BC has some of the world’s most gorgeous mountain hiking trails. As much as they are beautiful, some are a grind.
Have you ever been totally beat on a trail? You’re dragging your feet. You feel like you’re going to pass out. You want to bag that peak, but you don’t know if you’ll make it.
What’s the ultimate motivation that will keep you going no matter what?
Knowing a little kid with hiking sticks crushed that hike and went back for more.
You got it. One particular 7-year-old from Gold River has demolished all our local spots. Now she has graduated to the big leagues.
Autumn Sarah Lott (#autumnexplorations) just spent her 7th birthday hiking the world’s largest freestanding mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Yes, you read that right. She’s 7.
Mt. Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano that stands 5,895 metres above sea level in Tanzania. That’s basically a world away from Gold River.
And it’s a very long way for a little girl. But she loved the trip.
The hike started in the middle of the night to help beat some of the day’s heat.
“We had to wake up at midnight and then we started hiking at 1 in the morning so we had to hike in the dark by headlamps so that was a bit tough and I think it took us about 6.5 hours to get to the summit,” said Autumns’ mom Francesca to CHEK News via Zoom.
Autumn definitely had a time getting up, but she said in the end it was well worth it.
“It was hard hiking to the summit but it was really cool from the top.”
The Tanzanian crew who helped the mother-daughter duo summit Kilimanjaro even sang her a round of Happy Birthday.
Her mom says although it’s hard to find records, Autumn is likely the youngest girl ever to summit Kilimanjaro.
It took seven days to plan the hike, but Autumn has been training for years.
She has hiked everywhere from Strathcona to the Juan de Fuca Trail, and she has no plans to stop now.
She and her mom plan to conquer all of the worlds Seven Summits. They’re the hardest mountains to hike in the world.
So if you need a little boost to get out on a trail this summer, just remember, Autumn did it. So can you.
