Date: 2012-03-30
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Emergency Room??
Miles today: 0.5

So I woke up this morning, having slept very little the night before. This foot pain just would not quit. It literally pulsated through my body all night long. Which DO IT says is the little people inside of me doing repairs, and if I don't pay them enough in healthy food and sleep they will go on strike. I believe it. But anyway, I staying in my tent for a long time. Even as our hungover neighbors packed up and hiked out I just did not want to move. DO IT eventually said, "Ange? Are you still alive?". I grumbled something in response so he brought me coffee and oatmeal. He kept trying to talk me into going off trail to go to the doctors but damn! I've walked 24 miles with a bleeding, seeping alien growing out of the back of my foot and I wasn't about to give up!! So we dumped out all of our food bags, took out the maps and got to planning. I figured I had 30 miles left in me before I would need to give my feet a rest and so we decided that was what we would do. I wrapped my feet in duct tape, which really freaking hurts BTW and left camp. DO IT left about 10 minutes before me so as I walked down the road to the trail I was surprised to see him sitting down on a lawn chair with his pack off. He had met this couple from Germany, who travel constantly in an RV across the country. They spend 6 months in the US every year and plan their trips based on the closest Walmart. The man has an MBA and worked for the government all his life. He said that he checked a box that says he's crazy and had a doctor approve it and so he was able to retire early and get a pension. They do everything that they want for $6 a day. They were parked there that night because the woman heard she could shower at the campgrounds near by. They offered me their lawn chair and called me Blisters. They talked about how great America is because we have so many beautiful state parks to visit and we can get everything we want at Walmart. It took some serious restraint, but I didn't say a single word about the maleffects Walmart has had on small business, food policy or worker's rights. I just listened, which you all know is really hard for me. They just LOVED Walmart. They said it's great because you can sleep there. It is open 24 hours a day and if you buy something from there and it breaks, you can just buy another one because it is so cheap. They basically look at a map, find the Walmart, drive there and find a state park near it to check out. Wow. They told us to enjoy life, EVERY day. We left them and headed down the trail, with DO IT taking the lead and me leaning heavy on my trekking poles with each step rocking my world. I made it about half a mile when something expolded in my shoe and oozed out around my sock. That's when I called it, "DO IT, I can't do it. I'm out.". He said something the effect of, "Well it's about time you stubborn little BLEEP, now drop your damn pack and help me hitch hike". We were at a road that gets a car about once a week, but got a ride pretty quick once they saw me limping with bloody duct tape all around my foot. We rode in the bed of a pick up for almost an hour before we were at the hospital. We did do a little research. There was a foot doctor in town but they're closed until Monday and my insurance won't cover urgent care, so we had no choice but to abuse the emergency department. Our drivers wouldn't take a dollar from us, more magic!I limped into the ER with my pack and signed in. A 70 year old hospital volunteer came over to me almost right away with a $20 bill in her outstreched hand and said, "Here. Have you had anything to eat today?". I said to myself, holy crap... I look and smell homeless. I thanked the lady for her generosity but said I was okay, I'm just a thru hiker. She examined by pack and I offered to let her try it on. Heh. She didn't want to. Then an RN came over to me and called me back. She took one look at me and said, "Now why aren't you wearing shoes!? You have open sores on your feet and you're walking around a hospital barefoot? What's wrong with you?!" I let her know all my sores were well covered in duct tape and limped on back. They said they see a lot of thru hikers, most frequently for depression! It seems a lot of hikers get out into the woods and they're all alone and detached from their normal lives and it just gets to them. They scrubbed my blisters out with what looked like a brillo pad and explained to me that you can't just abuse your body like this and not take care of it. They also gave me a tetnus shot because they said I seemed like I should probably just get another one of them on board. The NP said that I need 3 to 4 days off trail to allow some skin to grow back on my feet since my nerves are exposed. I kept trying to get her to give me something to make it happen quicker, like steroids. She said to me in a beautiful southern drawl, "Now I did go to school for this you know". Oops, guess I got a little too pushy. When you combine my drug seeking behaviors with DO IT's asking if any kind of olympic athlete had died recently and was donating his feet and legs for transplants, yeah I guess they wanted to get us the hell out of there. So now here we are, at a hotel. I took a shower and piece of my foot fell off in the tub. DO IT has drank half a bottle of Arbor Mist (He calls it Harbor Mist BTW and I have not corrected him). I want to just take off tomorrow, but DO IT is threatening to lock me in the hotel so my feet can heal properly. Time will tell.