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Krewzer
12-27-2005, 12:32
OK sports fans, a trivia quiz for you. Who said this, to who, where and when?

"I read about this [Appalachian] trail three years ago in a magazine, and the article told about the beautiful trail, how well marked it was, that it was cleared out, and that there were shelters at the end of a good day’s hike. I thought it would be a nice lark. It wasn’t. There were terrible blow-downs, burnt-over areas that were never remarked, gravel and sand washouts, weeds and brush to your neck, and most of the shelters were blown down, burned down, or so filthy I chose to sleep out of doors. This is no trail. This is a nightmare. For some fool reason, they always lead you right up over the biggest rock to the top of the biggest mountain they can find. I’ve seen every fire station between here and Georgia. Why, an Indian would die laughing his head off if he saw [that] trail. I would never have started this trip if I had known how tough it was, but I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t quit." –

Sly
12-27-2005, 12:39
Earl Shaffer?

Spirit Walker
12-27-2005, 12:41
Is it Earl after his '48 hike?

dje97001
12-27-2005, 12:54
hint: http://www.americantrails.org/quotes2.html

Lone Wolf
12-27-2005, 12:58
She was a blue/yellow blazer.:)

Sly
12-27-2005, 13:13
Earl called her a "paintywaist" at one of the PA Ruck's!

I was doing some old AT through a neighborhood in Vermont and stopped to talk to an old woman who remembered Grandma Gatewood knocking on their door when she was a kid asking to get out of the rain. They let her in, dried her sneakers off in the oven and made her dinner. Grandma told them how her watch broke or got lost and the woman's mother gave Grandma her (past) sisters watch.

SpongeEmma!? No wonder they took the trail off the roads. Too many freeloaders knocking on doors.

Cheesewhiz
12-27-2005, 16:39
Emma ‘Grandma’ Gatewood

Spirit Walker
12-27-2005, 18:06
I met someone else who said that she walked up to her door and asked for dinner. But that was a lot more common back then. Can you imagine what would happen if you tried that today?

Reminds me of my favorite Ward L. story - supposedly he walked into a cabin at Baxter State Park and started to spread out his gear on the floor. The vacationer was in that cabin at the time. She told him to leave and he said, "There's plenty of room." I don't know if it's true, but from my brief meetings with him in '92, it really seemed like a possibility.

Krewzer
12-27-2005, 22:32
Excellent!!!
Emma "Grandma" Gatewood, Oct 10, 1955 Sports Illustrated article. At 67 she used to be old for a thru hiker, but it's a ho-hum thing today.

I don't know about the yellow and blue blazer thing, but she was for sure a gray blazer.