Mason
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
I'm Ranger Ellis.
You're safe right now.
Where's your trailhead?
Where's your vehicle?
I told him because my voice still worked.
I gave the name of the trailhead lot, the date we started, the rough route.
My words sounded unreal to me, like I was describing someone else's bad dream.
Ranger Ellis listened without interrupting, eyes moving constantly as he scanned the treeline.
When Mason mentioned the altered signs in the cabin with the Ranger Station placard,
I saw a flicker in his face.
Not disbelief, something like recognition.
He pulled his radio and spoke into it, calm but urgent, giving our location and asking for another unit.
He didn't say much else that I could understand, but the tone was clear.
This was not a lost hiker routine call.
Then he looked at us again.
"'You're going to get in my truck,' he said."
"'We're going back to your vehicle.
Do you have any injuries?'
Mason shook his head.
I said, "'Just cold.