A PERFECT DAY

AT Day 027: Thursday May 4, 2023

Mile 395.5 +  20 miles / 32 km

Total Distance Hiked: 415.5 miles /668.5    km

Mountain Harbor B&B – Isaacs Cemetery – Buck Mt Road – Sugar Hollow – Mountaineer Falls – Walnut Road – Upper Laurel Fork – FS Road 293 – Hardcore Cascades – Moreland Gap Shelter – White Rocks Mountain 

A:  4695 ft / 1432 m   D: 3350 ft /1022 m

The stay at Mountain Harbor B&B has been a terrific morale booster after the hardship of the last few days. 

It was great to meet up with hikers we’ve met over the past few days. With the miserable weather many have shuttled to shelter and will slack pack today. It was nice to meet with Big Tex and Grey Mare, whom we had lunch with a few days ago.  

We were somehow lucky to be able to book the treehouse for our overnight stay. Accomodation in the treehouse was sublime. I felt like we’ve slipped through some time warp and landed in heaven. The last few days have been brutally hard. 

Breakfast at the Mountain Harbor B&B is legendary in the AT. It was the place recommended to us by the trail runners we met on the Big Bald. 

Breakfast was served at 8am to a room full of hungry hikers. The food looked amazing and it tasted incredible. The French toast was unlike anything I’ve tased before. The quiches with incredible pastry. The baked frittata …I can go on and on, there were so many tasty dishes. 

Breakfast was every bit as good as the word of mouth recommendation. I would go as far as saying that the baked goods were better then the legendary Stehikin Bakery on the PCT in Washington. And I do love that Bakery. 

By 9am all the food was demolished. One of the bakers remarked – it takes five hours to prepare this breakfast and it’s all gone in one hour. 

It was 10 am by the time we finished breakfast and packed to go. With groaning bellies full of amazing food and packs loaded with 4 days of food we set off for the day  on a brilliant warm sunny day. 

A little steep climbing from Highway 19, through beautiful green meadows, past a cemetery and we were on our way. The rest of the day was undulating but not overly challenging hiking. 

A pretty social day walking for periods with several  hikers we’ve met over the past few days. Everyone was in a great mood because we had sunshine and the sunshine lasted  the whole day. While the trailside vegetation was not that inspiring, all the glory today was above us. Looking up at the translucent green leaves of the new growth and the occasional magnolia frame the incredible blue sky above was pretty special.  It made me think of the song ‘One Perfect Day’ by an Australian band Little Heros. The only verse I remember:

This perfect day
I can’t stop thinking
Are you over there
Are you happy there

And tell me
If it’s still raining there in England…….”

Hiking after 4pm on a good weather day is really nice on this trail.  The late afternoon was again that beautiful peaceful silence and stillness of the forest. The tops of the trees were gently swaying in the breeze. It seemed like it was such a long time ago that we had experienced this.

Very happy to be recharged firstly by the fabulous folks at the Mountain Harbor B&B who sent us off with so much love and care and secondly by hiking on a such a wonderful blue sky day.   

We walked past the Moreland Gap Shelter and met a few folks who were staying there. All had big smiles because of the sunshine. 

We hiked another couple of miles past the shelter and found a perfect spot to stop for the day. May the Fourth, another memorable day, a perfect day.