The Appalachian National Scenic Trail more commonly known as the Appalachian Trail or the AT is a trail that runs from Maine to Georgia (or from Georgia to Maine, depending on where you start and finish.) It is about 2200 miles long. I have only hiked very short sections of it in Georgia. And when I say short sections, I mean just a few hundred yards from where it crosses over a road! I would love to hike more of it but I suspect I am getting too old to hike it for any great length ...but wait, you will never guess what I just learned! Let me tell you about Emma Gatewood!
What, you have never heard of her? Neither had I! (She is more commonly known as "Grandma" Gatewood but I prefer to call her by her given name.) In 1955, she hiked the entire Appalachian Trail all by herself when she was 67 years old. What is more, two years later, she did it again. (She also hiked it for a third time, although she allowed herself to do that last one in sections.) Emma Gatewood died in 1973 at the age of 85. This year, the New York Times published an obituary for her as part of its "Overlooked" series about remarkable people whose deaths went unreported in the Times.
You may read the NY Times obituary just here. You will read that she suffered terrible abuse from her husband and she said later that the nature on the trail was healing to her. Nature is a balm to the soul, I believe.
On her first hike on the AT, she sang "America, The Beautiful" when she completed her journey in Maine at the top of Mt. Katahdin. (highest mountain in Maine at 5,270 feet.) Isn't that wonderful to know?
It is wonderful. It just goes to show what you can do, at any age, if you put your mind to it.
ReplyDeleteAnd she was a very strong woman who had worked very hard all her life and had endured so much already.
DeleteHow impressive! Ya can't ever stop moving cause once you stop, you're done. It's obvious Emma never stop moving, er hiking for that matter. What a great example she was! How fun for you to have done the same trail!!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend!
Saimi
She always called it "walking", I notice. Her story is most impressive and I am glad that I learned of it and glad to share it here. Hope you have a great weekend too.
DeleteI love such long trails and dream of walking/hiking at least one such trail in my life, my favourite being the Pennine Way and a few others in England (surprise, surprise!).
ReplyDeleteEmma Gatewood's achievement is impressive. How wonderful that she managed to walk the entire trail three times!
Not only did she walk the AT, she also walked 2000 miles of the Oregon Trail from Missouri to Oregon, averaging 22 miles a day! Isn't that amazing? I don't kid myself, I do know that I would not be able to hike all of the AT but I do hope to walk on longer stretches of it! :-)
DeleteThat is impressive and good to know I still have time lol
ReplyDeleteCathy
I love to know stories of inspiring people. I need all the inspiration I can get!
DeleteNice post! And did I say that I really love your latest header??? Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Jenny! I took that one! I grew that flower from seed and it is at least 7 feet tall! The flower is a Mexican sunflower and the butterfly, an American Lady. (Love that name!) xx
DeleteIt is a wonderful thing ! To be able to hike like that would take a lot of gumption for sure. I think it's important for everyone to have a goal like that and succeed. It doesn't have to be doing the AT but anything that makes one feel fulfilled. For me it was being a mom. And that made my life very full.
ReplyDeleteEmma Gatewood had had a very hard life and the fact that she was so determined to hike the entire AT by herself was extraordinary to me! As someone who loves a good walk but feel that I am getting a bit beyond any long ones, she is a particular inspiration to me. Not everyone loves to walk like me, I know! :-) A life very full, that is what we all strive for. xx
DeleteIt is impressive and wonderful that she sang "America, the Beautiful" on top of Mount Katahdin. But the obituary is a bit horrifying. I am so sorry she had to suffer such terrible abuse. It's heart-breaking. But she did survive and achieve.
ReplyDeleteI know, her life was very abusive but I don't think she would want us to dwell on that, that was not her fault. What SHE did was simply a wondrous thing to marvel over and I am so glad that she had happiness from her great achievement from her long walks. xx
DeleteBack in my younger Boy Scout days a section of the AT ran right through our summer camp. I have hiked many miles of the trail in northern NJ but never the whole trail. I guess I'm not too old to try.
