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Either way, Erin wasn't here now, and they had fun stuff planned. Ryan got up and dressed, pulled everything he didn't need for the day out of his pack, and left it in the tent. Then he walked to the cook site. It was sunny but still cool, without a cloud in the sky.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Jules snickered. "How did you sleep?"
"Okay." Ryan accepted the cup of coffee Erin handed him. "Thanks. I definitely need this."
"When don't you need that?" Erin smiled, but it seemed a little dim.
"Never." He sat next to her and bumped her shoulder with his. "You know that."
"I sure do. Here." She handed him oatmeal.
"Thanks again. You don't have to do that."
Erin looked a little flushed. Strange for a cool morning. "I know."
He shoveled in oatmeal; everyone else had finished. Erin still sipped coffee, probably to keep him company.
Tyler stood. "We'll split into two teams today. The first team will go back to the start of the trail we found yesterday and mark it as we hike. The second group will go farther on the main trail and look for where the loop comes back. That should be about half a mile farther. I'm sure it will be just as challenging to find as the first half. Then that group will follow and mark." He grinned and shrugged. "With any luck, we'll meet in the middle, and we'll come back here on whichever half is clearer. There's no water on this loop; it goes up a high ridge, so fill your bottles now. And bring your rain gear; there's always a chance of a thunderstorm in August. Does anybody have questions?" He looked at each of them.
Seemed pretty straightforward to Ryan, and everyone else seemed to think so too from the nodding.
"Grab your gear, and we'll meet back here in a few and get going. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish, and maybe we'll get another swim."
Ryan grinned. Another chance to see Erin in next to nothing? Sign me up. His grin turned down. Tyler said thunderstorms. That wasn't good.
"Ryan? Are you coming?"
He jumped. Only Erin still stood there. "Sorry, lost in thought." Rising, he put his dishes in his food sack and followed Erin to the tent. She threw excess items on her sleeping bag and cinched down her large backpack so it wouldn't sway awkwardly as they hiked.
Ryan tightened his boots and pack straps, then hoisted the light bag to join the group. But Erin stooped, tightening the tent straps and the rain fly. Thunderstorms—a tight tent was a dry tent. Slack meant water could gather and possibly drip through. He tightened his side, mirroring her actions. "Anticipating trouble?"
"Tyler said possible thunderstorms." She glanced across the tent at him, stomping on the tent stakes, making sure they were firm. "Have you ever tried to sleep in a wet down bag?"
"No, my old bag was synthetic. But I'm sure it doesn't work well." He'd gotten his down jacket wet in Alaska a few times, and it was miserably cold.
"No, it doesn't. I also don't want to chase my tent across the lake or pull it out of the trees." Erin chuckled.
They finished securing the tent and returned to the cook site. "Have you done that?"
Erin twisted and flashed him a grin. "No, but I've heard of it happening, and on one of my trips, a guy had to chase his tent across a meadow. It was really windy, and he'd gotten the rain fly on, but he hadn't set the stakes, and of course, there wasn't anything inside yet." She laughed. "A gust of wind caught it, and it tumbled end over end across this huge meadow, and every time he'd almost get a hand on it, it would take a weird bounce, and he'd miss. It was hilarious to watch, but if it had been stormy, it could have been terrible." They entered the cook site.
"Are you talking about the flying tent escapade?" Jules made a tumbling motion with her hand.
"I was telling Ryan about it, so he understood why I was checking our tent."
"That's an excellent point." Tyler shot a finger gun at Erin. "Did everyone zip and securely stake their tents? If we get thunderstorms..."
Dan and Laura looked at each other, dropped their packs, and jogged away. "Be right back."
Tyler and Jules laughed. "I guess that solves that problem."
"Yep." Tyler nodded. "Okay, Ryan and Erin, you're with me. Your water bottles are full?" Ryan nodded, and Erin did too. "Let's go. Hopefully, we'll see you this afternoon on the ridge, Jules."
They hiked at a brisk clip while it was still cool enough to enjoy the fast pace in the bright sun. They neared the supposed intersection of the loop trail, but no obvious sign appeared. Haphazard piles of logs covered the land, interspersed with brush and small trees. They dropped their packs, spread out, and looked for signs of the trail.
Erin whooped. "You're not going to believe this!"
He and Tyler clambered over to Erin, who stood about twenty feet off the main trail on a large log. She pointed down at her feet. "Look!"
