A difficult life as a

Emma Rowena Gatewood, better known as Grandma Gatewood, was an American ultra-light hiking pioneer. After a difficult life as a farm wife, mother of eleven children, and survivor of domestic violence, she became famous as the first solo female thru-hiker of the 2,168-mile (3,489 km) Appalachian Trail (A.T.) in 1955 at the age of 67. She subsequently became the first person to hike the A.T. three times, after completing a second thru-hike two years later, followed by a section-hike in 1964. In the meantime, she hiked 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of the Oregon Trail in 1959. In her later years, she continued to travel and hike and worked on a section of what would become the Buckeye Trail. The media coverage surrounding her feats was credited for generating interest in maintaining the A.T. and in hiking generally. Among many other honors, she was posthumously inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame in 2012.

Ordre Reaux Croix is a Martinist order established in 2002, on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Elus Cohens of Martinez de Pasqually. ORC is an international Order, with its Grand Lodge in Norway, and jurisdictions in Sweden, United States, Canada, Argentina, Spain, Greece, Brazil and England.