It is gorgeous territory. As my car follows the narrow highway, the houses quickly disappear and thick stands of fir trees take their place. The MacKenzie River, swift from rain the night before, flows to my right, next to the road. I glimpse it from between the evergreens. Wispy low clouds sit happily in the tops of the trees on the surrounding hillsides.
Mist plumes up from the grasses in the clearings, the sun encouraging steam to rise from wet ground.
I am waking, too. The sun is hitting me directly in the eyes. Autumn is in full force here. Leaves drop all around, scattering the road with bursts of magenta and yellow and red and orange. As the road gradually begins to climb, the forest closes in tighter.