“I’ll see you in October and good luck!,” said Deven, my new friend who kindly offered to be my trail angel and works at RAR (Radical Adventure Ride) Atlanta, in the morning on Earth Day at Amicalola Falls State Park. I chose this day to begin my new full circle journey of the Great Freedom Loop, hiking the Appalachian Trail and biking the Underground Railroad Bike Path, to appreciate our beautiful planet, live fully, commit to work towards peace and justice, and take responsible action to sustain our Mother Earth. 

As I took a deep breath and inhaled the humid air surrounded by the thick green forest, I thanked the Earth for the life I have and thought how incredible to live on this beautiful planet! With that, I took my first step into the woods, to Mount Katahdin, 2,200 miles ahead.

Everything was different compared to the PCT and CDT. I started the last two thru-hikes in the desert. The Appalachian Trail began with thick green forest and waterfalls! The water is everywhere and the forest floor is covered with thick vegetation and flowers. In the past four days, I never had to carry more than a liter of water. In the desert, I carried up to 6 liters of water, adding over 12 pounds to my pack, and tolerated the scorching sun that sucked life out of me. Here, my pack is lighter and my body is pleased with the shades that trees provided for me. 

The trade off is the rain. I was baptized by the first real rain yesterday afternoon. I had a small window of no rain to set up my camp and it down-poured for about an hour. When it stopped, I walked over the vista point and saw the Blue Ridge Mountains with slow moving clouds. So quiet. Nobody was there. Walking through the wet forest in the rain when it is warm is cleansing. I heard people mentioning that once you’re wet it is difficult to dry out because of the humidity. Working with wet weather will be a challenging aspect of hiking the AT.

I spent a lot of time and energy for route finding on the CDT. The AT is very well marked with what’s called “white blaze.” There are many shelters and campsites along the way and roads that crossed the trail. At Neel Gap, the first major highway and the AT intersected, there was a hostel and all the amenities were available. What a luxury! 

I understood quickly why many people who attempt to thru-hike begin with the AT. I saw and passed 69 people in the past 69 miles. My AT tag number is 2,196, which means that there are 2,196 thru-hikers are ahead of me, roughly a person per every mile. I also met two “slack packers.” I never heard of them before. One of them said to me, “I’m living the best of my slack packing life!,” when we passed each other. Apparently, slack packing is a thing on the AT. You only carry a day pack and have hostels along the AT to pick you up and drop you off at different trailheads. You sleep at hostels so you can begin and end your day at accommodation. It sounds wonderful and it’s possible to do that on trails like AT that passes lots of towns. The AT attracts different types of hikers- day hikers, backpackers, slack packers, section hikers, and thru-hikers. It is very popular. And yet, so far, I was able to settle in for a solo camp spot. I avoid shelter sites and spots near water where people tend to congregate.

The mountains are steep to climb but I have done something similar. Since it’s steep, it is critical to start with low mileage to avoid injuries. It is my nature to push and yet, I learned to listen to my body and take care of it. 

I’m surprised how everything came back to me so quickly. Perhaps because I have already done the last two long trails. My body recalled how to walk as if I never left the CDT. It usually takes me about a month to develop hiking legs to walk with agility and strength and 2,000 miles to hike with little effort and flow. I already have hiking legs and qualities of movement this time. I just have to build a stamina which comes with time. My awareness and intuition are sharp. Every cell in my body that became dormant that needs to wake up in order to thrive in nature is woken up. For example, I felt the presence of water around me and I found a spring 400 feet down the hill from the trail not marked on the map. Another example is that I found butterflies mating under leaves where it is difficult to spot. My senses to feel things around me will get better as I go and I’m curious about how much more will I become close to our ancestral keen sense of awareness of our environment.

Although Appalachian Mountains are unfamiliar to me, so far I am pleased to have consistent access to water, hike in the shade provided by the green tunnels, surrounded by all day chorus of variety of song birds, and beautiful flowers. 

As I approached Dick’s Creek Gap, my first resupply access point, in the morning after the big rain, I felt joy and happiness. I descended down the hills, following the sound of flowing creek, listening to bird songs that echoed in the forest, feeling warm sunshine through the fog, and inhaling fresh humid air. They made me smile. In Japanese, we have a perfect term of this experience called 森林浴 (pronounce: Shin-Rin-Yoku), forest-bathing.

Blessings to all things on this beautiful planet. Cheers to the wonderful beginning and happy Earth day again, because everyday is Earth day for lifetime!