Grandma Gatewood's Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail

Storia che stimola e fa riflettere, lettura consigliata

If you are a walker or a hiker, and particularly if you are a woman of a certain age, you will love this book. It is the story of Ohio woman Emma Gatewood hiking the 2000 plus mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in 1955 at the age of 67. She became the first woman ever to do so. It is well researched and well written. She was stunningly ill prepared (no tent, proper knapsack or even a sleeping bag) and inexperienced but fired by grit, guts and incredible inner strength. Quite a story. And she did it twice more after her first successful sojourn.

Wonderful true story. Got it for a friend for their birthday. They loved it.

This was an inspiring book about Emma Gatewood, the first woman to through-hike the Appalachian Trail. You can get a sense of what kind of person she was and the strength she possessed to not only hike the trail, but to live the life she did. Some who read the book have complained that there wasn't enough about the hike or trail itself. I have read another book about hiking the Appalachian Trail - "Ten Million Steps" by M. J. Eberhart. And, there wasn't a lot in his book about the actual trail either. But, then, what can you actually say about the trail itself to make an entire book interesting? And, when you think about it, isn't hiking the trail a different story for each person based on their own reasons for hiking it and enduring the necessary hardships to finish it. To me, it seemed that M. J. Eberhart's book was not only about the challenges he met and overcame on the trail but about his relationships with other like-minded people on the trail, his wish to find the good in people, and his relationship to his religion. Emma Gatewood was asked repeatedly why she was hiking the trail and gave various, similar answers along the lines of "it was there, so I did it." But, it seems to me, or maybe it was just the way the author presented it, that her story on and off the trail was about believing in herself, overcoming adversity, and not being controlled by her circumstances. She was not very prepared to hike the trail and yet she overcame each obstacle with determination and fortitude, sometimes relying solely on her own strength, sometimes with the help of others. I was amazed at her creativity and her ability to approach total strangers to ask for a place to stay. About the author's writing: I was disappointed that he brought himself and his wife into the book near the end. It was a little jarring and seemed gratuitous. But, overall, I liked the book and thought he did a good job. I got the impression that Emma Gatewood's speech was sparse, concise and factual and I doubt her diary had lengthy passages upon which he could base the story. I thought he did a good job of bringing in her past history and the history of times she lived in to make the book more relevant and interesting.

Only just started reading , but so far I am really enjoying it. I have been waiting a while to get this book, and it's just what I expected, a great story!