Date: 2007-05-29
From: Stealth site before Thomas Knob Shelter, VA

To: The Scales, VA
Miles today: 9.0

Rough nite last nite. I kept waking up with leg spasms and leg cramps. I know due to dehydration. I was also very cold, so I eventually put all my layers on. No dinner and dehydration again, I'm sure were the causes. It was 47 degrees when I woke up @ 6:15 a.m.I felt horrible actually. I decided I was going to find water and drink 1 liter before I started hiking. Stomach still upset, headache, dizzy, no appetite. I actually wonder if I've got a stomach virus. I know Giardia can "come and go" and I did have that little episode hiking out of Kincora Hostel that day, but I religiously treat my water and I've not heard of anyone else getting sick.Seriously could just go back and sleep in my hammock all day. I got going around 8:30 a.m. I (as usual) discovered I was only .3 miles from Thomas Knob Shelter. It was just as well, there aren't any good places to hang there becaus it turns into grasslands.However, when I arrived there, there were at least 5 adults and 3 baby feral ponies AT the shelter!!!There were 3 other hikers still there, but these ponies are anything but wild. The babies were ADORABLE and my guess is no more than 1-2 weeks old. Still fuzzy and clumsy footing.I picked some grass and fed a pony out of my hand (I've got pics by the way). Then she became (much like cow #25) obsessed with licking salt off my body. Let's just say my knees, forearms, and the left armpit of my hiking shirt were licked clean! LOL It was hilarious. I couldn't get enough of them. They were so beautiful!I finally pulled myself away and wow is this part of the AT stunning! Grass meadows, rocky trail, views of surrounding meadows, and at 4 different times, there were groups of ponies. I stoppd everytime (of course).I was shooting for 15 miles today but the longer I hiked, the more obvious it became that something was not right. It took me 5 hours to go a mere 5 miles, and the terrain was not bad at all.I basically felt nauseated when I drank or ate, headache, dizzyness, major lack of energy, and like my head was clouded. I just kept moving, hoping it would clear up, but no such luck. At noon, I stopped @ an awsome stream and decided I needed to force more food down so my body could get some energy. Still couldn't eat much. I drank another full liter of water, and because the chaffing issue has returned (go figure, I mailed my ointment home), I decided to walk WAY downstream and wash my body off. Cold freakin water is all I have to say about that!! LOLIt was all I could do to get up and hike again. I finally made it to Wise Shelter and talked to some section hikers about my symptoms. I was contemplating hanging there, but there was a sign that said no camping was allowed, so I decided I would try to make it 5.9 miles further to Old Orchard Shelter, which is less than 2 miles from a road.I pushed on and I'm so bummed I could not enjoy the scenery more, but it was taking everything I had to just keep hiking. At one point, I felt like I might pass out, so I made the decision that if I could find some miracle way to a town, I would.Well, the miracle happened. I hiked over a bald to see a mountain campsite called The Scales, and there is a volunteer caretaker there. He was weed eating, and I had to decide if I should pass up this opportunity and hike over 1 more mountain (3 more miles) to the shelter, or approach him and ask for a ride to town. Because I am hiking alone now, I felt it was best to error on the side of caution. So, I think I scared the guy to death when I approached him (he couldn't hear me over the weedeater) and I said, "Hello, I'm a thru-hiker, I am ill, and I'll pay you to take me to the nearest town with a motel."He asked what was wrong and I told him. He said, "I guess I could do that." He also offered to give me something he had for stomach issues, but I told him I had already been taking something, and I was feeling worse everyday. He said the closest town was Marion, VA (which is where I had planned on resupplying next), and it was about a 35-40 minute drive, because we had to get down off the mountain.I threw my stuff in his truck, and we were off. Part of me felt relieved, part of me felt like a wimp for bailing, but if anything, this trail will teach you that you can only react to what is happening in the present, and I knew that presently, something was wrong.The "road" we had to drive down used to be where train tracks were layed. Bill (my trail angel) told me they used to cut down trees on this mountain, but all of the train tracks have since been removed. He has volunteered in this place for years, and lives there thru Thanksgiving, in a travel trailer. Pretty sweet set-up. My guess is that he was in his mid-60's and he was a quiet man. Thank god he was there.We stopped @ Troutdale first, and I knew they had a bunkhouse for hikers, but no resupply