Outside Reading (Trail Magic) - Kevin Covucci

After one of our class periods where we had an in-depth discussion on trail magic, I decided to go back to my room and do a little more research on the topic. I ran into an article on the blog section at www.americanhiking.com that discussed the topic of trail magic that I found particularly interesting. This article sparked my interest, because not only did it discuss what trail magic was, the author also address the question of "Is it all good?" I also found it very convenient that the author used first hand experiences from his own time at the trail. He discussed how during his time as a hiker he experienced many different forms of trail magic, ranging from a kind old lady passing out cookies all the way to a concerned passerby giving him medical attention. After being the subject of so many kind actions, he himself decided one day to drive out to the trail and leave a cooler full of soda's to hopefully brighten the day of some passing hikers. When he returned the next day however, he found his styrofoam cooler smashed to bits leaving pieces of litter strewn all over the trail. "This caused me to pause. The unintended consequences of my actions had probably diminished someone else's hiking experience. I was bummed." That quote really stuck with me because it reminded me a lot of the story Dr. Redick told us about CC and his hiking sticks. The idea that he imposed on other hikers really upset the author and made him think about the benefits and negatives of trail magic. He came to a conclusion that I thought was a very good one and agree with completely. He feels that trail magic is a great thing, however, he believes that some thought always needs to be given to where and how trail magic is dispersed.

This article can be found at: http://americanhiking.chattablogs.com/archives/062532.html and I would recommend anyone who is interested to read it, and view the other blogs as there is a lot of very valuable information and idea's being posted up every single day!