In the golden glow of autumn in Washington’s North Cascades, a mother mountain goat pauses on a rocky outcrop, her two kids tucked closely at her side. The larch trees—flaring briefly into their brilliant gold before winter claims the high country—frame the family in a fleeting moment that mirrors their own fragile place in this ecosystem. This photograph was taken during my first-ever “larch march,” a pilgrimage I had heard about constantly since moving to Seattle.