I had asked the Navigator to help by pushing the bike trailer, which he did, but the trail only seemed to get steeper, and I, more and more tired. I turned around to see that the Navigator (who, at age six, was about as tall as the trailer) was "pushing" by grabbing the upper frame of the trailer because, as he told me, the fabric there did not chill his hands as did the bare aluminum lower on the frame. This was where we stopped for another break and snack.
After placing the cache we set out again. The afternoon sun was no longer on this side of the valley, and overhead, the shaded leafless limbs of the aspens lining the road were stark gray silhouettes, back-lit by the still bright blue sky. A moving speck in that blue floated high above the trail and then over the branches. I pointed it out to the Navigator and as it drew closer we watched the sun brighten the head and tail of a soaring bald eagle.