By Ron Miller

I would love to say that I was on assignment in California to write an article about the incredible Hulda Crooks, but truth be told, I had never heard of her. I was actually getting much-needed medical treatments at the famous Loma Linda University Medical Center when I was directed to a park named after her while searching for a place I might hike. Hulda Crooks Park is on the edge of town and opens up to a myriad of trails through the rolling hills surrounding Loma Linda. Loma Linda, by the way, means “lovely hill” and there is one in particular that the city is built around.

So who is/was Hulda Crooks. Hulda was a centenarian who lived to be 101 years old (May 19, 1896 - Nov. 23, 1997) and it is what she accomplished during her later years that is most noteworthy. She became the oldest woman to climb the 14,495 foot Mount Whitney in California and the oldest woman in the world to climb the 12,388-foot Mount Fuji in Japan. And she didn’t just climb Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the Continental United States, once. She climbed it 23 times, starting when she was 66 and finishing when she was 91! She was nicknamed “Grandma Whitney” for her determination and success. 

Ironically, when I called my good friend Kay Alderton, here in the White Mountains (who is pretty incredible herself) to tell her about Hulda Crooks, she said, “Oh, I know about her. I met her on the trail up Mount Whitney and I even have her book.” Sure enough, when I returned, Kay let me borrow Hulda’s fascinating book, along with numerous articles and newspaper clippings that Kay had collected over the years. The book is appropriately called “Conquering Life’s Mountains”.

The 5-foot-1, 115-pound Hulda Crooks started hiking as solace after the death of her husband, Dr. Samuel Crooks, in 1950. She climbed the nearby 11,502-foot Mount Gorgonio in the San Bernardino Mountains about 20 times before her first ascent up Mount Whitney in 1962. She started jogging and running when she was 72 because, she said, “it made climbing so much easier.” At 82, she ran 1,500 meters in 10 minutes, 58 seconds in the Senior Olympics,

setting a world record for the 80 to 85 age group. In the decade between her 81st and 91st birthdays, she also climbed 90 peaks listed in the Sierra Club’s list of 268 southern California peaks. At 95, she continued to walk two miles a day.

Hulda Crooks also backpacked the 212-mile John Muir Trail, hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and trekked 80 miles in the Sierras. “Good health doesn’t always happen by accident,” she was quoted as saying. “Sometimes you have to work at it.”

She knew what she was talking about. She wasn’t very healthy as a child, but became a Seventh-Day Adventist at 18 and adopted the religion’s vegetarian diet. She credited her longevity not only to exercise and diet but also to her religious faith. Loma Linda is home to many Seventh-Day Adventists and is the only “Blue Zone” in the United States, so named because the proportion of healthy 90 or 100-year-olds to the overall population is unusually high.

Crooks pursued and earned a bachelor’s degree in dietetics. She married Dr. Crooks, who taught anatomy at Loma Linda University, and became a researcher there. She co-authored nine articles in nutrition and vegetarianism which were published in prestigious scientific journals.

She also focused on attitude. In a section of her book entitled “Cultivate Gratitude and Cheerfulness” she states:

“Begin to count the happy moments of each day. Be grateful for whatever good comes to you, be it seemingly so little. Talk of the things that give you joy. Linger over each new happy thought with a thankful heart. This will grow into a most rewarding habit. I know — it works for me!” — Hulda Crooks.

Her attitude and all of this amazing physical activity didn’t go unnoticed. In 1991, four years after her last climb up Mount Whitney, she was taken by helicopter to the top of Mount Whitney for a special surprise ceremony. Her companion was her friend and climbing companion, U.S. Congressman Jerry Lewis of California. He had sponsored legislation to name a nearby peak in her honor. Crooks Peak rises 14,240 feet in elevation and is the second peak to the south of Mount Whitney. Passage took five years because Congress was reluctant to confer the honor on anyone still living. 

Along with this honor were letters from two former presidents that included the excerpts below:

“It is with great pleasure that I join with your friends in congratulating you on this special day. The dedication of “Crooks Peak” is a well-deserved recognition of your lifetime of achievement. Over the years, you have been a shining example of what it means to live one’s life to the fullest. Your hard work and diligence have earned you this high award of honor. Indeed, you have been an inspiration to all of us. I am proud to commend you for all that you have accomplished and to wish you well on your future endeavors” —Ronald Reagan.

“With a sturdy pair of shoes and a can-do attitude, you have demonstrated the outstanding vitality and creativity that makes older Americans a national treasure.” — George Bush

Grandma Whitney’s reaction to the honor was summarized in a letter she wrote to Congressman Jerry Lewis after that incredible day: “To set eyes once more on my beloved Mount Whitney, to whose lofty summit I have hiked twenty-three times since age sixty-six, was inspiring. But to be introduced to its nearby companion, so recently named Crooks Peak by an act of Congress, was the ultimate in surprises! What can I say? Such an honor is not to be taken lightly.”

Hulda Crooks’ book, Conquering Life’s Mountains, was published in 1996 as she approached her 100th birthday. The cover of the book shows Hulda Crooks with her walking stick overlaying an aerial photograph of Mount Whitney and the second peak to the left of it, which is now Crooks Peak. What a fitting memorial to this incredible lady!

Once again, in a letter to Congressman Lewis, Hulda Crooks wrote down her thoughts:

“I lay down my pen and give thanks that my life’s teaching of the value of healthful living and a trusting faith in God will live on after my voice is silent. Crooks Peak will carry that message as long as the rugged mountains endure.”  

Let’s hope that proves true and that more people can take inspiration from the life of the incredible Hulda Crooks.

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Kay Alderton and Ron Miller are both Board members for TRACKS here in the White Mountains. At 84, Kay still leads hikes here. Ron has climbed the highest peak in all of the 48 states in the continental United States (which includes Mount Whitney).