In late October of 2019, I drove five hours from Reno to Crater Lake in Oregon. Meeting me there after a five hour drive from her home in Washington state was Katie Riley, a friend and fellow Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Grenada.

We had just returned to America a few months earlier after our two-year service in Grenada when we decided to rendezvous in Crater Lake. Due to it being late in the season, many of the trails were closed for the winter. However, we still got to hike the Garfield Peak Trail and stop at the Visitor Center there.

The following day a heavy snowstorm hit the area, effectively shortening our trip. But we were lucky to have a one clear but cold hiking day that weekend.

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The following year in August of 2020, my brother Tom and hometown friend Connor McCoy flew out to visit me in Reno. We then embarked on a two-week road trip of our own. The first destination for our trip was Crater Lake, which was the second time I had been there. Being in the summer this time around, we got to explore much more of the park than I originally was able to see the previous October.