Linda “Nana” Vanderloop Just Became the Oldest Woman To Thru-Hike the Appalachian Trail

When Linda “Nana” Vanderloop decided to hike the Appalachian Trail with her daughter Hanna, Hanna already figured her mom could become the oldest woman thru-hiker.

“She didn’t tell me that, though,” Linda jokes when I speak with her and Hanna over the phone. After all, Linda wasn’t even sure she would attempt the whole trail until several months in.

Until now, the oldest known woman thru-hiker has been Nan Reisinger, who was 74 when she finished the AT in 2014. Linda, also 74, was born earlier in the year than Reisinger, making her slightly older on the day she (spoiler alert) completed her hike.

“We didn’t walk the normal walk.”

Hanna and Linda Vanderloop on Baxter Peak on August 6th — which Hanna describes as a “surreal day.”

“We hiked the entire trail together, starting November 18, 2023 and finishing October 28, 2024,” Hanna told The Trek via email.

The mother-daughter team started last year in New York between Harriman State Park and Bear Mountain — the trail’s oldest section. They completed the AT piecemeal over the next 12 months in what Hanna describes as a “choose-your-own-adventure thru-hike,” ending roughly where they had started, back at Bear Mountain State Park.

The Vanderloops arranged their section hikes to align with planned family visits, but their unusual itinerary had another benefit: avoiding the thru-hiker bubble. Both women saw firsthand how worn and degraded the trail has become in places, especially near the southern terminus. “If more people could choose our way of walking, it would maybe lessen some of the impact,” Hanna muses.

The pair gradually chipped away at miles over the holiday season and began hiking in earnest after Hanna quit her full-time job this spring.

A “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” Thru-Hike

Three generations — Nana, her daughter Ellie, and her granddaughter Livia practicing balancing on a log.

Family was integral to Hanna and Linda’s hike. “Our favorite hiking buddy is my niece, her granddaughter,” says Hanna. “She’s three and a half, and she’s been hiking basically since day one.”

Linda adds that her husband, who supported the duo from their van, was their biggest trail angel.

And then there were Hanna’s sisters. “I have five daughters, and every one of them walked the trail at some point with us, just to tag along a little bit and be supportive,” says Linda.

Before the AT, Linda had already tackled the 1300-mile Ice Age Trail in her native Wisconsin. She did it to have a reason to walk. Walking had always been an essential part of Linda’s life.

“After the girls were done, and we didn’t walk to the end of the road to the bus, which is always a mile walk there and back … I had to keep having a purpose for my walks.”

After the Ice Age Trail, she and Hanna got into a kind of positive inspiration feedback loop. Linda’s adventures inspired Hanna to start trekking Connecticut’s blue-blazed trails, which includes some of the AT. That got Hanna thinking about attempting the whole AT, and that’s when Linda got on board.

“Who knew what the east coast had to offer? I’d been out there several times because the girls are out there, but until we walked the AT, I have a whole new respect for those mountains,” says Linda of her Appalachian experience. Now, she struggles to pick one favorite section of the trail — they all have their charms. “The day you’re doing it, you think, ‘Oh, this is just the best.'”

Breaking the Record

Hanna and Linda Vanderloop pose for a final mile selfie. “This was taken as we started our final mile together climbing Bear Mtn in NY,” per Hanna.

On a previous backpacking trip with her sister, Hanna had met Nimblewill Nomad, the oldest AT thru-hiker (he completed the trail in 2021 at age 83). Reading up on his record later, she stumbled upon an article about Nan Reisinger, the oldest woman thru-hiker.

For the Vanderloop women, beating the age record was never the goal. “We didn’t actually even know if (my mom) was actually older than Nan until I did Google sleuthing one day and discovered that she is — only by a little bit,” Hanna explains. Linda finished later in the year than Reisinger, and her birthday is earlier. (None of this, the Vanderloops stress, is to knock Reisinger’s accomplishment, which Hanna speaks of with awe.)

The mother-daughter duo made a harmonious team — except when they disagreed on how much food to carry. “I have to give all the credit to Hanna for navigating,” Linda says modestly. “She was super. We had a pact — I’ll do some cooking, you do the navigating. It worked out pretty good.”

But according to Hanna, her mom is far too modest about her accomplishments. “I’m a strong hiker,” she says, “but I cannot scramble as good as her.” On the gnarlier sections of the AT, rebar rungs are sometimes installed to help hikers through tricky stretches. “She will literally just walk down the vertical rebar like they’re stairs,” Hanna laughs. “She’s just going down it like a mountain goat, and I’m like, ‘What are you doing?!'”

And on one tricky downclimb on the descent from Katahdin, it was Linda who took the lead.

We Live Under the Trees

Grayson Highlands —the ponies wouldn’t get off the trail!

Now that the AT is over, both women are in recovery mode. “She actually fared better physically,” reports Hanna, who is recovering from foot problems, including plantar fasciitis.

Linda credits her mostly injury-free hike to her active lifestyle — she grew up on a farm, and she and her husband still chop firewood every season to heat their cabin. “We live under the trees. I’m out there raking, I garden, so that’s my lifestyle anyway … I was probably very well prepared for the long hike.”

Both women fully intend to keep hiking. Hanna wants to complete the remainder of the Connecticut blue-blaze trail system. Linda, for her part, wants to see more of the US through its state park trails.

Linda’s words of wisdom for fellow hikers? In a nutshell, chill out. “It doesn’t matter if you go north or south or split it up. It’s not how you choose to hike; it’s just about the miles and following the blazes — whatever works for you. It’s just a good thing to get out outside anyway, whether you just decide to hike a mile or go for the long hikes.”

Featured image: Linda “Nana” Vanderloop in Mahoosuc Notch. “Nana won’t brag about her scrambling skills, but they were on full display in the Mahoosuc Notch,” writes Hanna in an email to The Trek.

All images, including featured image, courtesy of Hanna Vanderloop.