Guest Post: Trail Magic
Hi, all! It’s S. here. I and some of Rob’s and my friends were feeling inspired by his stories of Trail Magic and decided we wanted to get in on the action. I’ve been keeping an eye on the Where Are the Hikers heat map to get a feel for when and where we might have the best luck catching some thru-hikers passing through the area, and after changing our intended location a couple times, we finally decided to set up in the Beagle Gap parking area in Shenandoah National Park on the 9th.
Personally, I was thrilled about this. Not only is it a place that means a lot to me and Rob personally, but it also seemed like a great spot to set up, because there’s so much space — and porta potties (if needed) — and hikers literally have to pass through it.
We met up at the parking lot at 10:30, and even though back in Charlottesville, it was super sunny and hot (high 80s), at Beagle Gap, it was crazy windy and overcast, so it was borderline cold! The wind was too strong for us to set up the tents we’d brought and kept knocking over our camp chairs.
I’d gotten a CharBroil camping grill for free through my local Facebook Buy Nothing group, which was a huge score and would let us offer the hikers hot dogs. I brought SmartWaters, mini sodas, mandarin oranges, four types of ice cream (Heath Klondike, creamsicles, ice cream sandwiches, and Drumsticks), frozen peppermint patties, and an assortment of electrolyte drink mixes.
Our friends Stephanie and Erik — and their adorable dog Bridget — brought hot dogs, veggie dogs, buns, condiments, a meat and cheese platter, a crudites platter, Gatorades, and a big bag of clementines. Erik is the head brewer at Patch Brewing Co., so they also packed in a variety of beers for any hikers who might be interested in an adult beverage to go with their lunch.
Bridget
Our friends Megan and Brad and their kids Riley and Logan brought lots of bottled water, freshly baked cookies, Little Debbie snack cakes, and a bunch of Babybel rounds and cheese sticks. Megan and Brad own Decipher Brewing, along with Brad’s brother Scott (the two of them are the brewers), so they brought a nice assortment of their beers as well.
Our first hikers — Hootie and Guidebook — came through a little after 11:30, and Erik immediately fired up the stove to start cooking some fresh hot dogs. You might remember that Rob has said that he’s met Guidebook multiple times, but that he never seems to remember Rob. Well, when he told me his name, I said, “Oh, you’re Guidebook! My husband knows you!” He asked what Rob’s trail name was, and when I said Patch, he looked all confused and was like, “Hmmmm. No... I don’t think I’ve ever met him.” Clearly, Rob is incapable of making an impression on this guy.
Guidebook (left) and Hootie (right)
Next to arrive was Jaywalker, who’s from Tennessee. He told us that just about a mile earlier, he’d heard something crashing through the woods off to the side of him, which he’d expected to be a deer. But when he looked over, he saw a big, black mass running through the trees. A few seconds later, a bear ran right onto the trail just a little ways ahead of him. It then turned and started charging down the trail right toward him! He made a noise, and the bear looked up, saw Jaywalker — it apparently hadn’t known he was there — changed direction, and ran off. Jaywalker said he’d seen a number of bears on his hike so far but that that was the scariest encounter he’d had. He told us he got inspired to do the trail after reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Jaywalker and one of his friends had talked about doing the AT together after they retired, but then his friend passed away unexpectedly, so Jaywalker decided not to wait any longer. No doubt his friend is hiking with him in spirit.
Jaywalker, Hootie, Guidebook (L to R)
Big Sticks and Eclipse showed up next. They’re both from Germany, but from different areas. They met on the trail a little while ago and are hiking together now.
Big Sticks (left) and Erik (far right)
Eclipse, Big Sticks, Stephanie, Erik (L to R)
Then Cosmic arrived. He hopes to do the Triple Crown one day and has been all over world and country.
Cosmic
Teatime and Schnitzel were next, followed by Phoenix, who’s from Frankfurt, Germany, and then Taylor, who hadn’t gotten a trail name yet. We had an awesome time meeting all these hikers and getting to share their experience a little bit.
Big Sticks chats with Teatime (L) and Schnitzel (R)
Taylor
Phoenix
As we were getting ready to pack things up and head out, the support vehicle for Kristian Morgan, who is currently attempting the FKT (fastest known time) on the AT showed up, so we stuck around to see him pass through and cheer him on. He’s an ultra running coach from the United Kingdom, and his goal is to finish the trail in less than 41 days, which means he’s averaging 50+ miles a day. Check out his Instagram if you want to know more or follow along.
