My sister called twice before I had even left the house. “What if you break your ankle and nobody finds you until April, Sophie?” she asked. Her nagging voice in my head had made her a passenger on the ride over to the trailhead. Kenzi was always protective of me, despite hiking on my own every week for the last 20 years. I love my big sister, but she can be a bit much sometimes. I started hiking at 8, when my family had...

December 7th, 2002 -Jake- We lived on a 120-acre tree farm in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. We were a good 15 miles outside a small town, and it was probably the worst place to live if you preferred to be around people. Even visiting our neighbors was a solid half-mile hike, and in the winter, you could forget it. You could sled down the hill, I suppose, but you weren't coming back the same way. I loved riding my bike...