Trail Magic!

My brother believes in magic.  Not the pull a rabbit out of a hat kind of magic or the saw someone in half kind of magic, but something far far more powerful than that.  He believes in something called Trail Magic.

Now if you are a long distance hiker you probably already know what this is, but if you are like me, and the longest hike you do is a trip from the living room to the kitchen, let me explain.  Trail magic is simply when people who are not hiking provide help or support to those that are.  Maybe its a cooler full of drinks on a hot day, or free rides into town for more supplies.  Maybe its a hot meal on a cold day or any number of things that makes the long distance trek a little easier.

A few years ago, my brother and I started carving spoons and somewhere along the way he started carving a few and putting them in trees along the Appalachian Trail.  Wait..he put spoons in trees along the Appalachian Trail?  Yep!  Maybe you found one?  Lately they look like this, but more often than not they are the same color as the trees they were carved from.

Last year he carved 50 spoons that he left along the trail.  Some found new homes, and some made it only as far as the next campfire.  No matter what happened to them, I can promise you that everyone who plucked one of these spoons from a tree felt the tingle of a little bit of trail magic.

The weather has started to turn cold, we've already gotten our first snow of the season, and temperatures have dipped down into the teens a few times.  The Barefoot Carver hasn't slowed down though, most nights when he isn't at work, you can find him out back in his shed.  Listening to some Jimmy Buffet and carving spoons by the stove.

Don't feel like waiting until spring and hoping to find one along the trail?  Go check out his Etsy page and see what he has for sale.  You can also contact him from his website linked above in this post.  The magic is the same no matter if you find one of his spoons hanging in a tree along the Appalachian Trail or you order one directly from him.  They are all hand made, one at a time, from locally sourced wood.  He'll never make enough to make him rich, but each one will certainly enrich your life just a little bit.

I've got a few projects in the works that will make it to this page soon enough.  Until then, make something with your hands, I promise you it will change your life.  Until next time, Peace, Love and Trail Magic.