Recommendations Archives - My Walk in the Woods

Book Recommendation:

Chasing the Smokies Moon by Nancy East

If you are looking to start the New Year with an inspiring account of an amazing feat, I highly recommend Chasing the Smokies Moon by Nancy East.

In 2020, Nancy East and her hiking partner Chris Ford set the FKT (fastest known time) for hiking all of the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – 948 miles. Spoiler alert – they complete the challenge in a record 29 days!

At first glance you may take this book to just be a typical hiking log of an epic adventure, but it is so much more. This book will appeal to hikers of all levels – Thru, Section or Day-Hikers, as well as anyone that loves to hear stories of how ordinary people overcome tremendous obstacles to complete miraculous goals.

Beyond the typical day to day diary of a hiker, Nancy creatively includes the reader in her struggles and doubts – not just during the hike but also her obstacles preparing for the challenge. The author is not afraid to share her personal griefs and this draws the reader into the struggle with her. Even though I knew the end of the story, I found myself anxiously cheering her and Chris on to the end.

The author is obviously an experienced hiker, but she has a multitude of other talents and interests including being actively involved in Search and Rescue. She is able to easily incorporate her past experiences into the book which makes each day’s entry even more interesting. Her passion is for hiker safety and this is apparent throughout the book – she is able to include within her writing important safety information that all of us should practice and promote. These lessons flow naturally in the narrative of her story.

Most importantly, which I have found to be true, Nancy shows how the trail is a therapeutic balm for our souls. From the beginning, Nancy relates one of her inspirations for this challenge – the previous tragic loss of a hiker on the trail. She and Chris were able to use the Smokies 900 Challenge to bring focus to hiker safety and assist with much needed resources.

Nancy has a gift as a writer that draws the reader into the story. You will find yourself not wanting to put this book down until Nancy & Chris successfully reach the end of their journey. I highly recommend this book for you and for anyone else who loves the outdoors, hiking or a challenge of any kind.

You can read more about Nancy East and order her book on her website NancyEast.com

Useful Guides for the MST

If you are are interested in hiking the Mountains to Sea Trail, I have two recommendations that I believe you will find extremely useful. These resources will be helpful for anyone on the trail, whether you are a thru-hiker, section hiker, slack packer or just looking for a new day hike.

1: “Jester” Section Hiker podcast

This website is by Julie “Jester” Gayheart

I ran across her site when searching for podcasts about the Mountains to Sea Trail. Jester is a serious section hiker who lives in North Carolina and she has a very impressive hiking resume’. This past year she completed the 40 Hike Challenge and as a benefit to all of us, she has reviews of each of the 40 Hikes while she is on each specific trail. I have found it extremely beneficial and inspiring.

Jester goes beyond just an interesting and entertaining podcast by also giving the listener the opportunity for more information in her “show notes” on her site. Even though I am primarily doing long day hikes, I have gone back and listened to all of the episodes in her podcast. I have found them all instructive. If you go to her website you will find a list of the podcast episodes that are specific to the 40 Hike Challenge, but I encourage you to listen to the other episodes as well. Jester has intriguing interviews with some amazing fellow hikers. I also appreciate her sharing her packing lists.

I highly recommend this podcast! An added benefit is the great song that she has as a bumper on her podcast – you will find that you will be singing along as you’re headed to the next trail.

2: The MST Guide APP by Pocket Trails

I stumbled on this 2nd recommendation while listening to Jester’s podcast – Episodes #50 & #69. Josh Smith has a great story about why, when and how he created the MST Guide APP. I urge you to listen to his story.

The MST Guide APP can be downloaded on Android and IOS. I have used it on several hikes with my iPhone. The APP is simple to use and has a lot of useful features. In a recent conversation with “Jester” she informed me that her and Josh are now co-owners of Pocket Trails. I am looking forward to see how they continue to improve and enhance the app.

Also, I forgot to mention that the APP is free! Thank you Pocket Trails.

Feet, Feet, Feet

Lieutenant Dan’s advice to Forrest Gump when he first arrived in Vietnam was “take good care of your feet” (and also, “don’t get yourself killed”).

Over the past month, I have had to learn the hard way how important our feet are. After a couple of doctor appointments, x-rays and much lamenting, I was diagnosed with a neuroma with the disappointing requirement to “take it easy”.

It has been challenging to be off of the trails for over a month, but thankfully this ailment has not been a permanent sentence. Also,I have learned more about feet and shoe wear than I ever thought I would need to know.