My Adventure: by Betty "The Legend" Kellenberger
The Appalachian Trail thru-hike consists of 2,198 miles of trail, traversing 14 states and entailing nearly a half-million feet of elevation gain. A thru-hike, by definition, is a full hike of the trail within a 1-year period. The trail was completed in 1937, not long after which Betty Kellenberger heard about the trail and thought hiking it would be a pretty cool thing to do. She was age 10..
70 years later, at age 80, Betty finally completed the trail after 2 previous attempts to become the oldest female to successfully thru-hike the trail.
3,000 to 4,000 people attempt to thru-hike the A.T. each year, but only about 20-25% succeed in completing the entire trail. So how did this 80 year old succeed where so many others failed? Tenacity, patience, and a positive outlook on every setback that occurred. And there will inevitably be setbacks for anyone attempting this adventure. Heat, cold, storms, hunger, thirst, fatigue, injury… and the list goes on.
But the rewards are equally big – especially the satisfaction and realization of knowing that if you can accomplish that, you can accomplish just about anything you put your mind to.
Advice to Others:
Betty’s #1 piece of advise to people of any age is “MOVE.” The body is meant to move, and simply deteriorates with a sedentary lifestyle. She doesn’t care what you do… swim, bike, walk… just move. That, she insists, is what has kept her so active and healthy throughout the decades.
Her other piece of advice is, if there’s something you really want to do, then take action and find a way to make it happen.
For anyone interested in the Appalachian Trail, check out the site of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy here => https://appalachiantrail.org
