he cool evening dusk was quickly falling upon us as we cast furtive glances up and down the trail. Rob put a finger up to his mouth, and we stealthily left the main path to seek the seclusion of the trees. I kept glancing backward to make sure that our camp would be hidden from view.

We were in the process of finding our own “unofficial” camping spot. This was more-or-less where we wanted to stay anyway. The problem, of course, was that we were risking a big fine if a park ranger caught us spending the night in a non-designated area. Rangers had already asked to see our permit twice since lunchtime, and we had just passed a patrol cabin less than a mile back. Thus, the need for stealth.

We were well off the trail searching for a suitable flat spot. Rob was off to my left, and Laurie was off to my right, when a guy suddenly materialized out of the brush in front of me. We startled eachother and instantly stopped in our tracks.

“Whoa, you scared me,” he said.

“Yeah! I wasn’t expecting to see anybody up here,” I replied.

“So, you guys gonna spend the night on up the ridge?”

I paused for a moment, wondering whether I should fess up. Since this was just a regular hiker, and our intentions were blatantly obvious anyway, I confessed, albeit a little sheepishly.

“Yeah, we’re not going to make our destination tonight, so we figured we’d just stop here.”

“That’s cool.”
“So, how about you? Where are you camping?”

“I’m down at the patrol cabin.”

“The patrol cabin? Oh. Ummm … you’re not a ranger are ya?”, I laughed nervously.

“Well, actually, yes I am. I’m just not in uniform right now.”

I thought to myself, “Oh brother, I can’t believe it! There’s rangers swarming all over this place!”

Rob piped up behind me, “Are we busted?”

He smiled back, “No, I’ll let it slide, just stay off the heather.”

“Great, thanks!” we all responded gratefully.

We parted ways, and moved on up the ridge very relieved.

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