S2E19: Internet trail magic.

Day 19: Sept 28, 2023
St. Louis, MO →
Lee’s Summit, MO
Miles: 237

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We pull into a driveway in a quiet and pristine neighborhood. Jen and I approach the house of people I’ve known for years, but only from the internet. This will be the first time meeting in person.

Craig opens the door, and we immediately hug. Following is Wilder, his daughter, and just behind is Alyssa, wife and mother respectively, with their lovable pitbull Hawkeye tethered to a leash.

We make the trip to Lee’s Summit expressly to see them. I maintain a mental tally of internet friends — those folks whom I’ve never met but who warrant a deliberate and considered real-life meetup. Alyssa, Craig, Wilder, and Hawkeye are on that list.

The crew guides us around their lovely home and shows us to the downstairs guest bedroom, our sleeping quarters for the night. It’s absolutely strange, and yet for me, completely normal to make and have friends from the internet. We’re grateful to be spending the evening with people I’ve admired from afar.

Craig and Wilder jet off to swim practice while Alyssa graciously prepares dinner. The conversation between the three of us flows like we share a deep-seated history — a common thread on this trip. Deeper backstories, current events, and a genuine interest in each other keep us at ease.

Craig and Wilder return, and dinner is ready. A delicious fare of tofu, fresh-cut mint and cilantro from their garden, cucumbers, carrots, peppers, and peanut sauce with vermicelli noodles. I go back for seconds. And thirds. And maybe fourths…

After dinner, Craig hovers over his Solo Stove on the back patio, prepping a fire as the night turns black. Alyssa warns that “secrets come out” around the fire, and I chuckle, jokingly cautious that my deepest and darkest may be revealed.

Eventually, Jen and I lose the battle against tiredness, so we turn in.

I remark to Jen as we turn off the lights that it’s wonderfully weird to be sleeping in the home of people we never met before, and yet how natural it is. I close my eyes, comforted by our friendship with such big-hearted hosts.

Trail magic is a term used to describe acts of goodwill that hikers may experience on trail. This is internet trail magic.