At 91, ‘grey beard’ becomes oldest person to complete Appalachian Trail
Not long ago on a lonely peak in Maine, a 91-year-old grey-bearded man stood taking in the sights, with the sensation of success that came with being the oldest person to complete a hike along the Appalachian Trail.
Born to the Kentucky backwoods in 1935, before the AT route had even been completed, Dale Sanders has lived a life full of adventures.
Having first completed the AT in 2017 at 82, he resolved to do it again. And he has — 359 days, 71 falls, and one brief hospitalization later.
Nicknamed “Grey Beard” by supporters, with his broad sunhat and trekking poles, there is something very “Gandalf” about him.
Starting from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, on September 9 last year, his first leg was backwards, going south to Georgia to reach the trail’s southern terminus to follow “the warmer weather.” Pausing for winter, he then went back to Harpers Ferry and started towards Katahdin, the mountain in Maine that marks the northern end.
That continuum was interrupted by several bad falls that landed him in a hospital in June with a pinched nerve. He had to return home to Tennessee after his mother-in-law died at the same time.
However, his wife convinced him to finish the task, which he did by backtracking to complete an unhiked stretch in the Great Smoky Mountains, before jumping back to his pause point in the north and continuing to Maine.
He reached the top of Katahdin on August 31 at 11:40 p.m.Along the way, he says he met plenty of “trail angels” who offered supplies and sweet treats. “When people are taking care of you and bringing you caramel frappes on the trail, the rocks don’t matter,” he told AP.
The sweet tooth is characteristic of a man whose advice to youngsters is that “it’s OK to eat doughnuts if you also exercise.”Sanders has hiked all over the country, and recently became the oldest person to complete a rim-to-rim hike in the Grand Canyon. “I love the outdoors. When I’m in the woods and the Sun is shining, I’m in my best mood. I’m not knocking the gym, but you have to get outside,” he told The New York Times.
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy states that a true “thru-hike” can be done in parts and with any start or stop point, over a single year. Despite his roundabout route, Sanders finished where most do — on that grey mountaintop in Maine, where he raised his hands to the sky to thank the Creator for the strength to finish.
