ABOUT

Arlette Laan, born in the Netherlands, was the kid who would come home with five finger paintings while other kids might have one. Unfortunately the arts aren’t very prominent in the Dutch school system and she decided to focus on foreign languages. After spending a year in France she decided to pursue a masters degree in French literature and linguistics which she obtained in 1997 at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands.

In 1999 she moved to California and fell in love with the Sierra Nevada. She learnt about the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) running over 2600 miles from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. In preparation she hiked the John Muir Trail in 2002 starting in Yosemite NP and ending on top of Mount Whitney. She definitely caught the hiking bug and in 2003 completed a thru hike of the PCT. In 2004 she hiked the Continental Divide Trail starting at Glacier NP in Montana and ending at the Mexican border in New Mexico. Hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2005 completed her Triple Crown and to celebrate she traveled to Nepal and hiked the Annapurna Circuit.

In 2006 there was more traveling but eventually she landed a job as a volunteer ranger in the High Uintas Wilderness in northeastern Utah. Not having to hike 15-25 miles a day to beat the winter weather (as was the case during the long distance hikes) she finally could take her time framing the backcountry scenery with her camera.

In 2007 a relationship led her to Massachusetts and with the support of her partner started exploring her creativity. A photography class inspired her to photograph flowers and she loves the results she gets with her macro lens.

In August 2008 she rented a small studio at Western Avenue Studios in Lowell and she is trying to get her work out in to the world for other people to enjoy.

Her hiking journals are available at www.trailjournals.com

Arlette Laan