I loved teaching in New York City, but I always knew I'd leave someday for one of the places I had seen in my summer wanderings. When I finally decided to leave the east coast for good, my students asked why. "When I go home in the afternoon, what I really want to do is climb a small mountain, or run through the woods. I want to climb hard mountains on weekends and when I have more time. All I can do now is run through the parks and ride my motorcycle to crowded mountains on the weekends."

This is exactly what I found here. When I go running in the evenings, I pass through scenes like this one. On the weekends and holidays, I hike out to those peaks. And sometimes, when the feeling is right, I jog up to one of those peaks after school and come back down in time for dinner. Jog to the summit, pause and bow to the beautiful mountains, shake my head at the grandeur, and head back down. Those days, I feel I am living in a Nike commercial.