Northern vs. Southern Trail Magic?

[Slumgum]

I keep reading about some amazing trail magic down in Georgia. My daughter and I hiked the LT last year which includes 100+ miles of the AT. We encountered only one instance of trail magic over the course of 273 miles: a single bottle of cold water. Mind you, I am not expecting any trail magic; but I am curious about this phenomenon. Is it exclusively a "southern" thing? Does it just follow the "bubble"? We are embarking on a Wraparound thru this year so maybe we will get a better picture.

[Gambit McCrae]

It is random and diverse. I saw a good bit of coolers with cokes in them in VA. I saw cookouts and roadside bbqs in NC and TN. Nothing in GA and that was hiked sobo during the bubble.
I saw a couple doing a week of trail magic at newfound gap for their anniversary week. Up north I ran into trail magic in Mass my first day on the trail, saw a huge momma bear and 2 cubs not 400 yards prior to getting to the road. hmmm.

Others support via trail magic by opening their home to hikers. I saw this in Mass as well both in Dalton and at cookie ladys house 13 miles south of Dalton.

Now others, the more full time trail angels more or less devote 3/4 seasons a year to helping hikers. A couple of the most notable would be the leap frog café run by fresh ground and as well miss Janet, the traveling shuttle service which I believe is donation only.

Lastly noted I forgot to add that at the highway heading down into rutland, VT I found a 6 pack of IPAs. I enjoyed 1 or 2 I do not remember. Storm was blowing in coming off of Killington and it was quite the celebration we didn't get stuck on the mountain with the violent wind and rain that followed.

[peakbagger]

Reportedly many of the southern trail magic events are set up by church groups as part of their calling. Northern New England is about the least religious part of the country so fewer church groups = less organized trail magic? By the time thruhikers get up north they are spread out quite bit. The daily volume is less then down south. Maybe the northerners read the recommendations from ATC and the maintaining groups not to do trail magic ? I expect if you track real trail magic compared to organized roadside trail magic I expect its the same.

[Lone Wolf]

I keep reading about some amazing trail magic down in Georgia. My daughter and I hiked the LT last year which includes 100+ miles of the AT. We encountered only one instance of trail magic over the course of 273 miles: a single bottle of cold water. Mind you, I am not expecting any trail magic; but I am curious about this phenomenon. Is it exclusively a "southern" thing? Does it just follow the "bubble"? We are embarking on a Wraparound thru this year so maybe we will get a better picture.

yeah. ton of unneeded feeds in georgia. folks are still fat and not that hungry yet

[4eyedbuzzard]

Well, I think there's a disconnect between what used to be called Trail Magic and what the current understanding is.

Many years ago a BSA troop I was with was hiking past a farmers corn field in the Port Jervis area of NY/NJ. The farmer saw our group and struck up a conversation. We left with a huge sack of corn on the cob and carrots that we feasted on that night.

Hiking in VT I sprained my ankle near Story Spring shelter. I hobbled down to Kelly Stand Road, a dirt road that goes approx 8 miles past absolutely nothing to VT Rt 7 and a then a long hitch back to my car in Bennington. On a busy day, you'll have 2 or 3 cars go down Kelly Stand all day long. I was expecting a 4 hour road walk. Five minutes after I walked out a camper came by. They stopped to give me a ride, and a cold beer no less, and wound up taking me all the way back to my car in Bennington.

I had friends that were hiking in NH and got caught up in a bad storm. They got out to Rt 25 and were trying to hitch back to Hanover to get a motel room. A couple passing by picked them up and invited them to dinner and to spend the night. Just a few examples of what used to be considered Trail Magic.

Trail Magic used to be defined as unplanned acts of kindness, often occurring just when a hiker needed it most.

Now, I'm not against people leaving coolers of beverages, or feeding hikers, or whatever. Doesn't affect me. And I also understand the arguments against it, especially regarding impact and trash. But, it's planned, and often anticipated, and apparently some less than gracious hikers even expect it. And therefore, it's just not Magic in the sense many of us remember it.

