Today's story is about what happens when chemistry works, when two elements come together to form something quite beautiful.

So stick around.

♪ Welcome to Windows to the Wild.

I’m Wilem Lange.

She follows you guys.

Does she?

Yeah.

Is it your wife?

Yeah.

♪ Look what I found.

Where'd you get that?

Little Foot.

Hi.

They’re social media stars.

Scarlett, a six year old who loves to hike and Kim and Mark Lesnewski.

They're her grandparents.

You believe it?

♪ They're her faithful trail companions.

Together, they’ve made it to the summits of New Hampshire's most challenging mountains.

♪ But there's much more to the story than just accomplishments.

It's about why these folks hike together and how they do it safely.

You've been doing this for a while, right?

We have.

Yes.

Since she was 18 months old.

Get out.

She wasn't climbing mountains when she was 18 months old.

She did.

She climbed her first a little mountain.

She climbed Mount Piper in the Belknap Range.

Walking?

Walking.

We didn't think she'd make it to the top, but she wanted to keep going.

But you made it?

Yeah.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

That's great.

What are you going to do today?

Our plan, which changes all the time.

Sure.

Due to safety and other elements that could be, our plan today is to go up the Ammonoosuc.

Yeah.

Up to Monroe.

Yeah.

With a stop at the hut because she loves the huts.

After Monroe.

I want to go to every single hut Every single hut.

Scarlett, we’ll take a little break at the hut, but we're not going to take too long.

So we'll stop at the hut, we’ll summit Monroe and go to Little Monroe, Little Franklin, Eisenhower, Pierce and Jackson.

Will we make all that?

We don't know.

That's quite an ambitious day.

She's done it before.

So we'll see though.

But, you know, you have elements of weather, elements and how she's doing and then how our team is doing.

♪ Well, I wish you lovely, lovely day.

Thank you.

I think we're going to have a beautiful day and we got a great team with us.

Could be a little wet from the ankles down.

It's okay.

From there up, it should be beautiful.

It's the White Mountains, wouldn't expect anything different.

It's all good.

Scarlett, have a beautiful day.

Can I shake your hand goodbye?

Have a good day, my dear.

♪ And we're off.

♪ Gor for it.

Let’s get this hike going.

♪ So We're going to be coming to that bridge up here.

I don’t know if you remember.

What bridge?

It’s a really, really skinny bridge.

Six year old Scarlett isn't one to stand around for very long.

Careful.

Easy with the jumping.

Little Foot, as she’s known on the trails, Heads off with the other members of her hiking group.

♪ The trail ahead is about nine and a half miles.

♪ What motivates her, do you think Everything in the environment.

The slugs, the, the moss, the trees.

Finding unique things that us adults we just seem to overlook or take for granted.

And she points out those good qualities the mountain has to offer.

Can you imagine not talking on a big trail like this all day?

Wow.

Cool.

I was telling Kim, like, I have nieces and nephews.

They're like seven, 10 and 13.

You could not make them hike.

Like, she gets mad when you don't take her with you.

She's like, you hiked without me?

♪ There was a time you wouldn't find Kim or Mark out here.

They lived in Connecticut, and hiking wasn't something they really thought much about.

♪ Funny story, we moved to New Hampshire in 2008, and I had never hiked before that.

I grew up in Connecticut.

Nobody in my family ever talked about hiking.

Nobody introduced me to hiking.

My husband and I with the kids we would do like nature walks here and there, but never owned a backpack.

Never went hiking.

Never did any of that.

♪ When we moved here, people had introduced us to the Belknap Range, and we started doing, like, local hikes.

♪ And then once we got out there and started venturing on the 48’s, we loved everything about it.

And then it just took off from there.

♪ Then along came Scarlett.

She was born in England.

♪ That's where Kim started something quite special.

♪ When we went over to go see her when she was born, I think she was three weeks old.

♪ We went to Wales and took her up a mountain, the highest peak in southern Wales.

I carried her up.

And then when she came back to the States when she was 15 months old, I just started putting her on a carrier and just taking her out with me.

Pappy, I might need some help on this one.

♪ They brought the British experience back with them to New Hampshire.

Kim began to look around for trails that were safe and manageable for a toddler.

