trail angels | The Direction of Intention

Naturally [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on March 21, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

Before sleeping we usually watch thru-hikes, video journals of people walking the Pacific Crest Trail, The Continental Divide Trail, or The Appalachian Trail. The Hayduke. Early in their journey the hikers experience the unnatural aggression and excessive pace of regular life drop away and a more natural rhythm emerges.

They become different people as they begin to see other people differently. The steely individuality of their urban identity dissolves. The hikers realize that they need other people. They realize that they are dependent upon the kindness of strangers. In fact, they come to understand that without the support of others their trail-walk would be impossible to complete. They begin to rely on – to count on – kindness.

And they are rarely disappointed. The kindness that they hope for always appears. And, as they enter the reality – the necessity – of their interdependence, they more freely offer their support to strangers. They become the kindness others hope for.

Periodically the hikers come across trail angels; people who come to the trail with the sole intention of making life better for the hikers. The angels prepare food or snacks. They offer shade, a cool drink, a place to sit and rejuvenate. They give rides to town. Other angels make sure there is water available at caches across the desert. Others provide places to stay. Almost all of the trail angels were themselves hikers who were recipients of the extraordinary generosity of angels. So, they became angels for others. Naturally.

The hikers always speak fondly of the culture that exists on the trail. A culture of support. Most hikers, after they finish their months-long adventure, remark that their walk was made memorable, transformative, because of generous people they met along the way.

We watch thru-hikers because they give us hope. In a time of national darkness punctuated by ill-intention, self-serving oligarchs, the celebration of mean-spirits, cowardice…it is heartening to know that there is a community of people out there who’ve stepped into nature and out of the unnatural aggression of our nation, and what they find there – and find in themselves – is a natural reliance on others. A feedback loop of generosity. Kindness. People helping people, not for gain, but because they know the value of helping. It’s called humanity. They know that their walk in this life is made better – made more meaningful – by the dance of giving and receiving support, helping others and accepting a helping hand from others. Naturally.

Kerri’s albums are available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE TRAIL

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Filed under: Identity, KS Friday, Metaphor | Tagged: artistry, culture, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, generosity, humanity, interdependence, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, kindness, natural rhythm, nature, story, studio melange, support, the melange, thru-hike, trail angels | 1 Comment »

Mark The Way [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on October 27, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

We are avid late-night-watchers of people hiking trails or climbing mountains. Some time ago it occurred to me that, even in the remote wilderness, there are known paths and helpful trail markers. The markers may be official park service trail signs or they might be cairns or sticks placed on the ground in the shape of an arrow. “Don’t be fooled,” the arrow signals, “The trail is this way.” People who came before helping the people who will come behind.

Most of the hikers and climbers also have help from satellites. They carry gps to illuminate the trail, provide elevation data, locate water sources, and weather information. It’s nothing less than remarkable the plethora of information available to someone strapping a pack on their back and stepping into an adventure. They are beholden to the people who came before who thought long and hard about ways to make the journey easier.

And, these same plugged in hikers pass it forward, mostly, through acts of courtesy toward people they will possibly never meet. They do their part to help the people who will come next. They cut brush from a trail. They re-stack the cairn stones. They pick up trash as they go. They reconstruct the arrow after the wind moved the pieces. They invent better markers, some from outer space.

I think we watch them because of the culture that has evolved on the trail or on the quest to scale the mountain. They give us a dose of hope for humankind. They know without doubt that they are stewards of the path and of those who walk the path. They live from a dedicated personal responsibility that is not in opposition to a group responsibility. They are their own and their brothers/sisters keeper.

There are trail angels that show up in unlikely locations with hot food. There are angels that leave water caches in the desert without which the traveler would not be able to reach their next destination. Their purpose is to make the passage easier for others because others have made the passage easier for them. It is not a difficult concept to grasp.

A culture of support. It’s why, at the end of each day, we check in with the people on the trail.

Kerri’s albums are available on iTunes or streaming on Pandora and iHeart Radio

read Kerri’s blog about TRAIL LEAVES

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buymeacoffee is a trail “tip jar” where you can make the passage easier for the continued work of the artists you appreciate.

Filed under: Gratitude, KS Friday, Metaphor | Tagged: album - this part of the journey, artistry, cairns, composer, culture, culture of support, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, hiker culture, hikers, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, purpose driven life, responsibility, stewards, stewardship, story, studio melange, support, the melange, this part of the journey, trail, trail angels, trail magic, you hold me | 2 Comments »

Be The Rain [on KS Friday]

Posted on August 20, 2021 by davidrobinsoncreative

Simple elegance. Courteous goodwill. Thoughtfulness. Consideration. Do honor. Ennoble. Look up the word “grace” and these are the phrases and synonyms that you will find.

John Updike wrote that “Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.” California is on fire. So is Greece and Turkey. Siberia. Reservoirs are shrinking. So many are looking to the sky awaiting its descent to the earth. Awaiting simple grace.

When I lived in Seattle I delighted on a hot summer day of running through the International Fountain. I was not alone. Children and adults alike squealed as they played in the dancing jets of water. It was a joy to go to the fountain, sit in the spray and watch people play, rest, and rejuvenate with and in the water.

We are following couples as they through-hike the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. They plan their days according to their water sources. There are water-less stretches that are made do-able only because a trail-angel maintains a cache of water for the hikers.

Trail-angels, people who, for no other reason than having the satisfaction of helping ease the journey of others, give me hope. They bring respite, perhaps because someone in their past did it for them and it mattered. They make difficult passages do-able. Sometimes they provide a ride into town. They look for opportunities to help. They are the rain when rain is nowhere to be found.

Isn’t that grace? Rain meeting earth? Angel meeting a need, providing water so a thirsty traveler might drink and continue walking?