{"id":7054170,"date":"2026-09-01T18:44:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T18:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/this-91-year-old-man-fell-71-times-while-hiking-the-appalachian-trail-he-just-became-the-oldest-person-to-complete-the-2190-mile-trek\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T18:44:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T18:44:45","slug":"this-91-year-old-man-fell-71-times-while-hiking-the-appalachian-trail-he-just-became-the-oldest-person-to-complete-the-2190-mile-trek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7054170","title":{"rendered":"This 91-Year-Old Man Fell 71 Times While Hiking the Appalachian Trail. He Just Became the Oldest Person to Complete the 2,190-Mile Trek"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Dale Sanders finished the hike in just under a year. Nicknamed \u201cGrey Beard,\u201d he\u2019s no stranger to age-defying feats of endurance<\/h2>\n
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Christian Thorsberg<\/a><\/p>\n

| Daily Correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n

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On August 31, Dale Sanders reclaimed the title of oldest person to complete the Appalachian Trail. He’d previously broken the record in 2017, at age 82.
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After 359 days, 71 falls and 1 brief hospitalization, 91-year-old Dale Sanders<\/a> has officially become the oldest person to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shortly before noon<\/a> on Monday, Sanders\u2014fondly dubbed \u201cGrey Beard\u201d by his supporters\u2014etched his name into the record books by summiting Katahdin<\/a>, Maine\u2019s highest mountain and the northernmost terminus of the roughly 2,190-mile<\/a> trail. With his arms raised high in the air, he paused to pray at a sign marking the peak and reflected on the ups and downs of the trek, which included one last fall just 600 feet from the finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to thank God, and I had to thank my support team and everybody that got me here,\u201d Sanders tells the Associated Press<\/a>\u2019 Holly Ramer and Robert F. Bukaty.<\/p>\n

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Fun fact: An Appalachian Trail record<\/p>\n

In 2024, ultrarunner\u00a0Tara Dower<\/a>\u00a0set a\u00a0speed record<\/a>\u00a0for completing the Appalachian Trail, hiking the footpath in just 40 days, 18 hours and 5 minutes.\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sanders broke a record that he\u2019d previously set<\/a> in 2017, when he completed the trail in just seven months, as a spritely 82-year-old. His achievement stood for four years, until 83-year-old M.J. Eberhart, known as \u201cNimblewill Nomad<\/a>,\u201d took the title<\/a> in 2021. The pair\u2019s rivalry was nothing but friendly: Sanders cheered Eberhart on and hiked alongside him during especially hard stretches.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was going to quit several times,\u201d Sanders tells the New York Times<\/a><\/em>\u2019 Chris Cohen. \u201cI actually went up and hiked with him the last few days so that he wouldn\u2019t quit. We\u2019re really close friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now 87, Eberhart returned the favor as Sanders fought to take back the crown. He was one of multiple volunteers who drove a camper van nicknamed the \u201cBase Camp on Wheels\u201d during the first 800 miles of Sanders\u2019 hike, meeting the nonagenarian at resting spots along the way, according to the Trek<\/em><\/a>\u2019s Katie Jackson.<\/p>\n

Sanders followed an unconventional route, setting off on September 6, 2025, from Harpers Ferry<\/a>, West Virginia, roughly in the middle of the trail. As he told Memphis <\/em>magazine<\/a>\u2019s Anna Traverse last November, he then hiked south into Georgia \u201cto follow the color of the trees, and hopefully a little warm weather, to Springer Mountain,\u201d the trail\u2019s southern terminus.<\/p>\n