[VT-Mike]

When I hiked the LT I encountered four instances of trail magic at separate locations. A bag of apples, a cooler of beer (person made a U-turn to hand 'em out), a cooler of sodas and the best of all a 12 pack of Long Trail at the Journeys End parking lot. That last one was my favorite!

Although I must say I found the willingness of other hikers share and helping each other along the way much more rewarding.

[MuddyWaters]

Feeding people on vacation isnt magic.
Its stupid.

[Bati]

Trail Magic used to be defined as unplanned acts of kindness, often occurring just when a hiker needed it most.
.

Agreed. A ride to a pay phone, sharing a meal whether at someone's house or on the trail are excellent examples. Unplanned was the key. And there's no way to express the gratitude you felt when you needed it; I'll never forget getting a ride from a weekender at Neels Gap who drove me to the nearest working pay phone about 15 miles away so I could let my family know I was fine despite the massive storm (which had knocked out phones, power and water at the hostel). True trail magic!

[Slo-go'en]

The "trail magic" which is found in GA for a couple of months in the spring isn't common anywhere else. Hey, if they want to give away food and that makes them happy, I'm more then willing to partake.

After that it gets random, like finding the bottle of water, or soda or beer in the stream on a hot day. Or you'll just happen on someone parked next to trail cooking hot dogs for anyone coming along. Anyone who has spent time on the trail has a story or two about when the trail has provided at the exact time they were in need.

My best food trail magic was coming down into Grafton Notch in Maine and hearing some guy shout out "Hey, you want a lobster and corn on the cob?" Hum, let me think about this for a couple of minutes...

[fastfoxengineering]

I keep reading about some amazing trail magic down in Georgia. My daughter and I hiked the LT last year which includes 100+ miles of the AT. We encountered only one instance of trail magic over the course of 273 miles: a single bottle of cold water. Mind you, I am not expecting any trail magic; but I am curious about this phenomenon. Is it exclusively a "southern" thing? Does it just follow the "bubble"? We are embarking on a Wraparound thru this year so maybe we will get a better picture.Absolutely not.

The best trail magic I received on my AT thru hike was in the 100 mile wilderness.

GOURMET cheeseburger with a side of legal herbs.

Best burger I had on trail was sub 50 miles from Big K.

Who woulda thought?

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[full conditions]

Feeding people on vacation isnt magic.
Its stupid.
Exactly. You want to feed a bunch of folks who could really use it, why not meet a group of returning vets coming home from Afghanistan or your local first responders or the teachers at your kid's school? I was day hiking on the AT just south of NOC on Sunday and ran into a half dozen prospective thrus and at least two of them asked the same thing - "are they doing 'trail magic' down at NOC?" When I answered no and added that the restaurant was open they just moped on by.

[Hikingjim]

It only makes sense for people to setup "magic stands" for the day if it's high volume locations, such as masses of thru-hikers near the beginning of their hike.
Once everyone is spread out and 75% have quit, then the type of magic changes.
On the LT someone near Waterbury pulled up next to us on a road section, had a jug of water for us, offered us a ride, and then a second person offered us fresh vegetables from their garden the same day. That was more than enough magic

It also comes into play when there is a clear need for it, such as long stretches where there's not enough water in August.

People pass towns and stores all the time on this trail.... why do people need a cooler of pop in the woods twice a day.

[MuddyWaters]

It also comes into play when there is a clear need for it, such as long stretches where there's not enough water in August.

People pass towns and stores all the time on this trail.... why do people need a cooler of pop in the woods twice a day.

Theres never a need for water on AT for average hikers.
75 yr old hiking 5 mpd, ok. 300 lbs hiking 5 mpd, ok. Etc. But not average people, they can carry needed water.
Always water within 20 miles.

