Quote:“Being healthier at 80 than your doctor expects is such a joy,” Betty “Legend” Kellenberger tells me over email. That might be an understatement. On September 12, Kellenberger made history by becoming the oldest woman to complete a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. With 2,200 miles under her belt, she admits that she’s tired and in need of a nap, but she’s still made time to answer my questions.

The women’s age record previously belonged to Linda “Nana” Vanderloop, who finished the trail last year at age 74. Much like Vanderloop, Kellenberger didn’t set out on the AT with the goal of becoming the oldest woman thru-hiker. “The age record was incidental. In fact, I was nearly done before people started asking my age and suggesting I could be breaking the record,” she says.

She had been dreaming of thru-hiking since childhood. “Bear in mind that the trail was only 20 years old when I was born. I read about it in elementary school. Georgia to Maine and everything in between. Pure magic. It caught my attention and my imagination.”