Trail Magic

I need to get from Burney, California to Quincy, California to get around an area that has suffered a severe fire and has been reduced to ashes. How do you get from one small town to another small town in a country with poor infrastructure and pitiful public transportation options when you are a PCT hiker not familiar with the area? Well, you could hitchhike. Or you could go on the Facebook PCT Trail Angel page and ask for a ride. This is what I did over lunch today and within an hour a Trail Angel named Chris answered me. She said she would pick me up in Burney or at Burney Falls, which ever is easier for me, and drive me to Chester where I can catch a bus to Quincy. She can do this on the 9th or the 10th, whenever I arrive, and asked me to please keep her posted from the trail as I am able. And oh by the way, “Hike your own hike!”

Who is this woman?! She is a Trail Angel. This is a new form of Bodhisatva as far as I can tell: People who live near the PCT, who may have hiked it in the past or know someone who did or just feel called and or moved to assist hikers. Trail Angels give rides between towns and the trail, they give valuable information, they often feed hikers and leave food, water, even ice-cold sodas in coolers at random places along the trail. In short, Trail Angels make Trail Magic happen and brighten the day and ease the way for many a PCT thru-hiker.

I have been touched by Trail Magic on several occasions, sometimes by total strangers and other times by friends. Near the northern terminus in the small town of Mazama, WA, former hiker named Lion has opened her home and property to PCT hikers. We can camp on her property, use a communal kitchen, take a shower, and generally stage and prepare ourselves for the journey ahead (or behind if you were a NOBO). She calls her place the Lion’s Den, and she runs it all on donations.

Somewhere north of Mt. Rainier I crossed a dirt road to find Bill sitting by his pick up truck with several other camp chairs in the shade for hikers to take a rest. He had two huge boxes of donuts, drinks, fruit, chips, and a beautiful view of the mountain. He even offered to take my trash! This is a huge favor to do for a through hiker. 

At 7000 feet in the Goat Rocks Wilderness we came upon a group of encamped backpackers offering Trail Magic. They had pancake mix and made us backcountry pancakes with maple syrup, offered us fresh fruit, and also offered to take out our trash. Quite incredible given that they also had to carry all of these items in and out of the wilderness.

At a random road in Oregon, we came upon a pick up truck on the side of the highway with a full scale barbecue and were treated to hamburgers with cheese, lettuce and tomato, soda (I never drink soda or eat donuts unless it’s Trail Magic ;) and a place to charge up our electronic devices. These people had hiked the PCT last year, and this was a way they could stay connected to the trail and the hikers.

One day toward the end of Oregon, after a long, beautiful climb to the top of a ridge, Ian and I found a cooler full of ice cold sodas and some chairs to sit down on in the shade. 

Many of these Angels will have a logbook for hikers to sign. One of my drivers told me he transported 800 hikers last year. These valuable drivers also help evacuate and move hikers when trails are closed due to fire.

It is a beautiful experience to be on the receiving end of a gift from a total stranger. Of course, we can and unusually do make a donation to help compensate for gas and time, but there is still a profound feeling of receiving a gift rather than buying a service. Trail magic is an act of generosity. Receiving it is an act of humility. We hikers all need help making this journey happen, and by humbly receiving we complete the cycle of giving. Sometimes we don’t even see or meet the giver. Other times, there is time for a 10 or 20 minute conversation on the ride to town. I have uniformly found Trail Angels to be kind, helpful, generous, reliable and to do their magic with no strings attached. 

I think there have always been Trail Angels helping PCT hikers, but they haven’t always been called by this name. Sometimes they have been travelers picking up hitchhikers, restaurant owners giving out a free order of french fries, community members letting people camp in their yard. But now Trail Angels are such a force they have become an integral part of hiking the PCT, and we hikers are the richer for it. They even have their own Facebook Page!