10.16.20 // trail magic

Trail Magic.
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I find the concept of trail magic absolutely thrilling and all I want to be when I grow up is some form of a trail fairy god-mother.
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Over the summer I read a number of books that talked about this concept and referenced examples that always blew my mind. Ice cream served in the desert along the ​Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), sandwiches along the ​Appalachian Trail (AT), and other short hikes with small acts of kindness.
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With spring and summer shelter-in-place mandates and trails being shut down, the idea of trail magic danced around my mind like some distant dream.
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Fast forward to the hike to Panorama Ridge in Garibaldi Provincial Park. For Taylor and I, it was a 16.7 mile round trip day with 5​,000ft.​ elevation gain.
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We sprinkled in some run time, weirdly delicious peanut butter and bean/jelly concoction, and much to my excitement, some trail magic.
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We were on our way back from the ridge and were about 3 miles away from the parking lot. There was a couple walking up, we were walking down, and we came up fast on two backpackers. One of the two backpackers was hobbling, ​with the support of an abnormally thick walking stick, and his knee was wrapped up.
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Because we were all being respectful of space, there was an odd moment of pause.
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We let the couple come up passed all of us and the backpackers offered to let us pass.
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It was ​in that moment that I took a fairly risky move.
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I offered to take the hobbling backpacker​'​s pack down to the parking lot. He was loaded down with what looked like a fairly heavy pack and his friend was loaded down with his own pack plus an additional normal backpack on his front.
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His eyes lit up and he told us how much that would help since the rest of the way down was steep while not altogether dicey.
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This was my moment to finally help provide a little trail magic and be a part of the crew of fairies that keep trails sacred and a place for community.
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Loaded with only our two running vests, we moved things around and made things work so we could run the rest of the way down without being too bogged down.
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But even as we had more physical weight, doing such a small act for someone else gave me wings, I felt like I was floating.
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And while this was my first bigger act of trail magic, I know it won't be my last.
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Have you ever had a chance to share some trail magic?