trail angel wanabees

[smokymtnsteve]

The AT a Wilderness experience??? hardly...the southern highlander people have always offered hospitality to furriners traveling thru the area...

years ago long before the AT existed folks traveled the BACK of BEYONDand would stay at folks farm andmaybe work day or two in ecxhange for staying in the barn (over mtn shelter??) and food...victuals....

git on this wagon son..were a takin this load of wood to town to sell... my great grandfather would tell me these stories when I wuz a child..why he'd tell all the chillen a tale...

he cut and sold stove wood..hobos would come by his farm and stay a while ..my great granny sometimes would have to "feedem first" before you could git any work out of em...theyed stay a while and cut stove wood for my grandfather to sell in town..back then stove wood was a 'big business' my grandfather would give one a ride to town when he went on saturday to sell his stove wood ..feedem and they would help unload...and then they would travel on....with some food and maybe some fixed up shoes (my great grandfather as a lot of mtn folk made and fixed shoes) bet these folks back then loved the TRAIL MAGIC!

Maybe some TRAIL MAGIC is just a ole mtn.family tradition!

git on this here wagon son ..we be aheadin to town!

[kkshaydvm.concentric]

Hmmm, maybe that's my problem - it's in my upbringing - my mom used to feed the hobos that got off the train at the end of the line 'cause we only lived 4 blocks from the tracks and somehow our house must have been marked 'cause they always found us. Anyhow, when John Muir jumped over the fence, with a loaf of bread up north here and walked to FL, I imagine people must have extended some kindnesses. Anyway, this was my first thread and somehow it got way off topic - I asked what and where, not whether. But I got lots of info, so thanks to all of you fellow trail lovers. I'm totally LNT and will just see what happens when we come down there.

[Pirate]

I am going to be a Trail Devil this year. Also am planning on being the Satanic Easter Bunny. Beware!!!!

[jensine]

Hey Pirate,
When did you change from the "Evil Easter Bunny" to the
Satanic "Easter Bunny"? Sure will miss coloring Easter Eggs
with you. Hikers BeWare, I always made sure the eggs were
cooked before I let Pirate dye them. But every once in awhile he
would cleverly sneak a couple of colored raw ones in!!!
Pirate, hope to see ya soon when you're in the neck of these woods.
Jensine

[Jack Tarlin]

I'm not sure what Rick's problem is.... in my experience, 99% of Trail Angel-ing involving food, drink, etc., takes place at road crossings, trailheads, and parking lots. Occasionally, it happens at a shelter, but usually not.

If someone wants to have a small tailgate party in a trailhead parking lot, if he wants to bring a cooler, hand out fruit, even grill some burgers, how on earth does this interfere with anyone's trip, with anyone's wilderness experience, etc.

And as for thru-hiker's being entirely self-supporting, well that's nonsense, too. Anyone out there ever heard of a hiker that carried 180 days worth of food, and never had to rely on stores, mail, resupply, rides to town, etc? No one is self supporting, at least not for very long.

I agree that taking over a shelter, campsite, or other secluded area, and then throwing a wild party there regardless of the feelings of those who wished to enjoy the spot in tranquility---I agree that this is probably not such a good thing.

But for a former thru-hiker, a future one, or simply a friend of hikers to go out on their day off, park by the side of the trail, and give out treats and encouragement, well, I can't for the life of me see why anyone would object to this.

And to those of you who DO find this offensive, and wish to enjoy the experience of crossing a road or marching thru a parking lot without outside interference or interruption---well, there's a very simple remedy. Smile at the person offering you the soda or the sandwhich, and say, "No, thank you," and continue on your way.

The great thing about Trail Magic is that it isn't forced on anyone. If you think acts of cheer, expressions of fellowship and ecouragement, and simple Christain charity are "piss poor ideas", well you're entitled to your opinion, and you're equally entitled to move it down the trail where you and your opinion can be happy together.

Most folks view "Trail Magic" from strangers as a wonderful thing, and it amazes me that anyone would find this objectionable.

[rickb]

Jack, you might be surprised to learn that I don't think that acts of cheer, expressions of fellowship and ecouragement, and simple Christain charity are "piss poor ideas".

Rather I think that going to a tralhead expressly to feed a thru hiker is not a very good way to express one's cheer, felowship, encouragement and simple Christian charity. If I did, I would do so myself and encourage others to do likewise.

Perhaps I have missed something, but I have not seen many posts encouraging any of the 7000 so-called 2000-Milers to spread joy by returning to the road crossings to pass out cookies. Why not? By your construct wouldn't more acts of cheer, expressions of fellowship and encouragement, not to mention simple Christian charity be a great thing? Seriously Jack, just as you and others have encouraged hikers to join the ATC, why not encourge them to return to a trailhead with pre-planned magic? Its all good, right? Why haven't I heard that call to action?

