The beatings started three months after the wedding and continued for thirty-three years. Emma Gatewood’s husband broke her teeth, cracked her ribs, and beat her sometimes ten times in a single year. At a time when a husband’s violence against his wife was rarely questioned, her refuge was always the same: she would escape to the woods surrounding their farm. She often brought her children with her, teaching them to identify birds and medicinal plants. In 1939, after her husband broke her teeth and cracked one of her ribs, Gatewood fought back by throwing a sack of flour at him and a sheriff’s deputy arrested her. The mayor of the small West Virginia town saw her battered face and helped her find safety. After thirty-three years she received a divorce and raised her last three children alone. After reading a National Geographic article in 1949 she became intrigued by the idea that no woman had hiked the full Appalachian Trail solo. “If those men can do it, I can do it,” she said. The hike was more difficult than she expected. Much of the trail was in disrepair. She kept up a pace of 14 miles a day. In 1955, after hiking for 146 days, she became the first woman to complete the entire trail by herself in one season. She returned in 1957 and again in 1964 at the age of 76, becoming the first person to hike the AT three times. Her feats raised public awareness of the trail. Her descriptions of the poor conditions prompted improvements. She is considered a pioneer of ultralight backpacking. She advised picking up food at local groceries and making a simple rain cape and sling bag. Emma Gatewood walked into the forest to escape from violence, but she walked out of it to make history. “I would never have started this trip if I had known how tough it was, but I couldn’t and I wouldn’t quit.”