Northern Terminus

A Lavender Orpington rooster with lilac-grey plumage and a red comb, standing upright on a bare granite mountain summit in a faded red softshell jacket with a blue daypack, a cairn of stacked stones beside him with two trekking poles leaning against it, white cloud drifting below and a glimpse of forest and lakes in the valley

Up Through the Cloud

He covered it at twelve miles a day with Sundays off, fell more often than he cares to count and got up each time, which at ninety-one is most of the technique. The summit is mostly cloud. He stands in it for a while before he starts back down.

31 August 2026