One Step at a Time

Most people spend a lifetime waiting for the perfect opportunity to do something they have always wanted to do. Sarah Auer ’20 decided to put her dreams into action as soon as possible. She did something she had wanted to do for as long as she could remember — she hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from Mexico to Canada all by herself.

Growing up, Auer’s family took backpacking trips every summer. Enjoying the simplicity of those days spent in the wilderness made her want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from an early age. She said, “The trail goes right through Big Bear Lake, my hometown, as well as by my high school dorm building in Tahoe, California, so I’ve known about the trail for almost my whole life.”

Auer spent the summer after her 2020 graduation hiking. She hiked up to 14 miles a day in preparation for her lifelong dream. She said, “It was good training, but did not quite prepare me for 20-mile days with 45 pounds on my back. I had to research ultralight gear and figure out how to have everything I needed without taking too much weight.” Auer prepared her backpack for one week of travel and then created resupply boxes that her mother would send to her along the way.

It took five months for Auer to travel from Mexico to Canada, with 134 nights spent in a tent. She said, “I was able to visit friends and family who helped me resupply as I moved north and could not be more blown away by the support from everyone back home. Most of my time, however, was spent on the trail alone. I knew that sleeping in the woods alone at night was going to be scary, but once I put myself in that situation, I had to just do it. By the time I arrived in Canada, I was completely comfortable and partially obsessed with being out there alone. I think that is one of my favorite takeaways from my trip."

One of Auer’s most memorable moments on the trail was when she was in southern Washington in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. She said, “When I got to the top of the ridge, I found a group of women who were on a shorter backpacking trip. Because they weren’t conscious about pack weight, they had all kinds of snacks with them. One woman offered me a piece of bacon and I thought she was joking. But she pulled out a baggy of cooked bacon and I took two pieces. I ate them while looking over the most gorgeous canyon in the middle of nowhere and thought things probably couldn’t get much better.”

After returning from her trip, Auer began working as a ski patroller for Big Bear Mountain Resort. She is currently working on becoming a level 3 patroller and hopes to join San Bernardino County’s search and rescue team this summer while continuing to work patrol for the bike season. Eventually, Auer hopes to move to a bigger mountain and continue her education in emergency medical services.

Auer said, “Doing the PCT taught me, in a very literal way, that if you want to do something, you just have to take the steps to make it happen. I was completely shocked the day I made it to the Canadian border. I was in tears at the fact that I wanted to do it, and that it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and that I did it. I made it from Mexico to Canada literally one step at a time, and each step closed the gap between wanting to do something and actually doing it. Living on the trail made me feel free in a currently very chaotic and controlling world. I have never felt less free than I did during the heart of the pandemic, and so the timing of this adventure could not have been better. Looking back on all of it now, it taught me not to live in fear, because I just want to live fully.”