At 91 years old, Dale Sanders has once again earned the title of the oldest hiker to complete the Appalachian Trail. Sanders, known on the trail as Grey Beard, finished the 2,193-mile (3,530-kilometer) journey Monday atop Mount Katahdin in Maine. His hike began on September 6 in West Virginia.
Sanders fell an estimated 71 times during his trek, including several significant falls that required him to continue despite injury. One fall led to a brief hospitalization, and another occurred just 200 yards from the finish line. Despite these challenges, he persevered to complete the trail.
He first set the Appalachian Trail record in 2017 at the age of 82. Four years later, his friend M.J. Eberhart, 83, took the record, prompting Sanders to announce his plan for a comeback.
Sanders noted that this latest journey was considerably more challenging than his first. Despite six months of training near his home in Tennessee, he felt he was not in peak condition. "And even today, I feel that I should probably be in better shape than I am," he said in the weeks leading up to his finish. "But I just have to always go back and say, ‘But I am 91, so I'm blazing new ground hiking long distances like this.’"
In June, while descending Killington Mountain in Vermont, Sanders fell in a boulder field, sustaining scrapes to his legs, arms, and hands. Weeks later, he experienced numbness in his left arm, which led to a hospital visit. Doctors initially suspected a stroke, but it was determined to be a pinched nerve. Although cleared to resume hiking, he considered abandoning the trail. He returned home in early August to be with his wife, whose mother had recently passed away, and she encouraged him to continue.
Sanders found encouragement from fellow hikers and what he called "trail angels" who provided assistance. He has gained a significant following on social media, with thousands of people motivated by his efforts. Meredith Ewenson, who encountered Sanders in New Hampshire, described his mobility as "insane" for his age and said his determination embodied the idea that anything is possible and that the journey itself is most important.
Born in Kentucky in 1935, two years before the Appalachian Trail was completed, Sanders has a history of achieving challenging feats. He is also recognized as the oldest person to paddle the entire length of the Mississippi River, a trip he completed on his 87th birthday.