Thursday, May 16, 2013

Magic on the Trail 5/15/2013

I recently wrote a post lamenting about the fact that I missed out on my first 'trail magic' opportunity. Well today I did get my first taste of the generosity that sometimes unexpectedly appears on the trail.

I was hiking with Peanut, Bill, Elaina and Easy Rider to a campsite in a meadow for the night. Along the trail, we all discussed hitching a ride to a convenience store a few miles from where the AT would intersect Sam's Gap so we could get some ice cream. It was about 85 degrees, so this seemed to be a brilliant plan to cool off before reaching our destination that evening.

I arrived at the gap just ahead of everyone and dropped my pack, took off my shoes and sat in the grass to relax while the others made their way down the trail. Peanut showed up a few minutes after I did, so she sat and talked with me while waiting for the others. As we sat by the road that ran under I-26 near the NC/TN border, an SUV passed us by, then turned around and stopped. A guy in his mid-20's got out and walked over to us. He was dressed in typical southern fratboy attire: a long-sleeved pastel plaid shirt tucked in to khaki pants with flip-flops and sunglasses. He asked us if we were thru-hiking, then offered us bottles of Gatorade, which we gladly accepted. Soon after, the rest of our crew arrived, who were greeted with Gatorade as well.

It turns out that this trail angel was from Lexington, SC and a Gamecock fan! In addition, he was planning to hike the AT in 3 weeks, heading south-bound from Kathadin. We talked for a while about the trail, as well as Gamecock sports before he left to head back to SC.

Although I didn't get the ice cream I had been thinking about for 5 continuous miles on the trail, I did get my first taste of trail magic, which was just as cool.

3 comments:

  1. Gamecocks always come through in the clutch.

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  2. What a coincidence! I bet that Gatorade tasted great! I'm sure lots more trail magic will come your way.

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  3. Elaina! So close to my little Eliana's name. (Some people actually pronounce Ellie's name that way upon reading it..not sure why, but anyway....)

    I'm finally catching up on your last few blog entries. So glad you are updating so frequently, and addking photos. It will be an online 'journal' you will treasure more and more as time grows more distant from your hike.

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