Trail Magic Recipient Deeply Uncomfortable With Emotional Vulnerability of Free Snacks

Appalachian Trail thru-hiker Ryan 'Stoic' Gunderson experienced what therapists are calling a 'catastrophic emotional breach' on Tuesday after a trail angel handed him a cold Coca-Cola and a peanut butter sandwich at a road crossing in Tennessee. 'I said thank you and then I started crying,' Gunderson reported, visibly distressed by the memory. 'Full crying. In front of everyone. Over a Coke. I've been on trail for three months and I've maintained perfect emotional control. Then this woman hands me a sandwich and suddenly I'm weeping about my childhood.' Trail magic -- the tradition of strangers leaving food, drinks, or supplies for long-distance hikers -- is a beloved aspect of thru-hiking culture. However, Gunderson, who had carefully cultivated a trail persona of stoic self-reliance, found the experience 'devastating to my brand.' 'I had a reputation,' he said. 'Other hikers called me Stoic. That was my trail name. Because I don't show emotion. And now six people watched me cry into a peanut butter sandwich because a kind woman said, You look like you could use this, honey.' The trail angel, Martha Clemmons, 67, who has been providing trail magic at the same road crossing for twelve years, said the reaction was 'perfectly normal.' 'They all cry,' she said, arranging a cooler of sodas. 'The tough ones cry hardest. Something about walking 1,500 miles and then having someone just be nice to you. It breaks something loose.' Gunderson has requested a trail name change to 'Formerly Stoic' but says he will 'never be able to look at a Coca-Cola the same way again.' He ate three more sandwiches before leaving.