Hot sun and light breeze dries me as I mountain bike towards that peak on the horizon. My body is calm, not tense, for there is no fear, only appreciation of another pleasant experience. The air thins as I hug the mountainside, switchbacking my way back and forth, back and forth, towards the summit. Dust turns to mud, mud turns to slop, and slops turns to snow. I trade knobby tyres for snowshoes, making the transition back from pedals to bipedalism and begin my walk on water.
Snow is felt, heard, seen, ever-changing like the colors of the rainbow.
Temperature drops, my breath like a whistle through my nose. I plod, prance, dance, spiraling upward, destination quite known. Skin soaks up sun, solar wind filling my sails. Descent follows ascent. I don snowskates and swish-swoosh south, seeking solitude in the snow.