“You were right.” He finally breaks the silence. “There’s something so peaceful about being here. Maybe it’s because we’re forced to disconnect from our jobs and electronics for a bit, but I swear it’s like my soul is at ease up here.”

I close my eyes, listening to the water rushing below us, feeling Jasper’s warmth at my back, and breathe it all in. “I know exactly what you mean.”

There’s something that grounds you when you’re entrenched in nature. I don’t think humans were designed to never experience fresh air and stillness. Hustle culture has somehow shifted the narrative so that we feel guilty when we rest instead of accepting the truth, which is that we need rest to thrive. Add in the constant rise in the cost of living but never increasing pay? We’ve forgotten about work-life balance because we’re all killing ourselves to survive.

And even though I’m well aware of this, when I needed to get away and experience nature firsthand, I retreated into my tiny apartment, only leaving it to go to a tiny office. A tiny office Gran might not have even wanted—

“Should we keep going?” Jasper breaks me out of my thoughts before they’re able to make an unwelcome turn.

“We should.” I put my camera over my head, enjoying the familiar weight of it as it dangles around my neck. “A condensed lesson for your trip,” I shout over the rising noise of the waterfall. “This sits on the Ouray fault. Millions and millions of years ago, a deep crack appeared, and thanks to erosion from alpine glaciers, it carved this glorious little slice of heaven. The end.”

What can I say? I take pictures; I am not a geologist.

“Impressive,” he says without a hint of sarcasm. “I think I remember the word erosion from middle school, but that’s it. I hope there’s not going to be a test later, because I’m not sure I’d pass.”

“No test.” I draw a cross over my heart. “All you need to do is enjoy the view and make sure you don’t get altitude sickness, because after this? We’re heading to the hot springs.”

He pulls me close and drops his voice so low that I can barely hear him over the waterfall that’s now right in front of us. “Does that mean I get to see you in a bikini?”

I put my hands in the middle of his chest, giving him a half-hearted shove because if I’m honest, the entire reason I picked the hot springs is to spend some extra time around Jasper with his shirt off.

What can I say?

There are perks to being the travel planner after all!

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