ReplyDeleteOf course, we have to check with our medical professionals that anything we do is okay by them, but as long as we can walk, we should be able to at least walk sections of the AT. I hope that I will still be able to do so during my 60's and 70's! Lucky you, to have the AT so close!
DeleteHi Kay - amazing lady ... and how wonderful she just decided to walk the trail - now having seen that her husband beat her constantly during their marriage til she was able to divorce him - even then under threat from him ... dreadful how people can treat others. Thanks for telling us about her ... beautiful views and peace she'd have had as she walked the trail ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteBeautiful views and peace, yes that is exactly so. Imagine how FREE she must have felt as she walked! I love her story, so happy to share it here. I didn't say but she also walked out in YOUR neck of the woods. She walked 2000 miles of the Oregon Trail!
DeleteI have heard of her as I've got A Walk in The Woods by Bill Bryson and quite fancied hiking it years ago but was put off by the distance and the tree cover. Like most people I could only ever get 2 to 3 weeks off for any backpacking trip so hikes had to fit around that time period. The film of the same name is watchable and fairly pleasant but overdone and they are really too old for the parts.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mention that book by Bill Bryson. While I enjoyed reading it, there were bits of it that made me squirm a little. (Being from that area, I am bit sensitive!) Anyway, I did see the film too and I thought it was pretty bad, they were too old, I agree! I usually love Robert Redford and Emma Thompson but that one...
DeleteOh! One thing I did love, in ONE of the scenes, they filmed it at Stone Mountain! I was excited to see that one scene very much.
Emma Gatewood sounds a very spirited lady. My knowledge of the Appalachian Trail comes entirely from Bill Bryson's book.
ReplyDeleteI hope to show more of the AT on my blog in the future! I might not be as spirited as Emma Gatewood but I can put on my walking shoes and have a go.
DeleteWow, what a remarkable woman! Such a beautiful place, thanks for such an interesting post!
ReplyDeleteHey! So good to see your comment here! Hee hee, I typed so "cute" to see your comment here at first! :-)
DeleteI know! Wasn't she an incredible woman? I want to make a movie about her, I love stories like this.
Gorgeous pictures. Yes, I've heard about her. I'm walking trails virtually on Walking 4 Fun. Check it out. I'm way behind with my notes there, but it's a great site with wonderful pictures of the real trails from someone who's actually hiked it. App. is one of them. You can manually add your steps/distance if you use a phone app to keep track or you can link something like a fitbit which is what I do.
ReplyDeleteI am about as old fashioned as the lady who hiked the AT in the 1950's. No fitbit or phone app for me. I just walk and enjoy it. Glad you enjoy keeping up with your trails that way though.
DeleteI've never heard of her - what an amazing story. I pass that entrance / exit to the trail before going through Hiawassee. It's always neat seeing hikers emerge.
ReplyDeleteYes! Exactly so, near lovely Hiawassee!☺ As you know, the trail crosses the road and they sell t shirts that say
Delete"I have walked the width of the AT"! So funny, I want one!
Emma's story about hiking the AT is inspiring. Thanks for sharing it. I love Katherine Lee Bate's song "America the Beautiful." I see beautiful Pike's Peak almost every day. It was the view from Pike's Peak that inspired her to write the song. I've been keeping you, Richard, and Christopher very much in my thoughts and prayers in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. Be safe! Take Care! Sending you a big hug!
ReplyDeleteI also love the words from "America The Beautiful". When my sister moved to Colorado, I was so happy to see the Rockies! I knew the story of Katherine Lee Bates writing those words after viewing Pike's Peak. You know I had to sing it!
DeleteThanks for thinking of us but we are fine in the Atlanta area, those in South Georgia and Florida, they are in some need of strong prayers just now.
Take care of yourself, Louise, in your lovely part of our "America, The Beautiful"! xx