a redemptive hike
tolerably steep, pretty
to a glacier’s start
disappearing ice
is one reason for this trip
cold is beautiful
snowfields beat out scree
a challenge i can live with
and get to slide down
i’m hours faster
than the warning on their map
hiking solo wins!
marmot friends tease me
better than seeing a bear
top of world views
acceptance settles
as we see the bright blue sky
(first time in two weeks)
An expensive hike
yet easy, green, glacial blue
make it worth millions
where can you see ice
floating from nearby glacier
as You eat your lunch?
Alaska wins us
though it can’t fully win her
(my pup will save me)
the hike from hell wins
first with a grizzly loping
(who turned into woods)
then the sunrise view
of the flawless Lake Kathleen
before the ascent
the cloud at the peak?
kind of ruined my dream view
until the descent
the descent from hell
with steep scree the whole way down
even dog is stressed
how to recover?
book hotel three hours down
this horrible road
rainy morning walk
in this lushly green forest
boggy, soggy moss
an afternoon soak
in these hot springs mountains
to stave off the chill
on the best drive home
we saw a family of sheep
we saw views going blue
quick grocery run
reorganizing our camp
dawn: ready to roll
hiking to high tea
(a different version of high)
altitude wins sips
perfect alpine lakes
to start and finish the day
as we drink in views
glacially made mirrors
waterfall motivation
for the long walk down
bluebird mountain day
catching the golden aspens
before they burn bare
we’re the post office:
through wind, rain, sleet, clouds… weather
we weather the storm
just another day
in the life we’ve created
in sickness and health
1.8 million:
the years laurel has lived here
giving life to all
enchanted forest:
the only words to describe
Madeira’s true gold
traditional homes
give homage to these laurels
simple thatched roofs
a magical place
waits for you on this island
hidden in the sea
ten thousand stone steps
slippery at dawn, at noon
as mist never stops
ten thousand reasons
to be afraid of this hike,
yet we keep trekking
ten thousand peak views
all in different shades of light
just like our marriage
ten thousand questions
when we married at twenty
look how far we’ve come
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