Collage of 2021 photos

“Emma trudged on, as May wound down, through lonely woods. She sucked on bouillon cubes as she hiked, and found water where she could. She filled up on wild strawberries—whenever she found a patch, she’d drop her sack and stuff it with as many as she could carry. After a hard climb up Shuckstack Mountain, she discovered a dented trash can lid that had collected a small puddle of rainwater. It was just enough to wet her throat. She cleaned the lid to collect more from the looming rainstorm. There was just enough room on the precipice for a small fire tower, and she made her bed on the porch, propping up several planks to shield her from the strong wind.”

—”Grandma Gatewood’s Walk” written by Ben Montgomery


The story of Grandma Gatewood pulled me in from the start. A grandma walking the Appalachian Trail by herself…without telling anyone where she was…WHAT???

About the time I got over the surprise of a grandma slipping off to walk the trail alone I realized she didn’t have any of the typical hiking gear with her. No sleeping bag, no tent, no real supply of food. It was just her and the walk.

Here’s a short excerpt from Chicago Review Press’s overview of the book:

Winner of the 2014 National Outdoor Book Awards for History/BiographyEmma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than two hundred dollars. The next anybody heard from her, this genteel, farm-reared, 67-year-old great-grandmother had walked 800 miles along the 2,050-mile Appalachian Trail. And in September 1955, having survived a rattlesnake strike, two hurricanes, and a run-in with gangsters from Harlem, she stood atop Maine’s Mount Katahdin. There she sang the first verse of “America, the Beautiful” and proclaimed, “I said I’ll do it, and I’ve done it.”

Today’s Thankful November giveaway is a used copy of the book. Leave a comment on this post to be entered. Giveaway ends November 8, 2021.


Last night’s video: Falling Leaves in Appalachia.

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91 Comments

  1. Walking the AT was one of the things I’d always thought I’d do when I was older, but now I’m older and have physical limitations that make even a long walk in the woods right here pretty much a wistful memory. I’ll try to find this book and live the AT journey through another older woman’s experience. Thanks for sharing this one, Tipper 🙂

  2. The story of Grandma Gatewood is just the kind of book I’d love to read. I wasn’t aware of her story until I read this blogpost. Would love to read the book! Thank you.

  3. Tipper I can’t believe what I just read you had written about this wonderful woman,I’m 88 years old and it is hard to imagine every trying to do what she did even tho I was raised on a farm in Southwestern Oklahoma and I drove a H FARMALL,pulled cotton,milk cows,herded turkeys for my Mama and cooked a meal for farm hands when I was 9 years old,would be so proud to win her book,God Bless You and Yours.

  4. Back about 1980 or so I completed the longest hike of my life. I was working nightshift and my wife had gone to her sister’s house for the weekend leaving me without transportation. My brother drove me to work on Sunday night and my wife was supposed to pick me up the next morning. Well, she got home late and overslept. I got off at 7:00AM and she wasn’t there. I waited and waited but she never showed up. We were poor in those days and couldn’t afford a telephone so what was I to do? I waited til 8:30 and left on foot hoping I meet her coming to get me. I didn’t! It was morning and relatively cool but it was the middle of July so it warmed up quickly. So I walked and I walked. 14 miles in the broiling sun. I had to get home and get some sleep because I had to work that night. I walked every step of the way home. 14 miles! In the hot sun!
    “Were have you been? I went to pick you up and they said you had left at 7:00. Now where have you been?”
    “Just out for a little stroll.” “Just a little 14 mile stroll in the middle of July with no money and no water.”
    “I’m sorry I was late. I got home late and overslept.”
    It was 11:30. 14 miles in 3 hours after working like a dog for 8. That burnt me out on hiking.
    Now my longest hikes are out to the garden or through the grocery store once in a while. For the past 3 days I have barely been able to walk at all. But I’ll get over it come Spring!

  5. I am an admiree of Grandma Gatewood since reading Ben Montgomery’s book about her.
    I have thoughr of walking rhe AT for 10 years, but havent gotten further than wishing it!!
    Grandma Gatewood sais she would do it..and she did..a remarkable woman, not just for the rhru hike accomplishment, but her faith and determination in all things

  6. Thankful on a Thursday!

    I’m so very thankful that there is a Tipper Wilson Pressley and that I found her blog and YouTube channel. BP&A is the first thing I read on the computer, every day!

    I’m thankful for so many things. I tell people that I won the lottery the day that I was born to parents both born at the end of the 19th Century into a family with 8 older siblings.

    The Granny Gatewood story is indeed inspiring. There is another one told on YouTube by a young lady who has done the same thing plus the other 2 iconic trails that make up the Big 3 for backpackers. She was given her trail name, Dixie, by others hiking the AT with her. You can see her channel here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=homemade+wanderlust

  7. I love this book. One of the librarians at King Family Library told me about Grandma Gatewood, and I read the book. Ben Montgomery, who wrote this book, came to a literary festival in Sevierville, Tennessee; and I was fortunate to hear him. I even bought the book to give to a friend.
    I’d love to win my own copy.

