<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 20pt;">Keeper Post</span><br/><hr/><strong>Location:</strong>Woods about 2 miles northeast of Quartz Valley RV Park<br/><br/>The woods had been considerably as thick as any forest as Jesse with Alyssa in tow, trekked up the trail he had chosen to follow, but his pace slowed as the clearing widened. A clearing this far into the woods held some significance of some sort. There was a T-junction in the path and at the intersection of each of the three trails was a plaque with a partial trail map installed on it. The plastic was worn down some from lack of maintenance, but was still legible and it showed the which trail each path would take hikers on. The trail to the left was called Mt. Shasta Mountain Tail while the path to the right was an unnamed trail that led to the Vortex Campground.<br/><br/>But beyond the plaque was this clearing that extended about 30 feet behind the plaque until it stopped abruptly at a sheer rock face. There were smudges of ancient art, though it could easily be mistaken for random graffiti by some young hiker armed with a Sharpie. Other than than it was just a mostly blank rock wall, but when looking at it from the trailhead, both Jesse and Alyssa could see the distant peak of Mt. Shasta, whose heavenly top had yet to be covered in white. It was still late summer and the temperature was quite warm.<br/><br/>To the side of this clearing looked like a building on some sort, though it's exterior facade made it seem abandoned, but it was far from that. Surprisingly, out from behind it, came out this woman dressed a white robe. The purity of the color was so stark, she could have been wearing a gown of snowflakes. The woman looked to be in her 40s, though her most striking feature was her platinum blonde hair, flowing from the top of her head, past her shoulders and end at her waist in large waves. She didn't seem to have noticed the two individuals on the trail and was pretty much minding her own business, tending to something on the ground, but at this distance, it was hard to make out what it was.<br/><br/>The unsettling thing about this scene was that the paw prints in the soft dirt had continued past the plaque, but mysteriously disappeared after about five feet from the trail. There was no sign of it around in the clearing nor was it hiding in any of the shadows.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><em>Hunters permitted to reply to this post:</em>Alyssa Strum, Jesse