07/24/2026
Dale Sanders is 91 years old and walking from Georgia to Maine.
He is chipping away at the Appalachian Trail, 12 miles at a time, in a bid to become the oldest person ever to complete it. He already held that record once, back in 2017 at age 82. His friend MJ Eberhart, trail name Nimblewill Nomad, took it from him in 2021 at 83.
Now Sanders, better known as Grey Beard, wants it back.
He started in September 2025. He has 12 months to cover the roughly 2,190 miles for it to count as a true thru-hike. The New York Times found him on Franconia Ridge in New Hampshire, one of the nastiest stretches of the trail, in slick rock and sideways rain.
His mantra for the morning: "It's a don't fall day today."
The Appalachian Trail is not the only line on his résumé. Sanders paddled the Mississippi River at 80. He holds the age record for the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim. When he turns 92, he says he plans to go back and grab the one-way Rim-to-Rim record too.
Records are made to be broken. He just keeps making them again.
📷 Courtesy Dale Sanders
