Dale Sanders, an 80-year-old canoe enthusiast from Logan County, Kentucky, on Sunday became the oldest person to paddle the entire length of the Mississippi River, . The trip stretched from Lake Itasca聽in Minnesota聽to the Gulf of Mexico and took three months to complete.
Sanders, a retiree who worked at the Department of the Navy for 37 years, traveled in a Wenonah canoe named Anna, after his grandniece who suffers from type 1 diabetes. Part of the purpose of his聽trip was to raise awareness and gather funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Sanders said he was also enticed by the chance to make history as the Mississippi鈥檚 oldest full-length paddler.
鈥淲hen I found out the oldest person that鈥檚 ever hiked the Appalachian Trail is 82聽years聽old,鈥 Sanders said in a , 鈥淚 said, 鈥榃ell, I better wait a couple of years before I do that one.鈥欌