The day started as a misty morning. It was the kind of mist you can feel and almost smell—but doesn’t get you wet.
The sun tried repeatedly to break through but, in the end, the mist won. So it was a quiet and ghostly day and would have been perfect for Halloween.
At 7am
At 12:30pm
And at 4:30pm
I passed a handful of other hikers today—mostly weekend backpackers. Late in the afternoon I passed one guy going up as I was about to head down my last mountain of the day. I said hello and figured I’d never see him again. About an hour later found a spot to camp and got set up. As I was eating dinner the same guy came down the trail toward where I was sitting. I said hello again and that I had seen him climbing the mountain earlier. He said he was just up for a day hike and was heading back to the parking.
He asked if I was a thru hiker and said he he just finished his last AT section this year—he had completed the whole trail. Steve, trail name “Determined,” then said he had some trail magic in the car if I would like some. He gave me several bottles of Gatorade and some apples. This, as the best trail magic is, was truly unexpected and very welcome at the end of a long day.
As it happens, I had found an old apple tree earlier in the day and succeeded in knocking down a few ripe apples. So, having not seen a fresh apple for weeks, today I enjoyed them twice, from two different sources!
