in a tree in the Blueberry Hill condos a couple of years back. It’s pretty common here. Had you been in a group talking, he probably wouldn’t have come close, I guess.
Your right, but I was alone and it was dusk- the worst time to be out with bears is dusk.
I just have to say, it ain’t very often that you find “draining the lizard” and “making a bracha” in the same sentence!
Ha!
Wow. Thank you for sharing. We’re glad you made it.
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