I’m lost in my thoughts, utterly alone, staring at those huge peaks clawing at the heavens. This little homestead dwarfed by those mountains. I feel small here, this country is vast and there’s no one here, another planet victorious in making a more beautiful Earth without vile creatures poisoning it. The air is fresh and smells of primroses and ozone from a distant thunderstorm behind me across the plains. This must be a dream, I think to myself, but I’m too afraid to pinch my arm, just in case I’m right.
At the Jenny Lake overlook, the mountains looming as I sit by the water so still, reflecting the mountains so well that I can’t tell up from down. The smell of the pines overwhelms me and I wade into that cool water as an eagle whistles into a valley, the mountains whistling back and I whistle too, caught in the moment. The others on the shore whistle too, and I swear the dozen of us were infinite.