Emma Gatewood: Guardian of the Appalachian Trail by Linda Harris Sittig

Emma Gatewood never considered that she was a remarkable woman.

In 1955, at the age of 67, she hiked the entire Appalachian Trail—alone. And without a tent or sleeping bag.

To truly appreciate her accomplishment, you need to read about Emma’s life.

Before 1955, she had never ventured far from her rural upbringing in Gallia County, Ohio. Married at twenty to a husband who quickly turned abusive, Emma worked the farm with him and gave birth to eleven children, often becoming pregnant just three weeks after the birth of the last child.

When I first read about Emma Gatewood, I wondered why she remained for forty-eight years in such an abusive marriage, even loosing teeth during the physical assaults.

Born into a farm culture where children learn early the meaning of chores, Emma worked hard her entire life. But, she was trapped with no outside job skills, no savings, no higher education, and nowhere else to go.

What she did have was a love for walking and spending time alone in the woods.

When her youngest child turned twenty-six, Emma walked away from her home to find the solace of a place she had only read about: the Appalachian Trail. She knew the journey would take approximately five months to complete the entire 2,050 miles.

She did not bother to inform her family that she would be gone for a while.

Setting her sights on the southern end of the Trail, she took a bus to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Her provisions included a pasteboard suitcase in which she had packed an extra pair of dungarees (jeans), a dress, a pair of slippers, a blanket, a coat, a plastic shower curtain, a flashlight, a Swiss army knife, a notebook, and a bottle of water.

On her feet she wore a pair of plain sneakers.

Starting in the spring, she walked north, averaging fourteen miles a day. By day number two she left the pasteboard box behind and carried her provisions in a sack. No sleeping bag, no tent, not even a map; she simply followed the white paint on the trees that blazed the way.

Wild berries and edible greens provided her with some nourishment. When she became very hungry, she walked into towns to purchase food she could carry.

She often slept in shelters on the trail, or up on a picnic bench, sleeping in her coat with the plastic shower curtain under or over her. If the weather turned bad, she walked into a town, knocked on doors and asked permission to sleep on someone’s front porch. She quickly learned that the families living in small houses were usually the most willing to share. Sometimes, she was invited to dine with the family, even if they only had soup for dinner.

As her sojourn continued, journalists would station themselves at strategic stops to ask her how the trip was going. Newspapers began following her journey.

Although she had encounters with copperheads, hurricanes, and freezing temperatures, Emma also had days when the spectacular beauty of nature almost overwhelmed her.

Once, after she had been on the Trail for months, she came to a swollen river. Emma did not know how to swim. She waited for hours, praying that someone would come to help.

Two college boys hiking the trail found her. She explained her predicament. One carried her on his back across the river, while the other shouldered her supplies. Emma recorded their names in her notebook, and her gratitude. Decades later, those college boys, now men, recounted the story of how they had helped this amazing older woman hiking the Trail alone.

When Emma finally arrived at Mount Katahdin, Maine, she had worn out seven pairs of sneakers and lost thirty pounds of body weight.

But here is what she gained; respect for herself, freedom from abuse, and the knowledge that she was stronger than she could have ever imagined. She climbed to the top of Mt. Katahdin, held her head high, and sang “America the Beautiful”.

When she returned home, she filed for divorce.

In an amazing follow-up, she returned to the Trail and hiked its entirety two additional times in following years. Then she wrote letters advocating that the Appalachian Trail deserved to be preserved and maintained for all Americans to enjoy it.

Emma Gatewood, alias Grandma Gatewood, alias Queen of the Appalachian Trail, died at age eighty-six, after completing her bucket list: to take a trip on a boat, and to take a bus trip to every state. She made it to the continental forty-eight.

Hats off to you, Emma Gatewood, for your courage, your fortitude, and your unshakable spirit. You proved that strong women persevere.

Thank you to Kathy Winters, who hiked in Emma’s footsteps, not just once, but twice and told me about Emma’s story, and Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery.

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~ Linda ~