Trail magic on the AT

[newboots3319]

So many people have inspired me to get out and enjoy the world of the woods and the trails I want to give back.

Looking to do a couple days of trail.magic this thru season in June if I can get the time off work in PA just north of Caldonia at a PATC shelter.

Spoken with a few people and have a pretty good idea of the set up I want but looking for any and all suggestions, requests and information

[DownEaster]

Lots of people supply food. Certainly the chance to experience a cold fizzy soda and some fresh fruit on the trail is welcome. Taking accumulated garbage bags off people's pack weight is great too. However, the trail magic I most appreciate is a ride between the trail and a resupply town so I can avoid hiking on asphalt. If you can set up where people could use rides that would be awesome. Assuming the town has a laundromat, handing out enough laundry detergent for one load would be great as well.

[peakbagger]

Please dont. Please read this from ATC http://appalachiantrail.org/home/exp...ng/trail-magic

[egilbe]

If you want to give backto the trail, join a trail maintaining club and spend some time doing trailwork.

[Uncle Joe]

Keep LNT in mind and keep it simple. No reason you can't do it but keep the trail in mind when you do.

[D2maine]

If you want to give backto the trail, join a trail maintaining club and spend some time doing trailwork.

+1 excellent suggestion

[stumpknocker]

So many people have inspired me to get out and enjoy the world of the woods and the trails I want to give back.

Looking to do a couple days of trail.magic this thru season in June if I can get the time off work in PA just north of Caldonia at a PATC shelter.

Spoken with a few people and have a pretty good idea of the set up I want but looking for any and all suggestions, requests and information

First of all....thank you very much in advance. Coming up to some unexpected trail magic is exactly that....trail magic!
Second...you should probably just do it and not bother posting on WB about it because this place is full of trail magic curmudgeons. You most likely will get most answers saying not to do it. I've been around lots of trail magic (giving and receiving) and have seen less than 1% of the people walk by without enjoying it. That's great if that's what they want to do, but nearly 100% of the people that's been out walking the trail are going to stop and enjoy the little break.

There are always people that say go do maintenance work instead. I've done that, but I personally don't enjoy maintenance as much as giving back by providing a few hikers a cold drink, a hotdog, a chair to sit on and talking to them about their walk.

newboots3319...you are my kind of people. Thanks again for even considering this.

[chknfngrs]

Yep just clean up after yourself. Encourage hikers to leave their trash with you. It’s the greatest feeling to make someone’s day a little brighter. Just clean up and leave the spot better than when you found it.

The milesburn Cabin is my favorite for doing this.

[evyck da fleet]

In PA, the best trail magic is the trail crews maintaining the trail. The mid-Atlantic gets the least amount of volunteers for ridge runners and it shows. It’s not glamorous work but not having to walk through tall grass containing ticks and being able to see the rattlesnakes from farther away made my day much brighter than a Coke and a burger from a feed in a state where it is fairly easy to detour to a deli.

Now if manual labor isn’t your thing and you want to talk to hikers, than I’d recommend an unannounced setup where you take everything with you or better yet give rides to town to resupply.

There were enough feeds in the South that by the time I got to MD it was like ‘Cool a hiker feed. Well it’s right on the trail and I need a snack break eventually so I might as well stop’. If it had been at a parking lot a hundred yards away I probably would have just waved back at the person trying to get me to come to their feeds I kept hiking.

i guess I’m a curmudgeon as I’ll donate to trail maintenance but haven’t done a feed.

[FrogLevel]

During the hiking bubble I don't think you can hike more than a day without some sort of "trail magic" somewhere, at least near my section from the Smokies to Damascus.

During the spring there's just way too much IMO. Its not magic anymore because word gets around and people plan their resupply and days around known spots. No wonder everyone gets sick right after GSMNP.

