These photos are from a stretch of years, 2002 to 2012

Black and white dog standing on a rock looking toward snow-covered mountain peaks under a partly cloudy blue sky

These photos are from a stretch of years, 2002 to 2012, when I was backpacking into the Rocky Mountains as often as I could get away—first with Ben and Maggie, and later with Mollie coming along. A quiet, free life with dogs, beauty, and room to breathe.

Black and white dog sniffing grass near a wide, multi-tiered waterfall surrounded by dense evergreen trees

Black and white dog standing on grassy land near a small flowing creek with snow-capped mountains and evergreen trees in the background

'A quiet, free life with dogs, beauty, and room to breathe' - That is what the high country gave me in those years, and what these pictures still give back when I look at them now. Mornings above timberline with frost on the tent. Afternoons sitting on a rock watching clouds build over a ridge, a dog asleep against each knee. The particular silence of a spruce forest after snow. I was almost always alone out there; no hurry anywhere, no one to answer to for a few days at a time, just the dogs and the country and whatever weather came through.

Two black and white dogs standing on a narrow wooden bridge over a flowing stream in a lush green forest

Silhouette of a dog standing on rocky terrain against a cloudy sky with light breaking through the clouds

Two black and white dogs standing on a grassy slope looking out over a rocky mountain lake with patches of snow on the surrounding hills

Ben and Maggie were in their prime then, and they knew what we were about. They knew the sound of the pack coming out of the closet and the sight of me sitting on the couch tying my boots on. They were ready before I was. Mollie joined later and learned it all from them.

Black and white dog standing on a large rock in a tundra landscape with snow patches, spruce trees, and snow-capped mountains in the background

Two black and white dogs standing on rocky terrain near a snow-covered mountain ridge partially obscured by fog

Vibrant orange and yellow sunset light shining through dark clouds above a mountain ridge silhouette

Looking back, I wasn't chasing summits or mileage in those years. I was just going out alone to be somewhere quiet with the dogs—to sleep under stars, to walk slow country, to come home settled. A quiet, free life, for days at a time, with dogs and beauty and wide-open silence. Ten years of spruce woods and ridgelines is what set me right.

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Man with backpack and hiking pole standing on rocky grass near a lake with two border collies, one carrying a stick, with a waterfall and forested cliffs in the background

When a dog is gone, the ache doesn't leave so much as it goes quiet. You reach for the feeling and find it further away than it was last year. The devotion, the weight of them leaning against your leg, the particular way they looked at you at the end of a long day — all of it fades a little, no matter how hard you try to hold on.

That's why I'm grateful I took so many photographs. Ben, Maggie, and Mollie, out where they were happiest — tired and content after a full day of wandering some trail or ridgeline with me, exploring every scent and sightline a mountain had to offer. A dog's world is only as big as the one you open for them, and border collies, more than most, seem to understand the gift of being taken somewhere. You can see it in them at the end of the day. You can feel it come back to you, years later, looking at the pictures.

The bond you build with a dog in the backcountry isn't like any other. They were my companions on every trail, at every camp, and now, when the feeling starts to go quiet, I have the photographs to bring it back.

#bordercollie #bordercollies #mountaindogs #Colorado

Black and white dog curled up and resting on a person's lap among fallen yellow leaves in a forested area

Black and white dog resting its head on a person's leg while lying on forest ground with leaves and pine needles