Catskills More Like Bearkills

    I don't know how to start this post any other way other than that I saw a friggin' BLACK BEAR on my hike this morning...I'm telling the end of the story first. You just got Tarantino'ed. Walk with me, people.

Obviously not the bear I saw, but I have a soft spot for hilarious bear pictures...and this is the creme de la creme

    It's not until my trek down that I spot other human life in the form of a man and woman. I stop an chat for a moment, warning them of the wind and little visibility towards the summit (dark clouds, haze, snow/hail mixture....Naria basically) before they tell me they saw a black bear on their way up...here's how the conversation went down:


Man & Woman: Are you out here hiking by yourself?
Me: Yeah I'm new to the surrounding area an love to hike. I was up here a few weeks ago though so I'll be fine.
Man & Woman: Brave. Watch out for the bear down there. he crossed the path on our way up.
Me: ....What? Did you just say bear? Is it gone?
Man & Woman: We saw him only a couple hundred yards down the trail. He crossed right over the path as we were hiking up. You'll probably see him when you hike down.
Me: Is it safe to hike down???
Man & Woman: (Man laughs HA) Ohhh it's just a little black bear! Black bears are harmless, especially up here. They're not like grizzly bears, he wont hurt you. In fact if he sees you he'll probably run up a tree or something...
Me: ....Well, thanks! Have a nice hike!

    As soon as they were out of sight I picked up a large rock in my hand and kept it there for the remainder of my hike. Although they looked like pro adventurers and knew what they were talking about, I wasn't taking any chances. I don't care if I encounter Snuggles the bear, if he tries to attack me in the wilderness I'm going to bash his bear brains in.

I'd have no qualms with ending you, Snuggles

    I'm on edge the entire way down, stopping ever few minutes, looking around and being absolutely still. Then the trail opened up a bit with a clearing surrounding it. A few hundred feet off the trail was the small black bear, probably shorter than me if it stood up. He didn't even see me but I wasn't sticking around if mama bear showed up...at that point I might as well bash my own brain in with the rock. I felt a little ridiculous walking by hikers with a giant rock in my hand, but its still a fucking bear! They eat PEOPLE! I'm sure the hikers knew there stuff but I'm not taking their word for it...look at Grizzlyman for chris'sake! Watch the movie "The Edge"--"Bob! He's a man-killahh!"   

Come at me, bro!

     I know this is a food blog and bears have nothing to do with food unless you kill and eat one but I think its important to show some other things that also peek my interest besides just food. I don't just draw inspiration from food, but everything around me. I love to hike and I think working in a kitchen and hiking a mountain lend themselves to more comparisons than you would think, but that's for another post... More pictures after the jump.

Construction a few miles from the Mt...had to do some off roading with the Endeavor

Summit is in the trees, this was 3/4 way up (3 weeks ago)

The summit today...told you, straight Naria up here

Last time I hiked this mt a few weeks ago I completely missed the trail turn and was lost for a half hr. Getting lost is one of my all time worst fears next to heights, large spiders, and zombies (just ask Andrew Doyle circa 1997, we were lost in the woods behind my house for hours).

Hey, don't say I didn't have anyyyy food in this post! This is the best hiking snack by the way...On the drive home I was exhausted and in the mood for mind-numbingly good Chinese food. Enter: Palace Dumpling. It was an additional half hour tacked onto my drive home but well worth it. Ill talk about Palace Dumpling soon, it's part of my "Friday Night Lights Eats" series. Until then, be cool.