Bear Mountain...

Once we got to the top, the view was amazing...

It was pretty busy up at the top as it was a Bank Holiday Monday, there were lots of families, Japanese tourists and bikers all at the top enjoying the views and the fresh air. It was so peaceful up there, the air felt really crisp and although it was a big nippy, it was lovely and warm in the sun (especially on the rocks).

There was an observation tower on top of the mountain, which we were going to go up but it was a bit busy in there and the views were good enough without going a little higher...

It felt a million miles away from the noise and busyness of New York, it felt like were were back home - or in Canada or something, it was absolutely beautiful...

There were quite a lot of people coming up the moutain through the woods in full-on hiking gear, they'd obvoiusly not been lazy like us and walked instead of driving. We heard some people talking about the Apalation Trail, so Bear Mountain must be on the route of that massive trek - it would certainly have paid off walking all the way up for the view.

We decided that we'd go for a little trek of our own, so we started to walk down into the woods a bit, along the marked path. We were hoping to see some wildlife, preferably a bear and it wasn't long before we came into contact with this impressive chap...

It's a real life stick insect - in the wild! I'd never seen one before, we probably looked a bit funny, getting excited over something that looks like a twig, but it was so strange seeing one in real life. They look just like a stick! Clever little creatures.

Before long, we realised that we weren't really in the appropraite attire to trek through the forest, and we were keen to drive on to another area, so our trusty navigator turner sherpa showed us the way back to Tawny...

We got back in the truck and carried on our adventure...