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Appreciation post: that trail angel near the Sierra Crest
I was hiking the JMT last summer and ran out of water 3 miles from the next source. This older guy named Pete pulled out his extra filter and said, 'That's why I always carry a backup.' I still pack a spare filter on every trip now.
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willow_morgan1mo ago
Buddy of mine met a trail angel named Janice near the Sierra Crest last year. She had a cooler full of cold sodas and fresh oranges at like 10,000 feet. Said she drives up there every weekend during peak season just to hand stuff out. My friend was so dehydrated he almost cried when she handed him a Dr Pepper. He still talks about it like it was a religious experience.
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pat_schmidt601mo ago
Kind of have to disagree with @the_kevin a little bit here lol. I get what he's saying about not making it into some big hero thing, but I think it's more about the timing and the kindness than just basic preparedness. Like yeah, Pete carries a spare filter because he's smart, but when you're the one who's three miles from water and your brain is starting to cook, that little act of just handing you something with no strings attached hits different.
Willow's story about Janice and the sodas honestly made me smile. I don't think it's about romanticizing someone with a 4x4, it's about remembering that someone took time out of their weekend to help strangers for no reason. That's just nice, man. You can be prepared yourself and still appreciate when someone else looks out for you.
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3 miles is rough (been there, done that with a dry creek bed near Thousand Island Lake). But honestly, I kind of push back on this whole trail angel hero worship. I met Pete too actually, back in 2019 near the same stretch. He was great and all, but I think we sometimes act like basic preparedness is some divine act. Like, I carry my own backup filter because that's just smart hiking, not because some stranger taught me a lesson. The soda and oranges thing is nice, but it also makes me wonder - are we romanticizing what's basically someone with a lot of free time and a 4x4?
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