A week ago I was privileged to add my name to the wall of signatures of Mississippi River paddlers that Dale Sanders, the Grey Beard Adventurer, maintains at his home in Memphis for just that purpose.

For years Dale has been a ‘River Angel,’ one of those many kind folks up and down the Mississippi who aid thru-paddlers. Since 2012 he’s been collecting signatures on his wall.

A life-long adventurer, he himself paddled the river in 2015, becoming the oldest person, at age 80, to do so. He went on to hike the Appalachian Trail in 2017, becoming, at 82, the oldest person to do that in one calendar year.

I’ve known of Dale for several years and had wanted to meet him and add my 2003 thru-paddle to his wall. Fortunately, our path from Connecticut to Arkansas for a Sue family meetup took us right through Memphis, so I messaged him that I was coming.

Unfortunately, Dale had a scheduled hiking trip on the day I would pass through, but his wife, Meriam, was a most gracious host. The two of them, by the way, hitchhiked around the world together back in 1983, passing through 26 countries.

Thanks Dale and Meriam.