I'm 19. I'm writing this here because if I tell anyone in my life what happened,

they'll either laugh, or they'll look at me the way people look at someone who is trying to make a story out of nothing.

I also don't want my name tied to it.

This happened in the Spring Mountains outside Las Vegas, in the Mount Charleston area.

If you live here, you know it as the place you go when you need trees in real air.

If you don't live here, it's a whole other world that sits above the city.

Pine, limestone, steep drops, pockets where your phone stops working. I drove up Lee Canyon

Road and parked at the North Loop Trailhead. It wasn't some extreme plan. I wanted a long hike.

I had water, a cheap headlamp, snacks, and a small first aid kit. I had a folding knife clipped inside my pocket,

not for protection. I carried it because I always carried it. At the trailhead there was one

other vehicle, a dusty SUV with the windows cracked. No one was around it. Nothing on the dash,

no cooler, no packs.

It looked abandoned, but it also looked too normal to be abandoned.

I didn't think about it long.

People carpool up there.

People come early.

People leave cars for long loops.

I started up the trail and it was normal for a while. Switchbacks, shade, loose rock underfoot,

the smell of sap. I passed a couple coming down who looked tired and didn't say much. After that,

I didn't see anyone. I had a map saved on my phone, but my signal kept dropping.

The trail was still clear though, and there were enough footprints in the dirt that it felt

safe to keep going without staring at a screen.

...