Trail Magic Round 1: Garenflo Gap

Round one of Trail Magic is in the books!

“It was super boring,” said the guy on opposite day.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, A HUGE SHOUTOUT TO THE DAY’S TRAIL ANGELS.

When all was said and done, we served upward of thirty hikers, many of which said that this was the best Trail Magic they had received on the Trail thus far.  I felt a little selfish taking  joy in this because without your very generous virtual trail angel’ing, we wouldn’t have served up nearly as much magic.  You absolutely made their days!

Thank you:

Hi-Wire Brewing, Matthew Blake, Nicholas Moriarty, Wendy Naranjo, Kathryn Stevenson, Roberta Edwards, Barbara Matthews, John Wilson, Akanksha Manik Talya, and Robin Smith!!!

Another special shoutout to Jill Bandur and Terry Klott (our friends from A Trail Life), Carly Moree, Justin Duvall, and Jess for being wonderful co-hosts.

Someone else would like to say thank you as well…

The Highlights

Eight “jumbo” pizzas from Asheville Pizza & Brewing, a bunch of fruit, krispy kremes, sodas, honey buns, q-tips, ziplock bags, granola bars, protein bars, Jackson’s Honest potato chips (donated by the company, thank you!), water, and of course no killer Trail Magic session without a 1/4 barrel of Brown Ale from Hi-Wire Brewing.  Needless to say, no one left hungry.

Sitting next to my companion, 80,000 calories of delicious pizza (aka Hiker Fuel).  No, that’s not a police car.  Terry and Jill have a 85 lb. weimaraner whose nose is as strong as 1,000 body builders, however.

Where awesome happens.  265 miles in.  What a bunch of studs.

Jill (Minutes) and Terry (Serial) chillin’.  The calm before the hiker storm.

A whole lotta Hi-Wire Brown Ale.  A huge hit with the hikers (and Angels).  A surprise to no one.

(Brothers) Adam and Brett (still in the pre-Trail Name phase) enjoying some Jackson’s Honest potato chips.  I see potato chip modeling in their future.

Pano.  From left to right (to the best of my memory) Iron Cheeks, Bama, GroundScore, Fozzy,  Nectar, Hanky, WanderBus, and Justin.

For a gaggle of thru-hikers, their packs were surprisingly un-stinky.  Perhaps the stank starts in VA.

Kevin Bacon (left) and Minutes (right) sharing Trail stories.

“Frankenstein” enjoying a Donut Pizza Sandwich.

And in case you didn’t believe me…

That’s “Not Chicago” and “PoppaDoc” getting in on the donut pizza sandwich fun in the background.

Our 23-year old Fozzy made the mistake of mentioning that he had never done a keg stand. Naturally this ensued.  Carly Moree is entertained.

Look for this at the Guggenheim in the coming months.

The thru-hikers we had the privilege of serving included: Brett, Adam, Fozzy, WanderBus, Safety First, GroundScore, Iron Cheeks, Bama, Hanky, Nectar, Kevin Bacon, Not Chicago, Frankenstein, Mookie, PoppaDoc, Cool Hand, Fuji, Mohawk, The Lorax, Steady, Jade, Poncho, Koko, and Banyon. 

All those who enjoyed a beer were 21 years of age and older.  My favorite place on earth is not-prison.

The day was a blast.  Thank you to our Angels, Hikers, Hosts, and the Trail for being such a rockstar.

More Trail Magic!

THE GREAT NEWS is we still have plenty of Trail Magic funds to disperse.  Look for more fun further north in the coming weeks.  To be the first to learn of where the magic is going down, join the Facebook party and the Appalachian Trials newsletter.