  8. I would love to be able to set out on a journey like she did, but I lack the courage among many other things. 🙂 This book has been on my list of books that I’d like to read for a while.

  9. That just shows the courage and faith of the older generation. That is how our nation was settled by the courage and strength of our forefathers and mothers who put their faith in God and little else. God bless them all!

  10. She was one determined hiker! But it reminded me of an article I read recently about an older lady trying the same thing. Somehow she wandered off the trail and ended up losing her life. Her husband searched for her and she was finally found much later. She had left a journal describing her fight to survive. I wish I could remember more of her story.

    I think my granny probably could have made the trek in her late middle years but she would have said, “Pshaw, child, why would anyone do that?” I guess her ordinary days were enough of a challenge. I’m a known coward and would never try it even though I love the Southern Appalachian area. My best friend goes up to Clingman’s Dome and walks on those suspended bridges–even the ones you can see through. Not me!!!

  11. I’ve thought many times about trying the trail but not much after I turned about 40. The condition of my back, hips and knees greatly prohibit something like that now at 79 years of age. (not to mention the extra 50 lbs in front) A former bro-in-law did the entire trail after retirement but he had been practicing for 2 years in preparation for it.

    it.

  12. I’ve got Grandma Gatewood’s Walk by Ben Montgomery and have read it several times over the years…..It is delightful yet heart rendering to read, as much for the travail in her life that led her there in the first place at her age after raising ten children as the Appalachian Trail itself…..I hope someone gets it that needs to read about Grandma Gatewood’s victory over the hardships in life to encourage them as well as the joy of reading it…..Her book got me started reading about through hiking……I have read many since then worldwide, including accounts of the Triple Crown of thru hikes of some that have hiked all three long distance North American hikes, the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail in one year……I enjoy the single year hikes on one trail the best though!…..Good Luck!

  13. I am from Gallipolis and I love this river town in OH!!! I have always thought it was so neat that she was from here. I’ve also always wanted to walk the Appalachian Trail. I believe she did it more than once.

  14. I’ve always thought of walking the Appalachian Trail. Alas, that will be one item on my “Bucket List” that will go unchecked. These days I am happy to make it down the block and back. Of course, I cheat. I use a walker!

  15. I would love to take that adventure but it’s unlikely I ever will due to my health issues. I would love to read about this ladies adventures!

  16. Okay, this is so serendipitous ! I have this book in my cart to order next time…I do that when I find a book, but want to wait to spend the money. It keeps me from forgetting about it. I have been watching videos of her daughters talking about her and whatever I can find. I am fascinated and can’t wait to read this story. Living in Franklin, we have a lot of hikers come into town to resupply. I see them buying all this fancy gear and foods, etc. I think of her and her simple ways and gumption to just go do it! Amazing!

  17. Wow! I can’t think of another book I would rather read right now than ”Grandma Gatewood’s Walk”. Please put my name in the pot!

  18. I’ve always been intrigued by Grandma Gatewood. Not only was she in her 60’s, she had no special hiking gear-boots, sticks, warm clothing, tent etc. I read that she sometimes stopped at someone’s cabin and exchanged her AT stories for a meal. I’ll get this book whether I win it or not! Thank you, Tipper

  19. Yes, please. I would love this book too. You read the best books. If I was closer I would just come and borrow it 🙂

  20. What a great book to cozy up on a warm evening. I can’t believe she survived a rattlesnake bite. Goodness Gracious! She was definitely a determined woman and she did what she set out to do. I would love to read this book . I want to know all what happened on her trail, her hike.

  21. Gracious what an adventure and my dream !!!! Love this granny and want to know more of her. Thank you for sharing her tenacity and spunk with us. DonnaB

  22. And she made it better than many would have done, had they been outfitted with full camping gear, lots of food, medicine and such – a true survivor! Thanks for that story.

  23. When I studied about my Great Grandma Victoria “Tory” I learned so much. Oral history showed her to have more grit and determination than anybody I knew or studied. Older family members would tell stories about her, and her “plain spoken” ways and endless energy were still mentioned years later. I met her once and was her captive audience. Always a curious child I sat quietly and listened while this wisp of a lady explained to me that her children always got her useless gifts for Christmas.

