Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bobabam here. Sometimes you've had enough and you just need to go for a walk. It's understandable a walk can clear the mind, and it's possible the extent to which your mind needs to be cleared should determine the length of the walk. This isn't necessarily scientific, but the story of Emma Gatewood provides anecdotal evidence that it might be true. Emma Gatewood, called Grandma Gatewood by her family and later the world, was one of the early through hikers of the Appalachian Trail, the longest walking only footpath in the world. When she left Ohio in ninet, she told her family that she was going for a walk in the woods. So it was surprising to her eleven children and twenty three grandchildren that the sixty seven year old matriarch of their family had undertaken this hype. It stretches some two thousand, one hundred and ninety miles that's three thousand, five hundred and thirty kilometers from Georgia to Maine. Her family only found out when one of them stumbled across a newspaper feature about their mother's truck. Gatewood was not the first person, or even the first woman, to hike the trail. In ninety nine, year old Earl Schaeffer was the first person to hike the entire trail by himself. In nineteen fifty two, Mildred Norman Ryder, in her mid forties at the time, completed the entire trail with a companion. Gatewoods hike was notable because of her age and because she was the first woman ever to complete the trail in a single season. For the article this episode is based on Hows to Work spoke with Larry Luxembourg, president of the Appalachian Trail Museum in Pennsylvania. He said, when Grandma Gatewood did her first through hike in ninetti, there were few hikers and it was hard to follow the trail. There were also many fewer resources for hikers, fewer stores near the trail, and much less information about the trail. She saw very few hikers along the Appalachian Trail, but still Gatewood hiked it alone. Wearing canvas sneakers. She walked through seven pairs of them that summer, Carrying a denim Duffel bag over one shoulder. She brought a change of clothes, a blanket, a plastic shower curtain for shelter at night, a Swiss army knife, a canteen, a flashlight, a length of rope, and a few other essentials. She ate a lot of vienna, sausages, trail mix, and bullion from cubes. Sometimes she ran out of food and ate berries she recognized in the forest. By the time Gatewood became a famous hiker, she had lived the kind of life it would take a few thousand miles to walk off. Born in Ohio in seven, Gatewood's father had lost his leg in the Civil War, and her mother single handedly raised fifteen children in a small log cabin, sleeping four kids to a bed. Gatewood completed school only through the eighth grade, but she loved reading and writing poetry and walking in the woods. In nineteen o seven, at the age of nineteen, she married a primary school teacher and later tobacco farmer by the name of PC Gatewood. For the next thirty years, she would endure frequent assault from her husband while also doing strenuous farm work and raising their eleven children. She tried to escape a few times, but it's hard to disappear with multiple children. In Tow In ninety nine, after being nearly beaten to death by her husband, Gatewood was arrested for throwing a sack of flower at him. She spent the night in jail before the mayor of the town saw her cracked teeth, bruised face, and broken ribs and took her into his own home. She stayed there until she healed, at which point she filed for divorce, a difficult thing to obtain at the time, but her divorce was granted in nineteen forty one and she was given custody of the three children who still remained at home. In nineteen fifty one, after all of her children were out in the world, Gatewood found a back issue of National Geographic, which included photos and a story about the Appalachian Trail. Gatewood was intrigued and decided she wanted to be the first woman to hike it alone. Gatewood's first attempt at hiking the entire trail was unsuccessful. In nineteen fifty four, she started out from Maine, but broke her glasses, lost her way, and was rescued by rangers. The next year, she tried again and successfully hiked an average of fourteen miles that's twenty two kilometers a day from Georgia do Main. She didn't necessarily enjoy everything about the experience. After her nineteen fifty five hike, Gatewood was interviewed by Sports Illustrated and she had this to say about the trail. I thought it would be a nice lark. It wasn't. There were terrible blowdowns, burnt over areas that were never remarked, gravel and sand, washouts, weeds and brushed her neck, and most of the shelters were blown down, burned down or so filthy. I had to sleep out of doors. This is no trail. This is a nightmare. I would never have started this trip if I had known how tough it was. But I couldn't and I wouldn't quit all things considered, the only thing more improbable that Emma Gatewood's completing the trail from Georgia do Main in a single summer under these conditions at the age of sixty seven is that she did it again twice, once in nineteen fifty seven and again in nineteen sixty four at the age of seventy six, though that time in sections. Also in nineteen fifty nine at the age of seven one Gatewood walked some two thousand miles or d kilometers of the Oregon Trail, inspired by the pioneer women who walked from Missouri to Oregon a hundred years before her. By then, newspapers had dubbed Gatewood America's most celebrated pedestrian, and she's been inspiring other hikers ever since. Today's episode is based on the article Grandma Gatewood Hiked into Appalachian Trail History at age sixty seven on House to Fork dot com, written by Justlyin Shields. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,

Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bobabam here. Sometimes you've had enough and you just need to go for a walk. It's understandable a walk can clear the mind, and it's possible the extent to which your mind needs to be cleared should determine the length of the walk. This isn't necessarily scientific, but the story of Emma Gatewood provides anecdotal evidence that it might be true. Emma Gatewood, called Grandma Gatewood by her family and later the world, was one of the early through hikers of the Appalachian Trail, the longest walking only footpath in the world. When she left Ohio in ninet, she told her family that she was going for a walk in the woods. So it was surprising to her eleven children and twenty three grandchildren that the sixty seven year old matriarch of their family had undertaken this hype. It stretches some two thousand, one hundred and ninety miles that's three thousand, five hundred and thirty kilometers from Georgia to Maine. Her family only found out when one of them stumbled across a newspaper feature about their mother's truck. Gatewood was not the first person, or even the first woman, to hike the trail. In ninety nine, year old Earl Schaeffer was the first person to hike the entire trail by himself. In nineteen fifty two, Mildred Norman Ryder, in her mid forties at the time, completed the entire trail with a companion. Gatewoods hike was notable because of her age and because she was the first woman ever to complete the trail in a single season. For the article this episode is based on Hows to Work spoke with Larry Luxembourg, president of the Appalachian Trail Museum in Pennsylvania. He said, when Grandma Gatewood did her first through hike in ninetti, there were few hikers and it was hard to follow the trail. There were also many fewer resources for hikers, fewer stores near the trail, and much less information about the trail. She saw very few hikers along the Appalachian Trail, but still Gatewood hiked it alone. Wearing canvas sneakers. She walked through seven pairs of them that summer, Carrying a denim Duffel bag over one shoulder. She brought a change of clothes, a blanket, a plastic shower curtain for shelter at night, a Swiss army knife, a canteen, a flashlight, a length of rope, and a few other essentials. She ate a lot of vienna, sausages, trail mix, and bullion from cubes. Sometimes she ran out of food and ate berries she recognized in the forest. By the time Gatewood became a famous hiker, she had lived the kind of life it would take a few thousand miles to walk off. Born in Ohio in seven, Gatewood's father had lost his leg in the Civil War, and her mother single handedly raised fifteen children in a small log cabin, sleeping four kids to a bed. Gatewood completed school only through the eighth grade, but she loved reading and writing poetry and walking in the woods. In nineteen o seven, at the age of nineteen, she married a primary school teacher and later tobacco farmer by the name of PC Gatewood. For the next thirty years, she would endure frequent assault from her husband while also doing strenuous farm work and raising their eleven children. She tried to escape a few times, but it's hard to disappear with multiple children. In Tow In ninety nine, after being nearly beaten to death by her husband, Gatewood was arrested for throwing a sack of flower at him. She spent the night in jail before the mayor of the town saw her cracked teeth, bruised face, and broken ribs and took her into his own home. She stayed there until she healed, at which point she filed for divorce, a difficult thing to obtain at the time, but her divorce was granted in nineteen forty one and she was given custody of the three children who still remained at home. In nineteen fifty one, after all of her children were out in the world, Gatewood found a back issue of National Geographic, which included photos and a story about the Appalachian Trail. Gatewood was intrigued and decided she wanted to be the first woman to hike it alone. Gatewood's first attempt at hiking the entire trail was unsuccessful. In nineteen fifty four, she started out from Maine, but broke her glasses, lost her way, and was rescued by rangers. The next year, she tried again and successfully hiked an average of fourteen miles that's twenty two kilometers a day from Georgia do Main. She didn't necessarily enjoy everything about the experience. After her nineteen fifty five hike, Gatewood was interviewed by Sports Illustrated and she had this to say about the trail. I thought it would be a nice lark. It wasn't. There were terrible blowdowns, burnt over areas that were never remarked, gravel and sand, washouts, weeds and brushed her neck, and most of the shelters were blown down, burned down or so filthy. I had to sleep out of doors. This is no trail. This is a nightmare. I would never have started this trip if I had known how tough it was. But I couldn't and I wouldn't quit all things considered, the only thing more improbable that Emma Gatewood's completing the trail from Georgia do Main in a single summer under these conditions at the age of sixty seven is that she did it again twice, once in nineteen fifty seven and again in nineteen sixty four at the age of seventy six, though that time in sections. Also in nineteen fifty nine at the age of seven one Gatewood walked some two thousand miles or d kilometers of the Oregon Trail, inspired by the pioneer women who walked from Missouri to Oregon a hundred years before her. By then, newspapers had dubbed Gatewood America's most celebrated pedestrian, and she's been inspiring other hikers ever since. Today's episode is based on the article Grandma Gatewood Hiked into Appalachian Trail History at age sixty seven on House to Fork dot com, written by Justlyin Shields. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,