The land is so simple in the snow – no chinquapin, manzanita, fallen tree trunks or boulders to hike around or through.  The snow makes the rough textured land smooth.

In the photo, my wife is approaching the summit of Mount San Jacinto.

Something important is only visible on mountain tops covered in snow – the high limit of being alive – and something frightening – the thinness of it, the fine layer of life.