6.20.12 - A Wrench in the Plans

Woke up early at 5am to get an early jump on the day. Wanted to get 22 miles done without getting affected by the heat of the day too much. Was ready to start hiking at 6am, but then Wildflower came over where I was and said Coffee wasn't feeling well. If you haven't read the last blog posting, he got sick on top of a mountain and started vomiting, which lead to dehydration. He was carried down by thru hikers, volunteer rescue folks, and medical personnel, and taken to a hospital. After his stay in the hospital recovering, he stayed at a hotel for a few nights and days before getting back to the trail. So back to the story... Coffee woke up and started to get ready, but wasn't feeling well. As badly as I wanted to hang with the group and get the mileage done I had prepared for, there was no way I was going to leave him there by himself, 8 miles out of a town. I decided to hang back and make sure he was alright. He set up his tent and went back to laying down. I checked my phone to make sure I had service just in case I should need to call for any help.

I laid around in the empty shelter and read the book I've been carrying for far too long. As the morning went on, it got warmer, but I stayed pretty cool in the shelter. Around 10:30 or 11, Coffee came over to the shelter and ate something. Shortly after, he said that he was fine when he was laying down, but felt dizzy when he sat or stood up. He went back to his tent to rest more. I was able to knock out over half of the book I had remaining, which was nice because I left it there for someone else to read, reducing my pack weight. Around 1pm, Coffee came back over to the shelter and said he was feeling better, so around 1:30, we headed out.

We hiked 8 miles into Palmerton, PA and got a hitch in the back of a pickup truck to the police station. There was some deliciously cold soda as trail magic as we came to the trail near town. We checked in at the police station and got directions to the Jailhouse Hostel in the borough's basement. It was nice and cool down there and the shower was refreshing after being without one for 10 days. We were able to do laundry and grab some Subway in the meantime. Jaws, Flash, Big Sky, and Diesel joined us at the hostel, and Dakota Dan and section hiker Andy were already there. After laundry, Jaws, Coffee, and I grabbed an ice cold beer. How refreshing after a hot day like today!

So even though a wrench was thrown into my plans, I'm glad Coffee felt alright in the end, and there is hope of catching up with the fun bubble I was hiking with!