I know this is a a simple video… 16 seconds of nothing but drifting smoke on an occasionally gusting wind, that can be heard working it’s way through the trees and coffee getting blacker & gaining more flavor with each burbling perk in the pot. I think that’s why I like it; because it brings me right back to the high mountain lake I had backpacked into the night before I shot this video and the chill air of the morning as I waited impatiently for this pot to finish percolating.

Crazy how even now as I sit in my comfy chair at home, I can feel the heat from the dying coals of the driftwood fire and smell the combination of clear air, woodsmoke and cowboy coffee from that morning on the mountain.

It’s memories like this (and the dulling of the effort induced pain of the backpacking trip) that keep me up nights planning the next adventure and missing early mornings in the high country. Soon enough, the mountain peaks will shed a winters storehouse of snow, the passes will open, ice will thaw, trout will rise, and my coffeepot will earn another layer of campfire soot on the shores of a nameless lake.

I can’t wait! See you on the Mountain.