Ran into an old trail angel in the Sierras last month

Back in 2019 I was doing the JMT and my filter busted near Muir Pass. This older guy, maybe 70, came up and just handed me his spare. Didn't ask for anything. Said 'you'll pass it forward somewhere down the line.' Last month I'm on the same stretch with my nephew and there he is again, same spot. Recognized me somehow. We sat and ate lunch, he told me he's been doing that same 10-mile loop every summer for 30 years. Never hiked the whole trail, just that piece. Said he likes watching people hit the hard part and push through. Kind of stuck with me that you don't need to finish something to be part of it. Anyone else have a run-in with a local who knows a route better than any map?

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gibson.morgan1mo ago

Thirty years on the same 10-mile loop, that's wild. I mean, I know people who do the same day hike every fall for the colors, but he literally watched generations of thru-hikers roll through that exact stretch. The fact that he remembered you from one meeting in 2019 is the part that gets me. My memory is so bad I forgot my own cousin's wedding date last year, and this guy picks your face out of a sea of bearded, sunburnt hikers.

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taraross1mo ago

Man, that guy's memory is basically a hiking superpower at this point.

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