The Trail Provides

Feb 5

“The trail provides”

It was simply a phrase, another piece of trail jargon added to my pocket. That was until the trail started providing for me in ways that seemed too perfect to ignore.

Catching the bus out of Stehekin, my blisters healing and Indi limp free, we were ready for trail. There were bus conversations about Epi pens and final pastries consumed before anxiously starting the miles. Standing around a picnic table, Otter’s poles hit the ground and my stomach sank. In that moment, I realized I had left my poles on the goddamn bus that just left back for Stehekin. No words exchanged, Otter instantly told me, “you forgot your poles and yes you need to go get them.” I meekly told the crew, “alright, well have fun,” and began my walk and attempts to find a hitch. However, within minutes, I hear a car roll up and Jeanine tells me she’s here to take me to my poles. Around the area with friends, she had just dropped her husband off to to a climb up the road when Silly Moose, Mama P, and Dozer flagged her down to find me down the road. She forewarned she could only take me to town and had to get back to hike with friends. We talked peace corps, travel, social work, etc. We found the bus, got my poles, and headed out of her way to drop me back at the trailhead. An ordeal that could’ve taken all day lasted under an hour. Hugs exchanged, I felt lighter and so grateful for her grace.

Walking into Snoqualmie I was a bit disheartened, doing 18 miles into a town with heavy wet boots and blisters that just wouldn’t heal in hours of rain. I also had ironically grabbed one large and one medium men’s sock from home so the extra fabric rub was not helping. And to top it off, I knew my package that had new socks and shoes along with other needed gear wasn’t waiting for me and was lost somewhere. I jokingly shared this story with Smokes on the way down, to which we laughed and he sympathized but parted ways because he was on the final stretch for pizza. Finally in town, sitting in the Inn, I hear someone walk in and ask for a girl with a dog. I turn around and he’s ready to take his socks off. I give him a few cookies/hug and he heads out to hitch to LA. To literally take the socks off of your own feet for a stranger on trail humbled me.

Seeing the above sock exchange, Pebbles and Bam Bam ask about my story. Hearing the shoe dilemma, they share that they are taking a trip in about ten minutes to REI and can pick up shoes for me. We quickly figure out what kind and my size and they’re off. They come back with handfuls of bags for other hikers that needed gear, I Venmo them, and my feet have been lighter, drier, and blister free since.

The final story that made a profound impact in my first month for my wellbeing is at the WAC hostel. Mark, the caretaker for the building that evening I stayed came in while I was reading and saw I had Vaseline I was massaging my feet with. He heads off to Safeway after asking if we need anything and isn’t back for hours. When he returns, he says he has a surprise for me, pulls out Burt’s Bees almond milk lotion, hand salve, coconut oil, peppermint essential oil, and travel size containers for all of them. Appalled I was using Vaseline because of limited selection in Stehekin, he had gone out of his way to gift such wonderful and better alternatives.

The gestures vary in size from sharing some extra duct tape around a trekking pole to gifting a water bottle when theirs cracks. These gestures while variable in magnitude are daily and constant.

The trail provides...people that understand. People that see your need and find a way to lend their already limited resources to fill your cup.