One Last Drive Home

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Fall was turning to winter and half a foot of snow made had made the drive to the trailhead an interesting experience and the hiking sublime. Sun filtered through stands of lodgepole pines and the hiking was easy at the walking and attention span pace of the youngest and newest member of our hiking crew. Mountain chickadees flitted from tree to tree, singing in the splashes of sun they could catch, and we intermittently walked ahead, then stopped – I watched the chickadees and enjoyed the fresh air; Layla always reading the encyclopedia of the trail with her nose. Layla and I didn’t share much conversation about the weather or the chickadees, but somehow we shared the moment and the moment was better. And by early afternoon on this short late fall day, the sun began to dip towards the horizon and the day would come to a close. Though the day was short, we’d made the most of it...

A tribute to a favorite hiking partner and the story of one last hike - in Issue 31:

One Last Drive Home

Issue 31 Page 1