Christine Reed found the Appalachian Trail on a blog she stumbled across at a desk job in Arkansas, and within minutes she'd walked into her mother's office to announce she was going to hike it. That impulsive act of imagination, deciding to become a certain someone before she had any evidence she could be one, turned out to be the defining philosophy of her life. In HTR's first-ever Full Traverse episode, Doc pulls from four years of conversations with Christine to tell the complete arc: the AT hike she started four days before her mother died, the self-published memoir that found its way to ten thousand readers, the POTS diagnosis that reframed every mile she'd ever struggled through, back-to-back FKT attempts in the Arkansas backcountry, a move to Taos to finally put down roots, and a new edition of Alone in Wonderland released five years after the first. It's the story of a woman who kept betting on a version of herself that didn't exist yet, and kept being right.

Show Notes

The Full Traverse is a new long-form narrative format on Hiker Trash Radio. Each episode draws from multiple years of conversations with a single guest to tell the complete story: where they started, what shaped them, and who they became. This is Episode 1.


Guest: Christine Reed, trail name Lady Unicorn, author, thru-hiker, FKT holder, and founder of Rugged Outdoorswoman Publishing.


Book: Alone in Wonderland: Longing for Connection and Adventure in the Shadow of Mount Rainier, Christine's debut memoir, originally self-published in 2021 and re-released in April 2026 through Rocky Mountain Books. The new edition includes an afterword written five years after the original. Available wherever books are sold.


Also mentioned: Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Christine's anthology of women's outdoor stories, featuring 26 contributors. Winner of the BAMF Award at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.


Bethany Adams: FKT holder and author of her own memoir published through Rugged Outdoorswoman Publishing in March 2026.


Trails featured in this episode:



  • Appalachian Trail

  • Wonderland Trail, Mount Rainier National Park

  • Colorado Trail

  • Long Trail, Vermont

  • Ouachita Trail, Arkansas

  • Womble Trail, Arkansas

  • Mount Whitney, California


POTS: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. A form of dysautonomia affecting the autonomic nervous system. Christine was diagnosed in 2020 after living with symptoms her entire life. For more information: dysautonomia.org


FKT: Fastest Known Time. An informal record-keeping system for completing trails or routes. Records are tracked at fastestknowntime.com and are open to anyone.


Follow Christine: Instagram: @ruggedoutdoorswoman Website: aloneinwonderland.com


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