Nancy East retired from a twenty-three-year career as a small animal veterinarian to pursue her interest in outdoor education and writing. She is an avid hiker and backpacker, a southern Appalachian naturalist, a hiking guide and a member of the Haywood County Search and Rescue Team. The search for a missing mother in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park inspired her record-setting hike and book Chasing the Smokies Moon: An Audacious 948-Mile Hike--Fueled by Love, Loss, Laughter, and Lunacy. You can find more of her work or download digital files of these trails at nancyeast.com.