Snow fall

It's hard to explain how I feel about snow. The very first time I saw it, it was snowing and I thought it was gorgeous. It was literally a winter wonderland. I was excited and so overwhelmed. All I wanted to do was play in it. On our recent hike on the PCT, the trail was heavily covered in snow. To the left and to the right of the trail, the terrain was hard to discern because it was white all around. . .in every direction. The trees were enormous. You could tilt your head all the way back and still not see the tops of them.  Only the two of us were out in the forest it seemed. It was quiet and even though I wore a bight orange warning vest to be visible to hunters, we didn't hear a single shot. We hiked upwards through the snow and over streams. Every step was an effort. Our boots kept sinking into the snow and to take the next step was intentional. We didn't make it all the way to the top because unfortunately the sun sets faster when you are having fun. It didn't matter though, the few miles we saw had 360 views of awesome. I wanted to stay there forever. That hike was pivotal for me. I am a logical, rational person. I don't drift easily into imagination or magic. I could never sit through Christmas stories as a child because I didn't understand the foundations they were built on. It sounds crazy, but seeing snow, touching it, feeling it, and hiking through it helped me believe in the intangible: hope. It's such a simple feeling. To answer the age old question, if nobody is in the forest and a tree falls I believe it still makes a sound.

-Ashley