Quite honestly, the challenges of hiking in mountains should be accepted, not circumvented by means of caches. imo. Your just cheating yourself of experiences and skills when you depend on those things.

Just same, i recall several pallets of gallon jugs of water at road crossing once....in spring. Pallets...hundreds of gallons...wet spring too. These people are just wasting money.

[greatexpectations]

in my time on trail in MA the last 2-3 years i have seen some sort of hiker feed style 'trail magic' (fresh water, sports drinks, sodas, fruit, and other snacks) at 7 different road crossings. i suspect there is less of this behavior than the south, but there are also less thrus by MA and they will have spread themselves out a bit. i would guess it is more prevalent on the weekends, with the larger lots/crossings (everett, greylock) unsurprisingly seeming to correlate with the larger setups.

[T.S.Kobzol]

wait are vets returning home from Afghanistan hungry?


Exactly. You want to feed a bunch of folks who could really use it, why not meet a group of returning vets coming home from Afghanistan or your local first responders or the teachers at your kid's school? I was day hiking on the AT just south of NOC on Sunday and ran into a half dozen prospective thrus and at least two of them asked the same thing - "are they doing 'trail magic' down at NOC?" When I answered no and added that the restaurant was open they just moped on by.

[full conditions]

wait are vets returning home from Afghanistan hungry?
I have two nephews who returned from their tour of duty in Afghanistan and they both told me that the first thing they did was head to the nearest five guys restaurant. So, yeah, they do come home pretty hungry.

[peakbagger]

I live in the whites and do real trail magic when I can. It usually is picking up folks who look like hikers near trailheads and giving them a ride. My best one was double trail magic to the same hiker at different times of the day. I was heading out of town on a daytrip and picked him up when he had just walked out of the Barn hostel in Gorham hostel in the AM about a minute after he lifted his arm to hitch. He was slacking the Carters and Wildcat that day to Pinkham. I gave him a ride to Rattle River and figured I would never see him again and wished him luck. Later that evening I was driving back home via RT 16 going past Pinkham Notch. it was around dusk and I saw him walking out the woods in the process of putting his thumb out. I pulled over and picked him up and gave him a ride back to the Barn in Gorham. He was bit odd initially about the ride as he thought I was somehow waiting for him to make it out. Once he figured it was shear coincidence he laughed about it and I wished him luck again.

[Starchild]

Trail magic was so prevalent and abundant down south when I started my thru in 2013 that if I could do 20 mile days I figured I didn't need to carry more then one meal. I also was getting a bit annoyed that my pack weight was not going down because of all the tables set up for us at road crossings, and not just snacks, but people grilling hamburgers & hotdogs, making chili, I believe pizza was also in the mix down there along with some breakfast foods. This also happened in trail towns with organized meals for thru hikers.

In NC it started to slow down a bit and at NOC it got to a reasonable level. North of the Smokies there was something every couple of days or so.

In the north trail magic was rarer but still there.

[Old Hillwalker]

Trail magic goes both ways: (Part 1 of 3) (Western Maine) About 6 years ago I did a day hike to Sugarloaf in Maine from the Caribou Pond Rd (AT) south on the AT to Spaulding Mtn shelter and then bushwhacked back down to Caribou Pond and back out to the AT crossing. The next day I went back to the same CPR AT crossing and this time had my big Great Pyrenees with me. We hiked north this time up to the summits of N and S Crocker. On the way up I passed 3 Northbound Thrus who spoke about the "big mountain dog". Anyway, after summiting S Crocker I headed back down the trail and in error had let my dog off lease for lunch. He took off back down the trail and was soon out of sight. I raced after him continuously calling out for him to no avail. He had done this once before on the Bigelows and what I figured out was that he thought I was ahead of him so he was trying to catch up when he was getting further ahead. Al speed hiked all the way back to the AT Crossing and didn't find him. Just in a hunch I crossed over the CVR crossing and started southbound where I had hiked the day before. On the temporary wooden plank put down to cross the river I found wet big paw prints and though, "oh crap he is headed southbound and it's late in the day. What am I going to do? Here's what happened next.

