Day 83
Start: Piney River North Fork
End: Harper’s Creek Shelter
Miles Hiked: 16.1
Miles on AT: 837.5
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We woke up early this morning around 6 am, but didn’t leave until around 8:15 am. Today looked like a pretty easy day on the map, so I wasn’t in much of a hurry. Janitor got his hot breakfast this morning, but didn’t sleep well last night.
The morning hike was gradual and pleasant. We reached the blue blaze for Spy Rock and of course we had to take it and see the view. The side trail was a little longer than I expected, but, wow, was it worth it!
Up on the large boulder there were a few trees growing in the nooks and crannies, but we had a full view of the mountains around us. The breeze felt like a breeze off of the ocean; it was strong and constant and refreshingly cool and soft at the same time. Janitor and I enjoyed a snack and a few minutes sitting in the shade under one of the few trees up there. I loved being up there and loved that we shared this moment together.
We continued on the trail and planned our next stop for lunch – the famous Priest Shelter. The Priest Shelter is where hikers confess their trail sins in the log book. What were the deep dark secrets hikers were carrying with them this year?
We had to climb to get to the shelter, but it was worth it. I read all of 2024’s confessions; they were so juicy, I couldn’t put the book down! Some hikers are up to some crazy things! Aside from the NSFW confessions, a lot of people confessed to digging shallow (or no) catholes and road walking/taking shortcuts. A few people wrote very heartfelt confessions about thinking they had dealt with a personal loss, only to realize on trail that they weren’t quite over it yet.
Janitor and I left our confessions and then got back on trail. In front of us was a ~3,000 ft descent. I put a podcast on and followed Janitor down. When we had about 500 ft left, I got antsy and told him I would meet him at the bottom. I sped my way down, but then promptly face -planted about 5 minutes later. Ouch! I was sprawled stomach down on the trail, my water bottle went flying, I was just glad that no one had seen me fall.
I picked myself up, brushed my pants off, and placed my water bottle back in my pack. Falling happens to the best of us. Luckily, I had no serious injuries. My knee was a little bruised but I had no scrapes or broken bones.
At the bottom of the descent, I waited for Janitor and it didn’t take him long to emerge from the forest. We really weren’t that far from the bottom. I guess I should’ve just continued hiking with him; then, I probably wouldn’t have fallen.
We crossed the road and reached the Tye River, where we took a break. While I feasted on Nutella, Janitor went down to the river to put his hands in the water and cool down a bit. This would’ve been the perfect place to take a little dip, but it was already late in the day and we still had to climb another 1,000 ft to reach our shelter.
Soon, we started doing just that. The switchbacks were kind to us and gently guided us up. At the shelter, we had a great selection of tent sites. After setting up, Janitor crawled in to lay down and decompress a bit from the day. Eventually we had dinner and completed our camp chores, but we could hear distant rumbles of thunder overhead. We scrambled to get into our tent before the sky opened and now we’re all tucked in, waiting to see what kind of rain these clouds will bring.
And that’s day 83.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.