LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Four million steps, a mountain rescue for a broken hip, breast cancer and a broken fibula later, Ernie and Lois Hess have realized their dream to hike the famed Appalachian Trail by the time they were 75.

The 17-year itch began inconspicuously enough in the summer of 1965 when the pair from West Lampeter Township honeymooned at Camp Hebron, a church camp north of Harrisburg.

The couple took a 10-mile or so day hike on Peters Mountain to see the Susquehanna River on the Maine-to-Georgia trail.

"We were fascinated by how long this trail was," recalls Ernie, a retired teache...