Day of Solitude at Sparrow Valley Falls
With the base of Mount Valerie a mere half mile’s walk down the trail, it can be tempting for visitors to forge ahead to conquer its heights without pausing to take in the beauty of Sparrow Valley. I would caution against this. Summitting Mount Valerie is a feat, to be sure—but there is also value to be found in stillness, in purposefully carving out a time of rest and reflection. The discipline to embrace this period of stillness can have a profound impact and, for that reason, has become tradition among those who frequent Valerie Forest National Park.
—Henry Herrington,Backpacking the Sierras: A Beginner’s Handbook(Fourth Edition)
ABBY BLACKBURN
5:12 a.m.
Sadie
5:12 a.m.
SADIE
5:12 a.m.
Ohmygosh I’m SO SORRY, just remembered the time difference between here and California
5:13 a.m.
Maybe that’s for the best though
5:13 a.m.
Whatever you do, don’t open instagram. Just trust me. Don’t do it.
7:23 a.m.
(But I’m here for you if you can’t resist and open it anyway.) (Don’t say I didn’t warn you…)
32SADIE
I wake to birdsong and warm sunlight streaming in through my tent walls. Combined with the babbling brook outside, I feel like I’m in a fairy tale—
Until I remember my conversation with Thorn, and register the raging caffeine headache from yesterday that’s still going strong this morning.
This day of silence and solitude came at a great time: it’s the perfect excuse to keep to myself and work through all thefeelings.
From somewhere deep in my backpack, my phone vibrates, a sound I’m not used to at all after so many days out here. I honestly can’t believe I’ve managed to forget about my phone for this long—the only reason I even charged it last night is so I can film more vlog footage at some point. I rummage around until I find it, then discover I’ve missed a series of texts from Abby, the most recent from just a minute ago.
Dread pools in my stomach as soon as I scan through them.
How am I supposed tonotlook at Instagram after seeing her texts? My phone is a grenade, a ticking time bomb. I want it as far away fromme as possible—in another solar system, perhaps, or at the bottom of an active volcano.
Whatever it is, it’s probably better to justknowthan to put it off—I’m only going to wonder until I check. It’ll be like a bikini wax, I tell myself: even if it turns out to be a searing flash of pain, at least it’ll be over soon.
I take a deep breath and open the app.
Caden’s photo is at the very top of my feed.
Actually—to be more specific—thecollab postbetween Caden and Gabriella is at the very top of my feed.
Glittering Italian water. Glittering diamond ring.
Smiles, sunlight, sparkling champagne in sparkling glasses, glaring and blindingly bright, every bit of it filtered and airbrushed to cover up the inevitable imperfections that might have marred their moment.
They’reengaged.
