A number of years ago I got it in my head that I wanted to hike to Long’s Pass and be there to photograph sunset light on Mt. Stuart, my favorite peak. I mentioned my idea to my best hiking buddy, Rocky, and he, as I expected, was ready to leave right that minute on the adventure.Rocky was always up for a good trip in the mountains.
It’s a two-hour drive from Seattle to the Long's Pass Trail. I popped the Springsteen Live tape into the car stereo system and The Boss had barely broken a sweat when we arrived at the trailhead. The landscape was completely covered in snow, so I strapped on snowshoes (Rocky always walked in my tracks; he didn’t seem to need snowshoes.) We moved easily and efficiently. We’d done so many hikes and been to so many beautiful places together that verbal communication was unnecessary. The trip to the pass was about 3 miles, with an elevation gain of two thousand feet. Rocky and I were both so fit and moved so well, we found ourselves at the pass nearly two hours before sunset. We had more than enough time for lunch and a nap. I found a comfortable spot under a tree where the snow had melted out, set the alarm on my watch so I wouldn’t miss sunset, and, before I knew it, was asleep.
Later, when my alarm woke me, I realized that Rocky had curled-up near me--close enough that each of us probably helped keep the other warm.
The light on Mt. Stuart was the best I’ve ever seen. The whole of the mountain was bathed in a warm, evening glow, and the sky above the summit looked as if crazy old van Gogh had been there with his wildest, bluest paints. In the 20 years I’d been hiking near Stuart (several times climbing to the 9,415-foot summit) I’d never seen light there like I saw that evening. I felt that, finally, I was making photographs that did justice to that granite beauty.
When the light-show was over, I quickly repacked my camera gear. Though the trip up to the pass had been easy, Rocky and I still had to cover three miles and descend two thousand feet of elevation to get back down the to the car. I wanted to move quickly so we wouldn’t be caught out in the dark. This time Rocky led the way and I followed. A number of times I nearly lost sight of Rocky. It was getting dark fast.
Rocky’s lead was perfect. It was pitch dark when we got back to the car, but we’d made it. As I drove home, I kept telling Rocky what a good job he’d done of route finding. The Boss went back into the tape deck. I patted Rocky on the head.
What a fine day we’d had together.
Rocky was such a good dog.
