Trail Magic after Trail Magic

Wow. The past few days have left me speechless.

First, we had the trail magic where the group rented an airb&b and provided a place for tents and then gave a great community and food. (More to come on that) Thank you Cook Doctor, Juju, Goose, and Amac.

The next day, after blueberry pancakes and sausage for breakfast, we ran into Stumbles and Texas. They provided us with chips, pulled pork sandwiches, pasta salad, beer, and great company. They did the AT a year or two ago and are giving back. Quite amazing.

Yesterday, two men approached a hiker, Tiffany and offered their cabin for the night. We had probably 15 to 20 hikers at this cabin. The two men provided beer, liquor, and food but left it to just the hikers being at the place trusting us to lock up… what an insane but also insanely awesome experience.

Today I had some unexpected trail magic. Yesterday my permanent retainer broke while doing the half gallon challenge (eat half a gallon of Ice cream). Today, I went to the dentist. They re-cemented the retainer and did not charge me. I was expecting a $100 to $200 bill but when I said I needed to check out and pay, the staff said, “You’re good. Go have fun on the trail!”

I cannot express the thanks for the amazing generosity flowing these past few days. I hope to give back in similar fashion in the upcoming years!

This is a side note because I was SO focused on the hospitality on the trail. We crossed into Pennsylvania and the shelters are extremely well maintained. We crossed the half way point, 1096 miles. I crossed into 1100 miles. Not sure how I missed the mile marker. So things have been pretty crazy and busy on landmark items going on.

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