The air was crisp and the hair stood atop the back of my neck. I had many layers on—two pairs of pants and a heavy sweatshirt on top of my long-sleeved shirt. I blew into my hands, trying to get some sort of warmth running through my body, but to no avail. I glanced back to find my sister, trudging along behind me, her breath visible in the thirty degree mountain air. My eyes lit up as I kept walking as I saw a long stick lying on the ground in front of us. I ran up ahead and picked up the stick. It was strong and I felt like I was unstoppable. Now, with my walking stick in hand, we kept on our journey.

The trees that surrounded us were a kaleidoscope of different reds, oranges, and yellows. The creek trickled beside us, almost as if to guide us along the path. We were already tired, but it took all our strength to get up the incline. As we walked, my sister stopped suddenly. Up ahead, a baby deer scampered across the trail. We watched in awe as the fawn jumped about, and we were afraid to walk ahead and disturb him. However, my sister took one false step and the fawn perked up and ran away. We continued on our walk and finally, after much effort, we made it to the clearing. Ahead, a clear lake stretched for miles as far as the eye could see. The sun finally started to rise and the reflections of orange and red were duplicated on the liquid mirror. To the left, a thousands of gallons of water gushed over the side of a small cliff, down to a pool of water at the bottom. I looked over to see my sister sitting on a rock, breathing heavy.

“We made it,” I said.