As I hiked down the trail I smelled it first… a campfire. I rounded the corner and saw the smoke softly rising into the cool morning air. I couldn’t see a tent but as I drew nearer I saw the two sleeping bags curled around the smoking embers. I paused for a minute, careful not to wake them. The moment was so serene. A creek babbled nearby. The birds bustled about, making their morning song and the sun started to sparkle through the leaves. I hope I remember this image for a long while—so calm and so peaceful with nary a hint of recent news to disturb it. Or maybe it is in light of our current situation that makes this simple image seem all the more powerful. Here’s hoping you all find lightness in the small things that brighten and calm your day. Now more than ever, we can relish the simplest things in life.
Silence at a lake in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. All photos: Hannah Green
A secret slot canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.
The aspens of Utah’s La Sal Mountains.
The end of the rainbow on Cedar Mesa, Utah.
Serenity on the Arizona Trail.
The snow and sun of Colorado’s La Plata Mountains.
The showy wildflowers of Titcomb Basin in the Wind River Range, Wyoming.
