Two friends and I decided to go camping/hiking in the Allegheny mountains. We set up camp a few miles from a 14 mile trail and one dude, we'll call him RYAN, demanded we hike to this spot he found on the map. It appeared to have a wide area in the creek that "we could swim in". He talked us into the long questionable journey.
We pack up our stuff and start the hike to the trail then continue along it to the chosen location. About two hours in, we pass a couple hiking from the way we are heading who state the spot we are heading to is about 2 more hours ahead. It's around 5pm or so, gets dark around 8, so I say we should turn back. RYAN calls me a pussy boy vegetarian and gets the other dude to agree to go on. Wasn't trying to hike back alone 2+ hours by myself, sigh, OK. We make it to the spot which is about 2 feet deep, PERFECT for a swim...
Next we cook up the only food we have, two boxes of mac and cheese. RYAN spills half of it into the dirt by being a careless douche. It's about 8pm now and getting dark, awesome. We hit the trail and quickly realize we are totally fucked. "RYAN, lets get those two lanterns in your backpack." "I didn't bring any lanterns." I asked him before we left if he had them.
At this point it starts raining and is pitch black. Before we know it we have no fucking clue were the path is, and no lanterns. We decide our only option its to set up under a tree. The only thing we have to start a fire is a piece of now damp fire starter that's about a 1 inch cube. Using the mac and cheese pot to cover the flame, we manage to get a small fire going at the base of a small tree.
We are now 4+ hours from our camp, lost as shit, in b-ball shorts/tee-shirts, and it's 45 degrees and raining sideways. Soon enough, the one dude who's small/skinny, is shivering and getting pale while we cling to this tiny tree giving us maybe 4 square feet of partial cover.
About 5 hours into this ordeal, as we are frantically trying to keep our fire going with soaking wet wood, we hear a strange noise in the distance. It was significant enough we all stop and look at each other. We listen as it slowly, but loudly crunches and cracks its way through brush towards us. It gets close enough we can hear the suction of the mud under its large steps. RYAN basically starts crying because there's like a 99% chance it's a fucking black bear. We tap our machetes together to try and scare it off with the noise, which must have done the trick because we hear whatever it was slowly walk off. Never actually saw it, but deer are the next biggest animal out there, and it was WAY bigger than a deer.
About 10 hours later, ten of the LONGEST hours of my life, it is finally bright enough out to realize we are maybe 40 feet from the path. We make our way back to camp and I never hung out with RYAN ever again.
Hungry, freezing, water-less, in b-ball shorts/tee shirts, in 45 degree rain, not knowing where in the fuck you are, and almost getting attacked by a bear is a totally fucked way to go hiking. Do yourself a favor and don't go hiking with a RYAN and always bring a raincoat/tarp and a lantern no matter who is suppose to be carrying the gear or how nice the weather is during the day. A lot was my own fault for not being prepared, but when you're young and just going for a fun hike, you don't think about how shit can get real in a hurry when you're in the middle of no-where. It helps to not hang out with cock smokers like RYAN too. Live and learn.