(Un)Popular Opinion: Trail Angels, Nobody Needs You

The growth in popularity of long-distance hiking trails across the United States has also given rise to more trail angels than ever. These frequently well-meaning individuals assist hikers in either serendipitous or contrived circumstances.

There is nothing that makes someone a trail angel, despite some trail angels thinking themselves superior to others. Did you give a thru-hiker some fruit from your day-hiker backpack filled with fresh goodies? You’re a trail angel. Did you give a hiker a ride into town and then let them camp in your yard? You’re a trail angel. Did you devote your entire summer and a huge amount of money toward feeding hikers? You’re also a trail angel.

Trail angels are typically associated with acts of trail magic; i.e., the actions performed by a trail angel are known as trail magic. This is why we should really be calling them trail magicians (or illusionists), but that’s a post for another time.

But do hikers need trail angels?

Short answer? No. Hikers do not need trail angels.

But what about the trail angel maintaining the water cache in the middle of the dry section of the trail? Surely hikers need this trail angel, for they provide a valuable service, right?

No, no, they do not. These trail angels provide a convenience.

No water cache!? What will the hikers do!?

They’ll carry more water is what they’ll do.

It can be nice when things like trail magic, the FarOut app, or water caches make thru-hiking a bit easier, but these things are not required for hikers to complete trails. The kindness of strangers is not a prerequisite to successful thru-hiking.

People don’t decide to thru-hike because they expect it to be easy (and if they do, chances are they’re in for a wake-up call). Sometimes, unpleasant things—like carrying a ton of water—are part of the experience.

But you’re clever, and you want to drill down and get technical? No, not even the trail magicians of happenstance who pick up hikers hitchhiking into town are strictly necessary.

Convenient? Yes. Necessary? No.

Hikers can plan resupply strategies to avoid towns that are far from the trail. They can carry more food and hike longer stretches between resupplies. They can hike to town instead of hitchhiking. They can mail themselves more food to locations close to the trail.

Trail angels aren’t necessary to complete a thru-hike.

But why bring this up in the first place?

Unfortunately, some trail angels have managed to pervert their acts of trail magic into being more about themselves than the hikers. Some feel that offering rides or setting up a table and handing out beverages somehow entitles them to the hikers’ time and praise.

What do you mean you don’t want to sit and enjoy this bounty I’ve laid out for you, ungrateful hiker? Don’t you know who I am?! I AM A TRAIL ANGEL!

I’ve experienced this myself. After not stopping to feast upon a trail angel’s trail magic erection, I was treated as if I was ungrateful or doing something wrong because I opted to continue doing what I was out on the trail to do – hike (i.e., mindless wander north while listening to podcasts and stopping to sleep – and hopefully poop – every day).

Trail angels need to remember that they exist because of the hikers. Hikers don’t need trail angels, but trail angels need hikers. You cannot foist trail magic upon someone. Unwanted trail magic is simply harassment. Trail magic cannot exist in a vacuum; it must be welcomed by the hiker (or hikers) accepting it.

That’s not to say that hikers can mistreat trail angels, but they also aren’t required to stop and grovel at the feet of each trail angel they pass.

It’s awesome that some people choose to take the time to help hikers—sometimes at great personal cost. However, it becomes problematic when people get their identities wrapped up in the idea of being trail angels and lose sight of why they’re out there in the first place—to offer help to hikers.