Miles: 1,995.4 — The morning started with a water mishap that soaked my clothes, but the day only got better. Miles spotted a moose, we stumbled on unexpected trail magic in the form of Granny Smith apples, and the views from a cliffside made it feel like everything lined up just right. Whether it was my new focus on imprinting the trail into memory or just a genuinely good day, I ended feeling light and happy.
In the morning I woke up, exhausted. I’d basically stayed up the whole night. I finished packing long before Miles and I tried to help him get going. He offered me the last of his dirty water if I wanted it. I always wanted more water. I took the bag from him, his filter already attached, and screwed my water bottle on. I began to squeeze the bag to push the water through the filter. Wooooshh! The filter came off of the mouth of the water bag and exploded all over my dry clothes. It wasn’t cold out but it wasn’t exactly warm, either. Not the best start to my day.
We started walking and the day warmed with the rising sun. The terrain turned out to be easier than expected and I perked myself up with some good music for a little while. We made our way over Sugarloaf Mountain and ran into some nice day hikers. They passed us, I think these were the only day hikers to ever pass us on trail that weren’t ultra-running!
After the summit, Miles stopped dead in the middle of the trail. He put his hands back to stop me. “What?! What’s going on?” I asked him. “Shhhhh!” He hushed me. He whispered something I couldn’t hear. I took out my headphones and looked around, trying to see whatever it was he seemed to be seeing. “What is it?” I whispered to him. “Shhh!” He said. A moment later he unfroze and let me go. “It was a moose!” He exclaimed to me. “A real moose!” He’d only seen one other before, in the car on the Kancamagus Highway on our way to go slackpacking. He was thrilled that he’d gotten to see one for real. He skipped ahead of me and showed me, “She was right here!” I laughed. I’ve seen many moose in my lifetime. While seeing them is still majestic and exciting to me, I think it was far more exciting to Miles.
Up ahead a bit further on trail we ran into the most unexpected trail magic! On a tree stump right on the side of the trail, far from any road, was half a dozen Granny Smith Apples! Right across the trail from the apples was a beautiful cliff with a view of the valley below. Serendipity.
Despite the start, it turned out to be one of the best days I’d had on trail. Perhaps it was my new obsession with imprinting the trail experience on my brain, or maybe it was the perspective shift I’d been slowly going through this entire journey, or really it was a good day. I couldn’t tell. But I was happy.