After their first season as trail angels, opening their home to thru-hikers coming through Wrightwood, California, Sue Holman wonders if her family will ever want to eat brownies again.
Brownies proved to be a popular dessert. For Sue, cooking for a houseful, the brownies made a quick and easy dessert. The hikers, after being on the trail for several hundred miles by the time they made it to Wrightwood, appreciated the tasty, chocolaty snacks.
Here’s a short excerpt from Trail Angel Mama. And sending a special congratulations to Zach (Face), who completed the trail on September 15th and made it home in time to become a daddy to a sweet, precious munchkin.
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A mid-May snow storm in Wrightwood left four hikers cold, wet and looking for a warm room for the night. We got a call from Zach and Mike headed right into town to pick them up. By the time he got there, they and their packs and sleeping bags were soaked through.
A roaring fire and a hot dinner greeted our guests when they arrived. It was an easy meal for me to fix; baked spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. A batch of fresh baked brownies was a dessert that everyone enjoyed.
With our tummies full and the fire keeping everyone warm, we sat around exchanging stories. These newest four were a diverse group, as I’m seeing most are.
Zach, or ‘Face’ as he’s called on the trail, isn’t a newbie hiker. He hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT) in 2011. He’s 29-years-old, from Mississippi and likes to garden and make homemade mustard.
Jack, with the trail name ‘Catwhacker’, is a 25-year-old from Oregon. He’s an environmental engineer and he’s taking this time on the trail before he starts his master’s program in August.
While female hikers traveling alone may be the minority on the trail, it’s not unusual to see them. Rachel, or ‘Gazelle’, is an adventurous 23-year-old from Canada. She lived in Asia for a year and wants to live in New Zealand in the future. She’s working her way, a mile at a time, back toward the Canadian border and home.
Ram was the oldest in this group of four. He also traveled the furthest of this group to hike the PCT, being another one that came from Israel.
As much as we all enjoyed meeting one another and sharing stories, our hikers were exhausted. After hiking a 29 mile day, through a light snow storm over Mt. Baden-Powell, then eating and sitting around a fire, energy levels dropped and we all headed to bed by 9:00.
This guest room of ours is starting to get a work out.
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Trisha Faye, along with her trail angel sister Sue Holman, wrote Trail Angel Mama. After the Holman’s experiences sharing trail magic to thru hikers in the Wrightwood area of the Pacific Crest Trail, the whole family now advocates sharing magic with others – whether they’re on a hiking trail or just on the journey of life.
Trisha Faye 