We climbed slowly
so slowly through the hushed fog of morning,
through dripping fir and cedar so silent we could hear birds crying,wheeling distantly overhead.

Kulshan’s peak towered in the unseen distance,
touched only by moonbeams, far–but not far enough–from the city’s concrete and noise.

We lost ourselves in the snowshelves of the trail,
before bursting out onto the ridge where
we heated the canteen and had a biscuit
and some damn fine coffee.