Date: 2017-10-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

On Thursday, October 26, my friend Dale Sanders/Grey Beard became the oldest person to thru hike the Appalachian Trail.  He is 82.  He started hiking in January, completing 100 miles before resuming hiking in April.  Along the way he met many hikers and hiked for various periods of time with different hikers and groups.  Our Expedition group met him at Mount Washington in New Hampshire.  He hiked with us from there to Monson, Maine.  He's a really good athlete, and I couldn't keep up with him for very long.  Grey Beard planned to finish all but but the last mile of the trail by late October, have his family meet him in Harpers Ferry, rest for a day or so, then finish the last mile on Thursday, October 26.  He invited hikers who had hiked with him along the way to hike the last mile with him, and quite a few of those hikers took him up on his invitation.  Bill/Pilgrim Billbones and I drove to Harpers Ferry for the occasion.  Bobby Joe Smith, who hiked with our group for the last several hundred miles, came from Georgia.  Gene Anderson/Papa Bear, one of my earliest hiking friends, was also there.  They all hiked, while I waited at the ATC headquarters (because of my broken foot).  Around 11:00 Greybeard reached the sidewalk in front of the ATC headquarters, where several television news crews and print reporters were waiting to film and interview him.  He gave a short speech thanking all who helped him along the way, particularly his wife Miriam.  At a low moment when he was thinking of going home she had told him he had to finish.  Then his wife and grandchildren posed with him for pictures.  Miriam gave a short speech about how all of us do small things, but together we can do big ones.  Then the crowd headed indoors for refreshments.  Grey Beard disappeared into an office to give an interview to a reporter for the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2017/10/26/an-82-year-old-man-hiked-the-entire-appalachian-trail-then-he-danced-a-jig/?utm_term=.1abba36592f4.  The atmosphere was festive, and it was great to be surrounded by so many hikers.  While I was waiting for Grey Beard to arrive I talked to several hikers and people who were thinking about hiking.  I met a woman from France who had just finished a week of hiking the trail.  She told me about the Tour de Mont Blanc, which has beautiful views every day and can be hiked from hut to hut, i.e., without carrying a heavy pack.  I met a couple just returned from 12 years in China and encouraged them to pursue their dream of thru hiking.  I talked to a woman in her early 60s who was concerned that hiking alone might be dangerous.  I so enjoyed being around so many people who share my interest in long-distance hiking.  Bill and I left for home about one o'clock.  It was great to spend time catching up with him about how things are going with his re-entry into post-hike life.  We are going through many of the same thoughts and feelings.  Recently when he was facing several stressful and difficult decisions he yearned to go away to be alone in the woods for several days.  Then he realized, he had just spent four and a half months in the woods without being able to decide and realized that a few more days were probably not going to be the solution.  Broken foot update: I've graduated from wearing a boot to wearing a post-op shoe. X-rays show the broken bone to be healing well.  In two weeks I can start transitioning from the post-op shoe to a sneaker.  I am not to engage in any athletic endeavors until six weeks after that.  I'm anxious to get back to the woods to hike before the weather turns cold, but I'm not going to rush things.  I hope to have more years of long-distance hiking ahead of me.