Her Royal Highness hiked with me, and I think she liked it.

I’ve been accused — falsely — of being obsessed with the Continental Divide Trail. The truth is, the Trail might be obsessed with me because it beckons me all the time. Perched smugly on the spiny back of the Beaverheads, the hint of trail there is one of the first things I imagine to see every morning.

So when Lucy, mini-Lucy, HRH and I hiked a CDT section going north from Bannack Pass recently, I was thrilled.

And HRH, assisted by legs a full foot longer than anyone else in the group, hiked cheerfully along. We saw a young elk in velvet, a dazzling array of wildflowers, expansive vistas, and really, really old trees.

In my giddiness, I pushed my luck.

“You like this, don’t you?” I prompted.

HRH takes on granddad Doug Fir

“Yeah, I guess. It would be better, you know, if we were hiking to something cool, like a lake or something.”

But she didn’t say mall. She might have thought mall, but she didn’t say mall. Note to self: find lake.