Blake noted that Emma had worn out three pairs of shoes and had lost twenty-four pounds in the three months she’d been walking. “Even the beginning of the hike was done on a spur of the moment basis. Mrs. Gatewood just started out equipped with a canteen, a 25-pound pack and some ‘spending money,’” the article read. “Mrs. Gatewood has had no special training as a hiker, except for the good hard life of raising her 11 children on a farm in Ohio.” The article spoke of her determination, and how she had established a pace of about seventeen miles per day, “rain or shine.” The shine part was easy.