[Old Hillwalker]

Trail magic works both ways (Part 2 of 3). I went back to the AT Crossing on Caribou Pond Road to walked the several hundred yards back to my truck to consider my options. As I was sitting there a woman drove up and parked. She asked me if the AT crossing was near. She told me that her son was a Thru Hiker heading NOBO and was expecting to meet him there for a quick re-supply and was going to call him on his cell. I asked her to see if he had seen my dog. She called, and he had. My dog had taken up hiking with three SOBO guys who said that they had passed him off to a NOBO hiker who would stay at Spaulding Shelter that night and walk him out to the AT crossing the next morning on his way North. Wonderful!!!! The next morning I left my house a 3:00 AM and hauling my mountain bike up to Caribou Pond road, parked at the end of the vehicle access, and rode up the old logging roads until I could bushwhack up to the Spaulding Shelter. I stashed my bike in some brush and made it to the shelter at seven AM exactly. Emerson the dog was not there. There were two hikers in the shelter who said that the hiker with my dog had decided to head north and cowboy camp on the trail with my old dog. I headed north on the trail half running half walking all the way back down to the AT crossing where I met the guy who had rescued my dog. There he was foot sore and very tired, but back in my arms again. Thanked to Northbounder and gave him every cent in my wallet (only $50) and headed home leaving my Cannondale full suspension bike several miles into the woods on an abandoned logging road. The next day I went back for my bike and I still can't believe what happened the next day.

[Christoph]

The absolute best magic I received was just into Va. Somehow I lost the little "key ring" and the peg that goes on the corner of my tent, into the pole. Happened to stumble across this as I was setting up my tent the night before and it was 3-4 days to the next small town (probably didn't even have a hardware store there). Stopped short to stay the night in a shelter and low an behold sitting in the corner of the shelter were 2 key rings and 1 peg that I needed to set up my tent. Coincidence? It wasn't mine, it was a lot smaller, but it's still on my tent to this day. To me, THAT was trail magic. But that's just one instance I endured.
Now I'm not one to turn down a cold one (soda or ?) but in my case, there seemed to be a lot more on the Southern end than up North. But heading North, there are a lot more "deli's" and such so maybe that's why. I don't know, just rambling but if it's there I'll partake and have a good conversation but to contradict myself a little bit, I think there's too much magic (feeds) on the trail. There were a few times on the Southern end (more often than not) where I just restocked, headed out, then ran into someone cooking up burgers. More North, I think the only magic I truly remember was TOG (The Omelet Guy).

[Old Hillwalker]

Trail Magic works both ways (Part 3) The next day, leaving my still limping 120 pound dog home I drove back up to the AT crossing on Caribou Pond Road, parked and hiked back up to where my mountain bike was stashed. Jumped on and had a nice, but rough downhill ride back to my car. Being that it was still early I decided to take a longer way home so I headed to Rangeley Maine to go home on a more scenic route. Passing through Rangeley I saw three guys who looked like Thrus. I stopped and asked if I could give them a ride back to the AT crossing. Not the same one I had been visiting lately. They said that they had to stop at the grocery store and resupply. I told then no sweat, I would take then there and wait while they shopped. The road to the crossing was on my route home, and the store was also. They bought their stuff and we headed for the crossing. One of the guys asked me about the mountain bike in the back of the truck and I told them the story without naming my dog. They laughed and said. "Oh, you mean Emerson". Without knowing I had picked up the guys that Emerson had followed heading SOBO on the AT three days before. Trail magic can sometimes go both ways.

[petedelisio]

Been picking up hitchhikers with or without backpacks all my life.
Maybe a burger or hot dog for dude walking down the highway that looks like he needs one...
Or dude walking or peddling across country flop at the pad,,, Trail Magic?

