"We first met Alpine briefly in Idyllwild at one of the many ice cream shops. She was waiting for better conditions to send it over San Jacinto. We didn't see her again till Oregon! Crazy how you might be a few days ahead or behind someone for hundreds if not a thousand miles and all of a sudden you run into them again at a random water source in another state. She was hiking with the largest tramily I think we saw on trail! They just kept popping up. It was great to see her again and to catch up. Last we saw her was so early in the hike and there were so many uncertainties. Now we see her so many miles later and she has an entire village of great people for a tramily and she was more determined than ever to continue the hike. That kind of energy and passion to keep going is palpable and exciting to be around. Another period of time passed a long hundreds of miles and we ran into her again when she was hiking north and nearly finished the Sierra and her thru hike, while we were hiking south and just re-entering the Sierra. After a few brief exchange of words we went our separate ways once again, but this time it was different, because this time she was off to finish the last few miles of trail she needed to do and we knew our paths would not cross again on the trail. This was a story told many times on the trail this year with all the flipping and flopping a lot of hikers had to do this year." - Journey Man
What's your name / trail name or both?
Lauren aka "Alpine"
Where are you from?
Spokane WA
Why did you decide to do the PCT?
Needed a break from personal circumstances and hiking everyday seemed like a good distraction.
What has been the most challenging thing you've encountered on trail so far?
Continuing the hike with a foot injury.
What is something you've learned so far on your hike?
Community makes the difference. You can do anything with the right people around you.
