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The First Woman To Solo Hike The Appalachian Trail Was A Grandmother Of 24 And Abuse Survivor
Emma Gatewood persevered through a difficult life to become a hiking legend beginning when she was 67
For enthusiasts of hiking and the outdoors in the United States, the famed Appalachian Trail (AT) has long been one of the most iconic destinations. Stretching from Maine to Georgia, numerous people hike portions of it every year, while a much smaller number (currently around 1,000 annually) take the typical five-to-seven months to complete the entire trek. Doing the full trail is an amazing accomplishment to be sure, and amazingly the first woman to achieve the feat by herself was a 67-year-old grandmother of 24 and domestic abuse survivor.
Starting in Mount Katahdin in Maine and extending down through Springer Mountain in Georgia, the Appalachian Trail is approximately 2,200 miles in length of a mixture of rugged terrain winding through hills and mountains. Completed in 1937, it passes through 14 states and actually has a regularly fluctuating length, as slight modifications are occasionally made for the sake of conservation and other external factors. More than two million hikers hike at least some part of it every year. Since its inception, more than 20,000 hikers have been recorded as…
