Please Know in Most Groups, I’m the Yammer

(Days 90 to 107)

Dynamics of a trail trio as defined by Whisper.

1700+ miles walked and no psychology degree makes me very qualified to make these assertions. Trust me – it’s science. 

From listening to an episode of my favorite podcast, Normal Gossip**, I recently learned that in “start-up” founder culture, there is the concept of the Minder, Finder, and Grinder. The core idea is that there are three main roles in the leadership of a start-up.

• The Minder oversees operation of the start-up and its day to day management
• The Finder seeks out new clients and business opportunities
• The Grinder is responsible for the day to day operations.

While these are clearly defined roles, it doesn’t necessarily mean that one person is always fully responsible for playing a particular role. For example, someone could be part Minder and part Grinder but sometimes be all Minder or all Grinder depending on what role needs to be filled in that moment. Regardless of the distribution, the fulfillment of all three is crucial to the success of the operation. 

Of course, hearing this got me thinking about what the parallel was to thru-hiking and how these dynamics play out in the ever-evolving roles we play in our trail groups. After ruminating on this idea for a few hundred miles, I’ve decided that there are three primary roles as far as I’m concerned: The Planner, the Yammer and the Hammer.

The Planner

The Planner is the member of the group that knows what the hell is going on. They think ahead about where there are reliable water sources, how many days of food are needed for a resupply, and where we are sleeping each night. They are primarily focused on the wellbeing and survival of the group. It’s their stellar coordination which allows the others in the group to just blindly follow along like lemmings, only having to worry about putting one foot in front of the other.  

The Yammer

You know that one person you know who is always talking to strangers and can make friends with a ham sandwich? Yeah, that’s the Yammer. They do all the talking and forge connections with people. The Yammer is the people-person of the group and helps tap into the kindness of strangers. This can be anything from chatting with other folks on trail to garner intel on what’s to come ahead to coordinating hostel reservations and shuttles to chatting with random strangers in a trailside parking lot to secure a hitch into town or to a grocery store. 

The Hammer

As the most under-appreciated, but most crucial role of the group, the Hammer is responsible for ensuring the group is collectively making good life choices. They are the voice of reason when laziness and instant gratification are looking really appealing. The Hammer keeps the group moving. No, we don’t need to take another zero this week. Yes, we can hike in the rain. They are essentially the human embodiment of “we have food at home”! (Except that food is dehydrated and home is a tent). 

While I believe it’s fairly obvious that I’m primarily the Yammer (I mean, have you met me!?), we take turns sharing the burdens of these roles. For a long time,  when we were in a larger group of hikers, Forklift was primarily the Planner. In fact, we used to say that once she got off trail for her family vacation that none of us would know what direction to go, let alone where to stop and when. I joke that Hitman is often the Hammer because, left to our own devices, Picky and I would probably be platinum blazing and generally following our stomachs to our hearts content and the dismay of our wallets. 

At the end of the day, it’s a joint effort to get all of our butts to Mt. Katahdin, and we each take turns playing our parts to achieve that goal. 

Standing on the shoulders of trail angels.

Speaking of Katahdin, the bulk of what has occupied my mind recently as my feet take me closer and closer to Maine (we actually have a target summit date for mid-August so shit is real now !!) is the ever-growing laundry list of people who have helped me get here and continue to push me forward.

It goes without saying that I certainly wouldn’t have made it this far without my on-trail companions, but it’s also the contributions of outsiders that have made this journey manageable and particularly special. I want to spend the rest of this update highlighting some of these amazing folks and expressing my gratitude for the existence of trail angels. 

Whatever the opposite of stranger danger is

Our favorite recurring character, the Ice Cream Man

Today, if somebody in a van pulled up on the side of the road and offered me a cold soda and some candy, I would readily accept it and quite possibly ask for a ride to town and hop in. Don’t worry though, that’s just thru-hiker culture. 

I’ve been astounded by the kindness of strangers while on the AT. The number of people dedicated to helping out hikers is inspiring, and we’ve had the good fortune to meet some really kind and generous people. It’s impossible for me to shout-out everyone I’ve met but here are a few highlights:

Ice Cream Man, our favorite “recurring character”. How many times can we see the Ice Cream Man in one thru-hike? The answer is at least four. Ice Cream Man is a recurring trail angel who roughly follows the “bubble” from Georgia to Maine each year, handing out ice cream sandwiches and beers. We first met him in Glasgow, VA where he gave us a hitch to trail, and we’ve since seen him three more times! Two parked along the trail and even one time at a mountain peak where he was handing out Oreos.

