Before The Snow Falls

It is the last trip to the Cascade range

for one more hike to the higher terrain.

A red tailed hawk rises from a sub alpine meadow

and flies into a wall of faint white clouds

where a flock of Northern geese head south.

Whitetail deer forage the lower grasslands for food

and run for cover from fall hunters.

A pileated woodpecker pecks away in the bark

of a grand old fir towering towards the heavens.

The west wind rustles the tops of trees and

the vine maples turn red in the brisk October air.

Strong rapids spew out from the high glacier

to the wide mouth of the river bed

flowing down to the valley floor.

This river I am following upstream will

soon be iced over and the ground I walk on

will be covered with fresh snow.

I arrive at my destination and thank Mother Earth

climbing as far as I can go.