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The through-hiker YouTuber Dixie/Homemade Wanderlust did an awesome hike using the same gear as Grandma Gatewood and it's a great little mini documentary on her hiking: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rpxVRCCxWco It's an awesome video and really puts in perspective that hiking is all about mindset not going to REI and maxing out your credit card on fancy gear.
Any of her descendants here on HN? She had 11 and it's been more than half a century now, so there should be at least one or two HN readers.
Hi! I’m her great-great granddaughter. I actually met the thru-hiker mentioned in the comment above, Dixie, in October 21 and we still keep in touch!
I’m a hiker myself and plan on hiking the AT some day.
That's awesome!
The Wikipedia article was a bit light on her personality and life outside of hiking, how was she like? It sounded like she had a strong personality and didn't take no for an answer, but I'm also curious about the poetry she wrote and what was her general outlook in life. She seemed like she was very smart.
She was incredibly intelligent and had a very strong, decisive personality. Her school only went up to eight grade, but she repeated that grade until she turned 18. She was constantly reading anything she could get her hands on (which is how she found out about the AT in National Geographic), and she was also writing on anything resembling paper. My cousin has preserved her poems, and some are written on the strangest materials like envelopes, receipts, and even a PanAm Calendar.
Her poetry focused mostly on nature and daily life. Quite a few of my cousins are certified naturalists in their respective states.
Grandma Gatewood is a legend on the A.T. She is a great example for female long-distance hikers who wonder if the A.T. is safe. At the time she completed her thru-hike, the A.T. was a lot wilder and more dangerous than it is now. And her backstory makes the achievement all the more impressive and folkloric.
This site has a lot of flaws but sometimes it’s really the best :)
You would do well to be more skeptical. We have no way to verify the truth of that commenter's assertions.
Why be skeptical? The commenter has nothing to gain and just shared some cool facts about a fun but unimportant (to most of us) article.
There’s not much motive to lie and even if there was, it’s harmless.
Why be credulous? The commenter stands to gain respect and influence in this community by spreading plausible fictions.
That's not harmless. They could use that unwarranted cachet to influence discussions here in ways that would negatively impact our community. I'm a little surprised I have to argue here in favor of people having integrity.
I don’t know what I can do to prove I’m related to her besides give you my actual identity. It’s Caitlin Gatewood Edwards. I have some pretty public profiles on social media that have other family members linked that are also direct descendants. We’re a pretty large family.
You’ve basically nailed it. A friend who’s on the site sent me this, I saw the comment asking if any direct descendants were on, and thought I’d help answer some questions.
I'm curious about how you found this thread. HN is a pretty niche site.
My friend is on the site, saw this article, and he sent it to me. I made an account when I noticed one of the comments was asking if any descendants were on here and thought I could help answer questions.
Wow, that's cool. I've admired her for a long time (I'm a long distance hiker). One of the things I like about her is that she proves that you don't need to be in top physical condition or have a lot of expensive gear to complete the journey.
Now I have someone to look up to as I strive for my goal of walking at least three miles every single day this year.
You can do it. I aimed to up my walking last year, stuck with it and started to really enjoy it. It went from a challenge, to doable, shifted my goals higher and hit some goals I wouldn't have imagined at the start of the year. Best of luck.
How did you track it?
To start, I just used google maps to find walks around my neighbourhood long enough. I then started going by my watch and caring less about distance. I started hiking again after a few months, after a long hiatus. Small walks to start, an hour or so on a Saturday. I bought a cheap gps watch on run-out clearance mid year, to help me track miles as a friend and I set a large goal. Pen and paper could have given the same metrics though.