As the sun began to set, bathing the snowy San Juan Mountains and denuded aspen branches in dazzling shades of gold, I finally had to admit: “We're in trouble.”
In January of 2022, my cousin, her dog, and I were knee-deep in powdery snow in New Mexico's Carson National Forest, going on hour four of what was meant to be a one-hour cross-country skiing jaunt near Hopewell Lake. Aside from the fact that we'd foolishly struck out sans emergency safety gear, we had no way of contacting my parents, who were awaiting us back at our car with no idea that we'd gone off-trail for a “shortcut” and were wandering through the wilderness.
As I dragged my skis through the snow and wondered how long our toes could survive in
