Grandma Gatewood

In 1953, at the age of 67, Emma Rowena “Grandma” Gatewood became the first woman to hike the 2,050 mile Appalachian Trail alone and in one season. The Gallia County, Ohio, resident hiked the Appalachian Trail again in 1957 and 1964, becoming the first to walk its length three times. In 1959, she hiked the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri, to Portland, Oregon. She was a founder of the Buckeye Trail and a life member of the Buckeye Trail Association, which named a part of the trail after her. Born in 1887 on a farm near Mercerville as one of 15 children, she died in 1973 at the age of 85, the mother of 11 and “grandma” to many more. She was inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame in 2012.

Cheshire, Ohio · United States