    The story goes that Tory would rise early in the morning to walk many miles to visit her family who lived in an adjoining county. I pieced together the route she took from oral history and old documents, and I wondered how she ever walked that distance in one day. Finally the pieces fit when in my research I discovered a brother, John, living on that route half way between where she started and where the rest of the family lived. All those old roads take on new life when you find those who came before walked those same paths and roadways. Most of them were just widened wagon trails with hard top added later I often said I should have paid the company for letting me run those mountains visiting all those fine people. Grandma Tory’s spunk seemed to have skipped me and taken up residence in my granddaughter. Grandma Gatewood’s book is one of the few books I purchased for my granddaughter. I have a picture somewhere of her holding it up. There seem to be a few among us who are amazing in what they will tackle, and I think they just made ’em tough back then.

  24. I’ve read about Grandma Gatewood and admire her grit. Her life had been hard and I imagine walking the Appalachian Trail seemed no big deal to her.

  25. Bosephus tune “ A Country Boy Can Survive” immediately jumped into my head. The rich gal who taught me how to have a proper tea also proclaimed “ the most strong willed and independent spirited people in this nation are in Appalachia and Cajun swamp country- period. I’ve never met anyone like these unique people.” Grandma was strong but also a bit crazy in my opinion. All I can say is WHAT A GAL! I’d have liked to met her and shook her hand for sure!!! I got a copperhead adventure tale for another time that involved 3 men I know, a storm, a kayak, a den of copperheads, snake bites on 2 men’s calves with no care for 16 hours, no gear, no food or first aid and a Ranger rescue early the next morning that took about 12 people to get them out of the New River in Pipestem, WV…. smh for they are indeed crazy… all true

  26. Every day I have to have my Tipper fix! My sister Sandy introduced me to the website way earlier this year and its one of my favorites. I especially love the music, and have for years. So my ancestors inched further west and I ended up in my beloved Iowa. In Dec of last year I moved to North Carolina to live with two daughters and a son in law. They have taken me for drives into the mountains, and we have visited small little towns here and there, and I have already come to love the majestic views. I always said I would like to walk the Appalachian trail someday but my health won’t allow me to do the whole thing, so maybe I’ll try for a couple miles just to see what its like. It’s on my bucket list!

  27. The gangsters would scare me more than hiking without a cell phone, laptop or packaged survival food. She is an amazing woman and I can’t wait to read the book.

  28. Wow!! A brave lady. Sucking on bullion cubes??? Cant imagine doing that. But she preserved and accomplished her goal
    A lady with a lot of grit.
    Thanks for sharing this story

  29. Tipper, I recently read an article on a study about age. The study told of how most people live their best lives in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Grandma Gatewood was a perfect example of the research reflected in the study. The study was from The New England Journal of Medicine. (A study published in NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE found that at age 60, you reach the TOP of your potential and this continues into your 80s. SOURCE: N.Engl.J .Med. 70,389 (2018). ) What an inspiration!

  30. I read a condensed version of her walk many years ago and now want to read the entire book. Just found a hard copy in very good shape on Amazon. It’s on the way so i don’t need to be the winner of the book. Thanks Tipper for bringing this to your blog. Always learning something new on Blind Pig and The Acorn.

  31. Thank you for the opportunity to win this book. I plan to read if I can find a copy if I don’t win a copy. It gives me hope for us “old” folks….hahaha. I am intrigued by the part you shared with us.

  32. Wow! I would love this book! What a determined lady! Tipper, you have enriched my life in so many ways & I cannot wait to see new things each day that bless my socks off! Recently you posted an old recipe for tea cakes. My great grandmother lived in a tiny house next to one of her sons in Arkansas. I remember visiting her & she always had a big crock full of them for us. Thank you for that recipe!

  33. I read this book earlier this year after someone did a program on Grandma Gatewood at the Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It is definitely worth reading! What a strong woman she was.

  34. Grandma Gatewood makes me smile. She did everything “wrong” by conventional wisdom, both that then prevailing and even moreso now. She is an inspiration to not get trapped by it and it’s ideas of what can’t be done. She has been that to AT thru-hikers ever since her first trip, about 60 years or so now. I can imagine my own Grandma would have been more than able to do what Grandma Gatewood did if she had taken the notion. And I suspect Grandma Gatewood was rather matter of fact about it and didn’t quite get why so many thought walking the whole AT was such a big deal. And if so, that makes it an even bigger deal.

    I think our daughter and son in law would really love Grandma’s story. We just have a concern they might decide to go do the same. We know they want to anyway. When I was in my 20’s I wanted to homestead somewhere and I was closer to my essential nature then than I ever have been since but didn’t really know it. As Robert Frost said, “Two roads diverged in the yellow wood” but unlike him I took the one most traveled by. But in common with him that has made all the difference.

  35. I enjoyed reading “Grandma Gatewood’s Walk”. Hocking Hills State Park in southeastern Ohio has the Grandma Gatewood Memorial Trail. There is also a Grandma Gatewood Hike in her honor. It is wonderful that her accomplishments are not forgotten.