Fellow hiker running 20 or so miles to get a National Gaurd to helo fly me out of the wilderness in Maine, then the Doctor letting me stay at his house for two days, then two people picking me up and letting me stay at their houses on the long walk back to the trail...
All the people that picked me up while just flopping around over the years... Just some very good people.

Of course soldiers are coming home are hungry... Probably hungrier for real food than most hikers that only have been out for a week or two.

[JPritch]

If people want to do something nice, we should let them and encourage them. Why pick at who receives the good deeds? If I thought like some of you, I could say let's not feed returning soldiers, first responders, or teachers. I'd argue that most of them are better off than the general public, especially first responders if you judge by waistline. Maybe we should only help the homeless? Wait, some choose to be homeless, I guess we should help some other group...but who?

[stephanD]

Trail Magic is unexpected and serendipitous and does not have 'south' vs. 'north' borders. "Hiker Feeds", on the other hand, is definitely a southern thing.

[MuddyWaters]

If people want to do something nice, we should let them and encourage them. Why pick at who receives the good deeds? If I thought like some of you, I could say let's not feed returning soldiers, first responders, or teachers. I'd argue that most of them are better off than the general public, especially first responders if you judge by waistline. Maybe we should only help the homeless? Wait, some choose to be homeless, I guess we should help some other group...but who?
Wrong.

Anyone can do whatever they want away from the trail. No one cares.

When you set up in a parking lot where people must walk by, or leave coolers by trail, the presence and atmosphere impacts many peoples experience negatively. Many times its done illegally as well, by ignorant people copying what other ignorant people have done.

Even ATC recognizes this .

The AT is supposed to be a national scenic trail, not a travelling party. You are free to party anywhere. Too many thru hikers are too dumb to realize this.

Its bad for the trail. If you dont agree, your part of the problem.

[egilbe]

Met SamIAm on the KI-Jo Mary road in the HMW serving hot dogs, burgers, chips and beer. Listened to his stories for an hour. Was very entertaining stopping and talking to other hikers.

Got a ride back to our car on the other side of Katahdin one evening right at dusk when we were expecting to walk the 16 miles on the tote road that night. That was trail magic.

Met Miss Janet at the Grafton Notch trail head right after Hurricane Harvey with our car at the other end of the Grafton Notch Loop Trail. Expected to walk down Rt 26 that day. I told my GF to keep the faith, the trail will provide. She was tickled pink when I told her who was parked in the van and was going to give us a ride back to our car. The trail did provide.

I've seen several hiker feeds in the Whites, either near the trail crossing at Rattle River, the parking lot outside Crawford Notch State park or at Beaver Brook campground. We were either finishing or starting a section so we never partook of the free food.

To keep the good Karma flowing, I'll offer rides to hikers up in Carrabassett Valley, Mt Washington Valley or Gorham if I'm traveling thru. I figure I'm paying kindness forward.

[Stitches]

I live near Springer Mountain and day hike often in the spring when thru-hikers are starting. I was thinking the other day about what I could offer for "trail magic", but as somebody said before, they are still fat and happy and dry and in high spirits. I always offer to pack out people's trash for them.

[4shot]

If you dont agree, your part of the problem.

I would encourage you to read your posts carefully before you hit the "post" button my friend. otherwise, you come across as a self-appointed expert. or worse.

[Lone Wolf]

I would encourage you to read your posts carefully before you hit the "post" button my friend. otherwise, you come across as a self-appointed expert. or worse.

he's a realist. and spot on

[devoidapop]

I always offer to pack out people's trash for them.

That's very kind, I'm sure appreciated, and good for the trail, other hikers, and wildlife.

[fastfoxengineering]

I kinda wish organised trail magic would tone down a bit. Being from NH I never really saw it until I started hiking nobo from GA.

Low key is great. But the 30+ people cookouts on the side of the road is kinda disgusting.

But i wasnt gonna turn away the free food.

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