Krems vet walks 4,300 kilometres in six months

A vet from the city of Krems in Lower Austria has fulfilled a lifelong ambition of walking from Mexico to Canada. Sabine Schroll shut up shop in her veterinary practice and completed the 4,300 kilometre trek in six months.

The Pacific Crest Trail stretches from the U.S. border with Mexico all the way to British Columbia in Canada. Sabine Schroll took on this mammoth task alone with just a six kilo pack on her back.

“I started on 24 April near the Mexican border,” said the woman. She even made the 6 month trip without a mobile phone on the grounds that “every gram of weight is too much.” The tiny rucksack only contained a tarpaulin which when combined with Sabine’s trekking poles functioned as a tent, a small sleeping back and hurricane stove, a pot and the all-important teapot. “I love tea more than anything,” explained the vet.

Sabine’s journey took her through 15 of the 16 ecological systems in America and 25 national forests. The path, which was completed in 1993, climbs from sea level all the way to 13,153 feet in the Sierra Nevada. “Every 1,500 kilometres I had to buy a new pair of shoes which I would always have to sort out in advance!” she explained.

The 4,300 kilometre route which was given the status of a  National Scenic Trail in 1968 can be tackled on foot, bike or horse.