She found the Belknap Range, where the highest peak reaches barely 2,400 ft. ♪ From there, she wanted to start doing the bigger mountains, so we said as soon as she was done with the Belknap 12, we’d take her to finish.

We’d take her to start the four, the New Hampshire 48’s.

And we did.

And then we got through the 48’s.

We started.

And then she all of a sudden said she wanted to finish before she was five and I'm like, Scarlett, that's like in six months.

♪ When Kim talks about the New Hampshire 48, ♪ She's referring to the state's 48 4,000 foot peaks.

♪ She's just grown and flourished.

When we did the first round of 48 with her, we thought that she'd be done after that.

And the day we finished her 48 on Tecumseh, she said to me, she looked at myself and and her Pappy, as she calls him, and she's like, what are we hiking tomorrow?

And we're like, Scarlett, you finished.

You did all your 48 and she's like, well, I don't want to stop.

♪ Then what did you ask us to hike when you finished Tecumseh?

In the parking lot, do you remember?

Moosilauke?

Yeah.

So she asks if she can hike Moosilauke, so the very next day she hiked Moose.

♪ Ambitious is an understatement.

♪ Scarlett keeps moving and Team Little Foot right there with her.

♪ But not everyone is a fan.

♪ Kim says there are critics on social media who wonder how safe this really is.

♪ People might see you, read stories about you.

Oh, there's somebody pushing a five year old.

Or six year.

Yeah.

At the time when she first did it, she was four.

And I every now and then people would, you know, they make their comments about, you know, somebody must be pushing.

But when you're spending 10, 12 hours on trail, I couldn't imagine being with a miserable child.

So and that's why it's like if people, you know, like the team and all the people that hike with us, they know her, and she just loves being out here.

She would rather be out here any day than be home.

Sip water while you're taking a breather.

I could see you.

I just had a slug on my hand.

There was like 10 of them on me.

I want to show Jean the cascade.

Mimi just had a slug on her hand.

So I guess, you know, everybody no matter what we put out there, everybody's going to make their own judgment because they don't truly know us and they don't know our abilities.

They don't know my skill set level.

They don't understand Scarlett’s skill set level.

I, I mean, she's not your typical six year old right now even being out there hiking what she hikes.

So I guess, you know, it kind of goes back to, you know, careful how you judge other people.

You want to jump in?

No.

♪ It's obvious that Kim loves to hike.

♪ She's taken to the mountains and now she gives back.

♪ Kim's a member of the Lakes Region Search and Rescue team.

So my name is Kim, and I am here, along with my granddaughter, Scarlett and Conservation Officer Joe Canfield and I also have part of my Search and Rescue team here.

Kim, Scarlett and the rescue team teach people of all ages how to be outdoors safely.

So we're going to go through Scarlett's backpack, and we've got buckets up here.

And these buckets are all labeled with the items that you're supposed to have in your backpack.

We found them outside the Belknap Mill in Laconia, New Hampshire.

So let's find the food and water right here.

What they're teaching.

What's the next one?

It begins with a W. Water?

Is also practiced by members of Team Little Foot.

So we still have to stay here because we still have to stabilize her and make sure she doesn't fall or tip over.

It's very important that we don't let go of her.

So everything that we do has a risk assessment.

We talk about safety while we're out there.

So it's constantly evaluating, but it's the number one factor in there.

So, which leads us to turn aroun a lot and constantly change plans.

So like, we have a lot of people that will say, oh, you know, we want to hike together.

And I'll be like, well.

You know, there's times I don't mind hiking with other people.

But it's hard because I can say, this is what my plan is Saturday and Saturday I can show up at the trailhead and I have to adjust my plans because I'm not willing to take her in certain elements It’s easier for us to get a better Oh, careful!

This would be a nice hut to stay at.

Do some good stargazing.

I think I stayed at that hut.

Did you stay at this one?

Mm hmm.

Stewardship is huge too because because it's something that she loves, it's important for her to learn to give back to the community.

So.

And just being a good steward she's helped with trail cleanup.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

I’ll carry that.

Good job.

♪ She gets very upset when she finds stuff that people leave behind.

So we often have to pick stuff up.

She's done assemblies, she does hike safe programs.

So hiking has definitely boosted her confidence.

We've watched it's been incredible.

