Have you ever heard of Grandma Gatewood?
She's a real-life woman whose determination and durability are outweighed only by her lifelong love of walking. Born into a huge family in a rural Ohio community, she was gifted in many ways with plants, people, and crossing any surface on foot "as the crow flies", wherever that direction took her. She walked to help the ailing, deliver gifts, and to arrive at any destination or event, on foot. Even turning down rides to make her own way there.
It was not until after her own children were grown that she read a book about hiking the APPALACHIAN TRAIL. It wasn't long before she learned what that meant, and that no woman had ever hiked the entire trail alone.
As she "prepared" for doing just that, her lack of understanding was astonishing, but not to her. Why wouldn't her regular sneakers suffice instead of hiking boots, or a simply stitched canvas bag instead of full backpack gear? Food was no issue, since she had spent her lifetime learning to forage in the wild.
OHIO UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2016
I won't provide even a sketchy description of why her first attempt failed, since the author and illustrator of WHEN GRANDMA GATEWOOD TOOK A HIKE, Michelle Houts and Erica Magnus have depicted that brave but foolhardy effort with respect and emotional depth.
Rather than accepting this disappointment with resignation, though, Grandma Gates returned home to recover and rethink her approach. You can certainly surmise that this book would never have been written if her intentions had failed. This irrepressible woman had her mind set on hiking the entire Appalachian Trail. She was not to be deterred.
Her persistence paid off, but the ways in which she learned and grew (and grew famous!) along the way makes an inspiring read for any age. With summer just beginning, a book like this could result in young (or old) taking the steps (intentional pun) necessary to learn about and practice hiking. By late summer or on fall weekends, local trails should be a satisfying piece of cake for those who believe as Grandma Gatewood did, that land location is reachable on foot! Give the book a try, and then consider doing the same for seeing our amazing world at natural eye level and walking speed!
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