When I arrived at Newfound Gap, it was a bit overwhelming. There was a huge parking lot with so many cars and people. I was immediately approached by a woman who gives rides to thru-hikers. Then, a couple whose son hiked the AT in the past and they had so many questions for me! I wanted to be left alone and find Nat, my friend who works for the park. She kindly offered to be my trail angel when I reached out to her. Since I was occupied with people, I totally forgot to send a Garmin check-in message to mark that I was ending my trip for the day. I didn’t drink water, eat something and sit down. Later, I was very upset about all of it and couldn’t shake it off, especially not sending the Garmin message. How could I prove that I hiked to Newfound Gap? Alas, too late! 

By the time I realized, Nat and I were at the visitor center. So, I sent a Garmin check-in from there. Sure enough , my friend texted me and said, “You’re off trail! Are you doing a resupply? Everything going ok?” 

I’m lucky to have friends who are looking out for me. I complained about being swarmed by people and she texted me again and said, “Gotta live with the fame, gotta live with the pain … ”

I meet people who admire and praise thru-hikers often. Many of them want to take photos with me. It’s very interesting. I don’t know what to think of it.

Despite the fact that I was dissatisfied with how I handled people and neglected self care, as soon as Nat helped me run errands and took me to her home, I felt better. The first shower, laundry and home cooking since I left in Nat’s presence was very special. One of my favorite things about thru-hiking is that I have a chance to see and reconnect with friends I have not seen for a long time along the way. They motivate me to keep going. 

Next morning, Nat dropped me off at Newfound Gap. I said, “Thanks for everything and I’ll see you in Japan!” as we said goodbye. Many of my friends are visiting Japan and Nat is one of them. It will be fun to see her and show her around my home city.

At the trailhead, I saw an exhibit of Daniel White, a black thru-hiker who hiked the Appalachian Trail. I never seen an exhibit that showcases a single person of color. All exhibits I saw along the AT so far are about white people’s history. It was refreshing to see the photo of Daniel, and at the same time, I hoped that it was something he approved. Often, people of color feel tokenized and used for the sake of diversity, equity and inclusion work. 

A sign showed distances to different places. At the bottom, it said Maine 1972 miles. It’s less than 2000 miles left already!

I left Newfound Gap well rested, fed with clean clothes. When I woke up in the  morning, I noticed that I didn’t feel a very strong hunger that I usually feel. It is a good sign. One of my goals on this trail is to avoid chronic calorie deficit. As a woman going through menopause, I learned that it is super important to keep my bone density as high as possible. One research showed a significant bone density decrease among thru-hikers but bone density bounces back once they went back to a normal diet and had enough calories. The research was done on young males. There are not many women of my age thru-hiking and I don’t think my bone density will bounce back like these men. I’m more conscious about my overall weight and having enough calories.

I took a detour to a place called the jumping spot. It was an accident because I went a wrong way, but it was worth a trip. As the name indicates, the it ended at cliff. I took my time, eating lunch and relaxed under the warm sun. 

I went back, thinking that I was back on the AT. I was wrong. It took me a good half a mile to realize my mistake! Something was off since I arrived at Newfound Gap. I was out of sync all of a sudden. I don’t like it when it happens, but it is what it is. I was like, how stupid is that I go wrong way! And I had to remind myself of talking myself with compassion. I’m disappointed that I went the wrong way because I wanted to  get going. When things like this happen,  I tried to think it’s meant to be. If I kept going, maybe something bad happened. It always works out at the end even though in that moment I’m disappointed or upset with myself.

After I merged back to the Appalachian Trail, I passed a place called Charlie’s Bunion with a great view of the park and to the north. It looked like the elevation gets lower, and it gets flatter in the north.

Today, I came down to 1,700 feet, going through different vegetation. By the time I came down to 4,600 feet, all the leaves are out and a lot of birds were singing. Nat mentioned that in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we can see all biodiversity that exists on the entire Appalachian Trail, except parts of Maine. It is incredible to see how it changed. 

For the last one and a half mile, I followed a creek, listening to the sound of flowing water. It is so soothing, surrounded by so much green. The color green calms me down. It is healing. Even though I had some unpleasant interactions with people, listening to the sound of flowing water helped to wash them away. Things happened couldn’t change, but I can let go because they don’t serve me anymore. I stopped at the cascades of water, inhaled deeply and embraced forest bathing.

I thought my friend was right! How incredible is that I get to experience such beautiful moments! Gotta live with the fame, gotta live with the pain …