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caterpillar dropp<strong>in</strong>gs or downed leaves, what Knight called “tree dandruff,” he’d stra<strong>in</strong> it through a coffee<br />
filter before dr<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g it. Eventually, <strong>the</strong> water would turn greenish and a bit slimy, after which Knight used<br />
it for laundry or bath<strong>in</strong>g, or boiled it and made tea.<br />
His bathroom, on <strong>the</strong> camp’s rear edge, far<strong>the</strong>st from <strong>the</strong> elephant-rocks entrance, was a couple of logs<br />
fram<strong>in</strong>g an open pit. Knight kept a bathroom kit <strong>in</strong> his shelter, usually stocked with toilet paper and hand<br />
sanitizer. As he’d <strong>in</strong>sisted, <strong>the</strong>re was no fire r<strong>in</strong>g, not a charred piece of wood.<br />
<strong>The</strong> largest trees around his site had served as storage units. Knight had wrapped thick ropes around a<br />
dozen hemlock trunks and tucked items <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong>m—lengths of wire, bungee cords, rusty bedspr<strong>in</strong>gs, plastic<br />
bags, scissors, a tube of Super Glue, a pair of work gloves, a bent key. “<strong>The</strong> key could be used as a hook,<br />
or to pry someth<strong>in</strong>g up, as a makeshift screwdriver, I don’t know. I couldn’t br<strong>in</strong>g myself to throw anyth<strong>in</strong>g<br />
away. I’m a saver and repurposer.” He’d strung clo<strong>the</strong>sl<strong>in</strong>es between trees; typically dry<strong>in</strong>g were Knight’s<br />
staples: dark sweatpants, flannel shirts, and water-resistant jackets and pants.<br />
He’d slid his boots onto sawed-off branches, a wilderness dry<strong>in</strong>g rack. One tree had held rakes and snow<br />
shovels; ano<strong>the</strong>r, an olive-green baseball cap and a floppy gray fish<strong>in</strong>g hat. Some items had been <strong>in</strong> place so<br />
long that <strong>the</strong> trees grew around <strong>the</strong>m. A claw hammer was nearly swallowed by a tree trunk, impossible to<br />
remove, and Hughes said that this hammer, more than anyth<strong>in</strong>g, made him realize how long Knight had lived<br />
<strong>the</strong>re.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re was always <strong>the</strong> chance, Knight had understood, that someone might hike nearby or search for him<br />
by air, so he’d tried ei<strong>the</strong>r to cover any objects that could gl<strong>in</strong>t <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> sun or to keep <strong>the</strong>m hidden <strong>in</strong>side <strong>the</strong><br />
tarp structure. He’d spray-pa<strong>in</strong>ted a camouflage pattern on plastic coolers and metal garbage cans and on<br />
<strong>the</strong> outside of his spaghetti pot. He kept <strong>the</strong> blade of his snow shovel, when he wasn’t us<strong>in</strong>g it, covered with<br />
a dark garbage bag, and he’d wrapped <strong>the</strong> handle <strong>in</strong> black duct tape. Propane tanks were also stored <strong>in</strong><br />
garbage bags. In a couple of spots where one might catch a glimpse of his site after <strong>the</strong> leaves fell, he’d<br />
hung camo-colored tarps. He had even pa<strong>in</strong>ted his clo<strong>the</strong>sp<strong>in</strong>s green.<br />
On a little raised area <strong>in</strong> his camp, a sort of porch, was a green alum<strong>in</strong>um lawn chair, <strong>the</strong> bottom of <strong>the</strong><br />
legs swaddled <strong>in</strong> duct tape to stop <strong>the</strong>m from s<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> soft soil. <strong>The</strong> chair, like everyth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> his<br />
camp, seemed ideally and harmoniously placed to maximize <strong>the</strong> site’s sense of tranquillity. Knight scoffed at<br />
this notion when we later discussed it: “Do you th<strong>in</strong>k I was engag<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> feng shui?”<br />
I set up my own tent at <strong>the</strong> site, <strong>the</strong>n sat <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> green alum<strong>in</strong>um chair as chipmunks raced among <strong>the</strong><br />
trees, acorns dropp<strong>in</strong>g through <strong>the</strong> branches like pach<strong>in</strong>ko balls. A gust of w<strong>in</strong>d bent <strong>the</strong> high boughs but<br />
scattered only a few leaves around <strong>the</strong> camp.<br />
Night fell fast. Frogs cleared <strong>the</strong>ir throats; cicadas whirred like table saws. A woodpecker hammered for<br />
grubs. At last came <strong>the</strong> call of <strong>the</strong> loons, <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>me song of <strong>the</strong> North <strong>Woods</strong>, peal<strong>in</strong>g like a laugh or cry,<br />
depend<strong>in</strong>g on your mood. A car crunched over a dirt road, a dog barked. For a while people could be heard<br />
talk<strong>in</strong>g, though <strong>the</strong>ir words were too muffled to make out.<br />
Knight lived so close to o<strong>the</strong>rs that he couldn’t even sneeze aloud. <strong>The</strong>re’s f<strong>in</strong>e cell-phone reception at his<br />
site. Civilization was right <strong>the</strong>re, hot showers and creature comforts just steps away.<br />
Soon it grew truly dark—one’s eyes could be open or closed with hardly a difference—and someth<strong>in</strong>g<br />
moved through <strong>the</strong> forest. An animal, probably no bigger than a rabbit, though it sounded like a hippo. A<br />
couple of stars were visible through <strong>the</strong> scrim of branches overhead, and <strong>the</strong> crooked smile of a quarter<br />
moon. A bird peeped percussively. <strong>The</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re was noth<strong>in</strong>g.