Tom “Trip the Light” Magee, hails from the Pacific Northwest.  Trip started my hiking career at the age of 18 and has hiked many trails over the year. Trip's greatest achievement is holding the record for the  SKT (Slowest Known Time) for the PCT of 46 years and 12 days.

Trip has previously held board positions as Treasurer and Gazette Editor and is very happy to be on the board of this great organization once again.

Flamingo lives in Oakland, California. He started backpacking in his youth as an Eagle Scout, and went on to hike the PCT ('05-’06), CDT ('15-’16), and numerous high routes in the Sierra Nevada. On-trail hobbies include night sky photography, backcountry cuisine, and hosting wilderness tea parties. Off trail, he leads a team of scientists discovering new drugs for neurological disorders.

Anne "Kimchi" Hildebrand never expected to become a hiker, having been excused from PE during high school for spinal abnormalities. After learning to hike while living in Patagonia, and then living out of a Honda Civic in the US Southwest, she thought her big adventure was going to be a two week solo backpacking trip. Needless to say, that backpacking trip turned into the PCT, which turned into the CDT, the Te Araroa and part of the Camino (while pushing a wheelchair, the only hike where she gained upper-body strength). 

She's so grateful to the multitudes of people that go into making long-distance hiking a reality and hopes to positively add her small contribution to that work here at ALDHA-West.

Sara “Socks” Kruglinski has always loved being outside in nature and dreamed of hiking the PCT since first hearing about it in elementary school. She made her dream come true in 2018. That wasn’t enough so she went SOBO in 2019 just to make sure she hadn't miss anything the first time. As a NorCal local she has hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail with her dog Ace and many other Sierra/Tahoe trails.  Socks will talk your ears off for hours about lakes and trails in the area especially if they are dog friendly.

Her favorite trail is usually the one she is currently hiking as there is always something beautiful to discover just around the corner. Socks never hikes without hot sauce and usually carries at least two varieties just in case of emergency.  When not out hiking she can be found petting her dog Ace and creating art inspired by hiking outside on www.Sockstomistic.com 

Born in the Texas Hill Country, Seth realized his love for the outdoors and hiking in the far reaches of Big Bend country. After discovering the Appalachian Trail 20 years ago, Seth is still charging trails and scouting lines to ski in the winter. He currently resides in Santa Fe with his two dogs. 

Jeff Brownscheidle has his dad to thank for his love of wilderness adventure. Long before he was an engineer, a boyhood fascination with the world that exists where roads end and trails begin had taken root.

Better known as “Mountain Man” among hiking circles, he has completed over 10,000 miles of long-distance hiking on some of America’s greatest trails, all with a pair of his beloved Chacos underfoot.

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While he’s had the privilege of hiking many long trails, and even completing the Triple Crown, he’s also a writer, engineer, Chaco Ambassador, and Certified Wilderness First Responder. When he’s not on the trail chronicling his adventures for 
StoneAndSky.net, he consults aspiring thru-hikers on how to make the most of their own time on trail.

Hummingbird hails from Vancouver, British Columbia where she is an educator, writer and textile artist. Her first long distance hikes were in Jasper and Banff National Parks in the Canadian Rockies. She has section hiked about 2/3 of the PCT and many trails throughout southwestern British Columbia, Washington, California and the Rocky Mountains.

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Hummingbird is editor The Gazette. She regularly does gear reviews for TheTrek.co and occasionally updates her personal blog westcoasthikergirl.com

Bio

Bio