CHAPTER TWO
As I planned my next adventure walk, I carefully reviewed everything I had done while camping at Ed's to make sure that there was no way that he could actually know it was me. I camped out there almost every weekend, but I only went on my walks when the moon was full or dark. When the moon was full, I could see very well on the trails, plus there was the danger of people being easily able to see my shining white body in the moonlight. When the moon was dark, there was much less risk of being seen, but the trails were many times more difficult to navigate - especially with my hands held firmly behind my back.
I also knew that I could not change my routine or it would draw attention to me. I had reservations on several weekends through the rest of the summer, so not showing up on my reserved weekends would make me stand out. I checked my calendars and August 7 was going to be a full moon. That was a Saturday, so it fit perfectly into my plans. I would skip both the full moon and dark of the moon in July and see if Ed could catch me on August 7. Besides, by waiting several weeks, Ed might think he had scared me off and no longer be looking for me.
Everything was planned and ready, I was trying to act very natural around camp but I am sure that I showed some surprise when Ed came over to my tent and said, "Lauren," ... OK, my real name is "Lauren" - dull, boring stuffy old-fashioned "Lauren." I have always hated that name. Maybe that is why I call myself Susy online. Anyway, Ed came over to my tent and said, "Lauren, I need to talk to you about your reservation for the weekend of August 8. We have a club that wants to rent the whole camp for the weekend and I am afraid I am going to have to cancel your reservation."
He must have seen the disappointment in my face, because he added, "Actually, they won't be here until Saturday morning, so if you want to come out for Friday night, you still can. I will even give you the night for free, if you don't mind having the camp almost totally to yourself."
"Thank you, Ed." I replied. "You always know how to treat your campers right."
That changed the date slightly, but full moons don't always fall on a weekend anyway, so the day before worked just as well for my plans. I took several "normal" hikes through the park in the next few weekends. I even took a few night hikes just in case Ed was watching for people going onto the trails. By the end of July I knew exactly where I was going to place the remote release and where I was going to start my hike. I would place the remote release at the northwest corner of the park, as far from camp as was possible. I would then start my adventure hike from a different trail that had a loop that went all the way down to the far southeast corner of the park. The campground was on the southwest corner of the park, so I would be walking the maximum distances that night.