“We are not far from Helena. If there’s anything that you need, just reach out to us,” said Brett, as he dropped me off at the trailhead and said goodbye. He mentioned earlier that now I have connections with Montana search and rescue through him. Even better, we are friends and he said to come visit them in Bozeman as well as Tucson, Arizona where they live in the winter. 

For the last 24 hours, I was blessed with their hospitality and kindness. After he left, I took a moment under a tree to acknowledge life’s beauty of meeting people. If I didn’t drop my phone, without being injured, and the person who served me at the breakfast buffet at the Old Faithful Inn didn’t recommend that I hang out on the third floor of the Inn, I would’ve never met them. If I didn’t care to say, “Isn’t this place so nice?” to Brett and Sallie when they sat close to me, we would have never talked and connected. I imagined how different my Butte resupply experience would be without them- it would be much more difficult, but who knows? I might have met someone else who would be interesting and helpful because that’s how it has been. But it was Brett and Sallie who took me in and helped me. It was meant to be. 

With that thought, I started hiking, feeling blessed, grateful and happy. The late morning sun was getting hot. By 1 pm, I was feeling fatigued to the point that I pretty much collapsed on the side of the trail and passed out in the shade of a tree. I woke up almost an hour later, feeling refreshed and came back to life! I was like what just happened? I never felt this tired during the whole journey. Maybe my body just needed to stop and rest after 2,500 miles of walking.

For the rest of the day, I felt great and normal. It was hot but I cruised up and down the hills. I made it to the last reliable source of water for the next 22 miles little before 7pm and got enough water then found a camp in the woods. It was so quiet and peaceful. All alone again and I loved it so much.

The next morning was something that I never experienced in my whole life. The weather forecast predicted that it would be hot in the 90s in Butte for the next few days. To avoid the heat, I left early to hike in cooler weather in the dark. I saw lightning and heard thunder at 6 AM! I never hiked in the morning thunderstorms before and it was incredible. The lightning was over 2 miles away from me. It eventually caught up with me, and by the time the lightning was happening within a mile from me, the sky started to clear up and it was over. Then, I saw the red and orange sky as if it was on fire on the ridge line. I dropped my backpack, walked up to the ridge, and I saw the sunrise right in time- a sunrise made the sky burn and the entire world was golden. A hawk flew in the backdrop of the great sunrise, calling as if the bird was welcoming me into a new world that rarely happens like this- a good sign, I thought. What an incredible sunrise with the magical light that played with the thunderstorm! It was a moment to feel it’s good to be alive. 

After the storm passed, it was awfully quiet as if nothing happened. What a contrast! There was no wind. The overcast helped to keep me cool until midday. I made it to the I-90 overpass where the trail turned into a road with no shoulder. Crystal, a mountain biker who just finished the ride, gave me a lift across the overpass to the other side of the Interstate where the trailhead was. She also gave me water! This stretch was dry and there was no water for 20 miles. Before hitting I-90, I crossed highway 2 and there was a cooler full of water. I don’t know who this trail angel is and this person knows how difficult it is to get water on this part of the CDT. The next day, at the trailhead after crossing I-15, there was another cooler full of water and sparkling water, Cherry Coke and Dr Pepper. I was so delighted when I saw sparkling water! Another surprise was waiting for me toward the end of the day- one cooler was full of snacks, one with beverages and the third one was water, right before the official CDT merged with the Anaconda Cutoff. There are a few CDT cutoff routes along the CDT when the official CDT becomes difficult. I didn’t know what made this section difficult until coming into this section: water scarcity. 

As the water source became scarce , the forest became more dry. There were fewer wildflowers. In this dryer What I was most excited about was the abundant raspberries! They were ready to be eaten. When I came across what I called “pick me patch,” where there was a concentration of raspberry bush, I took my time to enjoy these red edible jewels of the woods. Compared to the commercial raspberry, these wild ones are smaller and sweeter with a hint of a taste of the sun. 

Foraging wild plants are commonly practiced in Japan and I learned it from my dad. He learned it from my grandmother, his siblings and relatives, and passed the knowledge down to me. Speaking of family traditions and ancestral knowledge, yesterday was the day of the dead in Japan and I started my day thinking of my ancestors. 

They gave me incredible physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual strength to hike 2,600 miles so far. I thought about how they used to walk everywhere and how strong they must have been. Since I was a little, I was always fascinated by a group of historic people called Hikyaku, meaning flying legs. They were the messengers who are probably ultramarathon runners in modern days. Their job was to carry letters or messages as fast as they could, and often placed at different passes and relay the message. Some sources mentioned that they would travel 90-125 miles a day. When I see the drawings of what they looked like, they have flip flops made of grass on their feet, strong calves and quads and they carry a small box that has messages in it. If I were born back in time, I imagined trying to break into the world of Hikyaku since this was primarily done by men.

My dad’s family survived the 1945 bombing of Tokyo which turned the city into ash overnight. So did their home. It’s a miracle that they did not get separated. They stayed together following the voice of somebody saying go to the river. The river is a strip of darkness so they knew where it was even in darkness while the whole city burned down.The next day, when they went back to where  home was supposed to be, there was nothing there. My grandmother took five children with her and started walking. She was from Yamagata prefecture about a thousand miles northwest from Tokyo. My grandfather was from Tokyo but since he passed away, my grandmother was raising five children by herself at that time. Eventually, she got them all on a train, but they repeatedly walked and rode in a train all the way back to her hometown in Yamagata. My great grandmother didn’t have a space for them. So my dad and his family lived in a shack for war refugees for a while. My dad said he remembered seeing stars through the roof and felt rain, snow and wind coming through the cracks of the roof and the walls. He didn’t think much of it. It was just the way it was and that was his normal. His little sister didn’t make it, but the rest of the family survived. On the day of the dead, I think about how strong my grandmother was. She did all the walking and labor out of necessity and love. 

I’m hiking the CDT for fun. I’m doing this for connection. Most importantly, I’m doing this by choice. What an incredible privilege that I have! If I were here in Montana when my grandmother was alive, I would’ve been sent to Heart Mountain, the Japanese internment camp. Two generations. Big change.  

I often think about trails as a path. On the day of the dead, the trail is a pass to access the strength and wisdom of my ancestors. Tomorrow, it could be something else but I’m sure that I’ve been on a spiritual path more than anything for this whole time. I prayed to my grandmother and said thank you for all you’ve done for my dad, and for me. Your body has long been gone, but your strength, resilience, joy, tolerance, love and wisdom are still living through me. One day, I’ll be gone like you have, but I hope my learnings that I have acquired will be passed off for the future generations.

Maybe the prayers worked. Between 4 and 8pm, I felt like the strength of my grandmother moved in with me and I only stopped once for 5 minutes to drink water and a handful of nuts, and otherwise, I kept moving. I made it to a pond that sits on the saddle in the evening and found a spot to camp above the pond. The evening light shining on the pond was beautiful. I looked into the still water, imagining it’s a portal to access where my grandmother is. I said, “I made it another day, grandma. Thank you.”