Outdoors

Reaching the highest goals

My 6-year-old announced this week that he wants to swim across Tampa Bay. He also wants a pet cheetah and would like his next science project to be a time machine that will allow us to vacation with the dinosaurs. I hate to discourage the lad. Adventurers seem to be getting younger and younger every day. Why not set your sights high?

By TERRY TOMALIN
Published June 1, 2007

My 6-year-old announced this week that he wants to swim across Tampa Bay. He also wants a pet cheetah and would like his next science project to be a time machine that will allow us to vacation with the dinosaurs. I hate to discourage the lad. Adventurers seem to be getting younger and younger every day. Why not set your sights high?

Samantha Larson

Last month, the 18-year-old from Long Beach, Calif. - not exactly mountaineering country - became one of the youngest people ever to scale Mount Everest.

The Stanford University freshman climbed the 29, 035-foot peak with her father, a 51-year-old anesthesiologist.

The Nepalese government lost no time in saying the California girl was the youngest foreigner, male or female, to conquer the famous mountain chronicled in the bestseller by Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air.

But not all sources agree. According to the Web site 7summits.com - considered by many to be the authority on the subject - a 17-year-old boy from France accomplished the same feat in 1990. A 15-year-old Sherpa girl is said to have climbed Everest.

And Larson deserves credit for being the youngest person to have seen the "seven summits, " the highest mountain peaks on all seven continents.

When asked by Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer what she will do for an encore now that she has no mountains left to climb, Larson corrected the interviewer.

"There's plenty left to climb, " she said.

Braxton Bilbrey

The waters off Alcatraz are cold, swift and, some say, full of great white sharks. But that didn't stop the 7-year-old Arizona boy from swimming 1.4 miles from the island prison to San Francisco's Aquatic Park in May 2006. No official records are kept of those who have conquered the treacherous stretch of water, but before Braxton's attempt, the youngest person to finish the swim was a 9-year-old boy from Hillsborough, Calif.

San Francisco Bay is known for its fickle currents. On the day Braxton swam across it, the tide was coming in. Despite having to fight the current the whole time, the boy finished the swim in an astonishing 47 minutes.

Braxton's father, who owns a tire dealership, said his son was inspired after reading about the swim in a magazine.

"He brought the article to me and said, 'Look, Dad. I think I can do that, ' " Steve Bilbrey told Tire Business magazine. "I said after I read it, 'Are you serious?' And he said, 'Yeah, I think it would be fine.' "

Michael Cogswell

For hikers, the 2, 200-mile Appalachian Trail, which runs from Maine to Georgia, is the holy grail of backpacking. Each year, about 200 hikers complete the epic trek. For many, it is an adventure they had planned since they were very young.

In 1980, 6-year-old Michael Cogswell just couldn't wait to get started. So he set off with his parents, Reina and Jeff Cogswell, walking 28 miles a day.

While most kindergartners were getting ready for first grade, young Michael was wearing out his boots.

Before Michael's feat, the youngest "through hiker" was 12. The trip was not without difficulty. Michael fell 584 times, his mother said. "We've been counting, " the mother told the Associated Press.

When it was over, the 40-pound boy had learned to carry an 8 1/2-pound pack without complaining. He did lose a baby tooth along the way but left it for the trail fairy, who replaced it with 50 cents and a toy truck.

Sebastian Clover and Michael Perham

For a seasoned sailor, crossing the Atlantic Ocean alone is a feat that comes only after a lifetime of training.

But in 2003, a 15-year-old British boy raced his father from Tenerife to Antigua, completing the ocean voyage in just 25 days. Four days after he skippered his 32-foot yacht 2, 700 miles across open water, Clover turned 16. Despite his heroic display of responsibility and good judgment, the teen still had to wait another year before he could apply for his driver's permit.

In 2007, Clover's record was broken by another English schoolboy, Michael Perham. The 14-year-old sailed alone but was accompanied by his father, who was aboard his own vessel.

"It was pretty mind blowing, " Perham told the New York Times. "The thrill you get from sailing, and the freedom you feel, is just incredible."

Perham showed he was no super kid. When asked how he entertained himself, he confessed, "I had an iPod with me."

Researcher Carolyn Edds contributed to this report. Sources: Good Morning America (ABC News); Los Angeles Times; the Arizona Republic; the Associated Press; the Daily Telegraph; the Express; the New York Times

[Last modified May 31, 2007, 23:35:37]