91-Year-Old Baptist Layman Oldest Appalachian Trail Hiker
NASHVILLE — Dale “Grey Beard” Sanders is a 91-year-old Baptist layman who last month set a record for the oldest through hiker of the Appalachian Trail – a record he had previously set at the age of 82 on a hike in 2017. It was a journey that began with prayer, and — 2,197 miles later — ended with prayer.
The Appalachian Trail’s southern terminus is Springer Mountain, Ga., and its northern terminus is on Mount Katahdin, Baxter State Park, Maine. A “through hike” is one completed, start to finish, within 365 days. Sanders began his hike in September 2025 at Springer Mountain, took several months off during the winter, and finished on August 31, 2026.
“Grey Beard,” whose trail name comes from a Cheyenne Indian chief, holds several competitive records in hiking and paddling. After a 57-year career in parks and recreation, including 37 years with the U.S. Navy, Sanders and his wife Mary moved to the Memphis area in 2006 and began building a new home. Within the year they had joined Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova.
The Sunday before Sanders was to leave on his hike was the first Sunday of Bellevue’s new pastor Ben Mandrell. Following the service, Mandrell prayed over Sanders before he set out on the journey. Nearly a year later, Sanders prayed as he touched the famous sign which marks the northern terminus of the trail on Mount Katahdin.
“I always told people, I’ll finish unless something happens I have no control over,” Sanders told Baptist Press. “I figured that would happen before the midpoint on the trail and I’d be in the hospital, and I could quit with dignity and honor. I was already well over halfway, when I realized what was going on. The prayers were working!”
Besides not having any falls with serious injuries, he related an incident affirming the impact of prayer on the trail. While hiking in Virginia last fall, he stopped briefly to check his phone. Glancing down, something caught his eye in front of him. It was an eastern diamond back rattle snake which he said was “completely stretched across the trail.” One more step and Sanders would have literally been on top of the snake with possibly deadly consequences.
Sanders compared his recent AT hike with his last through hike in 2017.
“The last time I hiked it [the Appalachian Trail], I didn’t have that many prayers,” he said. “I’ve suffered some things that I shouldn’t. But by the time I finished this year, no question about it. It was the prayers that people were offering, not only by my family, but friends in churches and literally around the world.”
The mountains of New Hampshire and Maine are some of the most beautiful and difficult miles of the AT. Because of the rugged terrain, a through hiker’s average daily milage is typically cut in half. Sanders said the most difficult sections for him were the Mahoosuc Notch and Arm in southern Maine and Mount Katahdin at the northern terminus. Although he noted Maine’s Bigalows and Goose Eye mountains were difficult hikes as well.
At 5,269 feet, Katahdin is not the highest mountain on the trail, but few would argue that it’s not the most difficult. It is rated as a class 3 with massive boulders, slabs and rock ledges. It rises more than 4,000 feet in less than five miles. Through hikers have had more than 2,000 miles to imagine and prepare for how they will pose at the sign. Perhaps few have lifted their arms in prayer as Sanders did.
It’s been said that the first third of an Appalachian Trail through hike is physical, the second third is mental, and the final third is spiritual. Sanders might argue the whole journey was spiritual, culminating with a prayer meeting on Katahdin.
“When I got to the sign, I was going to go on the backside of it kneel and pray, but when I got there, I was so overwhelmed, I didn’t go any further. I just stopped right there and prayed.”
His first Sunday back home found him at church and Sunday School at Bellevue. As to his future, he said it typically takes him about three months to recover from a long hike. He wanted to do the “rim to rim” at the Grand Canyon, but recent floods have closed the trails, and no permits are being issued. He said he might get involved in some spear fishing tournaments next year, but that is still undecided.
At 91, it was not too late for Sanders to rediscover the importance of prayer along life’s journeys. Whatever future journeys “Grey Beard” takes they will undoubtedly begin and end with prayer.
This article was originally published by Baptist Press.
Charles Jones is a retired pastor and Baptist historian who lives in Athens, Georgia.