Oh how conditions can transform a landscape, when I peep my head out of the tent I notice something different, blue skies! Over the course of the night winds must have shifted, blowing the smoke away from our area. We both leave the tent at the same time and start our last day of the trip. But before the hike we take some time for sublime alpine solitude.

But this is different, as I jot these things down, I gaze upon some of the volcanoes in Washington, then to the fading light around me, then to the resolute silence that engulfs me. How can a space so large be so devoid of sound? Alone but never truly; these moments are something beyond words or photos, they are something more. I ended the day’s journal entry with these words: “I will keep these days in my heart forever, as my own, and as I truly am.”

Thinking about the movements of the wolves in that brief encounter still entrance me. It was apparent that this was their home, moving through technical terrain with incredible coordination and grace. How the three of them moved in single file until arriving at our footprints, then fanning out to investigate.