Midnight on the Summit of South Doublehead

Samwise woke me up the other night at 11:00 p.m. He stared at me with those big brown eyes and his nose so close to me that I couldn’t possibly consider sleeping and willed me to awaken. 

“You okay, pal?”

 He sat leaning against my chest and looked out the window. When I followed his gaze, I realized the stars were out for the first time in what seemed like a week. We’ve been in one of those summer periods where storms linger, and postcard-pretty skies are hard to come by. Not sure how we’ve done it, but while studying the radar and dodging raindrops, the three of us have put in significant miles as of late. And yet, we’ve not been climbing. 

Late spring and early summer have been a mixture of high heat and humidity, swarming mosquitoes, and rain. It’s never my favorite time of year to hike. That begins in August and runs until Christmas. The air is invitingly cooler, even chilly, and it’s drier, trails are less crowded, and bugs are not a bother. 

While I rubbed Sam’s back. By now, Emily…