tagg
07-14-2017, 14:00
I recently completed a long section hike through northern VA, WV, MD, and PA, and I had a great trail magic experience that I'd like to share...
About a week into my trip, I approached a road crossing one morning about a mile from where I camped, and saw a neon sign and some flags on the side of the trail directing hikers to trail magic in a nearby parking lot. To be honest, I had just finished my coffee and breakfast, was starting to loosen up and was feeling great, so I walked on by. All day long I had other hikers ask me if I had stopped at the trail magic, and each one of them told me how much I had missed out on. I didn't feel like I had missed out on anything because it wasn't anything that I needed at the time, but they certainly all seemed to enjoy it.
Later that afternoon it was ridiculously hot and humid, I had long ago run out of water, and I was not feeling great when I stopped at a spring on the way up a climb. While I was wringing the sweat out of my shirt, a day hiker came up the trail and stopped to chat. After a couple of minutes, he asked if I like beer. Ummm yes. Then he pulled out a STILL COLD bottle of Lagunitas IPA (I'm an IPA guy), opened it, and handed it to me. He said he lives nearby and frequently goes on day hikes, and every time he goes out he brings one beer for himself and one beer for someone he might meet along the way. That day I was the lucky one. He told me to enjoy the beer and to leave the bottle on the rock I was sitting on, and that he would pick it up on his way back down and pack it out for me.
The trail magic at the road crossing sounded like it was awesome for the hikers who shared in it, but that bottle of beer at that moment was a thousand times better to this hiker than anything I would have eaten for 2nd breakfast. There are a lot of options out there for someone who wants to "do trail magic"...just remember that you can keep it really simple and still make an impact.
About a week into my trip, I approached a road crossing one morning about a mile from where I camped, and saw a neon sign and some flags on the side of the trail directing hikers to trail magic in a nearby parking lot. To be honest, I had just finished my coffee and breakfast, was starting to loosen up and was feeling great, so I walked on by. All day long I had other hikers ask me if I had stopped at the trail magic, and each one of them told me how much I had missed out on. I didn't feel like I had missed out on anything because it wasn't anything that I needed at the time, but they certainly all seemed to enjoy it.
Later that afternoon it was ridiculously hot and humid, I had long ago run out of water, and I was not feeling great when I stopped at a spring on the way up a climb. While I was wringing the sweat out of my shirt, a day hiker came up the trail and stopped to chat. After a couple of minutes, he asked if I like beer. Ummm yes. Then he pulled out a STILL COLD bottle of Lagunitas IPA (I'm an IPA guy), opened it, and handed it to me. He said he lives nearby and frequently goes on day hikes, and every time he goes out he brings one beer for himself and one beer for someone he might meet along the way. That day I was the lucky one. He told me to enjoy the beer and to leave the bottle on the rock I was sitting on, and that he would pick it up on his way back down and pack it out for me.
The trail magic at the road crossing sounded like it was awesome for the hikers who shared in it, but that bottle of beer at that moment was a thousand times better to this hiker than anything I would have eaten for 2nd breakfast. There are a lot of options out there for someone who wants to "do trail magic"...just remember that you can keep it really simple and still make an impact.