When are you too old to enjoy a hike and who gets to decide?

I don’t know the answer to the first question, yet.  I’m still at it.  The second is easier.  I do.  I have people, well-meaning people, in my life who think the decision is theirs to make.  I’m getting better at ignoring them.

In 2022, I decided to hike the Appalachian Trial.  I’ll admit I had a lot to learn.  Some lessons were painful, and some were rewarding but all were necessary.

My first season I learned how to share the trail with a partner and still maintain “my hike”.  Hikers are cautioned/encouraged to hike own hike, which just means keep your trail plans and dreams alive.  Protect them.

In 2023 I fell off a mountain and had to learn how to get back up and start again.

In 2024 I ran into a hurricane and the destruction of my trail.

in 2025 I made it.

In 1955, I was 10.  Grandma Gatewood accomplished   what I had wanted to do.  Not be first.  Just to hike the A.T.  It was my childhood dream.

She was, also, a part of my victory.  I had – at last- hiked the AT.  At 80.  I did it.  It wasn’t long before I got a text from an unknown number.  “So” it said, “you are taking Grandma Gatewood’s title.” I quickly responded.  No.  She was first.  She will always be first.  No one can take that away.  I’m just the oldest, for now.  I am well aware that my record can be broken by any woman 81 or older.

I want to be clear; I wasn’t hiking to set a record.  I was hiking to complete a mission that I had set for myself. The AT. Along the way, I met many wonderful people who befriended me, encouraged me and even a group of boy scouts that gave me my trail name, “Betty the Legend!”

I am frequently asked, “How can I do what you did?”  It requires movement, mind, heart, and body.  Use what you’ve been given.  I don’t consider myself to be an athlete.  I believe there are other octogenarians who can do what I did.  All it takes is a plan, a goal; and a determination to work at it until you reach your Katahdin.