“Before you board the plane, be sure to take a minute to look around,” Nick says. “You don’t know when you’ll be back.”

As we step out of the ALE van and onto the ice one last time, we all heed Nick’s advice, staring at the snow-laden mountains and squinting at the crystalline sky. Carefully making our way across the blue-ice runway feels even more surreal than our arrival here a few weeks ago. Is it really time to go already? How is this grand adventure already over?

Andy Klesh walks right behind me as we approach the stairs to the plane. Always intuitive and thoughtful, Andy seems to hear the thoughts racing through my mind. He smiles and says, “at moments like these, I always think: to this we shall return.”

For a split second, I try to summon a clever, witty response. But my body is bone-tired and my brain can only focus on this moment.

“I certainly hope so,” I say, grasping the cold railing and heading up the stairs.