Matt

Lila took pictures.

Jonah hovered behind us, suddenly not joking.

I recorded in a low voice.

Location, time, conditions.

I said out loud that they resembled canine prints but unusual morphology.

I was trying to sound like I was writing a field report because that's what I do when I'm unsettled.

We followed the tracks for maybe 30 yards until they hit rock and vanished.

That happens constantly out there.

Tracks appear and disappear because the ground changes.

It's not proof of anything, but it flipped a switch in my brain.

The crying sound yesterday, the barking last night, and now this.

Three small nothing things make a pattern if you're already primed.

We kept hiking.

We saw a couple other people later, which should have made me feel better, but it also made me feel stupid.

Like I was inventing a story in my head.

I wanted the week to be normal again, and I caught myself trying to force that.

On the way back we heard our names.

This is where I need you to understand something.

It wasn't someone behind us on the trail yelling hey.

It wasn't an echo from another hiker.