Trusting me to be her guide, my dear friend Brianne flew in for a mountain adventure. Did you know that one of the many jobs that put me through college was serving as the first female wilderness ranger in Montana’s Taylor-Hilgard Wilderness?

I’ve often felt less lonely alone in the wilderness than in moments surrounded by people in a city.

And oh, did the mountains deliver! Wildflowers in riotous bloom, star-splashed nights, cold plunges in alpine lakes, and view after painterly view.

We laughed (a lot), breathed deep the thin wild air, and soaked up the kind of magic only the high country can offer — where friendship, wonder, and a hearty dose of glee meet off the beaten path.