Spirit Lake

My home and my expletive life's here.

My wife and I, we both vowed years and years ago that we'd never leave Spirit Lake.

We loved it.

It's a part of me, and I'm a part of that expletive mountain.

Well, by the middle of the 20th century, Mount St. Helens had become one of Washington's most popular outdoor destinations.

People fished the rivers, camped under the evergreens, hiked the trails, hunted elk, and spent weekends around Spirit Lake.

To visitors, the mountains seemed peaceful, permanent, and timeless.

But geologists kind of had a different thought about it.

Well, then the mountain went quiet.

Decade after decade passed, trees reclaimed old lava flows, wildlife returned, new generations came to believe the volcano was asleep, and eventually most people stopped thinking about it altogether.

By the 1970s, Spirit Lake was surrounded by cabins, lodges, campgrounds, and logging operations.

Every summer, thousands of campers, fishermen, and hikers entered the forest.

My home and my expletive life's here.

My wife and I, we both vowed years and years ago that we'd never leave Spirit Lake.

We loved it.

It's a part of me and I'm a part of that expletive mountain.

So for the most part, he had been fairly isolated the last few years.

Also, Spirit Lake, the lake that his lodge was on, was four hours south of the major city of Seattle and pretty far into the wilderness.

The lake did get busy in the summer with tourists, but at this time in March, there were only about 60 people that lived there, and they were very spread out.

But Harry didn't really mind the solitude.

But it had been theirs, and now it was his, and...

he would never give it up.

And not only that, but just outside his doorstep was Spirit Lake, which Harry believed was the most beautiful, perfect place in the entire world.

It was quiet and serene and situated right at the base of some of the most breathtaking mountains he had ever seen in his whole life.