At 91, he became the oldest to finish the Appalachian Trail

Dale Sanders, 91, became the oldest person to hike the entire Appalachian Trail on Monday, summiting Katahdin in Maine shortly before noon after 359 days on the roughly 2,190-mile footpath. He fell 71 times over the year, including once just 600 feet from the finish, and spent a brief stint in the hospital with a pinched nerve. Sanders broke a record he first set in 2017 at age 82. The title later passed to M.J. Eberhart, an 87-year-old friend Sanders once hiked alongside so he wouldn't quit. Eberhart returned the favor this time, helping drive a camper van nicknamed the Base Camp on Wheels for the first 800 miles. Sanders averaged 12 miles a day, fueled partly by strangers he calls trail angels. "When people are taking care of you and bringing you caramel frappes on the trail, the rocks don't matter," he told the Associated Press. His advice for seniors: it's OK to eat doughnuts if you also exercise.