At Home Trail Angels

Trail angels are the nickname given to people who, while they aren't thru or section hiking a trail, provide support and assistance for those who are. They come in many different varieties, from someone who picks you up while you are hitching to those who assist in the orchestration of thousands of hikers getting to trail heads. They bring water out to the desert, feed us, sponsor us, let us wash up ourselves and our gear. The list goes on.

I have yet to experience any of the on trail magic that trail angels provide, but I have already experienced it as I have been getting ready for the trail. These trail angels are the ones who are making this trip possible. Without them, I would be so much further behind or not even in the right place to think about everything going on. I am forever grateful for their part in our hike. And now presenting the first round of my pre-trail trail angels!

Jenn has been a good friend of mine for my time here in Washington. While we weren't really too sure about each other when we first met, we have grown on each other and she is one of my closest friends here in Washington state. She has been a wonderful mentor as I embraced the entirety of being a career substitute and the president of our substitute union in her stead as she transitioned to being a part time substitute teacher and a full time insurance agent starting her own company. She is awesome, all the way around. Her biggest gift, though, has been her willingness to help me vacuum seal all of the food we are taking. Lucky has a pound of food a day that I have opted to seal into half pound bags, one for morning, one for evening. I then have all of the meals that we are making before the trail, which is about a third to a half of the food we will eat on the trail. That's a lot of food prep. She has been so generous with her time, offering for me to leave the dog food and simple recipes for her to seal for me. She has done this of her own volition, taking time away from her company and her husband to do this for us. I am utterly grateful. There are no words to describe what this means to me.

In addition to Jenn being so wonderful, that couldn't have happened without her lovely husband, Brenton. He is more of a behind the scenes angel, as he has let me invade his house multiple times to work with Jenn to seal up food. He has come home to me, a somewhat loud person, with stuff strewn everywhere and has taken it in stride. He has given up quiet evening time with his wife and a clean kitchen on those nights for the sake of this hike. That gift of time with his wife and in his home is extremely generous.