The cairns we follow.

There are cairns.

Confidence can grow by having the right people beside you.

What do I do?

You’re supposed to.

What you want to do right here, right here.

Oh.

What?

Team Little Foot provides that support.

They're good company too.

♪ Yeah.

I have my core team of people that are part of my, you know, kind of our our Team Little Foot people that I trust 100% completely so that if she's off ahead with any of them, I know that they they know all about risk assessment.

I know they're completely safe with her.

They they understand her.

They know her abilities.

They know any limitations.

They watch her for crossing the rivers.

They know her.

And that makes all the difference in the world.

(WATER RUSHING) So these people are so tuned in on everything with Scarlett that if they notice anything that's off, any of them will come and, you know, and we'll we'll talk about it.

What do you think?

This way?

It just shows us that it's all universal out here.

We all have the same struggles.

It doesn't matter whether you're six or 60.

This isn't easy.

So yeah, but whoa whoa whoa.

Whoa, whoa, whoa Parkour, parkour.

What do you enjoy about being out?

This.

This is.

Does it get any better than this?

Layers of green and blue and clouds and this.

I've experienced euphoria right in this stretch of the Whites.

I've cried on Monroe from an undercast.

There's just a lot of beauty here.

♪ I’ve never seen it so green.

We live in a special place for sure.

This is my hiking renaissance.

I hiked a little bit in my teens and early 20s and then I really got away from it for about 20 years and through a series of mid-life pivots, I'm back.

♪ The people.

Honestly, the people.

Now it's really been about the people for me.

I got to hike with a 70 year old this winter and Scarlett on one hike, so that's pretty magical.

♪ It doesn’t feel as muggy now than it did over there.

♪ Scarlett moves at about the same pace as the grown ups with her.

♪ But there are times when she forces them to slow down.

♪ Scarlett's an old soul.

She’s small and young, but her mind is more than youthful.

She's still having fun while doing it, but she notices things, points things out to the adults that otherwise you may not have noticed because maybe we're not down as low.

She'll stop and ponder, what's this?

What's that?

Ask questions or tell us something that she knows that we didn't.

The yellow swallowtail tiger.

Oh yeah.

That’s cute.

I just learned in nature a lot.

The nature?

Yeah.

♪ What did you find?

It’s a pretty rock.

I think it's some kind of quartz, What?

I think it's quartz.

Yeah.

♪ And you've seen lots of frogs and snakes.

A lot of snakes you've seen.

I still remember one time when there was a snake right there.

We came down with this snake and I was walking then, right?

I almost stepped on it then went, ah!

And it was slithering, right?

That's right.

That scared me.

♪ What do you get out of hiking with a six year old?

It slows me down.

I see a lot of things I don't normally see.

Different flowers, I find cute mushrooms.

I found elf cup mushrooms for the first time hiking with Scarlett.

I don't know, those giggles.

They just feed your soul.

There's something about that giggle.

You goober.

Yeah, it's pretty awesome.

♪ My husband and I never stopped.

In all the years we've been hiking, we never stopped during a hike and put our feet in water.

And she wanted to.

And we were like, we couldn't imagine trying to put our feet back in our shoes after.

And I have to say, it was the most refreshing feeling and we loved it, but we would have never done stuff like that.

So that's cool.

And just seeing the hikes through her eyes.

♪ What do you think of when you get up here and look around?

Well, some people say their off switch is on or it's off and it's life right now.

During it, I don't get that electrical buzzing in your ears from society and being around a bunch of people in the city, and right now it's peaceful.

God's country.

Yeah.

And you're here with your granddaughter.

Exactly.

Yep.

I love hiking with her.

I can't keep up with anybody else.

She keeps you going?

Yep.

And sometimes I can't even keep up with her.

♪ Want to keep going?

Yeah!

All right, let's do it.

There's Eisenhower, number 41 of your summer.

Yeah.

♪ Come here.

How are you doing?

Wow, I got you.

Hi, buddy.

Bam!

It's good to see you, buddy.

Yeah.

What happened?

I lost my tooth.

Oh, you haven't seen her.

Looking good, kid.

Right?

Looking good.

Her resilience impressed me.

So like, when we went up Mount Isolation this winter, there's this little pitch at the end.

