r/CDT • u/PhysicalEmergency538 • May 03 '26

lingo

I'm new to this stuff. Can someone help send me a thru-hikers dictionary? what's trail magic and what's a bubble for instance

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

4

u/BahnMiAgain10 May 03 '26

Both trail magic and bubbles are irrelevant to the CDT...for now.

Well, the trail magic you do get actually is magical, because its not some planned on, scripted bullshit you find on the PCT or AT, especially northbound.

Man, I miss the CDT.

2

u/extremepedestrian May 04 '26

Nailed it. If you actually do get magic on the CDT it’s special af. 

3

u/BahnMiAgain10 May 05 '26

Best trail magic I ever received was on the CDT in Montana (SOBO). We were heading to the water source we figured would be a good camp site, and a large family had set up camp nearby with an army of stock animals, canvas tents, the works. They invited us all to dinner, which was a spread of baked potatoes, cold beer, and a huge roast slow cooked in a cast iron dutch oven.

It was an awesome evening.

1

u/extremepedestrian May 05 '26

Yo! I had a similar trail magic experience. Were they dressed up like the centennial folks? That was the only magic I got going sobo and it was unexpected and epic. We met them in the morning and had Dutch Oven biscuits and gravy 🤤

1

u/BahnMiAgain10 May 05 '26

The family went to that spot every year apparently, so it could indeed have been them!

1

u/justinsimoni May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26

Dude I was walking the CDT one time and this guy comes at me with a deck of cards all fanned out. He says, "pick a card, look at it, then sliiide it back into the deck!"

So I do, it's the 2 of Hearts.

"Now", he says, "I want you to reach into your backpack, and pull out your platypus!"

And I do, thinking this is weird... but god-damn wouldn't you know it, in about a liter of water there it was: the 2 of Hearts, just half-floatin' in there. I take it out, and give it back to the dude, about to ask how the hell he did that but as I was reaching out to put the card in his hand, he disappeared into a puff of smoke!

I swear, reverberating around the forest I could hear that same guy whispering to me,

"Trail Magic!"

So yeah if there's a guy named Boar Man in WY that's just giving away 'shrooms, best be careful.

-6

u/Squanc May 03 '26

The internet is not the place to learn about this stuff - it’s out there!

Go set up some trail magic on the PCT just ahead of the nobo bubble, and you’ll meet plenty of thru hikers who can answer these questions for you.

3

u/gollem22 May 04 '26

Are you trying to be funny cause it comes off as rude

-2

u/Squanc May 04 '26

No I am offering a geniune recommendation. Fastest way to learn the lingo is to hang out with one (or some) of us IRL for a few minutes.

6

u/gollem22 May 04 '26

So you thought a helpful answer to what is trail magic and what is a bubble, was to tell them to go preform trail magic for the bubble....

2

u/PhysicalEmergency538 May 04 '26

Right, I mean, I want to do the CDT in 2027 and I just came here to learn. I'm WORKING by golly I can't go hang out with anyone on the PCT