RATtreks

20th Annual Brown Gap Hikers Feast – 4/22 – 4/24/11

It’s hard to believe that this event has been going on for 20 years now, but as hordes of hungry hikers descended down into the gap they were greeted by sights, sounds, and smells, of other hikers being provided with mass quantities of assorted cold drinks and a vast array of foods. Of course this is only a generalization of what goes on at this event as there is much more to it than just food and drinks. Before I get to those details, let me provide some background of what this event is for, its location, and just how it all began.

 

Brown Gap is located along the Appalachian Trail in a remote area just North of the Great Smoky Mountains along the Tennessee/North Carolina border. It is approximately three miles South of Max Patch. A small gravel US Forest Service road makes it possible for vehicles to access it (if you don’t mind going up a really steep hill). Each year hundreds of hikers attempting to ‘thru-hike’ the entire trail from Georgia to Maine (2,176 miles/ 14 states) will pass through this gap,  but only certain ones will be there at the right time to be lucky enough to be a part of the largest ‘trail magic’ event found anywhere on the trail. The timing of the event is around the last weekend in April, about 3 weeks in advance of the very well known celebration called ‘Appalachian Trail Days‘ which is held in early to mid May in Damascus, Virginia. The significance of this is that it will take the average hiker that long to hike from Brown Gap to Damascus.

 

The reason this location was chosen is because it is at a point on the trail where the hikers are not very close to any easily available re-supply points. Having just hiked the 71 miles across the rugged Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with no stores or postal services and still having over 23 miles to go to the next town of Hot Springs, NC, their food supplies are running low.  Not to mention that after a week of hiking with nothing by dehydrated foods and water, along with burning up to and beyond 5000 calories per day, that their need and cravings for cold drinks and real food are getting strong ! Although they would surely make it to Hot Springs without any assistance,  there is definitely a need for some random acts of kindness there which gave birth to what is now known more commonly as ‘trail magic’.

 

This all started back in 1991 when I was looking for a remote camping spot that I could drive to that was close to the trail yet not in a campground or any public place (where one could not take a drink and make noise in the middle of the night if one wanted to). It was also to be a place where my brother in law (at the time) and his wife, could meet us (me and my wife at the time)  to share in this cool camping spot as they lived in NC and we lived in TN.  Having hiked through there before and after studying the maps, Brown Gap was chosen by me, and our first camping trip there was in April, `90. We all had a great time and it just so happened that at least a dozen or so thru-hikers came by to which we gladly shared our food and drinks with. It was by total surprise to them and they were all extremely grateful which you could see in their smiling faces !

 

We now had the fever and we decided at that time that we would come back to this spot every year on this date to camp out and feed ‘thru-hikers’ all weekend. Back in those days the idea or term ‘trail magic’ had not yet been thought of and it was mostly unheard of anywhere on the trail,  so it was a welcomed surprise by the hikers. We made many lifelong friends starting that year, many of which told us that they never encountered anything else like it on their entire journey to Maine and that it was one of the best highlights of their trip. This made us feel very good about doing it and fueled our desire to do even more.  I have boxes full of postcards, pictures, and thank you notes from many who went on to complete the trail but we don’t get those as often anymore.

 

It started out with your basic camping food which was hot dogs, burgers, with chips and drinks but as the fever and number of hikers grew each year, so did the amounts and types of food and drinks that were brought. The number of grilles, smokers,  and cooking methods also increased as gas grilles and propane burners were added along with makeshift tables  plus more and more coolers ! It escalated to huge proportions and had to be moved from the small un-level campsite, down the bank into the road and before we knew it we were spending excess of $1200 per year ! We began with just my old van (that once broke down and had to be towed 70 miles to there loaded with food and repaired later on location!) and some plywood and milk crate tables before we progressed to the use of canopies when ‘The Hobo`s‘  and  ‘HoboCentral‘  was formed a few years later.  Eventually when our friend OX started helping, we gained more and more canopies, grills, and a small flatbed trailer, but he now uses a huge enclosed trailer ! There has never really been any negative energy at the gap, but just in case we always have a sheriff around and of course Lone Wolf (close hikertrash friend of mine I met in 1987) has been our head of security for many years now.

 

For many years we would have a fish fry on Friday night (provided by my brother-in-law at the time Bobby ‘Fish Dude‘ Bufkin),  which was Striper Bass but later due to supply issues we used trout) complete with fresh chopped (on site) potatoes, deep fried along with the battered fish with coleslaw and hushpuppies on the side, and of course my mom’s famous Trail Beans have always been there. We have since changed from fish to baked hams with various sides. We had three hams this year along with a master slaw maker (since we had forgotten our grater and vinegar plus he had a nice knife and created a mustard based sauce for it that was delicious). On Sat night it is always what I call the ‘smorgasborg’ which would be every meat and food possible within the imagination and capability with a combination of rib-eye steaks, grilled chicken, pork  ribs, pork chops, assorted sausages, Salmon, and whatever wild game meat such as deer that could be obtained. One year someone donated some fresh Elk steaks ! So in other words the hot dogs and burgers became lunch food or appetizers only.