Birdfeeder and Dusty Curtains who live right off of the trail in NY and allow thru-hikers to fill up water in a stretch where water is hard to come by. They also have a little fridge set-up with extra little treats for thru-hikers and a carport where we sat to wait out a passing rainstorm. Birdfeeder also reads my blog and was the first person to recognize me in person, so that was really special. (If you’re still reading this – it was so nice to meet you. Thanks for the encouragement!)

Our favorite Massachussets trail angel, Don

Lee, Massachusetts recently became a trail town, and they have a group of dedicated trail angels who shuttle hikers from trail to town for resupply. We first were helped by Sarah who not only drove us to the laundromat, but took us to her house first and let us borrow clothes to wear while ours washed. We also had the great pleasure of crossing paths with Don, probably one of the kindest people we have met on trail. He picked us up from our motel to go to the grocery store for resupply, then drove us to lunch and then drove us to his house to fill up our water and re-pack our packs and then dropped us off on the trail. Hours of his time just to help out a few smelly strangers!

In Bennington, VT, we were shuttled to and from the trail by Stops, another recurring trail angel who follows hikers up the coast, feeding as many as possible. He picked us up from trail with a cooler of ice cold drinks, and I drank that Gatorade in seconds. We’re hoping to cross paths again in Maine!

The great Sir Stopsalot (Stops)

The Local Guide

While it sometimes feels deeply uninteresting to be the token American hiking with two Europeans, I remember that I bring my own value to the team. Not only am I a natural Yammer and a general JOY to be around – hiking with me comes with ✨️perks✨️. (To be clear, I’m like 99% sure Picky only hikes with me for the perks… as he jokingly reminds me often).

What I mean by this is that there’s definitely a benefit to being an East Coast kid and knowing people from Tennessee to Vermont. Some of these aren’t even folks I directly know, it’s like the 6 degrees of thru-hiker! I’m grateful to have so many people excited to help us out in anyway that they can. This is a shout-out to the friends, family and family of friends who became trail angels for me and my buddies, in order of appearance.

My buddy Melitta who drove an hour and a half to Hot Springs, NC to eat dinner, sit and watch us do laundry, and then drive us to a brewery.

My parents for bringing me all my resupply stuff to a random hotel in the middle of nowhere Virgina right when I got within driving distance, delivering my boyfriend to trail, buying Munchkins for us at every opportunity and generally being the best resupply gurus.

My dad’s friend from high school and her husband for taking me and my boyfriend to breakfast and then dropping him further ahead on trail so I could get my miles in. 

My boyfriend’s mom for bringing trail magic for me and other hikers and bringing me cake from my favorite place in Pittsburgh.

My friend Melanie and her friend Jane for driving over an hour to hike a few miles with me in Southern PA and bring an impressive array of trail magic for me and other hikers. 

My mom’s friend’s cousin and his family at Culver Lake, New Jersey for taking us on a boat ride, feeding us and taking us to Walmart.

My friend’s mom’s friend for delivering pizzas and Gatorade to us when we were so tired we took a lake day at Lake Tiorati in New York.

My old boss for driving one and a half hours across Vermont to take us smelly hikers out to dinner and a walmart resupply run. 

And a super duper special shout-out to my younger sister, dubbed Professor Aladdin on trail, who is a half Iron Woman, and a whole bad ass. Not many sisters would be willing to drive hours to hang out with a group of smelly hikers for three days, but I’m glad mine was. She even drove us to the trail and walked an extra mile and a half from her car so we didn’t have to road walk. A true gem.

It is because of all these people (and more) that I’m here now. Less than 500 miles to go til Katahdin and the end of this crazy adventure. Getting there takes a village, and I’m forever grateful for mine. 

**Very important sidenote, Normal Gossip is a great podcast. If you’ve never heard of it but you love to hear about drama to which you have literally no connection whatsoever, this is the podcast for you. I only wish I had 100 more episodes to binge. Normal Gossip, Crime Junkie, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department album, and a random assortment of over 2000 songs I’ve liked on Spotify between 2016 and present are the soundtrack to my thru-hike. You know, in case you were curious about what I do all day besides walking.