The Great Range Traverse

The Adirondack forest at night is silent, dark, and a little foreboding. So, fifteen minutes into my journey, when my headlamp picked up the flash of two feral eyes, the only sound I could hear was the rasp of my own ragged breathing and the hammering of my heart in my head. My mind went immediately to wolf, coyote…oh, God, please, don’t let it be a bear.