The last update, I was heading to bed after receiving my biggest trail magic meal thus far on the trail!

Day 28: A Trail Nearo? 

I was tossing and turning super early this morning for NO reason. I only have 8 miles to where I’ll be hanging for the day/camping for the night. I had absolutely no reason to rush the packing up process. Heard Sprout pack up and leave, then started to make my own moves. Left camp no later than normal; which is not surprising one bit, then I was off to mosey. 

Nothing interesting happened in those 8 miles to camp. I ate my breakfast, finished the last of my vertical gain, then strutted the last 3 miles downhill to the water source! One of the road crossings on the downhill had some cold drinks stashed behind a big rock! Score! A wonderful treat to enjoy at camp! The water source or steam felt nice and did a little cleaning as well. Scrub my calves clean, rinse clean my muddy gaiters, and filtered a liter of water for camp. 

The tentsite was a wide open area under some big maples trees. Laid out all my damp stuff, which wasn’t much, and set up for a day of checking off tasks and relaxing! I’ve NEVER been this early to camp or have this much time to myself on trail, I felt a little beside myself! 

Now that my stomach was full and the soda was cracked open ready for enjoyment, I can get to checking off these little to do’s! Shake out all the dirt that’s accumulated in my tent and backpack, reorganize my firstaid kit, and get some sense of organization to my very jumbled notes from the past few days! I’ve been letting myself get sloppy with note taking as I’ve been anticipating my “zeroes”! A zero for those unfamiliar with the hiker term, are days you hike no miles on the trail! A rest day if you will, and some rest days we so desperately wanted.

A perfect spot to hangout although I was anticipating having better service with the comments about the campsite. I could text some people, but not post pictures and blogs like I was anticipated! Didn’t even take a single picture today in all of my relaxation…

Another day on trail in the books and enjoyed my later evening enjoying the stars above and a predownloaded movie on my phone for bed. 

Day 29: Giddy Up To Relax

I was tossing in my sleeping bag early today; must be excited for our zeroes! Got packed up leisurely and started hiking the last 3 miles to the road! The rondevu point for pick up was at the gas station just across where the trail meets the highway. I hear a cold, fizzing soda with a sweet treat in my near future!

Jumped in the car with my soda in hand and we were off to our place of relaxation for the next few days! My hiking partner was seeing her boyfriend and I was fortunate enough to tag along and tuck away in a spare bedroom. 

Got all of our stuff dried out on the front lawn before we don’t have to think about drying stuff out or condensation for a little while! How thrilling of a thought, especially with a new rain poncho soon! 

Enjoyed a lovely family meal with a wonderful family and ended my soaking in a warm tub with an alcoholic beverage in hand.

The best night quickly tucked into a sickly one. Although cozy in a big bed, something in me was not right. I spent 10 pm to 6 am visiting the bathroom every two hours getting sick. 

I don’t know what’s going on, but I sure do know this isn’t right!  

Day 30: Sicker Than A Sailor

After only sleeping about 3 hours that evening, I knew I was in trouble. I was lying in that bed for a couple hours trying to muster energy to go upstairs and get water. I did have to put my pride aside and ask Sprout for help. I can only imagine what went through her mind when she read “Hi, good morning; I need your help, please bring me water when you can!” Not even a minute later I hear a knock and a concerned hiking partner enter the room. 

I tend to be a tad dramatic when I’m sick, as it doesn’t happen more than once a year and it’s usually pretty bad. Debriefed her on my night and what may have caused this, but one thing was for sure; I was struggling to drink. I do think it was a combination of a lot of little things that made me sick. A large delicious meal, alcoholic beverages filling my stomach more, ontop of going to bed in a very warm room. 

I tried all day to try and eat more than some saltines and drink gatorade, which Sprout so graciously went to the store to get me a few things. I would’ve been in worse shape without her keeping a loving eye on me. She got to enjoy time with her man, and I got to rehydrate and lay in bed sicker than a dog. I couldn’t even look at my phone without a wave of nausea. 

Made it to the end of the day with saltines and gatorade settling in my stomach, but definitely feeling weak. Let’s hope I can gain my strength back soon to get back on trail with success! 

Day 31: One Last Rest

I slept in until 9 am, which never happens, yet was exactly what my depleted body needed! Finally mustered up strength to make my way upstairs and feeling hopeful for a big breakfast settling in my stomach. 

I ate two sandwiches and relaxed for most of the day. Sprout took us to resupply and enjoyed that fresh breeze in the early afternoon. We only needed to buy 2 and a half days of food for the next stretch. If only my stomach was feeling better, I would SO take advantage of this mini sauce wall!

The sauce wall only a hiker chef could dream of!

How come every store doesn’t have this?!

It’s when times get tough you see who’s in your corner, whether it’s your family thousands or miles away or a family you’ve never met that took you in like their own. I am truly grateful to every single person that helped me in this time of sickness. 

We got our backpacks all packed up for tomorrow fairly late into the evening and I fell asleep to the sound of a movie.

Day 32: Back At It

We got dropped off just shy of 1 o’clock back at the Sunoco gas station where I got picked up. We stopped briefly, not even a half mile in, to both resituate some gear. It led me to realize my reusable bottles back at the house. Awesome. Nothing we can do now other than put one foot in front of the other! 

It took me about 3 miles to really start feeling better being back on trail. A rough first few miles, but happy June 1st, national trails day too! Once I found my groove on the trail again, and realized I walked past the water source. I wanted to get more water before these two climbs for the day. 

I kept pushing on, luckily with a nice cooling breeze. It was another 5 miles until I made it to the refreshingly cold stream rapidly  running across the trail. Sat there for a while enjoying the cold water, and filtering more waiting to see how Sprout’s first 9 miles were. 

She started cold soaking her dinner immediately and I grabbed even more water before hiking to camp. Only 7 miles to the bottom of this hill and there would be camp not too long after that! 

A more relaxed day of hiking overall, with just shy of 16 miles hiked today! Feels pretty good considering how weak I got from being sick!

These past few days aren’t fun to write about or even read about, but this is all apart of hiking a long trail! So until next update, happy trails!