[tawa]

Sad state of affairs when everyday you are expecting to get handouts---give me a break!! All this does is created a bunch of hikers that think they are entitled and expect others to provide for them !!
Come on man---your not entitled to anything and your not a rock star!! Your just a hiker on a footpath hopefully enjoying and challenging yourself each and every day.
Our society has gotten so soft because everyone is looking for a free lunch.
These entitled hikers need to humble themselves and give back!!
I would be all for these handouts and feeds if every hundred mile they would give back roughly a half a day doing trail maintenance.
Start cleaning out some privies along the way and then I would be in favor of feeds or trail magic!!

[bamboo bob]

I think doing trail magic is great and receiving it is great. It's appreciated the most if it's someplace not just before or after towns. At some cross roads where hikers don't expect any. These Downer folks are all about rules and making the trail safe for their careers.

[shelb]

You are so awesome for wanting to help hikers! Thanks! As others have said, Trail Work is the total ultimate thing to do!!!! When you see hikers, offering to pack out their trash is also fantastic!

I know I was EXTREMELY grateful to those who transported me into town for resupply.

[ldsailor]

So many people have inspired me to get out and enjoy the world of the woods and the trails I want to give back.

Looking to do a couple days of trail.magic this thru season in June if I can get the time off work in PA just north of Caldonia at a PATC shelter.

Spoken with a few people and have a pretty good idea of the set up I want but looking for any and all suggestions, requests and information

Personally, I was always very grateful for trail magic. However, some recent ATC communications about the impact of trail magic have me rethinking the wisdom of it. I started a thread earlier this year about it. You may find it interesting.

ATC Says Trail Magic is Bad for the Trail

[ldsailor]

Clarification on the term "trail magic." In the context I refer to trail magic, you can also call it "hiker feeds." Giving rides into town and other random acts of kindness of that nature are what the ATC calls truly "trail magic." Hiker feeds not so much because of the trail impact.

[Martzy13]

Last year, I hiked around or just in front of the bubble the majority of my hike and I can honestly say that while there were a larger number of Trail Magic givers on the southern 500 miles, I never grew accustomed to or to expect a group to feed me regularly. I also never once came across someone with this mentality at any point on my thru. Hiker feeds, resupply rides, and trash drops are ALWAYS appreciated and I thank you profusely for wanting to surprise some weary future hikers. It's people like you who make the AT an extraordinarily special experience/community, and don't let anyone tell you differently!
You're part of the fun, not the problem.

[Lauriep]

Acts of kindness and generosity are a hallmark of the A.T., and have always been. The Appalachian Trail itself is proof of that.

As the scope of frequency of intentional trail magic and trail feeds continues to grow, it's important to keep the culture around these acts of generosity sustainable. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy just says if you when you are thinking about ways to do trail magic, follow best Leave No Trace practices: lnt.org/learn/7-principles.

If you have your heart set on doing a trail feed, try to keep it small, off-trail, and avoiding promoting it in such a way that will clump hikers when the numbers of thru-hiker in a particular area is high already. Keep it simple. Also, think about targeting early or late nobos, flip-floppers, sobos, and section-hikers instead of the peak of the nobo bubble, and consider these suggestions from ATC.

When you are thinking of doing generous things with your time, consider that many trail clubs really could use your generosity too. Ways to help can range from swinging heavy tools to posting on social media to tromping around on terrain rougher than the Trail doing A.T. boundary work. It can also be cleaning privies, educating novice hikers, or even cooking meals for other volunteers. Any of these things can potentially really be incredibly rewarding, and you will never know until you try.

[George]

Start cleaning out some privies along the way and then I would be in favor of feeds or trail magic!!

2nd this - the real heroes of the AT are those that maintain the privies - offer to take them out to dinner before feeding the users (hikers)

[The Cleaner]

+1. I have had to pack out trail magic leftovers at Jerry's Cabin shelter after the Greeneville Hiking Club's big feed at Jones Meadow just past Camp Creek Bald firetower. Jeez it's only about 20 miles north of Hot Springs.