At 16, my first backpacking trip was also my first time to ever camp or sleep in a tent. What can I say? Sometimes going 0-60 is just how I roll. While there was a lot (basically everything) for me to learn about being not only in the country, but in the wilderness, one thing I’ve never needed help with is enjoying the view. Hamilton Mesa, where my dad and I backpacked to a few weeks ago, has been a stopping point on three of my four trips to the Pecos. Its wide meadows of tall grass, distant mountains and mini-forests are deep doses of raw beauty. I love them.

And, on this trip we were super lucky to be there for a full moon. The two nights we camped on the mesa, the moon’s beams were so brilliant and wide, we hardly needed flashlights as we moved about in the dark night. Bathed in moonlight, covered by stars and surrounded by mountain air, the wilderness at night truely is a special thing to behold.