WHAT:
The Appalachian Trail (AT) is the country's longest marked trail, running from Georgia to Maine. Every year, hundreds of hikers attempt to thru-hike all 2,000+ miles and only about 20% are able to complete it. It often takes people 6 months to complete the entire trail. Not only is it a physically challenging adventure, it also is mentally and emotionally draining. This is where Trail Angels come into play. A Trail Angel is defined as someone who provides help, transportation, lodging, or food to a hiker. Many times these random acts of kindness are what it takes for a hiker to pull through and continue on their journey when they feel like they have reached their breaking point.

WHY:
In Connecticut, the Appalachian Trail runs from Bulls Bridge to Salisbury. Most AT hikers start arriving here by June at which point they are 3/4 away from completing their journey, and in many cases are mentally and physically maxed out. Last year, the town of Kent, CT made the news when the only laundromat in town banned hikers.

With The Trail Angel Project, I would like to counter that inhospitable act by creating a pop up "Trail Magic" station which would provide necessities like water, food, toilet paper, and soap to hikers.

WHERE:
At Trailheads Between Kent and Salisbury, CT. The locations will change based on the flow of hikers and will be announced via twitter as well as White Blaze and Trail Forum which are the go to sites for AT hikers, in addition to a website that we will create for this project. We will update the website with information on our location in addition to the items we will be handing out to hikers.

WHEN:
Weekends, June-August 2014

WHO:
Initially myself and the group of people I hiked the AT with last year. I would also like to engage the CT hiking community to volunteer to hand out supplies.