GORHAM, N.H. — Whitney and Lydia Pearson are a mother-daughter hiking duo from New Hampshire who are very familiar with the mountains in their home state.
When Lydia was about 6 weeks old, her mom would take her out hiking on the many trails New Hampshire offers.
Lydia was held in a carrier through many of New Hampshire’s tallest peaks until she had the strength to hike the mountains herself.
“We're definitely a really outdoor family, and anything to get outside and be active we wanted to do," Whitney Pearson said. "We didn't want to stop our lifestyle just because of kids so we just include them in everything that we do. … I love being able to share that experience with my kids.”
The NH48, as it's often called, refers to all 48 mountains in New Hampshire that are 4,000 feet or higher above sea level. Many hikers aspire to summit all 48 in New Hampshire and some even challenge themselves to complete the full list of 67 peaks above 4,000 feet across New England.
A little less than a year after Lydia finished her first hike up Mount Cannon, she finished all NH48’s mountains on her own two feet.
On June 16, 2024, Lydia summited Mount Washington, making her the youngest person to hike the NH48 at 4-years, 4-months old.
“It definitely seemed super surreal. It's something that she started working on a little less than a year ago on her own two feet after five-plus rounds in the backpack and literally thousands of miles, so it was really I think rewarding for all of us as a family to see her do it on her feet after being in the pack for so long and experiencing the entire journey," Whitney Pearson said.
Whether they hiked up with her or met her at the top—Lydia’s family, cousins, and hiking friends, including White Mountain Wanderers—celebrated Lydia on her accomplishment.
“The previous record holder was Littlefoot. Scarlet was 4 years and 11 months. And then before her was Gordon Simpson who was 6, I believe. He actually joined us on Mount Washington. He and his dad drove all the way from Pennsylvania to support her final hike and her finishing, which was really cool,” Whitney Pearson said.
Hiking comes with challenges, and even more so with a 4-year-old.
“My biggest challenges were carrying all the gear especially on the overnights: two sleeping bags, tent, food, layers, extras of everything, and the 10 essentials for basically two days," Whitney Pearson said. "Her biggest challenges were not only the physical on some of the rugged terrain but her having to keep that mental focus on some of the rugged terrain for long durations of time."
Lydia's mom also added that she also had to very mindful of the route to get to the top of the mountains.
“I was super selective when choosing the trails to do each of these peaks or how we were going to combine them or split them up," she said. "You can do them all in about 230 miles with 80,000 feet of elevation gain. Because we had more trips and split it up with longer and less technical trails, it took us about 308 logged miles with 105,000 feet of elevation gain in the past year.”
Any struggles on the trail, however, were worth it to watch Lydia grow.
“It has been incredible to watch her mental and physical growth from the first peak to the last one over the last year," her mom said. "The confidence she's gained, the strength, and you see it carry over into everything else she does every day.”