Grandma Gatewood, The First Woman to Hike the Appalachian Trail Solo
Emma "Grandma" Gatewood was the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine alone in a single season, which she did in 1955 at the age of 68, completing the journey atop Maine's Mt. Katahdin on her 146th day. She is famous for being an ultralight pioneer, but not a high tech one. She didn't use a backpack. She carried a homemade denim sack filled with the essentials, as she saw them, a blanket, a shower curtain, a cup, a canteen and bottle for water, a small pot, a spoon, a Swiss Army knife, a first-aid kit, pins, a flashlight, a piece of rope, a raincoat, a warm coat, a change of clothes, and her trusty Keds sneakers. She carried no tent, no rain gear other than the shower curtain and no sleeping bag. Her diet consisted of canned Vienna sausages, raisins, nuts, chicken bouillon cubes, or greens she found on the trail. Gatewood was particularly resourceful and had learned which plants were edible before her trip.
The daughter of a civil war veteran, the mother off 11 children and the wife of an inveterate and unpunished domestic abuser who she eventually divorced, Grandma Gatewood eventually hiked the AT two more times. She is the quintessential role model and the ultimate "if she can do it, I can do it." She is still talked about in the long-distance hiking community.
Appalachian Trail Histories | Emma Gatewood · Hikers (appalachiantrailhistory.org)
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