Story highlights Clinton, who lives in Chappaqua, New York, can be seen smiling with White Plains resident Margot Gerster

"(My) intention (in posting) was to make people smile," Gerster told CNN later Thursday

(CNN) Margot Gerster, who ran into Hillary Clinton on a hike just a day after she conceded the race, encountered a presidential nominee seemingly at peace and at grace, Gerster said Thursday.

In an image posted to Facebook, Clinton, who lives in Chappaqua, New York, can be seen smiling with White Plains resident Gerster, who was hiking with her daughter, 13-month-old Phoebe, and their dog, Piper. The photo was snapped by former President Bill Clinton, who was there as well.

It is the first time the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee has been seen outside the election bubble since she conceded the race to Donald Trump early Wednesday.

"She seemed as well as anybody could be expected after such a crazy, crazy experience," Gerster recollected to CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront" Thursday. "She couldn't have seemed any nicer or, you know, kinder and gracious to me."

"She hugged me...couldn't have been any nicer" Margot Gerster met Hillary #Clinton on a hike https://t.co/DJ16Keb3SE https://t.co/bmnOJGsVFq — OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) November 11, 2016

Gerster said she was trekking a path she hikes every day when she found the former first couple and immediately flashed an "awkward, huge grinning smile" -- or, as she put it, "fan-girling."

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