I would imagine that everyone who has been camping or hiking has experienced something that gave them pause. For us, it was the sound of a bear. The deep, breathy sound of a bear sniffing the air is certainly something that can stop you in your tracks. During a different and particularly easy, no-nonsense hike, I was stung by a bee. Fortunately, I am not allergic and so it was more of a painful nuisance than an emergency. These have been the worst of my experiences so far—trivial things really.

My wife and I have learned what we need to carry and what we can leave in the car when we go hiking. After the almost-bear-incident, we learned to carry bear spray. We learned to carry water and a snack no matter how short we think our hike will be or how quickly we think we will be in and out. Things happen and plans can change on a whim. We also learned that we need to let someone know where we’ll be and when we expect to return, just in case we get lost or lose our ability to communicate. We try and plan for the worst and hope for the best. I’ve considered the most likely scenarios that could put us in a less-than-ideal situation—getting lost, dehydration, slipping on a rock or branch—and these are the things we are always prepared for. Never in a million years would I have thought about someone intentionally shooting me or my wife while on a hike. That was until I read the book, Eight Bullets.

I love hiking so much. I love the freedom of it, the feeling of accomplishment, the unmatched beauty of nature. It’s just so gratifying to be outside. Because of how strongly I feel about nature and hiking, I just can’t wrap my head around someone wanting to ruin the pure joy and innocence of it. The book describes every detail of someone taking away the peacefulness that nature offers and replacing it with fear and pain and death and suffering. Why would anyone do that? I just can’t grasp the motivation or the evil drive that made him pull the trigger over and over again.