Sage Finishes the NH48 on the Tripyramids. November 6, 2011

Copied from http://www.trishalexsage.com
Accompanying pictures can be found there.
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Livermore Trail, Scaur Ridge Trail, Pine Bend Trail, Tripyramid Trail.

About 12 miles roundtrip, 3000 feet of elevation gain.

Sage's 48th 4K!

First, a huge thank you to all the people who sent emails of congratulations and messages of support. Sage was overwhelmed by all the good wishes.

Now for the trip report --

Joining us on this happy occasion were Happy Hiker, MadRiver, Tim C, DaveBear, Mike, Thor, and, of course, Hugh and Alex.

We set off on the Livermore Trail in fine spirits.

Along the way, Alex played with Thor...

Looks like Irene took a bit of a toll...

Breaking for a snack...

Heading up the Scaur Ridge Trail...

The intersection with Pine Bend Trail...

Going up...

On the summit of North Tripyramid, 4K #47.

On the actual high point...

Snack time...

Happy Hiker brought Munchkins (yum!)...

Heading down to the col between the peaks...

Heading back up...

Sage pauses to gaze upon Mount Tecumseh, her first 4K. She ascended Tecumseh in February 2010, at the age of four.

The group makes the traditional final summit archway...

Here she comes...

...and there she is, on the summit of Middle Tripyramid, her final 4K!

Views from the top...

Snack break at the viewpoint...

An intense argument broke out over which peak was which...

The boys resolved it somehow...(someone please give me a caption for the below photograph!)...

DaveBear enjoys the day...

After consuming vast amounts of chocolate and munchkins, we headed down. Sage and Alex introduced Hugh to the art of buttsliding...

Returning to the Livermore Trail...

On the way out, Alex slayed the Invisible Yeti...

The girls were extremely energetic on the return and ran most of the final mile...

Beautiful moonrise...

Almost there!

Finished.

Our friend Sandy was waiting at the trailhead with her kids, Kyle and Kayla.

Happy Hiker looking happy...

MadRiver gave Sage her NH48 patch...

Proud Papa...

Party time!

Thanks again to everyone for making Sage's finish a special event.

Funny, when Alex finished the NH48, I had the strange feeling that her last 4K might be "it." Meaning, I didn't want to assume that she'd keep hiking or that Sage would follow in her footsteps. For this hike, Sage's finish, I'd no such feeling. Both girls have made it clear that they will continue to hike. Both want to keep highpointing. Both want to explore many more slides and rock scrambles. Alex wants to finish the winter list. Sage wants to do a specific kind of hike that we'll announce later. This hike was a milestone, but it was in no way a "finish" in the literal sense of the word.

Onward, upward.

Again, to the many hiking and nonhiking communities who have been so supportive and kind -- thank you, thank you, thank you.

See you on the trails...

TrishandAlex said:

See you on the trails...

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Congratulations to all three of you ... see you at the awards

Congratulations to Sage on her finish - you had a gorgeous day for it!!!

I was really hoping that we'd see you guys on the Tri's but things don't always work out as planned.

I'm sure our paths will cross at some point...

Massive congrats to all of you. Go Sage!!

Congratulations on a great accomplishment to all, especially Sage! As always, I look forward to reading about future endeavors and successful journeys!

Congrats to Sage, you must be a proud mom

I am so impressed with your daughters. Congratulations!

What a bright future they have with fitness already a part of their lives.

Happy Trails
Heather

Congrats to Sage see you ladies at the awards dinner!!

Congratulations! Really great accomplishment!

Congratulations to Sage!, and cudos to you Trish!

Petch

Awsome Sage!!

WELL DONE Sage and Congratulations.Hope to shake your hand at the awards.
A fine accomplishment for the entire FAMILY.

We're much obliged for all the congrats and well-wishes; at the risk of sounding redundant, thanks!

Adventurous, looking forward to meeting you one of these days. Sorry it didn't work out last Sunday, but since we both seem to hike quite a bit, chances are we'll run into each other sooner rather than later.

Mohamed, freighttrain48 and TrailwrightBratt -- yes, we'll see you at the awards! For Sage and, possibly, for Alex again since she might finish the winter list this year.

Happy hiking!

Congratulations to Sage! Looks like you all had a wonderful day!

Such a great accomplishment at such an early age...It gives her a jump start on so many more accomplishments, lists, hikes, etc. that she'll have in her lifetime.

Congrats again! Really inspiring!

Karl

Congratulations Sage! Is she the youngest finisher? See you at the awards

Awesome! Congrats to Sage.

Congratulations Sage, way to go. !!!!

ksearl said:

Congratulations to Sage! Looks like you all had a wonderful day!

Such a great accomplishment at such an early age...It gives her a jump start on so many more accomplishments, lists, hikes, etc. that she'll have in her lifetime.

Congrats again! Really inspiring!

Karl

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Thanks, Karl. Her early age is a happenstance -- I've always felt that people should be given the opportunity to reach their potentials regardless of age. Age is never important -- it's will, capability and mental maturity that determines what someone can and cannot do (and mental maturity does not always correlate with age).

Jim lombard said:

Congratulations Sage! Is she the youngest finisher? See you at the awards

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Jim, thanks! No, Sage is not the youngest to finish the NH4Ks. The youngest was a 4 year old boy and the second youngest was his 5 year old sister. I don't know their names (if anyone does, please let me know).

Alex was the second youngest girl to finish when she climbed Moosilauke back in August 2009. Now Sage is the second youngest girl and Alex is the third youngest girl (Sage beat her sister's record by a little over a month -- Alex doesn't mind).

pudgy_groundhog and Ed, Sage says thank you.

Truly terrific! Amazing accomplishment!

Beth

Way to go Sage!

Congratulations to Sage and the whole Herr clan! What continues to amaze me about your kids is not that they've climbed all these mountains (although that is certainly amazing) but the joy that they display in doing it. I've always said that my favorite part of your trip reports is the expressions on Alex's face along the way. Lately it's been the same for Sage. It's just so wonderful seeing kids that have this love of the outdoors and the desire to take on these challenges. Well done Mom and Dad!

So sorry that we weren't able to join you on Sunday - would have loved to share this day with you. There will be other mountains though. Look forward to sharing a trail with you.

Yay!! Congrats to Sage, for nailing the accomplishment with style and grace. Hope to see you all on the trails at some point soon!