Title: Trail Magic

General Information about Item:

• Customary Folklore, Traditions, Rituals
• Language: English
• Country of origin: United States
• Informant: John T. Brady ’19
• Date of Collection: 10-31-17

Informant Data:

• John Brady is Dartmouth student in the class of 2019. John is from the suburbs of Chicago, IL. He grew up north of the city in a nice suburban town which he described as very “bubbly.” John was part of a boy scout group growing up in the Chicago area. Every summer for about one week, John and his fellow boy scouts went backpacking. They backpacked all over the United States. His scout troop went to New Mexico, California, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and other places. One of his earliest backpacking trips was actually a section of the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina and Tennessee. The trail started out of Hot Springs, NC. His early experience with the Appalachian Trail sparked an interest for John to conquer the entirety of it.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: There are many “trail angels” that perform “trail magic” along the AT. They are thought of as very generous people and the hikers are very appreciative of the help they provide. These “trail angels” are prominent on the Appalachian Trail, but I do not think that they are limited to the AT. Other trails I believe have similar people.
• Social Context: Trail Magic usually takes place between one person known as the “trail angel” and the hiker that pass by the tent. Trail angels cook for the hikers as a way of supporting the community and giving back. Trail angels may also share conversations with the hikers as they pass by while also cooking for them.
• Overall Context: John Brady’s early experience hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail encouraged him to later attempt to complete the whole thing. With his boy scout troop, he hiked a 40-mile section of the Appalachian Trail (AT), but he knew that the trail consisted of over 2,000 miles. He said that he saw some “weird looking Hippie dudes” as he described them, and thought that he may want to hike the entire trail between high school and college. John said that people are on the trail because they are in between things in life. “You are either in between school, love, or jobs,” John said. For him, he was in between graduating from high school and starting his new life at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH. John hiked the Appalachian Trail from March 5th until July 29th. Starting on March 5th was early in the season, but not too early where it would be uncomfortably cold. He also started early to avoid the large crowds that start the AT between mid-March and mid-April. It took John 149 days, or just under five months, to complete the AT. John’s preparation consisted of “googling” and asking knowledgeable backpackers about how they prepared for the trail. John did not spend a lot of time physically training for the journey but instead made sure he had a good plan of attack for the first month of the trail, which is most important according to him. Some people try to get ahead and complete many miles quickly but end up hurting themselves. John made sure that he set a pace that would allow him the most success. John starting hiking the AT with a lifelong friend of his that was also in his boy scout group. His friend was from the same hometown in Chicago, IL. His friend hiked for about three or four days before he got sick with a stomach illness and had to stop hiking. He hiked with many different groups of hikers going Northbound. The most prominent person that John hiked with was a man with the trail name “Werewolf.” Werewolf was from Tennessee. He was a grocery store manager and recently divorced from a long time wife. John and Werewolf got along very well given that Werewolf was around 40 years old. He also hiked with a mechanic named “Macgyver” from one of the southern states. He also hiked with two brothers named “Link” and oddly enough “Folklore.” the brothers were twins and were known on the trail as the “Arkansas twins.”

Item: Trail Magic

Trail magic is a unique part of the Appalachian Trail experience. Those who perform trail magic are known as “trail angels.” These angels typically set up tents to cook for hikers in various places along the AT. Trail magic is any form of generosity to the hiking community without any expectation of compensation. Hikers are very appreciative of Trail Magic.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Informants Comments:

“Various groups and individuals along the trail will set up and provide for hikers. One guy in particular who exemplifies what trail magic truly was for was a guy named “Fresh Ground.” “Fresh Ground” was a man who had hiked part of the Appalachian Trail a few years prior and decided that the hiking wasn’t for him, so he set up what is known as the Fresh Ground LeapFrog Cafe. And I was fortunate enough to be in the section of hikers, I was hiking that portion of the trail at the right time and he would drive to somewhere where the AT crosses a road he would set up a minivan. He would put up a tent, pull out some propane burners and sit there for a week with a tarp over his head and cook for hikers. He was donation based. I think he put a lot of his own money into it. We would have hot dogs, eggs, pancakes, pasta for dinner. He was able to do this a little out of other hikers providing funds, but mostly out of his own pocket and completely out of his own desire to give to the AT hiker community and to make others happy. We all appreciated to what he set up.”

Collector’s Name: Colton French