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Grandma Gatewood's Walk

The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail

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About this listen

Emma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than $200. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 67-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. And in September 1955, atop Maine's Mount Katahdin, she sang the first verse of "America, the Beautiful" and proclaimed, "I said I'll do it, and I've done it." Grandma Gatewood, as the reporters called her, became the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail alone, as well as the first person - man or woman - to walk it twice and three times. The public attention she brought to the little-known footpath was unprecedented. Her vocal criticism of the lousy, difficult stretches led to bolstered maintenance, and very likely saved the trail from extinction.

©2014 Ben Montgomery (P)2014 Tantor Adventure Travel Americas Environment Hiking Nature & Ecology North America Outdoors & Nature Science Sports History State & Local United States Women Conservation Adventure Sports

Critic reviews

"A quiet delight of a book." ( Kirkus)
All stars
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narration could have been more varied, interspersed with female voice maybe. somewhat repetitive in places.

Story of human determination & the kindness of strangers

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An extremely boring story, as the emphasis was not so much on the woman Ms Gatewood but more on the events to too place in America at the same time as her walk. I would have liked to hear about her thoughts, people she encountered, her fears and her joys. However these were all absent, replaced only with facts and figures.

Boring

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's inspiring, heartwarming and tear jerking. What an incredible lady.

Inspiring and heartwarming

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A bit of a strange book, this, in that whilst i thoroughly enjoyed it, it left me with the feeling that the author didn't have enough material on the subject - Grandma Gatewood - alone to write a book so had to fill in blanks with historical data.
BUT, that is ok as i enjoyed these glimpses into Americas social history: love the book because it bought an account of an amazing woman to my attention whom i would never have known about if this book had remained unwritten.
Wish i had her balls ... so to speak.

Intrepid traveller ...

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I smiled hearing of Grandma Gatewoods amazing hiking, and her quips and sharp comments. Her no nonsense attitude is maybe something we can all learn from. Thoroughly enjoyable, I will be recommending to friends and family.

An uplifted inspiring wholesome story

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