At an age when many people are eyeing the recliner, Dale "Grey Beard" Sanders is staring down slick rock and sideways rain on New Hampshire's Franconia Ridge. The New York Times tags along as the 91-year-old pushes through some of the Appalachian Trail's nastiest miles in an attempt to reclaim a record he once held: oldest person to complete the roughly 2,190-mile footpath from Georgia to Maine within 12 months, making it a true thru-hike. Sanders first nabbed the mark at 82, in 2017, then watched friend MJ "Nimblewill Nomad" Eberhart, now 87, take it in 2021 at the age of 83. (Sanders was at the finish line at the time to hand his pal Eberhart a custom-made walking stick, per Backpacker.)
Sanders, who started his latest attempt in September, was about 70% done with his attempt when the Times joined him last month, but he was facing brutal terrain in Maine's 100 Mile Wilderness and unfinished miles in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. "The hills and the mountains are a lot harder to climb now than they were when I was 82," he told Backpacker in November.
The Times traces how a onetime bullied kid from Kentucky became a late-life record chaser who paddled the Mississippi at 80 and now aims for 12-mile trail days, backed by a volunteer "Base Camp on Wheels" crew and a steady stream of thru-hiker fans. "I think he's become more like a child as he's grown older," a friend told the Commercial Appeal in August. The full Times piece here, including vivid photos. Plus, more here on the friendly competition between Sanders and Eberhart. "He says he's going to go back and take my record away from me," Sanders notes.
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