In early December 2023, we were driving across Arizona and was lucky to connect with some AZT Trail angels and also the volunteer coordinators for the AZT.
It was valuable and inspiring to hear how this trail organization fully supports trail angels by directly listing trail angels on their trail website. They also have great ways for trail towns to get involved with supporting hikers for businesses or other purposes.
AZT Trail Angels and organizers hiking and chatting about trail angels.Hiking and chatting on the AZTHiking a short section of the AZTFall colors on the AZT in December 2023
Please visit their website at https://aztrail.org/ to see how Trail Angels are listed and supported.
For those that missed the first newsletter, we recommend you read Newsletter #1 Click here to View Newsletter #1 to get a better perspective of when and why Trail Angel Central was created in Summer of 2022. Newsletter #2 in Summer of 2023 offered some examples of well organized “Trail Towns” like Trout Lake Washington and other information. Hopefully it will inspire you and your trail town to find ways to better connect with hikers and hikers can find you! This issue we give some information about our current outreach efforts and ways to inspire you to also help organize Trail Angels to connect with hikers for success!
ROAD TRIP! Trail Angel Central organizers are off on a major road trip this winter via our built out van. During our travels we hope to connect with several other trail angels and also provide trail angel offerings to those on our road trip path.
Route and connect plans: We plan to travel thru southern California and then head East toward New Orleans and Florida starting in California early December 2023. We plan to cross the southern USA and hit trail crossings and trail towns on portions of the CDT, Arizona Trail, and explore other less know trails where the some Trail Angel organizing is just getting started. Even a smaller 100-200 mile multiple day hike trip can benefit from the generous support of trail angels. The TrailAngelCentral.org website and mission is to help hikers and trail angels connect for both short and longer well know trails. We also hope to connect with other trail angel organizations that have already in place on trails like the CDT and the Arizona trail and learn from their experiences and share those best practices.
Connect with us! We would like to connect with as many Trail Angels / organizers as we travels eastward. If you would like connect with us, please text (650) 793-0475 or email us at TrailAngelCentral@gmail.com with your names, locations and connect options and we can see how we can coordinate a meetup.
Happy Trails and holidays to all of those getting this newsletter.
Trail Angel Central Organizers – Scott (Cookies) and Alicia (Sailor)
In late May 2023, we finished the first 650 miles of the PCT and headed to our cabin to host hikers. Our cabin is located in Pinecrest California, about 37 miles west of Sonora Pass / hwy 108 trail junction and about 27 miles west of Kennedy Meadows North on Hwy 108. We have hosted now about 8 hikes and several other guests and friends and family. We can host hikers here until we get back on trail or do mobile trail angeling on the PCT.
Hosting for PCT hiker “Shopper” who stay with us for a week while resting his ankle.
Individual Hiker supporters can easily extend their efforts to many more hikers on the trail at trail heads
While out both hiking and angeling with the Trail Angel Central van, we have come across several vans and vehicles supporting one hiker at various stops as they arrive at different locations going up the trail. Many of these hiker supporters are not aware of the trail angels concept.
We encourage any individual hiker assistance vehicles to understand the Trail Angel Community and how with just a small bit of more effort, they can support both their hiker and general PCT hikers that arrive at locations at the same time. Here are some examples of how these hiker supports can become trail angels easily.
As Trail supporter, you are typically going to drive to a trail crossing. Look for hikers in nearby towns before going to the trail head to see if any hikes needs a ride to the trail head.
Before driving to the trail head, consider buying some Trail Magic food to share with hikers at the trail head. You can offer that magic as you wait for your hiker to arrive.
While you are waiting at trail head for your hiker, you could offer this basic starting conversation line with the hikers – Do you need anything? A hiker may reply with a request for water, battery charging, first aid supplies or maybe a ride back into town or off trail for any reason. As a hiker support vehicle, you can easily transport a hike or two back to a town after you have supported your hiker.
As a hiker support vehicle, you might be able to communicate to hikers farther up the trail important messages or other logistics.
The important take away here is that if you are a hiker support vehicle and team, please consider supporting and angeling for all hikers. It about the same level of effort to offer some food and water to your individual hiker as well offering similar items to hikers that arrive at the trail head at the same time. You will make new friends that will make your hiker assistance efforts far more gratifying when you support several hikers at a stop!
There are tips about what trail angels do on the Trail Angel Central . org website.
After hiking the first 150 miles, Trail Angel Central van is now in action providing Trail Magic and rides and logistics for various Other angels offering food and camping at Mt Laguna
Trail Angel Central has been both hiking the trail for about 8 days and now back in our van supporting hikers along the trail between Campo and Julian. Each day we connect with more and more angels that appear everywhere from roadside parking lots to coffee cafes or out on the trail also doing a combination of hiking and angeling.
It is truly a very amazing community – The PCT trail community that includes angels!
We certainly want to start out by thanking Paul and Dee with the Southern Terminus Shuttle service by going far beyond their shuttle services and providing many angeling services for hikers everyday.
More information about this service can be found at:
Here are some photos of some of trail angeling activities in the past few days.
Trail Angel Central providing dinners fir campers at CLEEF campground for over 9 days. The CLEEF campground option is a great way to meet and connect hikers starting on your hike on the same start date that can provide to be invaluable to your hike! Check out camping here rather than directly starting the same day you touch the border.Providing Trail Magic at Boulder Oaks Campground. We offered magic to a family with a 15 month old also hiking the trail!At Mt Laguna, we ran into a major Trail Angel offering by 3 B adventures offering free camping and food for the weekend at the campground. That night over 40 PCT hikers were enjoying the gracious angel offerings by 3 B adventures for this weekend. Often times, various organizations and outfit groups offer events like this more PCT hikers. This was their annual PCT weekend offering.
Starting in March 2023, Trail Angel Central has increased its activities in many ways. First we have paid for the monthly business hosting so you won’t get annoying ads anymore. We have outfitted a van that we will be using while we both hike and angel on the PCT this spring and summer 2023. Look for our van on the PCT! Maybe we can offer you some magic or other Angel help!
We have already started this angeling this spring by helping provide dinners and assistance at the PCT Southern Terminus and the campground at CLEEF starting in late March until April 4th. We will be alternating hiking and angeling for Spring and Summer 2023 sharing information about the TACO project.,
Additionally, we have been engaging with many PCT hikers during evening hiker dinners at the CLEEF campground right before they start on the trail. We are encouraging all hikers and angels to help spread the word and value of TrailAngelCentral.org website.
We are encouraging Angels on Facebook to mention the TrailAngelCentral.org website as an alternative to the Facebook Angel Groups as a well to connect with hikers. Please view the new PCT and other Trail – Trail Angel pages as Angels start to enter their information to connect.
TACO???
TACO – To help folks remember Trail Angel Central, we have heard that we can be thought of as “T.A.C.O” – Trail Angel Central Organization! Please spread the word to help create and expand this valuable hiker/angel resource for all.
HELP!
We need your help! Getting trail angels to list their contact information and offerings on the spreadsheet has been challenging. We are asking both hikers and Angels to please encourage all angels to view this site and check out the various listing options available to them.
We understand that some angels don’t want to list their direct contact information in the spreadsheet. To avoid direct cell/email information, one can enter into the PCT Angel Spreadsheet their name and describe that the best way to contact them is via a specific Facebook group. If you know of other resources for angels like a list at a Hardware store, etc, feel free to enter that into the appropriate Angel spreadsheet page.
Trail Angel Central 