It opened with these lines: “Almost 19 years ago, Michelle Vanek embarked on a hike up Mount of the Holy Cross and vanished without a trace. Mount of the Holy Cross would be his 38th 14er, and he invited Michelle along to bag her first. From there, they went up Tigiwon Road, a dusty and heavily rutted gravel track that switchbacks for eight miles and ends at Halfmoon Campground, a base camp for Holy Cross hikers on the boundary of the 193-square-mile Holy Cross Wilderness. They started dating and as it was with Michelle, Ben and Amanda’s courtship lasted for years, marrying in 2021. Off in the distance, maybe a quarter-mile away, I can just see the pillowy white cornice where the North Ridge trail begins.