Alex Maier
Amy L. Robin
Amy was born in Vallejo, CA. Her parents divorced at a young age and lived in a less than ideal situation that left emotional scars. Her father remarried into an unhealthy marriage that left even more emotional baggage. The new marriage lead them to move to Montana which was very rough for her, leaving all her friends and her way of life behind. Seeing a lot of evil and living a part of evil taught her toxic survival skills.
Although the love for the outdoors was already there, she eventually grew closer to nature with her new friends and way of life. She then eased her way into hunting, learning bush crafting skills and hiking on her own. Getting out into the backcountry more and more turned into camping which lead to hikes which lead to backpacking. All while growing her outdoor skills Amy started spartan races, races that range from 3 miles to 13+ miles with a range of 20 to 30+ obstacles, all outdoors. These activities were helping her mind heal as well as her body.
Gaining the love for the outdoors, being grounded in nature, and pushing herself physically turned into an escape, a feeling of release, and a feeling of being at home. She has made a lot of progress in growing out of the toxic ways she learned, but knew that it could be so much better and she still had a long path to recovery. Eventually meeting her boyfriend Alex, who is an experienced thru-hiker and outdoor enthusiast she wanted more of a challenge. She wanted more of a healing aspect that she learned thru-hikers get. She wanted to do a thru-hike of her own.
She threw the idea of doing a thru-hike out to Alex, expecting him to say no. She thought that is something he doesn’t want to deal with. A girlfriend with deep emotional baggage in the middle of nowhere. To her surprise, he said yes and slowly they started making little commitments to each other about doing a thru-hike that eventually turned into plans. With the thought of leaving her life behind, and letting people down that gave her opportunities, she still knows this is something she has to do. Not knowing what will come of it, but trusting in the connection to the earth and the healing that comes with solitude is something she owes to herself, something she knows she has to do.
Minnow
Minnow was born on February 18th, 2017 on the Browing reservation in Montana. At around 6 weeks old she quickly found her forever family. It was a super scary process, leaving everything she knew and loved in a big car with people she did not know at all. It happened so fast, all Minnow knew was she was scared. After a long drive, she finally made it to her new home and learned to love her new family. She had a Dad, a mom, and a new sister.
After a few short months, her family split ways and she stayed in her mom's custody while her sister stayed with her dad. Minnow had a hard time understanding why her family was not together anymore and started rebelling against life. Chewing up anything and everything in view, using the bathroom anywhere she wanted, not listening, breaking out and running away, and worst of all showing aggression towards humans and other dogs. After a long slow process with many talks and each just listening to each other Minnow and her mom eventually worked things out. She still gets to see her sister and dad and knows she still has a lot of work to do.
Minnow soon came to realize that her mom needed her more than anything else in this world. She realized she was her mom’s Batman and her mom was her Robin, after all, Minnow called the shots and saved her mom in more ways and times than she can count. Minnow finally had a job in life and that was to be by her mom’s side through thick and thin. Minnow and her mom have gone on countless adventures and still do till this day. They go everywhere with each other and are inseparable. If one can’t go then the other won’t.
Minnow’s mom, Amy started dating again and eventually found someone Minnow loved, his name was Alex. She soon accepted him as her stepdad. Minnow has been trying to teach her stepdad everything she knows about life and her mom, but he still has things to learn. She recently became a mom and had 8 babies!!! She convinced her mom and stepdad to keep one baby, Echo as long as she could find someone to watch her for her next biggest adventure. Minnow still has a ways to go to recovery and can not wait to work it out on the trail.