  36. Grandma Gatewood had two unsuccessful try’s at the AT before actually completing it. She had a hard life and it made her tough and determine to do what she loved. She was a big part in getting the Buckeye Trail created here in Ohio. I would have loved to had the pleasure of meeting this great woman. The book is wonderful and the lucky winner will enjoy it, I’m for sure.
    Please don’t enter me for this drawing.

  37. Thank you for posting that inspiring piece. And then to learn from one commenter that she walked the trail several more times! Look how many of us have been inspired to read it!
    I hope it is available on Amazon.

  38. The Appalachian Trail has fascinated me since I was a boy. Only recently, I heard the amazing story of that remarkable woman, the first woman to complete that long trek. She is an inspiration. Wow, I’d love to read that book.

  39. What a wonderful story!! Imagine a woman just a few years older than myself accomplishing this feat all by her lonesome. It took grit, determination, spunk, and a resolve that I daresay only a few THINK they have and are willing to prove it. However, I also believe that when push comes to shove, those of us born of our ancestry who have never even thought we had it would actually find it within ourselves to do what we never thought we could do. I have witnessed this same grit, spunk, and determination, and the ever present stiff upper lip in my elders and at times to a much lesser degree in myself. My husband would more than likely argue that at times I’m as stubborn as a bay mule. My daddy would call this trait just plain ol’ cussedness. I would love to read this book or any other such book about the people of Appalachia. Even though, technically I don’t live in Appalachia, my heritage is from there. I totally identify with the stories, the music, the mannerisms, the speech, the culture and the ways of the Appalachian people. Sometimes your stories creates in me such a longing to go home to the mountains.. and our family visits ever chance we get. Thanks Tipper for all you do to illustrate and keep alive this beautiful way of life of the Appalachian people.

    1. Hello Neighbor,
      I too am a Texas girl with Appalachian roots. I live in Mt. Home, Tx in the Hill Country. Of course our mountains and hills are pretty puny in comparison. Love them all the same and enjoy the visualizes Tipper brings us.

      1. Hello Donna,

        Ahh, the beautiful hill country. You sure have pretty hills and vistas. We live in southeast Texas closer to the Louisiana border around the Lake Livingston area. The beautiful rolling hills of Polk county.

  40. I read this book several years ago. Pretty amazing story. All Grandma Gatewood encountered made for a very enjoyable read. Whoever wins this giveaway will truly enjoy this book!

  41. Love reading everyone’s post this morning …. Yep , that there sounds like a great read …win or no … Makes ya want to go looking for that book to read the whole adventure , start to finish ,☕️ Good morning from my house., can hardly believe it’s November , we haven’t had a first frost yet …but this weekend possible .

  42. I guess I am not unique in a life-long desire to hike the AT. I am 58 (today) and the story of a 67 year old grandmother doing just that gives me hope that the dream could still come true.

  43. This sounds like a good book, the woman had alot of courage, I’ve always wanted to walk on the Appalachian Trail but never have, hopefully some day I will be able to.

  44. thats definitely pulled me in…never heard of that book but i’d love a copy…the way it started I thought was going to be a story about one of your grandmothers

  45. This story sounds very intriguing! I would love to have a copy of this book! I love reading your blog and watching your videos on YouTube. Have a great day!

  46. Grandma Gatewood must’ve had the courage of a lion and the grit of a very determined woman to be able to tackle the Appalachian trail in those conditions. I’d love to read more about her.

  47. Wow! That paragraph sure pulled me in!! I definitely want to read more about Grandma Gatewood. I’ve always wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail, but never got around to it. I thought I was too old for it but if a 67 year old great grandmother can do it then maybe it’s not too late for me. Thank you for offering to give this book to a lucky winner. Even if I don’t win, I’m going to buy it because her story sounds fascinating!! 🙂

  48. This story reminds me of a book I read years ago called “Follow The River”. It’s about a white woman take by a band of Indians from her family and taken west with them. It describes her escape and lonely trip trying to get home again. I couldn’t wait to read more each day. I can’t remember the author’s name but will never forget this book. It’s amazing what the body can do to preserve life.

  49. Holy. Kapeever. Shaking my head. I am so stinkin’ proud of this woman (and a tad envious.) Gumption, pure and simple.
    Thanks for this!

  50. Wow, that’s quite something for an old lady to do and alone, no less. I’m an old lady and I would not even consider it! With that said… My hat’s off to her! That is quite a quest!

  51. In my experience, there’s absolutely no stopping a woman that’s made up her mind. This sounds like a fascinating read.

  52. I’ve known several people that’s attempted this feat, but only 2 that were successful. And both had a strong support team mailing supplies to points along the trail.
    If this book is true, she was truly blessed.

  53. Oh my goodness! I want to read this one too! Tipper, all the things you share are wonderful and grab one’s attention from the beginning!

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