By Christine Hauser New York Times

M.J. Eberhart, an 83-year-old retired eye doctor, had a strenuous weekend.

On Sunday, he pushed through the final few miles of a hike on the Appalachian Trail, becoming the oldest known person to complete the roughly 2,190-mile trail from Georgia to Maine.

It was an odyssey that started in January from his home in Flagg Mountain, Ala., with a series of day hikes that gradually took him to Georgia. From there, he started the journey along the Appalachian Trail. He carried a 6-pound pack, with a tent, sleeping bag, and other gear (not including food and water).

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Known by his trail name “Nimblewill Nomad,” Eberhart hiked the distance in segments. Sometimes friends and supporters hiked with him or picked him up for overnight breaks of a warm bed and meal, driving him back the next morning to where he had dropped off the trail.

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Mostly, he slept in the wild. He was stunned by the natural beauty around him. He saw bears. Mosquitoes dive-bombed him. He dreaded the prospect of boulders and 50-mile-per-hour winds in the Presidential Range in New Hampshire.

And he came “face to face” with himself, he said in an interview. Every day, he said, he overcame the temptation to quit.

But he pushed on.

“I knew what was coming,” he said. “And day to day, the challenge.”

“Every foot of that trail,” he said.

At the end, Eberhart hiked the last leg of his trek on Sunday into Dalton, Mass., and into the record books.

Read the full story here

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