Dale Sanders, 91, reclaims oldest Appalachian Trail thru-hiker record

Dale "Grey Beard" Sanders, a 91-year-old hiker from Tennessee, has reclaimed his title as the oldest person to complete a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Sanders reached the summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine on Monday, August 31, 2026, finishing the approximately 2,193-mile journey that began on September 6, 2025, in West Virginia. Sanders first set the age record in 2017 at 82. The title was later taken by his friend, M.J. "Nimblewill Nomad" Eberhart, at age 83 in 2021. Sanders announced his comeback plan shortly after, and after six months of training, he embarked on his latest trek. The journey was significantly more challenging than his first record-setting hike. By his own count, Sanders fell 71 times, including six "hard falls." One fall in June on Killington Mountain in Vermont left him scraped and bloodied, but he continued hiking. A more serious incident occurred weeks later when his left arm went numb, leading to a hospital visit in Maine. Doctors initially feared a stroke but diagnosed a pinched nerve. Though cleared to resume, Sanders considered quitting and returned home to Tennessee in early August following the death of his wife's mother.