 

Of course Sat. and Sun. mornings (and recently on Fridays) there is breakfast of eggs, mainly western omelets but we will do eggs to order, with bacon and assorted sausages. We always tear down and leave after around 4pm on Sunday afternoon after lunch is over. Oh, and not to forget about the desserts. Besides lots of fruits, veggies, candies, muffins, snacks and chips, etc., there is always a famous recipe of mom’s that the hikers named ‘Manna‘ which was described this past year as ‘sugar coated crack’ ! It is amazing and well loved at this outing. It is quite a spread that has to be seen to be believed. We also had many assorted casseroles over the years when mom was around to help out,  not to mention many assorted creations made on site from whatever was brought by the many crew members and helpers we have had over the many years.

 

And of course we can’t leave out the ‘Magic Box‘. This started in the early years and will be a part of it as long as I am present.  Every hiker gets at least one if they want it. What is in the magic box you wonder? Only the best deviled eggs you have ever put in your mouth complete with minced onion, garlic, sweet relish, and other ingredients and sometimes topped with parsley, paprika and yes,, bacon !

 

There has been so much fun and camaraderie had at these events,  meeting so many people from all over the world, that is has been a wonderful life experience for me. Not to mention I have made some lifelong friends while doing it. The hikers are quick to lend  helping hands to assist with the many tasks and chores that are involved in the preparation of these extravagant meals, not to mention the clean up that is required afterward.  We have also had many wonderful crew members / friends that without their help this could not have been successful for so many years and to them I am extremely grateful. But once all the work is done there is ample time left over to sit around the campfire for some great conversation, humor and entertainment. I always play my guitar and sing and it seems there is never a lack of talent at the gap. This year we were lucky enough to have our own A.J. Stone join us as he was hiking some of the trail,  so he performed many songs he has written including the ‘Hiker Funk’ (aka “I Hate Stairs’) song which he later won the Hiker Talent Show with three weeks later at Trail Daze in Damascus ! In 2004 we met ‘Gordy‘ (Rorey Carroll) who was hiking the trail and just learning to play guitar and is an awesome singer/songwriter who has became an amazing freak of talent that is now performing at venues around the country. Check out her original music on her website here.

 

It was also my son Tyler`s 17th birthday since after all he was born while I was gone to feed hikers at Brown Gap back in 1994, and I had got him a guitar like he wanted for his present, so he was also there having a good time jamming along for the hikers.

 

We did have to move over to the other side of the road to setup in recent years due to the many standing dead pine trees caused by the Pine Bark Beetles making the original location too hazardous however, I did manage to get the Forest Service to come out on Thursday evening this year and cut them all down for us. This made for quite a mess but Ox organized the hikers and they worked hard to move and relocate the new log furniture to make an impressive new fire pit beside the gate.

 

Over the years we have experienced about every kind of weather there is and we have managed to endure through it all from hot and dry to rainy and muddy with a few times of frozen trees and deep snow. Each year there are many different horse riders that come through and most of them are very nice people and always take time to stop and hang out with us. Some are more friendly than others !

 

For the last few years that I was managing the event (up until 2004), I was able to get small donations from many individuals each year along with a $200/yr check from the Carolina Mountain Club for which I have been a maintainer for since 1991, which helped ease the burden a lot as I have never been able to afford this personally, but have always managed to pull it off one way or another. After my mother died the week of Brown Gap 2000 (and yes we did manage to do it that year thanks to the help of so many of my friends) I did take a few years off as my friend Franklin ‘OX’ LaFond stepped up to the plate and offered to take over for me until I felt like coming back. I met OX in ’97 ‘  at Brown Gap early one Friday morning as I rolled in about daylight with my van load of goodies, and come to find out he was about ready to give up on his thru-hike and go home but, the Brown Gap experience helped to change his mind and he did complete his hike and has been helping us ever since. He is a systems analyst and has streamlined the processes and expenses and has taken upon himself the financial and physical burden to keep this going for the last few years and this year we had the 20th annual Brown Gap Hikers Feast which was awesome. (It’s actually been 21 years but last year was canceled due to the interstate (I-40) being blocked by a massive landslide making access with the trailer not feasible.

 

There were record numbers of hikers that came through and stayed with us this year and many of them were not aware of it before they walked into it which is something that over the years has been really hard to achieve and was a big part of the pleasure and excitement of the early years. It is hard to keep something like this a secret after so many years and word does get up and down the trail quite fast but,  to see all the surprised faces as they were called over to find out what they wanted on their burger and if they would be staying for a rib-eye steak for supper and breakfast the next morning was definitely priceless ! We also had a few that took the double Bubba Burger challenge and won ! One guy ate his double burger in under 3 minutes !

 

I hope we can continue to do this for many years to come and I plan on being a part of it from now on if at all possible. There are however, many people and organizations out there that are against these types of events, what we call ‘trail magic’ and are doing everything they can to stop it. They claim we are ruining the wilderness experience for the hikers and that rules should be put into place to stop it. My opinion is that it isn’t really a wilderness experience to begin with, and every hiker has the right to walk on by and not partake in any of it if they choose. I guess that makes us Trail Devil’s instead of Trail Angel’s eh ? I have asked almost every hiker what they think and I have yet to find any that thought it was a bad thing or that it should be stopped. I say let the hikers decide ! See ya next year !