Gordon appears to be living the good life. He is married, has two delightful children, owns a home in the western suburbs of St. Louis, and teaches popular history classes at the local high school. As Gordon approaches the midlife phase of his life, though, an event occurs one winter evening that leaves him wracked by guilt and remorse.

Gordon’s life soon plummets into a separation from his wife and a descent into mediocrity in his classroom. He only sees his children on Saturday afternoons and starts to question his veracity as a father. Gordon can barely face his own reflection in the mirror and even has visions of ending everything in a fiery crash.

As the school year comes to a close, an old college friend reaches out to Gordon. Ben has problems of his own and has retreated to his family cabin on the western edge of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Although the two friends haven’t communicated in years, Ben invites Gordon to spend the summer with him in the Rockies.

Gordon quickly recognizes that a road trip might be his salvation. Over the next two months, the natural beauty of the American West proves to be seductive. Shorter hikes grow longer and the two friends are soon making plans to relive their grueling hike up Longs Peak, the tallest mountain in the Northern Rockies. Facing this challenge might finally provide Gordon with the strength to confront his past and to face his future.