I think know the answer. Like I said in my more reasoned follow up, there are shades of gray in this discussion. If I understand correctly, you yourself make a distinction between pre-planned trail magic which take place in the backcountry and that which take place at a road crossing. That encourages me. Seems like we only disagree in degree. I expect that we are both in agreement that has beens and wannabes and RickB shouldn't be waiting at the top of Katahdin with a warm handshake and passing out cigars-- to those who wanted them. I hope we are in agreement, anyway.

Let me also make clear that I don't dismiss the beauty of strangers connecting along the Trail. Its phenominal. Not sure if its true, but I have even heard stories of thru-hikers extending magic to others, including Scouts who may look up to them with some admiration. I'd like to see more of that.

Others have expressed these ideas better than me. Certainly using the term "piss-poor idea" wasn't one of my finer choices of phraeology. But take time to check out that link I posted.

Let me end with a question that is in no way rhetorical. As a person who probably knows the trail better than anyone over the past decade, have you seen pre-planned trail magic change much over the years. Any trends? Are these trend all good?

Rick B

[smokymtnsteve]

i don't know about just simple Christain charity ...but this ATHEIST today took in some Orange Juice and bananas to Rock Gap shelter in the standing Indian Area...and the Hikers ate and drank it all and seemed very grateful...no force was used nor a threat of hellfire..

two were section hikers they did not take any juice or goodies until the thru hikers had a chance to partake...great guys and gals!

took the section hikers back to thier car at the bottom of Deep gap road...during the ride to deep gap we stopped at the chapel that was used by rufus morgan (old 64 just above Rainbow springs)and cleaned up a big 55 gal bag full of garbage that people had left...just an act of simple atheist charity and TOLERANCE...

and then picked up a thru hiker at winding stair gap and then to Franklin and he seemed thankful too..even said Thank you!!!

[RAT>PATROL]

I was not going to reply to any of this as I have been thru it all many times before for many yrs since I have been doing trail magic since back when it was unheard of, and the last 13 yrs. having been member and section maintainer with Carolina Mtn. Club, I have seen and heard all sides of this argument. I even displayed "The Registers" editorials on "coddling" thru-hikers at the largest trail magic event there is [Brown Gap], and have gotten input from all of the avg. 70+ hikers per yr.there and I have yet to find one that was anti-trail magic. The majority is all for it.Not saying the minority of you are wrong or have bad ideas, but to me it all boils down to: no one has the right to tell me or stop me from performing random acts of kindness in the form of trail magic. Any hiker that is against this sort of thing has the right to hike on by or turn down the offers. I have met two in my 14 yrs. of doing it. As for your LNT ethics concerning leaving things in the woods, generally this is not a good idea, BUT, generally doesn`t work in every situation.I have left drinks in the springs at places like Jerry Cabin when would be helping Sam out there, bananas hanging from trees, have even left a huge sterofoam cooler at BG once, all because I knew there were many hikers coming soon, never once have I ever seen any of my trash left behind, all was carried out, and the cooler was even carried the 23 miles to hot springs and should still be at Elmers !I have never hung plastic bags full of candy bars but if I did I would have to know they would be consumed within the day, etc, Also you must remember that the A.T. is a well maintenanced trail and trash is promptly carried out at least here it is, so I must disagree with all the LNT points pertaining to trail magic. I for one will continue to "coddle", "de-motivate" and "ruin as many wilderness experiences" as I can while I can. If it is so wrong, then why does the CMC continue to support my feed? They are very conservative and focused on current trail policies? Why? Because it`s what the hikers want as a majority, take a vote anyday , you will be lucky to find one out of a hundred that will turn down a cold drink, or cheeseburger, or rib-eyes in our case, or think that it is bad idea. Sorry for the rambling, i wasnt going to do this!!!Hope everyone has a good yr. hiking their own hikes ! HAIRNT !!!

[Ox97GaMe]

Trail Angels...... By Ox


As an AT thru hiker, section hiker, day hiker, trail maintainer, ATC life member, and trail angel, I would like to put in my 2 cents worth on this topic.

First... I do agree that there are bad angels out there. I have seen people that pretend to be angels, then will nickle and dime a hiker out of every last cent they have. But that is the exception rather than the rule. And I do agree that having Trail Angel business cards is a bit tacky, but hey... to each their own.


Second... Almost every hiker I have met on the trail comments that it is very encouraging to see that side of the AT trail experience. In today's world, few people will go out of their way to do anything for a total stranger. The general comment that I get from hikers is that they will try to return the 'magic' in some way to people that they meet. Not just on the trail, but off the trail too. They go home and get involved in community service, become better citizens, and carry the torch to make America a little more like what it used to be. America should be a place where we offer a cold drink to a thirsty stranger, or a piece of bread to a man that is hungry, words of encouragement to someone that feels they cannot go on under the burdens they carry. This is not just an AT thing, it is a human thing.

