The trail to the trail. Miles hiked: not sure, but it feels way worse in heels

Wow, it’s been a whirlwind few days getting ready to launch on this hike but exciting nonetheless. 

Before leaving JC I got to laugh myself silly with the Ladies of the Lake, my core group of 45-65 yo women who have been my family through these challenging years. I also got to celebrate a Personal First Descent (PFD) of the Nolichucky Gorge with another pod of dear friends as well as enjoy tacos and milk shakes with Shortstop and Lala, perhaps my original trail supporters. I watered my garden, sent 40 lbs of food to Montana and headed to Kansas City for the American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference. 

Oh, I also finished my sub-internship in medicine which was a monthlong crash course in what it’ll be like to be an intern medical resident come next summer. 

While at the AAFP conference, I got to connect with quite a few residency programs and was encouraged by all the opportunities available to gain the skills I need to serve my community. I also pulled off a classic Blueberry endeavor—running for (and having the privilege of receiving) a national advocacy leadership position in the morning, and promptly changing into hiking clothes and heading to Salt Lake 20 minutes later. 

Due to a 4 hour flight delay, I even got to have dinner with Gogo in SLC! The saga continues to Spokane and hopefully onto an Amtrak train to Glacier. Stay tuned!