Karen Borski Somers is a native of Spring, Texas. Karen studied biomedical engineering at Texas A&M University and has spent most of her career working for NASA contractors in Clear Lake, Texas, and Huntsville, Alabama. In 1998, she thru-hiked the 2,165-mile Appalachian Trail solo, and in 2004, she hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail with her husband, Andy. Karen's trail name is "Nocona," a Comanche word meaning "the wanderer." She has hiked and backpacked in 36 U.S. states, logging more than 9,000 trail miles. She also bicycled 4,400 miles across the U.S. from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the TransAmerica route in 2005. Karen currently resides with her husband, two daughters, and their hiking sheltie in northern Alabama. They continue to wander on and off trails.