I'd already made the trip.
Climbed the ridge, scouted the terrain, wasted the time.
I'd thought Denali was the obvious choice. It made sense on paper.
But I was wrong.
It wasn't Denali.
I'd been thinking about it all the wrong way.
At first, I was convinced. Terrain, altitude, elevation, natural coverage. Denali checked all the boxes. Towering, massive, remote. But after sweeping it thoroughly, I came up empty. I might've missed it, but I doubt it. It didn't seem like there was anything there, to be frank.
That's when it hit me.
I'd been thinking like a threat. Like someone planning an ambush, not someone setting up an outpost. How hard it was to get in wasn't the only factor. How hard it was to be seen, how easy it was to disappear, that mattered just as much.
Which meant it had to be Foraker.
I hoped I could hit it in one, get it on the first try. Would've saved some time.
But it wasn't the end of the world. I just had to keep going forward.
