Oldest Hiker to Finish Appalachian Trail
- 1 day ago
- 1 min read
At 91 years old, Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders has become the oldest person to complete the Appalachian Trail, hiking 2,193 miles between Georgia and Maine in just one month. Sanders originally set the same record in 2017 at age 82, but decided to take on the trail again after another hiker surpassed him several years later. This time, the journey proved much more difficult, with Sanders enduring numerous falls and even a brief hospitalization before ultimately reaching the finish at the summit of Maine’s Mount Katahdin. Sanders, a Navy veteran and retired parks and recreation professional, has spent much of his adult life taking on extraordinary outdoor challenges, including becoming the oldest person to paddle the entire Mississippi River. Now, he says breaking records is secondary to showing older adults that age doesn’t have to stop them from staying active, setting ambitious goals, and pursuing new adventures.
Image via KSL
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