Isabella Kathleen Oteri’s first experience with hiking, backpacking and camping became a journey across the entire Appalachian Trail. She set out on her 70th birthday and, a little over eight months later, finished all 2,197.4 miles, from Georgia to Maine, on Dec. 7, 2024.
A Birthday Start Turns Into an Eight-Month Journey
Oteri began her trek on March 25, 2024, the day she turned 70, according to Generations of Service, which documented her journey as part of what it calls the Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiking Class of 2024. By the time she finished in December, she had crossed all 14 states the trail passes through, per the same account. Generations of Service reported that Oteri had never hiked, backpacked or camped before setting out.
What Counts as a Thru-Hike
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy defines a thru-hike as completing the entire trail within 12 months or less. The trail is more than 2,190 miles long.
Finishing at all, regardless of pace, is rare. Estimates vary: PBS NewsHour has reported that about one in four hikers who set out to complete the Appalachian Trail reaches that goal, while the Appalachian Trail Conservancy estimates that about one in three hikers who attempt a thru-hike completes the entire trail. The Conservancy also says only about 50 people age 70 or older have completed thru-hikes.
How Oteri’s Timeline Compares
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy says most thru-hikers finish in five to seven months, and the average hike takes just under six months. Oteri’s journey lasted a little over eight months. The Conservancy describes the trail as mountainous throughout, with rocky terrain and frequent elevation changes.
She Joins a Small Club of Late-Life Hikers
Oteri is not the only hiker to take on the Appalachian Trail well into her seventies. PBS NewsHour profiled Betty Kellenberger, an 80-year-old retired schoolteacher from Michigan who completed a thru-hike and described herself as the oldest female to do so. “I'm the oldest female to have completed the thru-hike,” Kellenberger told PBS NewsHour. Kellenberger said the idea had been dormant for years before resurfacing. “I had lived through COVID, and somewhere along the line, the idea of doing the Appalachian Trail reentered my vision,” she said. Separately, the Associated Press has reported on a hiker nicknamed Grey Beard who set the record as the oldest person to complete the Appalachian Trail.
Those stories, together with Oteri's, point to a trail that keeps drawing older hikers willing to spend months on foot through rugged, remote terrain, even when, as in Oteri's case, they are starting from zero experience.
