CHITTENANGO — Earlier this month, Chittenango residents Bill and Mary Coffin assisted “Denali,” a long distance hiker from Florida, on her journey along the North Country National Scenic Trail — a 4,700-mile footpath stretching across eight states from North Dakota to Vermont.
In the long distance hiking community, the Coffins, and other people who provide direct aid to hikers, are referred to as ‘trail angels.’
Trail angels help hikers in a variety of ways, from offering them a ride to town for groceries, or dropping off water or food at a trailhead, to shuttling them around a closed section of trail.
Over the past decade, the Coffins have provided shelter and resources to 12 North Country hikers. Six of their guests went on to complete the entire trail.
“There are lots of trail angels,” said Bill. “[We] simply wait at the trailhead or trail crossing for the hiker to come out of the woods, and we bring them home. [We] give them a hot shower, some provisions, a hot dinner, and things like that, and then [we] put them right back on the trail again. Anybody can be a trail angel.”
The Coffins learned that Denali was headed their way through a network of people involved in hiking, building, maintaining, and supporting long trails, like the North Country Trail.
“This woman in Michigan, who we know very well and who has done the North Country Trail herself, emailed [my wife] and said that [Denali] was coming out of the Adirondacks and heading through here,” said Bill.
Denali, who previously hiked the Appalachian, Ice Age, and Florida national scenic trails, has completed more than half of the North Country Trail.
Like many long distance hikers, Denali — whose real name is Mary — goes by a trail name, which she selected in honor of the highest mountain peak in North America.
According to Bill, she spent her career as a civilian mathematics teacher for the U.S. military with assignments at home and overseas. When she is not on long hiking expeditions, she helps maintain the Florida National Scenic Trail.
Denali began the most recent leg of her journey in the middle of July in Vermont.
“She had done 2,200 miles already in the western states,” said Bill. “She’s not going one end to the other continuously; she is doing part of one end and then the other. Some hikers will go continuously and others will do it piecemeal. Sometimes it will take 10 years to do it, if you do it piecemeal. She’s doing it partially that way. By now she has less than 2,500 miles to go.”
On Aug. 7, Mary picked Denali up at Delta Lake in Oneida County.
“Although I hike solo, the support of others, both at home and along the trail, is really important for a successful journey,” Denali said. “I had Mary Coffin’s number as a contact for up-to-date information about the North Country Trail in the Adirondacks . . . When I called her, not with a trail question but because I needed assistance, she immediately said ‘I’ll come get you.’ I had misjudged the distance I could go and the effect of the heat.”
For the next several days, the Coffins provided Denali with home-cooked meals, hot showers, clean clothes, and a bed.
Each morning, Mary shuttled her back to the trail so she could continue to accumulate miles (anywhere from 15 to 25 miles per day).
“The Coffins not only took me [in], but they also slack packed me,” Denali said. “That means they dropped me off on the trail with just a day pack, so I didn’t have to carry my big pack, which is about 23 pounds. With a sense of freedom, and less heat stress, I flew down the trail that day . . . I find that people really like to help me achieve my goal, and their contributions are an important part of the spirit of my hike.”
Mary also lent Denali her laptop, so she could repair her global positioning system (GPS) device, which failed as she was emerging from the Adirondacks. According to Bill, the tiny instrument enables the hiker’s cell phone to navigate without a tower nearby.
On Aug. 10, the Coffins dropped Denali off at Bingley Road in Cazenovia.
“We put her on the Gorge Trail, and that was the last we saw of her,” said Bill.
As of Aug. 19, Denali had completed 2,350 miles of her journey.
The Coffins are members of multiple trail organizations, including the North Country Trail Association (NCTA), the Adirondack Mountain Club, and the Finger Lakes Trail Conference.
In addition to serving as trail angels, the Coffins are actively involved in building and maintaining trails.
“I’ve worked on the Finger Lakes trail for almost 45 years, and Mary has been doing it for almost as long,” said Bill. “The North Country Trail follows the Finger Lakes Trail for much of its way through New York, so we work on both trails . . . You need to have an organization to build and maintain a trail, because you have to do all sorts of things. [For example,] you need to negotiate like mad to get landowners and land authorities [on board] and get local support.”
The North Country National Scenic Trail is the longest in the National Trails System, which includes national scenic trails, national historic trails, national recreation trails, and side and connecting trails.
“Madison County is fortunate and unique with a National Scenic Trail that combines with the Erie Canal National Heritage Trail at Canastota,” said John Becker, chairman of the Madison County Board of Supervisors. “The county board has formally endorsed the 1980 Act of Congress that created North Country as a National Scenic Trail.”
The chairman also wished Denali a safe and enjoyable journey and reminded county residents that the trail is intended for both local and long-distance use.
In Cazenovia, the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation, GoCaz (a unit of the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association), National Grid, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation provide support for the North Country National Scenic Trail.
“Cazenovia is an outstanding village on the North Country Trail, because of its own trail network,” said Bill. “CPF has the Gorge Trail and then they have several other trails in the Burlingame Rd area on the other side of the village. GoCaz has 21 signposts all around Cazenovia to help you find trailheads and that kind of thing. Cazenovia is a very unusual village [in terms] of trails.”
According to Bill, Cazenovia is in the process of becoming a designated NCTA Trail Town, a community through which the North Country Trail passes that supports hikers with services, promotes the trail to its citizens, and embraces the trail as a resource to be protected and celebrated. Trail towns are built on a relationship between a town, the trail and its local volunteers.
For more information on the North Country National Scenic Trail, visit northcountrytrail.org.
