Emma “Grandma” Gatewood, at the age of 67, was the first woman to hike the full length of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in 1955. She became the first person to hike the full length of the trail three times finishing her last stint well into her 70s. Since then, the mother of 11 has been an inspiration to all thru hikers, especially women, and her record has been beat quite a few times.

In March of 2022, a new contender for the title of “oldest female” dusted off her trail runners at Amicalola Falls in Dawsonville, Georgia, and began her one year thru hike attempt. She had “never backpacked before.” At the age of 76, if she completes the trail by her 77th birthday on March 29, Pamela “Birthday Girl” Clark, of St. Petersburg, Florida, will, be the oldest woman to hike the full length of the trail.

A retired elementary school teacher with blazing purple hair and spunk, Clark is doing a “leap frog” thru hike to achieve her goal. While a traditional thru hike (Georgia to Maine or Maine to Georgia) or a “Flip-flop” (half NoBo - half SoBo) are most common, the requirement to be a recognized “thru hiker” by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy states that 2,000 miles of the AT must be completed in one calendar year regardless of how it is completed.

To navigate weather and trail conditions, she hiked from Georgia to the “spiritual halfway” point in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. From there, she shuttled by car to Maine and hiked south from Katahdin, the northern terminus of the trail in Baxter State Park. She is now finishing her last “leg” by hiking from Maryland to northern New Hampshire by March.

She says that her favorite part of the trail has been “the people. Everywhere I go, everyone is so kind and generous.”

Of Pennsylvania, despite having terrible rocks, she says, “the people of Pennsylvania are the absolute best. Everywhere I go here, people are kind.”

She says the “worst part of the trail has been the rebar.”

Women meet her daily to hike over the snow-covered rocks and through the muddy trail.

Sunday, she was greeted by hikers Kristy Dravk of Duncannon, Cindy Snow of Bethlehem, and Michelle Thomas of Sunbury. Saturday, she met up with hikers from the newly formed women’s hiking group “Lehigh Valley Women of Adventure.”

To help her achieve her goal, Clark has a support team following her with a trailer. While she occasionally sleeps on the trail, if the weather is too difficult, she will sleep in the trailer.

Through connections of the trail, Bernadette Leibensperger of Kempton helped make sure Clark was looked after while she was in Palmerton.

Chris DePalma, owner of Country Harvest, hosted Clark and her team, allowing them to the use the back parking lot.

David Munson drove down from the Poconos to meet the legendary hiker and provided her transportation to the “upper lot” off Route 248 where the trailer would not be able to go.

Clark says she was inspired 30 years ago by the book “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson. She “didn’t really have plans to hike a long trail” until one day she said, “I really should go do that.”