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my w<strong>in</strong>ter toilet. Do my bus<strong>in</strong>ess. Twenty paces back. A big triangle. Around aga<strong>in</strong>. And aga<strong>in</strong>. I like to<br />
pace.” He’d air out his sleep<strong>in</strong>g bags, wick<strong>in</strong>g away moisture. He did this every bitter-cold night for a<br />
quarter century. If it had snowed he’d shovel his site, push<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> snow to <strong>the</strong> camp’s perimeter, where it<br />
accumulated <strong>in</strong> great frozen mounds, wall<strong>in</strong>g him <strong>in</strong>.<br />
His feet never seemed to fully thaw, but as long as he had a fresh pair of socks, this wasn’t really a<br />
problem. It is more important to be dry than warm. By dawn, he’d have his day’s water supply. No matter<br />
how tempted he was to crawl back <strong>in</strong>to his covers, he resisted. He had complete self-control. Naps were not<br />
permitted <strong>in</strong> his ideology, as <strong>the</strong>y ru<strong>in</strong>ed his ability to achieve deep, rejuvenat<strong>in</strong>g sleep.<br />
He sometimes felt disconcert<strong>in</strong>gly exposed dur<strong>in</strong>g w<strong>in</strong>ter. Few people were around, but with <strong>the</strong> leaves<br />
gone, <strong>the</strong> chances <strong>in</strong>creased that his camp might be spotted. He had an alarm system—no one could walk<br />
silently <strong>in</strong> Knight’s woods, except Knight, so <strong>the</strong>re’d always be warn<strong>in</strong>g of an approach—and also an escape<br />
plan. If a person came near, Knight’s idea was to avoid confrontation by mov<strong>in</strong>g deeper <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> woods.<br />
A short distance from his camp, Knight kept what he called his upper cache. Buried <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> ground, so<br />
well camouflaged with twigs and leaves that you could walk right over it and never know, were two metal<br />
garbage b<strong>in</strong>s and one plastic tote. <strong>The</strong>y conta<strong>in</strong>ed camp<strong>in</strong>g gear and w<strong>in</strong>ter clo<strong>the</strong>s, enough so that if<br />
someone found his site, Knight could <strong>in</strong>stantly abandon it and start anew. His commitment to isolation was<br />
absolute.