This Little Girl Became The First 4-Year-Old To Ever Be Part Of The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club
Luna Pelton is one of the coolest first graders you will ever get to meet.
At only 6-years-old, Luna has completed every single designated hiking trail inside the Catskill Mountains.
After hiking around 250 miles in September, she has officially completed the Catskill Mountain Club’s All Trails Challenge.
“Luna started pretty young,” said Luna’s father, Jason Pelton, in an interview with the Middleburgh Central School District.
“She rode on my back in a child carrier pack, but those don’t count toward any of the accomplishments she’s done. It was just to bring her along with us.”
Luna often went on hikes with her father and eventually grew out of the carrier, ready to start walking and hiking on her own. As she grew older and stronger, Luna and her dad would hike together 2-3 times a week.
Jason would sometimes even allow Luna to skip school in order to go hiking together, saying that “There’s tons of teaching and learning out there – it’s the greatest classroom.” The father and daughter duo really do enjoy a good challenge.
Although she’s one tough first-grader, Jason makes sure that Luna has plenty of protection to keep her safe.
Middleburgh Central School District; pictured above is Luna
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
He always keeps an eye on her, making sure she doesn’t have a dangerous fall. But what makes Luna even tougher, is that she loves hiking in the winter.
Some hiking gear brands will make products small enough for someone her age, but other pieces of gear for intense winter hikes are made by her father.
“They make microspikes for kids that you can get for their boots, but as far as anything crampon related, nobody makes anything that small so I had to custom make them,” Jason explained.
In 2020, Luna became a part of the 3500 club, where she had hiked over 35 hiking peaks. Now, Luna is working on the Catskill grids. She will finish them seasonally.
Luna’s father is in absolute awe of his daughter. “I have thousands of pictures and I can look at a set from a hike and it all comes back to me,” Jason continued.
“Just to see her at that age, so small, attacking the mountain and the terrain and the difficulty of it like it wasn’t there.”
To read more about Luna’s story, visit the link here.
If true crime defines your free time, this is for you: join Chip Chick’s True Crime Tribe.
More About:Human Interest
