How Has Grandma Gatewood Inspired Generations of Hikers?

At the age of 67, Emma Gatewood became the first woman to hike the Appalachian Trail alone in a single season. Learn her story in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/grandma-gatewood.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Lauren bobabam here. Sometimes you've had enough and
you just need to go for a walk. It's understandable
a walk can clear the mind, and it's possible the
extent to which your mind needs to be cleared should
determine the length of the walk. This isn't necessarily scientific,

(00:25):
but the story of Emma Gatewood provides anecdotal evidence that
it might be true. Emma Gatewood, called Grandma Gatewood by
her family and later the world, was one of the
early through hikers of the Appalachian Trail, the longest walking
only footpath in the world. When she left Ohio in ninet,

(00:46):
she told her family that she was going for a
walk in the woods. So it was surprising to her
eleven children and twenty three grandchildren that the sixty seven
year old matriarch of their family had undertaken this hype.
It stretches some two thousand, one hundred and ninety miles
that's three thousand, five hundred and thirty kilometers from Georgia

(01:06):
to Maine. Her family only found out when one of
them stumbled across a newspaper feature about their mother's truck.
Gatewood was not the first person, or even the first woman,
to hike the trail. In ninety nine, year old Earl
Schaeffer was the first person to hike the entire trail
by himself. In nineteen fifty two, Mildred Norman Ryder, in

(01:29):
her mid forties at the time, completed the entire trail
with a companion. Gatewoods hike was notable because of her
age and because she was the first woman ever to
complete the trail in a single season. For the article
this episode is based on Hows to Work spoke with
Larry Luxembourg, president of the Appalachian Trail Museum in Pennsylvania.

(01:50):
He said, when Grandma Gatewood did her first through hike
in ninetti, there were few hikers and it was hard
to follow the trail. There were also many fewer resources
for hikers, fewer stores near the trail, and much less
information about the trail. She saw very few hikers along
the Appalachian Trail, but still Gatewood hiked it alone. Wearing

(02:12):
canvas sneakers. She walked through seven pairs of them that summer,
Carrying a denim Duffel bag over one shoulder. She brought
a change of clothes, a blanket, a plastic shower curtain
for shelter at night, a Swiss army knife, a canteen,
a flashlight, a length of rope, and a few other essentials.
She ate a lot of vienna, sausages, trail mix, and
bullion from cubes. Sometimes she ran out of food and

(02:35):
ate berries she recognized in the forest. By the time
Gatewood became a famous hiker, she had lived the kind
of life it would take a few thousand miles to
walk off. Born in Ohio in seven, Gatewood's father had
lost his leg in the Civil War, and her mother
single handedly raised fifteen children in a small log cabin,

(02:55):
sleeping four kids to a bed. Gatewood completed school only
through the eighth grade, but she loved reading and writing
poetry and walking in the woods. In nineteen o seven,
at the age of nineteen, she married a primary school
teacher and later tobacco farmer by the name of PC Gatewood.
For the next thirty years, she would endure frequent assault

(03:16):
from her husband while also doing strenuous farm work and
raising their eleven children. She tried to escape a few times,
but it's hard to disappear with multiple children. In Tow
In ninety nine, after being nearly beaten to death by
her husband, Gatewood was arrested for throwing a sack of
flower at him. She spent the night in jail before
the mayor of the town saw her cracked teeth, bruised face,

(03:39):
and broken ribs and took her into his own home.
She stayed there until she healed, at which point she
filed for divorce, a difficult thing to obtain at the time,
but her divorce was granted in nineteen forty one and
she was given custody of the three children who still
remained at home. In nineteen fifty one, after all of
her children were out in the world, Gatewood found a

(04:01):
back issue of National Geographic, which included photos and a
story about the Appalachian Trail. Gatewood was intrigued and decided
she wanted to be the first woman to hike it alone.
Gatewood's first attempt at hiking the entire trail was unsuccessful.
In nineteen fifty four, she started out from Maine, but
broke her glasses, lost her way, and was rescued by rangers.

(04:24):
The next year, she tried again and successfully hiked an
average of fourteen miles that's twenty two kilometers a day
from Georgia do Main. She didn't necessarily enjoy everything about
the experience. After her nineteen fifty five hike, Gatewood was
interviewed by Sports Illustrated and she had this to say
about the trail. I thought it would be a nice lark.

(04:45):
It wasn't. There were terrible blowdowns, burnt over areas that
were never remarked, gravel and sand, washouts, weeds and brushed
her neck, and most of the shelters were blown down,
burned down or so filthy. I had to sleep out
of doors. This is no trail. This is a nightmare.
I would never have started this trip if I had
known how tough it was. But I couldn't and I
wouldn't quit all things considered, the only thing more improbable

(05:10):
that Emma Gatewood's completing the trail from Georgia do Main
in a single summer under these conditions at the age
of sixty seven is that she did it again twice,
once in nineteen fifty seven and again in nineteen sixty
four at the age of seventy six, though that time
in sections. Also in nineteen fifty nine at the age
of seven one Gatewood walked some two thousand miles or

(05:33):
d kilometers of the Oregon Trail, inspired by the pioneer
women who walked from Missouri to Oregon a hundred years
before her. By then, newspapers had dubbed Gatewood America's most
celebrated pedestrian, and she's been inspiring other hikers ever since.

(05:53):
Today's episode is based on the article Grandma Gatewood Hiked
into Appalachian Trail History at age sixty seven on House
to Fork dot com, written by Justlyin Shields. Brain Stuff
is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff
Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. For
more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
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