And she tried to go up that pitch by herself for, like, five minutes, like a roadrunner with her feet just going and going and going.

And Tom looked at me and he was like, do you realize any other little kid or probably adult, would just be like, in a puddle of tears swearing right now?

And instead this one's like, I can do it, Mimi.

I got this.

Like, and she did it.

She's amazing.

I think it says that her grandparents have given her all the opportunity in the world and those little feet will take her as far as she wants them to.

♪ Today's hike ends about nine hours after it began.

Heat and the sound of distant thunder persuade Kim to cut the trek short.

♪ Going up Ammonoosuc Ravine, I mean, she made it, we made it to the hut in 2.5 hours, which is really, really good for her.

And she was feeling great.

But then, you know, we get to the hut and we get up to Monroe, and she's still doing great but then I did notice a shift in her going from Monroe over to Eisenhower.

I mean, we were up on the ridge at that time, so none of us had thought that the sun was going to be like it was.

We all thought we'd be in the clouds, but we weren't.

The sun was pretty much on us all day, which then you have to take into consideration heat exhaustion.

I mean, when you're in that sun that's a lot on you.

Love it.

Yeah.

On the count of three, everybody say, that was easy.

Yeah.

So, we had all made the call that I wasn't taking her to Jackson.

It just wasn't a safe call.

Where are we?

Do you know where we are?

What mountain is this?

It begins with a P. Pierce?

Pierce.

And how many is this for a summer season?

Six?

No, you have six left.

Six left.

So 42.

42.

Yeah.

Wow.

Good job.

Nice work, Scarlett.

Rocking them one at a time.

That's right.

♪ It's fair to say that Scarlett's accomplishments are impressive.

♪ Her latest came just months after our hike with her.

It happened at the summit of Mount Hale.

Kim doesn't know what Scarlett's next milestone will be.

It's probably not important.

What she really hopes for is that her granddaughter continues to find things to love outdoors.

♪ Hey, that's where you're sleeping tonight?

Yeah!

♪ Yes.

We made it.

My hope is that, you know, as she grows up and gets older, that she’ll continue to do stuff like this on her own.

And that, you know, I mean, at any point she could stop hiking or choose she doesn't like it or wants to go on to something else and that's totally fine.

I only just want to hike.

But she can choose at any time if she wants to stop hiking.

And as she grows up, you know, hopefully she.

I won’t stop hiking.

But at some point, you know, she can choose, you know, to continue doing stuff like this and, and giving back and I know that she's anxious as she gets older to help out with search and rescue.

♪ Scarlett wraps up this story with an offer.

Do you have any advice for older people if they want to start hiking?

What would be your advice?

Maybe when them start to hike, maybe I maybe I can take them hiking some more.

♪ Scarlett, I never thought you'd make it.

Here you are.

You made it.

Beautiful.

Just beautiful.

♪ Everybody's back safely from the mountain.

It is everybody, isn’t it?

It is.

We all made it back.

Excellent.

Terrific.

So we can rejoice.

Everybody's happy.

Everybody's ready to go again now.

Another day?

Another day.

Okay.

It's been quite a day.

Hot, rainy and buggy.

But here we are.

It's great.

And it's over.

And we're all going home now to take a shower and take a nice long sleep and we'll see you again someday.

I'm Willem Lange, and I hope to see you again on Windows to the Wild.

♪ Yay!

♪ Oh, and for breakfast.

♪ Make a gift to the wild and support the Willem Lange Endowment Fund, established by a friend of New Hampshire PBS.

To learn how you can keep environmental, nature and outdoor programing possible for years to come, call our development team at (603) 868-4467.

Thank you Flow like a harpoon daily and nightly, Will it ever stop?

Yo, I don’t know.

Turn off the lights and I’ll glow.

To the extreme I rock a mic like a vandal.

Light up a stage and wax a chump like a candle.

Dance.

Go rush the speaker that booms.

I’m killing your brain like a poisinous mushroom.

Deadly, when I play a dope melody.

New Caption Love it or leave it, you better gangway.

You better hit the bull’s eye, the kid don’t play If there’s a problem, yo, I’ll solve it.

Check out the hook while my D.J.

revolves it.

Ice, ice baby.

Vanilla.

♪