Octogenarian Set To Break Appalachian Trail Record

  • Sanders' determination regardless of his age should be an inspiration to all of us who feel like our age limits us. Age truly is just a number for Sanders. You can even track his journey in the link at the end of the article. He's quickly becoming a legend in those mountains. Take Sanders' advice and accomplish what's on your bucket list no matter if you're 25 or 85. It might not be hiking the Appalachian Trail, but find what inspires you and tackle it!

    His attempt began on March 14, and if Sanders (who will be 82 on June 14) is to be successful, he’ll finish the 2,190-mile journey in September.

    Sanders’s goal is to average 14 to 15 miles every day—a pace he’ll need to maintain to make up for periodic rest days. When he gets out of the Smoky Mountains, Sanders hopes to average 18 to 20 miles a day across Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York before hitting the trail’s rugged New England stretch.

    Before setting out officially on March 14, Sanders started training. During January and February, he section-hiked the 31-mile stretch between Springer Mountain and Neel’s Gap three times to test his health and gear.

    Why He’s Hiking

    “I’m a pretty competitive guy,” Sanders says. “I want that Wikipedia article updated. I want to put my name in there instead of [Barry’s].”

    He’s been competitive since he was a boy growing up in Lickskillet, Kentucky. Throughout grade school and high school, Sanders was the smallest kid in his class—too small to play sports, he says—and he was bullied constantly. So he started participating in unconventional activities like acrobatics, tumbling, and underwater swimming.

    In 2015 Sanders became the oldest person to paddle the Mississippi River 2,300 miles from source to sea, a feat he accomplished in 80 days in a canoe, complete with sponsors and a film crew. He raised $22,000 for juvenile diabetes during his Mississippi River record, and the support he received afterwards “made me want to do something else,” he says.

    Sanders spent 37 years working as a civil serviceman coordinating recreation activities for sailors in the Navy, and is now retired in Bartlett, Tennessee, with his 57-year-old wife, Miriam.

    Staying Healthy

    Hiking more than 2,100 miles at 81 is, obviously, harder than at 21. For instance, circulation in Sanders’s hands has worsened with age. “If my hands get cold I can’t pick up anything, I don’t have any grip, I can’t pitch a tent,” he says.

    Sanders is particularly careful to avoid falling. He knows that a routine fall—one that wouldn’t be an issue for another hiker—might end his record attempt.

    Sanders is carrying a SPOT Tracker that has an SOS button on it in case of a medical emergency. (The SPOT Tracker will also verify his record.) He carries four prescription medications. Two different doctors—a general practitioner and a cardiologist—are monitoring his fitness.

    Supplies

    His pack weighs 24.5 pounds, but Sanders thinks that when the weather warms up, he can get it down closer to 20 by shedding some of his thickest layers.

    One of the few non-essential items he’s carrying is a handgun permit, which he uses as a second form of ID and says represents “something philosophical” for him. He also packed 1,000 silver decals bearing his image and a link to his website that he's been handing out.

    Sanders prefers not to sleep in trail shelters, which are often full by the time he reaches them. So he camps in a Nemo Hornet Elite tent nearly every night. With his two-and-a-half-inch thick Sea to Summit sleeping pad, he is plenty comfortable.

    The least appealing part of this journey for Sanders is “having to make food selections. To make things easier, Harmony House Foods, a dehydrated foods company in North Carolina, is sponsoring Sanders’ trip and shipping him meals—free of charge—along the trail.

    Staying Young

    Asked how he’s managed to stay so healthy into his eighties, Sanders says over time he developed a “formula to live happily,” which he says helped him avoid disease and keep his body fresh. The formula consists of two major tenants: first, “you have to have some spiritual belief in your life,” he says. (Sanders is a practicing Baptist.)

    Second: “Live active,” Sanders says. “You need to find an outdoor activity and do it with sincerity.”

    Do you think Sanders can break the record? You can follow his journey here!

    Article and Photo Source: Outside Online



    *

    *

    Top