The First Woman to Thru-Hike the Appalachian Trail Alone Did It as a ‘Lark’ — by Philip D'anieriEmma Gatewood set out wearing sneakers, with a duffel slung over one shoulder.
On April 4, 1948, Army veteran Earl Shaffer set out from the southern end of the Appalachian Trail (AT) to, as he famously said, “walk the war out of my system.” When he finished at the northern terminus, Maine’s Mt. Katahdin, 124 days later, Shaffer became the first person known to have thru-hiked the 2,000 mile-plus trail that snakes its way up the mountainous spine of the eastern United States. Less than a decade later, a 67-year-old grandmother laced up not hiking boots but sneakers, and became the first woman to thru-hike the trail on her own*. While Shaffer’s journey of finding redemption on the trail is better known, Emma Gatewood’s trek is just as compelling: After a lifetime of dire hardship, she was simply drawn to the freedom of a long walk.
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