Ranger

I got out my personal journal.

I don't usually keep a journal, but I'd been using one that summer to write down birds I saw, because there's a birder from my hometown who likes when I send her my lists.

I flipped to a blank page.

I wrote down everything I could remember about him from all three visits.

What he wore.

What he said.

What he asked.

The cleanness of his boots.

The fact that he kept telling me he came from different trailheads.

The fact that his daypack was the same daypack, a small one, probably 20 liter capacity, not big enough to carry the water and food you'd need to do an 18 to 22 mile day hike.

I looked at what I'd written.

I read it back.

I thought, this guy doesn't hike to a trailhead.

The realization came in stages over the next day or two.

He can't be coming from any trailhead.

The math doesn't work.

A 22-mile day hike with 4,000 feet of elevation takes a fit person 10 to 12 hours.

That's the best case.

He was arriving at the tower around late morning or midday every visit.

That meant, if he were really coming from a trailhead, he'd be starting at 3 or 4 in the morning, hiking all morning, getting to the tower, refilling water, staying 20 to 40 minutes, and then turning around and hiking 22 miles back.