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At 91, Dale “Greybeard” Sanders Got Injured Just 142 Miles Shy of the AT Age Record — But He’s Not Giving Up
Ninety-one-year-old Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders was less than 150 miles from completing his goal of becoming the oldest person ever to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail when health concerns, combined with the loss of a close family member, forced him off the trail. Now he says he’s been cleared to get back to hiking and will return to the AT to finish what he started.
Complications from a fall he suffered on trail in July ultimately landed him in the hospital in Millinocket, Maine last week, with just 54 mile left to complete the state and 142 total AT miles to go.
“It all started with physical exhaustion, hiking through the southern mountains of Maine without sufficient overnight rest for full recovery,” Sanders said in a Facebook post. When he began developing slight headaches, tired eyes, and numbness in his left arm, he sought medical care.
“After an overnight stay in the hospital Day Care Clinic, the doctor and I agreed it would be best to go home, see my primary physician, a specialist, and rest. Though it took me 24 hours for the importance of this to truly sink in. Then, only after the death of a close family member, I made the decision to head home,” he wrote.
Now back home, Sanders has said his doctor has cleared him to get back to hiking. “Will start traveling east to put our ‘finish’ plan in motion,” he wrote.
Sanders began his historic AT attempt 11 months ago on September 6th, 2025 at the age of 90. He has already held the record for being the oldest person to thru-hike the AT once before, having completed the trail in 2017 at age 82. However, the current record holder is Sanders’ lifelong friend MJ “Nimblewill Nomad” Eberhart, who thru-hiked at age 83 in 2021.
“I like to break records,” Sanders told The Trek last fall as he prepared to begin the trail anew, saying he hoped that doing so would inspire others. “I’ve always cared about people, and I do this because I still care about people.”
For his current trek to be officially recognized as a thru-hike, he must finish all 2,198 miles of the AT within 12 months of his start date.
READ NEXT – 90-Year-Old Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders Sets Out to Reclaim AT Age Record: Meet the Man Behind the Legend
“I do appreciate your support, your understanding, recognition and encouragements,” he wrote in his most recent Facebook post. “Please keep those coming and together we will conquer this seemingly impossible task.”
Follow Grey Beard’s progress on the AT via his website.
Featured image: Photos via Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders
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Comments 1
I’m wondering who the oldest unsupported through hiker is. I ran into somebody several years ago who had to be at least in his mid-70s. Maybe late ’70s carrying a full backpack. No support team. I ran into him in Vermont. He was heading south and had just a few hundred miles left to complete his through hike of the AT. Does anyone know if eberhart did his hike unsupported In his early ’80s? Or if Sanders earlier hike was unsupported?