The curse of the azt
I woke up feeling relatively well. I was thankful that whatever was ailing me seemingly subsided and I was able to pack up and get a move on as soon as the sun was up.
I spent most of the day between 7-9000 feet and it was chilly. I was hiking in my fleece most the day which made it fairly comfortable.
After I hit Miller peak (a nice 800 foot incline to start the day) the belly started to rumble again and the snow began. Fortunately the snow wasn’t longer than half a mile at any point, and relatively crunchy and easy to walk on, so no major problems there.
I was able to start my morning slowly and gingerly eating a macaroon (a sports specific one, not the fun tasty ones!). By the time I got to my first water source about an hour into the day, I plopped down and guzzled down some water. Even though the macaroon was still sitting stable in the belly, as I attempted to eat more solid food I’d begin dry heaving a bit, so instead I made a protein shake. Something I would typically add to my oatmeal in the morning, but since I haven’t been doing well with solid foods I was hoping this would do the trick and at least give me some much needed nutrients.
Fortunately, the “east to digest” protein powder wasn’t lying and I was able to keep going.
About 15 miles into the day I sat at a water source to rest for a bit, and tried eating a bite of my lunch bar. A small bite, chewed it up to paste, then continued on. Not more than 30 mins later everything’s coming back up water, and judging by the hint of blueberry, the bar as well. The lethargy began to set in again, and I was moving even slower. Thankfully, the terrain has relaxed a bit and it’s mostly easy conditions, but I’m still not having a great time. Must be the lack of nutrients and calories making my head a bit woozy and tired. Kinda feel like I’m hungover without the drinking part.
I go another few miles to a road where I sit in some shade to contemplate my life. As I’m going through my maps, I see there’s a marina about .6 miles off trail, and I felt the opportunity to get a soda and some bland food might help. Of course, it’s closed on wednesdays. However, I feel it’s better to end the day now and not push the few extra miles to the 21 I wanted.
As I’m sitting there, a fella and his dog walk up the trail who’ve just come back from hunting some quail. We briefly chat and I ask if he’s headed that way, and he happily brings me down there.
What was really odd was I wasn’t feeling well in the car. Even though it was only a few mins, it made me feel even more woozy.
Turned out, he was heading to a nearby town up the road for the night and offered to bring me to the hotel. I’m disappointed that my long run of being outdoors became null and void on only day two, but felt it was needed to go and rest and try to eat some real food.
After Tim brings me to the hotel, we quickly realize no one is there. He prebooked so his key is waiting for him, but I’ve got to wait until 5 until the restaurant next door opens which are the same folks.
By 6, I’m eating. Exhausted. But I was able to get through most my food without feeling too bad. Towards the end I was definitely pumping the breaks, as I could feel the swirls and twirls of the belly begin.
I retreat back to my hotel room, waited until my lovely counterpart was home from dinner and chatted on the phone with Alexandra for a while, then was quickly fast asleep. I actually slept 11 hours with only one or two small wakeups. But I knew as soon as I woke up the belly wasn’t back to its normal state. The head still feels like a woozy hang over, and even though I just got a lot of sleep I’m still quite fatigued. Even with my lack of water for an hour or so here and there, I’ve been drinking plenty of water, so I know I’m not dehydrated. Unless my body hadn’t been able to retain enough between “events”.
I’m going to take an alternate route to Patagonia, where I was planning to be anyway. It’ll be about a 12-13 mile road walk, which isn’t always the most exciting, but I want to put the miles in and be close to a road incase everything starts going caput again. This will kinda be the test to see what happens moving forward. If I can’t successfully complete 13 miles on a road, not sure how I’m going to be doing 21-25 mile days in the wilderness without figuring out what’s going on with my body.
Sooo, fingers crossed! I’ll have a slow morning and mozy on out mid day. Hopefully get some sort of breakfast to stay put.
The joys of Thru-hiking, and it’s only day 3. How ironic that a stomach ailment (amongst other things) was the final nail in the coffin of the AZT back in 2016. Let’s hope it doesn’t take me out early this time.