Just like with anything that one does, you can overdue a good thing. Feeding a hiker a huge meal just before he has to do a 3000 ft climb on a hot day may not be a good thing. But giving a cold soda to a hiker that has walked past 3 dry springs may just save his life. Things should be done in moderation.


This is the way I look at Trail Angels......

A hiker cannot carry enough food to replenish the calories that are burned while hiking with a full pack over mountainous terrain. This is sort of like the Hebrews in the desert. God provided Manna from heaven to feed his hungry children. In the same way, God bestows in some of us the desire to help a fellow hiker while they are on their journey.

I think the problem with some people who are anti angels is that they dont want hikers to finish the trail. It gets easier each year, and the more we help hikers, the more will succeed. There was a time when only a handful attempted it, and only a very small percentage finished. Each year the numbers go higher, more start and a higher percent finish. The 2000 miler club is pretty prestigeous, but the more people inducted, the less it means to some. I hope to see the day when we can say that there are 20,000 or 50,000 hikers who have done it. It wont make MY certificate and patch any less valuable to me. I got my patch the hard way.. I earned it through blood, sweat, and tears, by the grace of God, and with the help of some very special angels, both on and off the trail. Nobody hikes the AT alone and unsupported in some way. There are angels all around us every day. Occassionally, we are fortunate enough to actually see them.

Happy Hiking.

Ox-97

[MedicineMan]

damn those section hikers.

[Lone Wolf]

Sometimes so-called "trail angels" are elitist Aholes. Last year me and Johnny Reb arrived at the Fontana Dam Hilton and saw a big cookout going on. The head "angel" asked if we were "thru-hikers" and we said no. We weren't offered anything cuz we were ONLY lowly section hikers. Most of those "thru-hikers" chowing down weren't going to make it anyway but I guess they were viewed as "special". Rat Patrol ain't elitist. He feeds EVERBODY. He ain't no ex thru-hiker wanting to "give back". A few years ago I'm at Grafton Notch waiting on a guy that I'm slackpacking. I'm in his van with the side door open and a cooler visible. This broad comes up to me all smiley and asks, " Oh, do you have some magic for me?" I tell her I'm waiting on so and so and there's only beer in the cooler but she was welcome to one. She said, "I was really hoping for a coke." A lot of them expect it. Just like feeding bears.

[Peaks]

There are many very valid points being made about being an angel or not.

But, there is more than one way to give back to the trail. If you truely want to give back, then get involved with a trail club and contribute to the maintenance. That way, all hikers, day hikers, section hikers, and long distance hikers can benefit from your efforts.

[jensine]

After reading all the posts regarding Trail Angeling and having heard and experienced many Angel events in the past 18 yrs,
I would like to ask the following question of all Angels, and wannabe Angels. This post is NOT Anti nor Pro Trail Angels.
Do you offer the same hand outs to your local homeless shelters,
battered women shelters and abused children shelters? In my
opinion some of these folks may need a blanket, clothes, orange or cold drink too. This is not in supoosrt of the " System abusers"
but for the truly needy. It's just a thought. As I read some posts
it appears that SOME Angels do it for self gradification rather than
truly "Helping" a hiker.
As for Rat's Fest at Brown's Gap, it is not only for hikers, Rat will let anyone come feed. In fact, ifwe can get up there, we hope to attend, and we will be coming in via vehicle. ( With some goodies).
A true story: 2 years ago, there were 2 Trail Angels at Unicoi Gap in Ga. They were FIGHTNG over who's territory it was to Angel!!!
Go Figure!!!
Jensine

[rumbler]

I for one will not turn down a hot dog or a cold beer, and would happily hug whoever so provided if they could tolerate my stench.

[SGT Rock]

I've not ever experienced any of these things. I must not hike at the right time. The closest I ever got was sharing some dried fruit with a day hiker at the FS42 parking lot.

[Ox97GaMe]

Yes, I do give the same level of support to local organizations. I do volunteer work with children's organizations in Atlanta. I take them hiking, bring them picnics, and take them to the zoo. I pick up hitchhikers, not just at trail crossings, but anywhere in the US.

I havent seen angels arguing about territory, but can imagine that it does happen. Do you get bronze wings for that sort of stuff?? <lol>

[Sleepy the Arab]

As I read this post on trail angels, I can't help but wonder if this is the same Ox who fed me and my friends sticky buns and fruit at Stecoah Gap one windy April day long ago in '99.

[smokymtnsteve]

......

[Ox97GaMe]

Yes, I am the same Ox that feeds hikers at Stecoah Gap. I was there this weekend too. : )

[MedicineMan]

This is also the same Ox that shuttled me in the Smokies (Fontana to Clingmans)...a true angel you are Ox and an excellent representative of the AT....dont be shy here and welcome to Whiteblaze finally!