(From the article ‘Wild’ Movie Inspires Women to Find Themselves on the Trail)

Saina Kamula, of Santa Clarita Calif., is in the last stages of preparing for what she hopes to be the trip that will realign her life.

“I always thought I would die by the age of 28, don’t ask me why,” said Kamula. “Now I’ve made it to 29, almost 30, and I want to do something to commemorate my own life. I hope it’s healing and I think it will be.”

Kamula, who does the books for a local jeweler, has always been independent. Growing up in
Finland, she moved to the United States in her teens. Next month, Kamula plans to hike the
length of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail on her own.

“I hike solo all the time and I prefer it. I’m an only child and I grew up travelling a lot, I was always the new kid so I became my own best friend and my own enemy,” said Kamula. “I am used to that solitude.”

Kamula has struggled with depression and suicide for years, and hiking is the one thing that calms the world around her, she says. She first read about the Pacific Crest Trail online, and recalls thinking it would be impossible.

“I was doing the prep work and I wanted every book on the Pacific Crest Trail and that’s how I found ‘Wild’,” said Kamula. “I just grabbed it out of many books I boughtat once, I didn’t even know about it, but I was starting to think about hiking and ‘Wild’ just helped.”

Kamula planned to hike the trail last year, but says, “It was not financially realistic,” she is now getting set to begin the trail April 11.

“I feel like I am going in circles from 9 to 5 and the monotony of that, I need to get away for a little while,” she said.