Reached 50 miner, now what? Plus a few Q's

[TwelveSevven]

I know this isn't the end of the levelling experience, but other than "keep levelling", I'm not sure exactly what I'm going for. I'm having great fun doing treasure maps; I've never done them before and, I don't know, they're just really chill to do.
There're little stars near certain items in the gathering window, but I'm not sure what these imply? The little grey stars, 1, 2 or 3 of them.
I guess for the time being I should keep levelling while keeping a timer on the special nodes. Do I need to activate Truth of Mountains after the node has appeared, or if I leave it on, will I get a popup when it's time?

[AduroT]

You’ll get a pop up when one spawns in a zone you’re in. Otherwise yeah, keep leveling.

[Jojoya]

There're little stars near certain items in the gathering window, but I'm not sure what these imply? The little grey stars, 1, 2 or 3 of them.
I guess for the time being I should keep levelling while keeping a timer on the special nodes. Do I need to activate Truth of Mountains after the node has appeared, or if I leave it on, will I get a popup when it's time?

The stars indicate items that need a higher amount of Gathering skill (and sometimes Perception) to collect than others of the same level. More stars have higher requirements. If you're having trouble gathering them, upgrading and/or melding your gear will help.

It's better to keep Truth of Mountains always on. There's no penalty in doing so but forgetting to turn it back on could mean missing out on an unspoiled node since you won't see it without it on. As long as it's on and you're in the same zone, you'll get a message in your chat window and see an indicator on your minimap when a special node is active.

At level 60, you'll get a trait that automatically turns it on when you switch to MIN. You'll also be able to buy Regional Folklore books that unlock legendary nodes that will also be indicated by Truth of Mountains and can start unlocking Custom Deliveries.

If you haven't already done so, unlock Collectibles. They're a good source of XP and scrip for buying gear and other items (like the Folklore books). The quest to unlock starts with Morgayne in Foundation (just up the stairs from the Aetheryte by the levemete).