Valerie Boren-Odell is the protagonist of the novel’s 1990 timeline. Valerie is a single mother; her son is seven-year-old Charlie. Valerie’s husband, Joel, died in Yosemite before Charlie was born. Because Valerie is still processing her grief, the tragedy of Joel’s death is a major element of her character development. As the novel progresses, Valerie more frequently thinks of positive memories of Joel rather than becoming overwhelmed with a sense of loss. She also begins to associate Joel positively with her new romantic interest, Officer Curtis Enhoe. In the epilogue, Valerie agrees to a date with Curtis, and this shift hints at the hope for a positive relationship between the two in the future. 

Valerie is a ranger for the National Park Service, a job that complements her military-like discipline and her profound love for natural spaces. As Valerie is relocating to Oklahoma, she articulates her love for the outdoors, musing:

The yearning for wild spaces is as much a part of me as my father’s gray-green eyes and thick auburn hair. He fostered that passion in me even before a stint in Vietnam quietly severed my parents’ ten-year marriage and made the backcountry the only place he was at peace (6).