Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka Hiker Has Following on Pacific Trail

By ABIGAIL BLISS
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Sitka resident Leanne Alexander is off island, on the beaten path.

 Leanne Alexander (Photo Provided)

    The 49-year-old backpacker has taken on the Pacific Crest Trail, which stretches 2,650 miles from the United States’ southern border to Canada, passing through California, Oregon and Washington along the way. Some 485 people completed the trek last year, the Pacific Crest Trail Association reports, although thousands of people hike shorter portions of the trail every year.
    Alexander’s thru-hike began on April 27 at the trail’s southern terminus, and she’s expected to reach Canada by early September, said her brother, Ched Whitney. Over the course of her trip, Alexander will have to hike through the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, not to mention blisters and bad weather.
    As of Sunday evening, Alexander had 350 miles under her belt, thanks to an average pace of 20.6 miles each day, even taking into account a “zero” or rest day on the 14th day of her trip, Whitney said.
    He said it’s hard to be certain that she’ll maintain her current speed, but expressed confidence in her fitness and ability.
    “Obviously, it’s impossible to tell,” he said. “I think the biggest danger for her is injury.”
    Though cellular service can be spotty on the trail, Alexander is making an effort to stay in touch with friends and family. She’ll be certain to tune in for one event in particular: her son, Bailey, is graduating from high school in Reno next month, and Alexander will take a break from her hike to fly in for the occasion.
    And, even during her time on the PCT, she will not be completely off the grid.
    Using text updates and sporadic phone calls from Alexander, family members are helping the hiker maintain a blog throughout her trek, so that those following from back home can stay up-to-date on her progress.
    “It’s actually a lot of fun,” said Whitney, who’s been monitoring Alexander’s daily mileage, posting pictures she sends along, and creating graphics to illustrate her trajectory. Updates can be found on her blog, peanutonthepct.wordpress.com; the hiker’s Instagram account, @peanutonthepct; and her YouTube channel, Peanut on the PCT, the titles of which are a nod to her childhood nickname, “Peanut.”
    Whitney said the name originated with Alexander’s father, whose pet names for his kids have stuck.
    “He called his two daughters – she’s the younger of the two – Punkin and Peanut,” he said.
    Both Alexander and her sister, Karen Moon, are avid hikers, Whitney said. A few summers ago, they took on a 5,000 foot mountain in the Lake Tahoe area of Northern California. The catch? They first had to walk 30 miles to get to its base.
    With that kind of track record, Whitney said, he’s confident Alexander is prepared for the PCT, even if the tri-state thru-hike represents a new kind of challenge.
    “She hadn’t done anything of this scope,” Whitney said.
    So, far, she’s cruising along, tackling a new section of the trail each morning and taking each slight setback in stride.
    Alexander has encountered a rattlesnake and sweltering heat, strenuous detours due to trail damage and a nearby earthquake, but she’s also seen the calm of a campsite at night; the kindness of trail angels, who leave gifts for hikers by the trail; and many personalities of other PCT thru-hikers.
    Whitney said she’s hardly been fazed by experiences that might leave other hikers quaking in their boots.
    When she spotted the rattlesnake just south of Mount San Jacinto, which overlooks Los Angeles, she kept her cool.
    “We grew up in the desert, so it was no big deal,” Whitney said. “She just gave it a wide berth.”
    The blog posts to date have been peppered with Alexander’s praise for the experience, and family members’ admiration.
    “She would not want to be boastful at all,” Whitney said. Instead, Alexander’s siblings and friends are singing her praises for her.
    “There is no way to put to paper the enthusiasm and for life that my sister radiates to the world,” Moon wrote on May 2 after meeting up with Alexander. “Seeing her in her element out there on the trail is life changing. She is nothing short of a machine and one of the greatest people I will ever know.”
    Regardless of miles Alexander has put behind her, and the accomplishments that lie ahead, the Sitkan’s trek already represents a cause for celebration: both “Peanut” and the PCT turn 50 this year.
    Alexander’s birthday will be in July, at which point family members will take the celebration on the road, and meet the birthday girl on the trail. Whitney suspects his sister will be in Northern California by then.
    “The thing that makes it hard to make plans is guessing where she’ll be, but I’m guessing all of us will converge wherever she is at that point in time,” he said.