Chapter 6: 6

As soon as she left the building, Natalie looked up to see where the sun was at. Sadly, it was directly overhead of her, as it was just after noon. Realizing that she was shorter on time than she would have liked, she started heading west towards the main hiking trail. It cut through the forest nicely, and even wrapped around the northern base of Mount Alderson all the way up to Mount Carthew. 'Now, to just follow this trail around Alderson, then cut south and go over a smaller ridge along the mountain line until she saw the small lakes show up on her right. All in all, it was shaping up to be an over four hour hike to get out there. That only left her about two hours of sunlight to make up her camp at most before she was limited on what she could see. Thankfully, there was no fire ban in place, so she could cozy up by a small fire in those later hours.
As she reached Cameron Falls, she took a minute and double checked all of her gear. Making sure she forgot nothing, that everything was secured, and that she had the bear spray easily accessible. She was pretty good about remembering, especially after 'bear'-ing through all of Bryden's safety meetings. Those just lasted 'fur"-ever. Once satisfied, Nat started making her way up the path.
The way this path started, you first followed Cameron Creek going up the hill beside the falls themselves. Then for about 10-20 mins, you followed the creek above the falls. As the path broke away from the running water, it started to go around the bend of Bertha Peak. That peak was the main reason that anyone came to Waterton this time of year. The view from the top, especially in the morning, was majestic. Sun glinting over mountaintops, the shadows of the many trees starting to dance, and the small glint that came off the many small lakes in the area made it so you could just look at the surroundings for hours and never get bored. If it wasn't for her schedule already being cramped, she would have gone up to see the view again.
Continuing on down the path, Natalie finally reached the southern most point of the path, marking where she was breaking away from civilization and going into the wilds. Breaking south-west, she headed for where the mountains were the lowest. The range in this area averaged about 1500 feet above the path at its top, but the area she was heading to had a difference in elevation of just under 1000 feet. As long as someone was careful, the ascent and descent were negligible.
All in all, the trip was a slow but uneventful one. Walking along the ridge line heading south, she finally saw the destination she was aiming for on her left. Before heading down, she turned to her right and help up her hands below the sun. 'Hand and a half, huh. Guess I have about an hour and a half till sundown. That took a bit more time than I thought, but not by much.' Shrugging, she gets down from the ridge and starts scouting out spots slightly away from the lake. This is a pond far away from humanity, so numerous animals must use this as a watering hole.

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Finding a spot that seems to be low in tracks, Nat gets to work by first hammering in her tent pegs and getting it set up. Nothing would be worse for her than to not have her tent set up before the sun goes down. Trying to do it with either a flashlight or by the light of a fire would be next to impossible. Once it was secured and set up, she then takes out a bunch of string with bells on it. Moving slowly, she sets the string up all around her campsite, setting up a small almost warded off area. Knowing full well that there are wolves that frequent the area means that she will spare nothing in terms of safety.
Satisfied with the set up, Nat heads into her pack and pulls out three sets of rabbit snares. All she would need is probably two rabbits for the three days she was planning to be out here, but it was better to catch too many than not enough. Taking a while, she finally finds three good spots to set up the snares, especially so that they wont attempt to catch anything bigger. As she makes her way back to her little camp, Natalie grabs bits of wood here and there for tinder. 'I wish there was a dead tree here. Could just break that into pieces and have plenty of firewood for the weekend.'
Just as it is starting to turn dark, she gets back to her tent. Stepping over the warning line of bells, she clears the area in front of her tent and starts making a small fire pit. After lighting the small amalgamation of sticks and dead plants, she sits back and enjoys the view of the sun setting over the mountaintops. As the final rays of light fade, tiny sparks of light pop up in the night sky one by one. For hours, Natalie just sat there, tending the fire and enjoying the view of the stars. The only thing that could make this view better in her mind was most likely an aurora borealis, the dancing lights of the north. She didn't see them as much down here compared to back home in High Level, but she enjoyed her job.
Yawning, she got up and doused the fire, taking care to make sure not a single ember remained. While her tent was insulated, it was the direct opposite of fire-proof. Heading into the tent, she pulled of her boots, got out her sleeping bag, and crawled in. As she fell asleep, the soft sounds of nature soothed her ears until finally, everything faded peacefully to black.
Huge thanks to Jake for supporting me and my writing!

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