Backpacking Bingo 2015

[WasatchWill]

I stumbled across this on Derek Hansen's Ultimate Hang site and thought it looked fun. Let's see who can get a Bingo!

 

[WasatchWill]

Here's what I've got thus far...

 

[Ben]

what does it mean to 'perform some trail magic'

 

[WasatchWill]

It can be like a "secret santa" where you leave a cold drink or something at a popular trailhead with a note that says "for a thirsty hiker"

 

[Vegan.Hiker]

Trail Magic is a big thing for AT thru-hikers. Former thru hikers perform trail magic for current thru hikers such as baking cookies and bringing them up to crowded shelters, leaving stocked coolers full of cans of cold soda cans at road crossings, setting up barbecues to cook food for AT hikers, etc. It's supposedely a recurring phenomenen because by the time an AT thru hiker finishes, they have been the recipient of so many acts of kindness by strangers that they want to give back and do the same for thru hikers in subsequent years.

I never thru hiked the AT but I've done a fair amount of backpacking on it and have come across coolers filled with soda cans at road crossings. I never take any since I'm not a thru hiker. Trail magic can be referred to more generally to refer to unintentional trail magic too, for instance I was doing a few days on the AT once with a group of friends and the trail went past a lake with a parking lot and picnic tables. People saw us sitting and taking a break on a big rock a few hundred feet away and walked over to invite us to their barbecue and to hoola hoop with them (one of the women was an instructor and had brought a bunch of hoops to like do a class for her friends by the lake). This totally sounds bizarre now that I'm typing this up lol. Anyways, we ended up stopping by and hanging out for a while before finally resuming our hike. We referred to it as trail magic even though it wasn't a pre-meditated act of trail magic on their part. I have a picture of my friend Carol hoola hooping with them somewhere.