backpacking Archives - Nancy East

Appalachian Trail: Day 1

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 11:53:57 +0000

15 miles (which included a 2.5 mile trek to Gooch Gap for Fresh Ground’s Trail Magic!) After a 10/10 start to my NOBO Appalachian Trail thru hike the day before, I woke wondering how it could ever be topped. The only way to find out was to hike the miles and see what unfolded. But...

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Appalachian Trail: Day 0

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 04:11:21 +0000

After three decades of dreaming about it, I started my Appalachian Trail northbound (NOBO) thru hike on February 9, 2026. I was delayed a week from my intended start date of February 2 by an epic ice storm in the southeastern United States, quickly followed by a sizable snow event. To make matters even more...

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Cumberland Island Backpacking Day 2

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 17:11:33 +0000

My phone alarm sounds, and I rush to exchange my cozy base layers for my hiking clothes before my bladder forces me to visit the bathroom several campsites away. Britt, Abby and Mike are milling around in their respective campsites when I emerge from my tent, and we head to the beach to welcome the...

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Cumberland Island Backpacking: Day 1

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 22:41:48 +0000

I’ve lived in the southeastern United States my entire life, and I spent the first eighteen years in Georgia. But I didn’t set foot on Cumberland Island, a Georgia barrier island, until I was nearly fifty-one years old. That, my friends, is unfortunate and embarrassing. If you live within a day’s drive of this treasure,...

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Palmetto Trail: Lake Moultrie Passage

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 16:48:01 +0000

After a poor night’s sleep thanks to my overactive imagination, I’m grateful to start hiking before the sun rises. I nearly skip breakfast, but I can’t ignore my body’s incessant plea for coffee, so I make a caffeinated cup and drink it while I pack up. As I start walking Fredcon Road where I left...

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Palmetto Trail: Santee and Eutaw Springs Passages

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 22:04:53 +0000

I wake refreshed after a night in a climate-controlled room with a bed. The Baymont Inn offers a complimentary breakfast, and I make an enormous waffle—a guilty pleasure I usually don’t allow myself. The morning is crisp and cold, but I decide to leave my tights packed away. Laziness drives the decision. I know the...

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Palmetto Trail: Lake Marion Passage to Santee

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 14:10:42 +0000

I’m accustomed to waking at 5 a.m., so it’s not a total shock when my phone alarm sounds. There were no more peeps out of Squatch through the night, but I am hearing multiple guns firing in the distance. I know next to nothing about hunting, but I vaguely recall learning that it’s duck season....

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Wateree Passage of the Palmetto Trail

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 01:44:32 +0000

In my ongoing quest to connect the dots of walking diagonally across the lovely state of South Carolina, I set out to backpack about 130 miles of the Palmetto Trail in January. I intentionally chose the dead of winter since it would inevitably mean fewer ticks, mosquitos and no necks (a.k.a. snakes, especially venomous ones...

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Palmer Creek-Pretty Hollow Gap-Mt. Sterling Ridge-Balsam Mtn. Trails Loop

Sat, 14 Jul 2018 19:45:35 +0000

I took a fabulous day hike in Great Smoky Mountains National Park last week that combined the Palmer Creek, Pretty Hollow Gap, Mount Sterling Ridge and Balsam Mountain trails to make a 16-mile loop. Inspired by a few hiking vloggers I love to watch, I decided to do something a little different with this trail...

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Trans-Catalina Trail Backpacking Thru Hike: Days 3-5

Thu, 17 May 2018 15:39:22 +0000

This post is a continuation in a series of post about my Trans-Catalina Trail backpacking thru hike that I completed in February 2018. The other two posts in these series are as follows: Trans-Catalina Trail Backpacking Thru-Hike Planning Guide Trans Catalina Trail: Days 1 and 2 Journal Day 3: Little Harbor to Two Harbors (5.3...

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