Ben Montgomery

In 1955, an older person--a woman from Ohio who had already endured her share of life's tests and challenges--walks the entirety of the Appalachian Trail (or AT), from Mount Olgethorpe,Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine. At 67 years old, Emma Gatewood is credited as the first woman to complete the thru-hike, and the first person to complete the thru-hike three times.

Grandma Greenwood's story, on both on the trail and in her past, are decisively a woman's, creating another facet of the story of a lone hiker on the Appalachian Trail. I wasn't enamored by the writing style or tone of the author, but he gave a considerable amount of attention to the character of Grandma Gatewood, which I appreciated and enjoyed.… (més)

Emma Gatewood, a woman who suffered at the hands of an abusive husband for much of her life, set out to walk the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. She was in her late 60s when she set out in the 1950s on her trek. While I enjoyed the story, I was disappointed in the lack of footnotes/endnotes to see exactly where the author got the information he passed along. A bibliography was included, but it was obviously not complete as it failed to list newspaper accounts consulted and diaries. I'm not sure the flashbacks to her life as an abused wife were handled in the best manner. Perhaps a more chronological approach would have been better than "flashbacks." (The dual timeline just wasn't necessary.) Gatewood rewalked the trail the following year and walked the complete course a third time in sections. She also walked across the Oregon Trail later. I'm amazed she did it in tennis shoes instead of hiking boots and that she was able to travel as lightly as she did. I was unaware of all the shelters built along the trail for those walking at regular daily intervals even though I live near portions of the trail.… (més)