Alta, Utah

En Route to Washington State, we’re staying at a moderately luxurious ski lodge with off-season rates. After a drive through hot hazy central Utah, it was a relief to exit the highway and ascend to the relatively cool and tranquil mountains, like having gauze pulled away from your eyes so the outlines of trees, rocks, and entire mountains became sharply defined and the air smelled clean. We arrived in time to walk on a deserted dirt road leading higher than we had energy or time to climb.