My name is Sara Groban, name of «Sonic» path, and I am originally from half of the desert in Palm Desert, ca. I’m going to walk through The Wonderland Trail (start date: July 14th) and the Tour du Mont Blanc (start date: August 6th). I acquired my «Sonic» path in 2018 while walking along the Colorado path because I was known for being a fast hiker. Funny History … My hiking friends originally called me «Gollum» due to the state of my feet on the walk … You know … millions of blisters, earth and covered with LeucoTape. I have to admit that my trail hygiene was not the best at that time, but for my defense, the only leukotope I had was what I noted from another hiker that passed and everything was standing, so I had to try to taste it. Anyway, I am very happy with «Sonic» stuck and since then my feet hygiene has been more or less pristine.
Where it all started …
Growing up, I didn’t do a lot of walks or backpackers. I don’t have this poetic background story where my father took me to the mountains before I could breathe and taught me the mysteries of the field. My two parents were in the field of medicine and I am very outdoors in the family. Hiking really became part of my story in 2017 when I got sober. During this time I reached the rock background, I was unhappy and unhealthy, and just single. I made a random walk with some girlfriends and exclaimed «Wow Sara, you are really good in this!» After years of feeling lost without purpose and I always feel that I never do anything well, I was like «me? Well in something? Hm … could there be something in this walking thing.»
Within a few months after this interaction in 2018, I was walking my first walk on the Colorado path. Since then, I have completed the John Muir Trail, the Tahoe Rim Trail, and will soon be The Wonderland Trail and Tour du Mont Blanc this year. I have also made many backpacker trips, such as the Kalalau path in Kauai, Hi, the Crow Pass Trail in Anchorage, AK, the Timberline Trail around Mount Hood in Oregon, and the edge for the edge of Rim Trail through the Grand Canyon to name a few. To train, I walk to the local peaks near my hometown of Palm Springs, ca like San Gorgonio and San Jacinto.
Hawaii kahalahomous | In Kauai County, Hello
Timberline trail around Mount Mty | Oregon
The Colorado path
Tahoe Rim Trail
So … what kind of hiker am I?
Well, I’m a restless hiker. Growing up, I have always dealt with depression and anxiety, so once I got sober, hiking became my exit for all my accumulated energy. I always ask my hiking partner … «How many days do you think we can do it?» Or ask me … «How many miles can I do physically in one day?» I am a great admirer of Bonus thousands. A typical day on the way with me is to wake up at 6:00 am and walk until 6:00 pm with a 30 -minute break in the middle to eat, but even then I just want to get in motion. Time is miles in my mind. When I get to the camp I want to eat an hour or 2, raise my feet, wear Vibey music and sleep to sleep.
I love constantly challenging being a stronger and strongest hiker. I love hiking sport and compete with myself because at the end of the day, nobody else cares more than me for the fast or how hard I was. It took me some time to realize that. I have accepted that how I find personal satisfaction is to achieve or overcome my own objectives and perhaps demonstrating to me and the others that can be done and that I can be the one who does it. I admit that I have high standards and expectations for me, but in reality they have only made me a stronger hiker. There are also advantages for this type of walk, since I can get permits for certain walks or make certain walks like day walks just because I can physically and most people would find my undesirable itinerary.
Being realistic, no one can go hard all the time and, as I aged, I had to accept that. In 2018 on the Colorado path, I was willing to accept any injury whenever the path could end because I thought that was what I needed to fill my cup. Well, after years of walking and learning about me, my cup is never full. I am always hungry for the next path, the next challenge and the next trip, making my longevity of hiking even more important if I want to remain in the game and continue feeding my hunger for the outdoors. That is why I have given much importance to target strength training.
They underestimated me many times in the course of my life, I felt that it was not good enough or that it was not «capable.» They even told me after a back injury in 2019 that I would never run or walk again, to which I replied «Fuck that!» Then I completed the JMT in 11 days in 2020. The point is that I have learned that not everything that people tell me or about me is true. Hiking has given me an identity, a community to be part and my sanity. It is the only thing that distinguishes me from others and that nobody can take away. My restlessness stands out and has taken me to places where I never thought I could go, that people told me that I couldn’t go. It really is one of the only things in my life that my self -confidence and self -esteem has grown up and protects it without rest. It is my own little rebellion. Whether people applaud or shook their heads with how I choose to live my life through hiking, I will continue to chase it.
Walk your own walk, right? Well, this is mine.
Anderson Peak | Disability of San Gorgonio
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