On a grueling 222-mile hike through California’s Sierra Nevada, Laurie Singer faced a terrifying ordeal — she was abandoned, miles from help, with no one to rely on but herself.
In 2016, the avid hiker and adrenaline junkie set out to tackle the John Muir Trail, one of America’s most famous backpacking routes, with her close friend and longtime training partner, John, with whom she had the utmost trust.
But what was supposed to be an empowering, life-changing experience for the friends turned into something straight out of an episode of “Dateline.”
“He was experienced with the John Muir Trail (JMT), having hiked it multiple times, whereas I was a novice in backpacking and had little altitude training,” Singer, 66, told The Post.
As a result, the duo planned to hike roughly 20 miles per day across the famously punishing trail since a hike of this scale typically takes two to three weeks to complete.
Things quickly took a turn as just days into the hike, Singer began feeling ill — though she didn’t yet realize it was altitude sickness, which didn’t stop John from charging ahead, “leaving me struggling behind.”
“One day, as the sun set and darkness fell, I found myself alone and unsure if I was still on the trail. Not having the experience yet and having to rely on John left me in tears. I was scared and angry at him for leaving me behind,” she recalled to The Post.
When the California native eventually caught up to her so-called friend, “he had set up his camp and explained that he left me alone to test me.”
John told her bluntly she wasn’t keeping up — and suggested she quit the hike. Singer refused. “Not because I wanted to be with him, but because I needed to get closer to our endpoint before considering getting off the trail,” she said.
This nightmare scenario Singer experienced is a viral phenomenon known online as “alpine divorce” — which is when a male friend, family member or romantic partner abandons a female in an outdoor setting, sometimes as a supposed “test,” like what John did, or sometimes out of sheer impatience.
A quick search of the term on Instagram, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) shows hundreds, if not thousands, of alpine divorce victims sharing their horror stories.
In a viral TikTok video with over 26 million views, a woman is heard hysterically crying while she films her hiking view with overlay text that reads, “you go on a hike with him in the mountains but he leaves you alone by yourself and you realize he never liked you to begin with.”
Close to 30,000 commenters chimed in, either sharing advice or relating to this woman’s story.
“It happened to me many years ago. I met 2 girls on the mountain and told them what happened, and we walked down together. They wouldn’t let me go alone. I’ll never forget them,” one wrote.
“I had a BF leave me on the hike out of the Grand Canyon. A very nice man from Norway helped carry my pack and walked with me. It took me 12hrs to walk out,” chimed in another victim.
Another woman publicly shared how she’s relieved alpine divorce is getting the recognition it deserves since her ex dumped her after taking her hiking at night, where she didn’t feel safe and had a panic attack as a result.
The trend even went beyond social media, as just last month, an Austrian court convicted a man of gross negligent manslaughter after he left his girlfriend to freeze to death on Grossglockner, the country’s highest peak, back in January 2025.
This bizarre and quite traumatizing concept is sadly nothing new, as it dates back to the 19th-century short story “An Alpine Divorce” by Robert Barr, in which a husband plots to murder his wife in the Swiss Alps.
Similar to Singer, others noted that apart from husbands and boyfriends, they were also “alpine divorced” by friends, their fathers, brothers, cousins and more male figures whom they thought they could trust.
Psychologists say the viral term is hitting a nerve for a reason.
“The term ‘alpine divorce’ has struck a chord because it taps into a universal fear: being left behind by someone you’re emotionally connected to,” clinical psychologist Dr. Patricia Dixon told The Post.
While the phrase is often tossed around jokingly, the consequences can be deadly and experts warn that the behavior can reflect something deeper than a bad day on the trail.
“Physical cues often reflect emotions,” Dixon said. “I often say that being lonely when you have a partner is worse than being lonely by yourself.”
Singer’s situation is an extreme case considering the magnitude of the hike she was abandoned on and how severely ill she became on it.
“I struggled. The elevation was doing a number on me. I was hungry all the time and didn’t understand what was wrong with me,” the senior athlete explained.
Things turned for the worse when Singer’s vision blurred, and she had difficulty walking when she was at a 12,000-foot mountain pass near Big Pine.
“I confessed to John that something was seriously wrong with me …I’d never experienced these feelings before. I was scared,” she explained.
John didn’t even bat an eyelash at his suffering friend and refused to get her any help.
“Instead, he said I should hike down alone, set up camp and hitchhike back to my car. He gave me one protein bar, along with his trash, and sent me on my way for an eight-mile hike on one of the most difficult Eastern Sierra passes,” she recalled to The Post.
Weak, dizzy and barely able to stand, Singer stumbled down the mountain alone.
Eventually, she ran into a few good Samaritans on the trail who gave her food and helped her down the mountain, where she caught a ride back to her car.
Aside from being diagnosed with brain swelling, infected blisters on her feet and malnutrition by a doctor the next day, the traumatizing ordeal also ended a decade-long friendship.
Brutal moments like this can expose the true state of a relationship, according to Dixon.
“You learn through the hard times how your partner shows up for you — if they’re tuned in and caring and responsive or distant and self-absorbed,” the expert explained.
But despite all this, Dixon said not every “alpine divorce” spells the end, although it shouldn’t be ignored.
“In romantic relationships, [someone walking ahead of you on a hike] doesn’t necessarily mean you need to break up immediately, but it is a valid sign that something is off,” Dixon stressed. “It could be your subconscious telling you to reconnect or relate differently. Take context into account: look at the frequency over time, how upset you feel, and if there are any other circumstances.”
“If you find yourself in an alpine divorce or any abandonment situation with a loved one, “bring that up to your partner. Tell them what happened. Tell them how it made you feel and why it bothered you. Remind them that sometimes actions have a different intention than impact,” the expert added.
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