and no doctor near by. I asked Bill to just take me to Marion, where a doctor would be if I decided I needed one. The Companion listed a cheap motel called the Rodeway Inn, and there is an Econolodge and Best Western across the street. Bill dropped me off, I thanked him profusely, and gave him some $. So, the Rodeway Inn, hiker rate of $29.95\nite single, plus their sign advertises a breakfast buffet. I will say that I have NEVER EVER EVER stayed in a more seedy motel in my ENTIRE life! LOL It's a damn good thing I'm able to "go with the flow" because I am laying here laughing at this situation right now.There's used office chairs sitting outside the rooms for people to sit in, they rent by the week as well, I had to fix the panel on the AC unit so I could get to the controls, the ceiling in the shower is rusted, and there's 2 x 4's (wood) laying along the walkway. Not sure if they're remodeling, but it couln't hurt. LOLAlso, the breakfast is actually that they give you a voucher so you can walk across the street and eat @ the Best Western's buffet!! LOL!! And the kicker about it all is that I don't freakin care! I'm so glad to be somewhere where I can rest and call my doc to see what is going onBy now it's evening, so guess who gets called again, none other than my friend Cindy. I asked her to look up the side effects of Indomethacin, the medicine the doc prescribed to me in Damascus for my foot, (which both docs I saw made a point to tell me it is a harsh medication). As she read the information, I was shocked, it was EXACTLY the way I was feeling! It all made sense now. I did not have an appetite the whole week I was @ Cindy's home. I was also not exerting myself, and now that I'm back out hiking, burning thru calories, I can't eat enough to sustain my activity because this medication can cause inflammation of the stomach lining. Cindy works @ a medical center, so she put one of her doctor friends on the phone with me. I told her what was going on, and she said to lose the Indomethacin, and double up on Prilosec to help my inflammed stomach heal. She said I would not feel hungry if my stomach lining was inflammed, and that I definitely should be hungry if ! I'm hiking. (I had been before afterall)So, obstacle number 10,000. I'm SOOOO tired of things getting in the way of my desire to hike. I asked the doc how long it would take for this stuff to be out of my body, and when I could safely hike again. She said if I take the Prilosec, a couple of days (and by the way, I had been taking Prilosec with this stuff every morning, the doc in Damascus told me to, but I've always had a problematic stomach). She said when I feel my appetite come back, it is safe to hike. AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! Can you imagine, a thru-hiker with NO appetite and no energy!! So here I lay in my scary motel room by myself, I have absolutely no idea how I'm getting back to the trail. I seriously doubt anyone would be willing to take me up that horrible service road, when they could drop me off 4 miles down on an actual highway, if I do manage to get a ride. I now need to re-plan my leg, because I got to this town 2 days earlier than expected, and I don't want to stop here again when I do get back out there. My stomach is burning and is in knots, and all I can think about is how much I want to be hiking. Damn it!!So folks, this is where you see my rage and stubborness come out. The more this crap happens, the more I am determined to show this trail (as if it is to blame right? LOL) that I will NOT give up. I get even more focused and determined to keep walking north, because I know in my heart it is what I am to do right now.I asked for a journey, I wanted to confront my fears and the scary unknown, and I'm getting exactly what I've asked for. Hiking the AT for some is as simple as getting up each day, knocking out 15 miles by 4:00 p.m., and never having to deal with crap like this. I don't see these trials as a punishment or a sign that I can't do this. I see each of them as challenges in which I am to learn to overcome, and which will hopefully bring me a little closer to where I want to be inside myself. I'm planning on walking down to Wally world and getting resupplied), maybe doing laundry if I can find a place, and then rack my brain as to how I might get back to the trail.Hitch hiking takes on an entirely different face when you're a woman and you're alone. This town is right along I-81, so who knows what kinds of people come thru here. I'm pretty confident in my ability to take care of myself, but I trust my intuition over all things. Ahhh...more unknowns. Isn't this exciting everyone? It's going to be a miracle when I manage to hike for 2 week without some sort of "incident." I'm really hoping this is it for awhile. All I can do is laugh, smile, and continue believing that all things happen as they should. It is not in my control.~Certain