Date: 2009-11-24
From: Greensboro, NC

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hello friends,I wish I could report to you from the trail, healthy and happy, but alas, that was not in the plans. I'm home... again. Short story: I got sick again. Long story: Several days after getting back on the trail I started getting hives. I've had hives a few times before on this trip, which was scary knowing how a reaction can snowball into swollen ears and throat, but that fear was always unfounded. I would get one or two small ones, take Benadryl, and they'd go away. This time, though, I didn't get one or two, and they weren't small. They were big, angry, scary hives, the kind that leave a bruise after they go away because the skin gets swollen so tight it hurts when it un-swells.Anyways, I can't take the massive dose of Benadryl I need when I get mean hives because I'll be walking like an extremely drunk person up slippery mountain slopes. So I pulled over at Kincora, a hostel in TN run by Bob Peoples, perhaps the sweetest guy south of the Mason Dixon line. He gave me a place to rest, took Josh and me to the grocery store, washed our clothes, AND made us chili. After some thinking Josh and I decided I would stay an extra day at Kincora taking Benadryl and hoping that the reaction would pass while he hiked ahead, then Bob would shuttle me forward to meet him. Josh left the next day and I sat. And I was bored. Really bored. And I kept getting hives, which meant that I would have to sit out at least another day after that. (I have to wait for the hives to be gone for a good 24-48 hours before I can keep hiking since exercise and cold aggravates them. Unless the reaction is totally done, it'll just keep going if I jump up from the couch and into the cold too soon.)On top of that, I was literally dying of allergies. Okay, not literally, but it felt like it. See, Bob, being an exceptionally kind soul, can't say no to any unloved animal or person that comes knocking on his door. He takes in basically anything that comes looking for food or shelter... and believe me, I love animals, but the ELEVEN cats, several dogs, and 2 raccoons running around the place were making me wish I weren't alive. I called my mom, who was in San Francisco on business, crying partially because I was miserable and partially because regardless of the THREE different allergy pills I was taking, my eyes were watering involuntarily.After talking it out I decided to come home again. It was an extremely difficult decision to make and since then I've been trying to think of it as a matter I had little choice in. My body is simply not functioning correctly right now and I can't beat it up till I end up in the hospital with an anaphylactic reaction. And on top of that, it's just not fun to backpack when you're sick, especially when it's cold and gets dark at 5:30pm. Even if I waited out the current hives I had, there was absolutely no guarantee that they wouldn't come back. In fact, they likely would, since it's been getting colder and colder. I was soooo sick and tired of sitting around in hostels and motels while Josh hikes, then paying exorbitant amounts of money to get shuttled ahead. I came to hike the trail, not drive it. I would much rather remember this section as a complete hike, just as I remember the rest of the trail, rather than a bunch of two day segments interrupted by zero days spent dying of allergies. And so, I agreed to come home and hike most of TN/NC next year.I had Bob shuttle me to a hostel near where I was going to meet Josh the following day. They had a variety of cute looking cats, dogs, horses, and goats-- but they were all mercifully housed outside the hostel living space. The following day I ran out to the trailhead a little bit up the mountain to post a sign for Josh to come meet me at the hostel (there was no reception anywhere in the area). He came and we said goodbye. It was sad. I hate leaving and have spent the subsequent few days convincing myself that I'm not a quitter, just a genetic freak that doesn't want to die from an obscure disease. Don't mind what I said about the mud and mosquitoes in Maine, I actually REALLY love the AT and REALLY love hiking, I just don't think it's worth stabbing myself with an epipen in the wilderness as my airway starts constricting. Helen, my oldest and one of my dearest friends, came and rescued me from Tennessee that same day. And I've been home ever since, relaxing, getting our photos in order, and fixing the sinus infection AND infected gum I have ON TOP of the hives. Yes, friends, I am a mess. It was for the best that I skip this section.I should say that my mom is a great sport, and I am sincerely sorry for the grey hairs I am giving her with this whole endeavor. She agreed to take me back to Franklin, NC where I can meet up with Josh (and probably Phil) to hike the last few miles of NC and all of GA with them. I feel that if I summit Springer this season I can at least get some closure on this hike. I can feel like I'm actually a legit thru-hiker regardless of the fact that I'm missing a fairly large section that I'll have to make up. (Preferably this upcoming year as soon as it's warm enough to not get hives in the Smokies; I've realized my limitations here with winter hiking). The harder this hike gets for me, the more I realize my passion for living by nature. I WILL finish these miles, so it's not an issue of finishing the AT, it's just frustrating to have to take almost three weeks off when we're SO close our goal. But c'est la vie-- no use crying over spilled milk-- better to get better and keep hiking later than run myself into the ground and hospital hiking now.Sorry, that really was the long version. If you¢re still reading this, you¢re a truly loyal friend (or truly bored at work). Anya, aka the Smokin' Loon