The Spirit of the Appalachian Trail: Community, Environment, and Belief

Chapter 4. Angels and Volunteers: The Heart of the Trail

chApTer 4 AngelS And VolunTeerS: The heArT of The TrAil Informal Volunteerism Much as the trail was originally the product of volunteers, one of the major expressions of the spirit of the Appalachian Trail has always been the people along the way who offer assistance to hikers without asking for compensation or, if running a business, who provide something extra for hikers at no cost. Today, hikers call those who just appear and offer a ride, or who leave bottles of water at undependable springs, “trail angels.” Even highly practical and lightly packed end-to-enders identify these services as “trail magic”—those little acts of kindness that materialize at exactly the moment you need help. Although in AT jargon , hostel managers, café owners, and outfitters are not usually dubbed “angels ,” their often astonishing willingness to drive an injured rambler to a clinic or to search for a lost package at the post office belongs in the “guardian angel” category , and grades into the operations of the unseen helpers who deposit treats and necessities where hikers can find them. The Appalachian Trail backpackers themselves form an informal network providing care and protection for its legitimate participants, and take seriously their responsibility to repay those who run hostels or allow no-cost camping in a back pasture. Hikers leave gifts and supplies for other hikers and stop to assist their comrades in trouble. Much as the historic pilgrimage routes of the world’s religions have generated supportive hostelries, monastic houses, and confraternities to manage services for pilgrims, the Appalachian Trail has generated a complex matrix of helpers. This interactive constellation of nonprofits and businesses is formed not just from the trail clubs but from the people who live near Angels and Volunteers 64 the AT. The trail has also spawned detractors—particularly neighboring property owners who believe the hikers disrupt their daily routines. The trail angels, in contrast, not only assist in providing for the backpackers’ basic needs, they sometimes have negative experiences with hikers, yet they persist in offering favors, small and large, to help the struggling travelers on their way (fig. 4.1). From May through July 2007 (working with an assistant, Robert Kent), and from June to August 2008 (working alone), I organized interviews of fifty-eight individuals or groups who either offered services for free or provided facilities or assistance above and beyond the usual offerings of their business or organizaFig . 4.1. Appalachian Trail section hiker trying to hitch a ride to Fontana Dam, North Carolina. Hikers depend on numerous small favors to handle the distance, lack of shelter, and necessity of resupply. Angels and Volunteers 65 tion.1 We concentrated on individuals offering food, accommodations, and supplies instead of on the volunteer maintainers, because the former had greater direct contact with long-distance walkers. The interviewees did incorporate loyal ATC members and residents of trail towns, who either assisted trail crews or served on them. In addition, I had multiple conversations with both helpers and hikers who were not formally interviewed. The informants included store owners , farmers who had faucets for hikers or permitted camping, managers of hiker hostels, and employees of municipalities that allow camping on public property. They incorporated the leaders or representatives of churches, other religious organizations, and integrative communities, as well as members of volunteer or civic organizations, such as small-town fire departments. When possible we met with interviewees at their place of business or the hostel, campground, or service they managed.2 We asked these trail “helpers” how they got involved and why they had decided to aid hikers.3 Academic studies usually narrow their focus and assume that wilderness spirituality primarily concerns the “recreationists” and perhaps the professional leaders and guides. These interviews, in contrast, are based on a two-way model, which assumes the hikers can offer something to the volunteers and business owners as well as the angels providing for the hikers. A few responses varied from north to south, primarily as a function of differences in thru-hiker numbers along the route. The south-north gradient differed little in terms of the type of interviewees, with one exception—the southern volunteers representing religious organizations were more likely to be from denominations (such as Southern Baptist) emphasizing salvation or conversion than the northern contacts, who were more likely to be “mainline” (such as Presbyterian Church USA, Congregational). In the South as in the North...