MONSON, Maine — For thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail, there is a phenomenon known as “trail magic.” As a rule of serendipity, it arrives when it is most needed, when the hikers are beat, downtrodden, lonely, hungry. When the weight of their pack and the miles ahead of them are crushing their will. That’s when trail magic happens.
Maybe they turn a corner in a remote section of woods and find a cooler, just sitting there on the path, filled with Coca-Cola and beer and sweets and fresh fruit. It is a sign of respect from a stranger, a nod of appreciation for this grand thing the hikers are attempting to accomplish — to walk the entire 2,184-mile trail from Georgia to Maine in one year. Trail magic regularly reduces hardened woodsmen to tears.
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Our son Jeffrey took the long walk in 2010 before graduate school and after a stint in journalism. We were able to meet him several times and provide the "magic" .Jeffrey would send me updates of his progress and I might add a photo or two from the web, perhaps the particular hut he might be visting. That Summer everyone visiting my blog really enjoyed reading about his progress. It was a very hot Summer. Linda and I met him at Katahdin for the big finish and and we summitted the mountain together .
Jeffrey just completed his first week of student teaching in Philadelphia
Here is that final blog post.
http://exetertowncrier.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/katahdin-rendevous/
The rest of Jeff's adventures on the AP are on the blog too, under Jeffs Trek. The posts get visited regularly during the AT season as they are mostly of benchmark locations on the trail.
It would be impossible to thank all the angels that provided support to our son on his walk, the best way is to be at a trailhead with some magic, for someone else.
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