Maybe the two of you could pull together a winter planning team that includes both of you, Red, Willie, Becky and Betsy. The team could start assessing locations for an outdoor skating rink, expanded ski and snowshoe trails, and a sledding hill. We can talk when I get back, but it’d be great to have some recommendations.
And maybe Becky could have some conversations with the dog sled groups in the region to assess interest in an event this winter. I’m thinking about a race around Summer Lake. The First Annual Summer Lake Dogsled Race, maybe in January or February.
More later when I return at the end of October.
Again, thanks for everything.
Best,
Molly
On Molly’s fifth morning at Dark Hollow, they’d finished breakfast and were drinking coffee in front of the stove.
“Have you ever fantasized about making love to a woman up here?”
They’d been making love gently in the night, but Molly was still aroused. Dark Hollow was drenchingly romantic, and Bart was making the commitment she’d been hoping for.
“Yes.”
A long pause while they both took a sip of coffee.
“You’re going to make me ask, aren’t you?”
“If you’d like, I’ll show you today.”
Late in the afternoon, Bart suggested happy hour at his solar station. Molly hadn’t been there and wanted to see it. They packed drinks and snacks in a pack that she carried and set off from the cabin, walking slowly hand in hand through the forest toward the meadow.
“How far?”
“Twenty minute walk, but it gets steep. I’ll take it slowly. Thanks for carrying the pack.”
They walked in silence to the meadow, turned around the bend, and started up a fairly steep switchback trail. Bart stopped every few minutes to catch his breath.
“You going to be okay?”
“Yeah, it isn’t far. I’m just still weak.”
After a few minutes, they arrived at a viewpoint, a small landing tucked into the mountain, with trees overhead providing shade, and two Adirondack chairs, one weathered, one new. Off to the side, facing the south, was Bart’s solar panel hooked up to his charging station.
“You made me a chair.”
“Yeah, I got this one done. It wasn’t easy getting it up here. Beryl carried it to the meadow and I strapped it to my back up the hill.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a kiss and settled into the newer of the two chairs.
“Oh my God.” The view was as beautiful as she’d ever seen. She was looking out over the top of the Pasayten Wilderness deep into the Canadian Rockies, several hundred miles in the distance.
“Do you write here?”
“Yes, and I come here for coffee sometimes in the morning, or to watch the sunset at night. It’s my happy place. Do you see that ridge with the cloud above?”
“Yes.”
“Summer Lake is just over that ridge. You can see the lake from the top of this mountain.”
“Is this where you fantasized about making love to a woman?”
“Yes.”
