Coffee Talk

Coffee brings people together. As a barista working along the Appalachian Trail, I see a variety of hikers coming through. People of all ages, races, and backgrounds hike the trail to find themselves and end up making plenty of friends along the way. The most common way they end up meeting, or so I’ve been told, is through a shared love for coffee.

I run a small coffee shop in Duncannon, PA, within the Doyle Hotel, a historic and popular stop along the Appalachian Trail. People come here to rest, restock, relax, and drink some good coffee, as well as be their raw, authentic selves. It’s known as a “home away from home” for hikers who have been on the trail for a while, a place where they can breathe.

Along the trail, there are many dangers: storms, injuries, snakes, bears, lack of food, lack of water, lack of access to 9–1–1/medical attention, etc. On the trail, anything and everything will happen, but according to Arrow (Markus), “it’s the moments that aren’t so fun that make the fun parts even more so”. Hiking the trail is a rigorous test of the strength of the body and mind, will, trust, and faith, one that has led to death for some. The hike, which is 2168 miles from Georgia to Maine, can take months, even years, so having these fun, relaxing moments is important.

On Monday, July 14th, I got the privilege to serve coffee & interview a spunky, silly, and fun group of hikers. Before the trail, they had what they call “normal jobs” and “normal names”: Coffee Time (Charlotte) was a Barista, Arrow (Markus) was a construction worker, TMI (Kaydence) and Mr. Wok (Ike) have always been travelers, and they come from states from all over the nation; with Charlotte being from Virginia, Markus & Kaydence being from California, and Ike being from Indiana. However, they all like to say that they are “from the mountains and the home that they give us”.

Along the trail, almost no one uses their “normal name”. Here, they have their trail names and stories to go along with them. Mr. Wok got his name from his main cooking utensil, which was a “miniature walk”. He still has “no idea where the Mr. came from”, which adds to the humor, simplicity, and charm of his story.

Coffee Time, as one might assume, got hers due to her habit of drinking coffee at “inappropriate times”. “I came into camp at like, five or 6 pm” she said, “and I asked someone what time it was. As they started to respond with the actual time, I cut in and I said, ‘it’s coffee time’, and pulled out my stove and coffee to make some at around 6 pm”.

Coffee Time then elaborated on her love for coffee shops, explaining that, “I stop at a coffee shop whenever it is humanly possible. Not only is it a second home, but also because I can only drink instant coffee on the trail, which is not as good as the espresso drinks that I can get in a coffee shop. I need my cortado!”

Mr. Wok, however, expressed to me that, unlike Coffee Time, he “does not drink coffee.” To which he further elaborated that he’ll, “drink energy drinks, like big energy drinks, or whatever has the highest caffeine content I can. When I do drink coffee, I take whatever can match that level of caffeine, which is ‘super good’ for your heart.” They all shared a hearty laugh at this comment and began to recall some memories from the beginning of their journey together.

This newfound family all met during a water stop at Blood Mountain, GA, where they instantly bonded and became friends. The day after they met, however, was their “funniest day on the trail yet,” according to Coffee Time.

“We stayed at Bailey’s Shelter, and there were warnings on the shelter that there was bear activity, and they said, you know, stay away from the shelter. It’s not scared of people. And we kind of ignored that, because there have been similar warnings at other shelters in the past. And we were like, Oh, it’s fine. Like, nothing’s gonna happen.” Coffee Time explains. “And then we showed up at the shelter and we all just said if there’s a bear that comes, we’ll deal with it…And then the bear came. It was maybe six feet behind someone, just coming up the trail, so we all started to yell at it and tried to make loud noises to get it to go away, like banging our trekking poles together and stuff, but nothing was stopping this bear. So it kept prowling around, and we were throwing rocks at it, and spraying it with the bear spray, which kind of made it falter a little bit. But then it kept prowling around the perimeters of the shelter, and just being a general nuisance and kind of scary. So then we made a huge fire that we kept burning all night, and we kind of took it in shifts, watching to make sure the bear wasn’t coming back. The bear did not come back in the middle of the night, but it did in the morning when we were eating our breakfast, and when it came back, we were like, Oh, look, the bear’s back.”

Mr. Wok pitched in after this and said, “Nobody was really scared of it anymore in the morning”. After this, they explained to me that they slowly packed back up and made their way out, escaping the bear. This made for a very big test of trust and showed how much trust they were able to give to people they had just met.

The Appalachian Trail shows hikers things about themselves they had never known before. While on the trail, they’ve learned patience, how to take one day at a time, not to be too hard on themselves, how to face each challenge with a positive attitude, and “embracing the suck,” according to Coffee Time.

“Yeah, and you also learn to follow the flow,” said Mr. Wok. “We don’t make plans, we hate plans. We do whatever comes to us, and we just go with the flow, whether that be opening up to strangers or going swimming during a thunderstorm.”

Hiking the Appalachian Trail isn’t only a bragging right, but it’s a commitment the hiker makes to see it through, a dream. “This has been my dream for the better part of a decade, and it has just been my ultimate life goal to complete the trail in one go.” Coffee Time explains, “And so every time I’m on the trail, I’m always thinking about it. And when I’m having a bad day, I think, you know, if I don’t finish, I’m going to be so disappointed, and I’m going to want to come back and do it anyway, so I might as well keep going”.

For Mr. Wok, it’s “kind of the same thing. It’s been a big life goal line, and it just seemed like a hard challenge, and something I wanted to see through, both the mental and physical aspects of it. But now and then, on the hard days, like I didn’t always have a stress fracture in my foot, and I was at home for a few weeks, and the whole time, like, obviously, she was back on the trail. And when I started, I had never done anything like it, so I didn’t know if I loved it or hated it, but when I was at home, I definitely realized I was loving it.”

These hikers have found a home and calling to pursue while along the trail, and I’m very lucky to have provided a space for some Coffee Talk along the way.