Challenges and Choices

Seven days since our last post and much has happened. We've been remiss in posting but we've had a bit on our minds. July 2nd we summitted Wyman Mountain and ended our day at the Frye Notch Lean-to. July 3rd we summitted Baldpate Mountain's East and West Peaks. That day, just before lunch, we passed through a parking lot for day hikers climbing Baldpate Mountain and hiking the neighboring trails. Just before the parking lot, I passed a few groups of hikers from nearby summer camps. One group in particular from a local girls' camp flagged me down and began asking me questions about what I was doing. The girls in the group ranged in age from 12-15 and had never heard of the AT or thought of doing such a huge hike. They asked questions like how I took showers, how we got water and food, and how we slept at night. I answered their questions and talked about the trail and the experience, took some photos with the girls, and then they started their hike. That night, we camped just short of Mahoosuc Notch after passing Speck Pond, spent the night with a group of NOBOs, and shared some trail stories and information. The next day we began our hike late due to the pouring rain that morning. Our hike started at the Mahoosuc Notch, went over Fulling Mill Mountain's South Peak, continued over Goose Eye Mountain's North, East, and West Peaks, and ended at the Carlo Col Shelter. The morning of the 5th we had to make a decision and chose to take the Carlo Col Trail in order to get to town. We finally managed to make it over the Maine/New Hampshire border but not quite in the manner we expected. Our original goal had been to reach Gorham for the 4th but we were delayed because of a few injuries and issues in the group. The major issue for Void and I was his health. The evening of the 2nd Void wasn't feeling well and each day continued to get slightly worse. At first we figured it was just something he ate combined with the activity of the day so we relaxed early and took it easy. The next morning he was fine and only got worse toward the later part of the day and his symptoms were getting worse. He was suffering from headaches, decreased appetite, weakness, and a slight fever. We took a long snack break in the afternoon and gave him plenty of liquids thinking he might be slightly dehydrated. The evening of the 4th, with no improvement, we decided to arrange for a pickup so we could get him to the hospital for some treatment. When he doesn't have an appetite, you know something is wrong. The morning of the 5th we took the Carlo Col Trail to Success Pond Road. While the overall trail was shorter than hiking the AT to Gorham, we didn't quite realize how far the trip along the road to the parking lot would be. Making matters worse, it was hard to get Void to eat much of anything and it was a challenge for him to walk more than 15 minutes, even along a fairly smooth dirt road. To make it easier on him I ended up carrying his pack for the last few miles along the road until the EMT unit from the Berlin FD found us. It was a relief that they decided to travel down the road instead of waiting for us at the parking lot which was about 6 miles from where we were picked up and we had only hiked along the road for 3 miles. The EMTs took us to the Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin, NH. Throughout the day, his temperature ranged from 102.7 at its peak in the hospital to 100.2 while in the ambulance. At the hospital he was treated for exhaustion and deydration, given tylenol for his temperature, and 2 liters of saline. During our stay we were moved to 3 different rooms and even resided in the hallway for some time. He was finally released from the hospital at 5:30 and we stayed till 6:30 when Linda, a nurse going off duty, gave us a ride to Hiker's Paradise in Gorham. Special thanks to Andrea for all her help while at the hospital; from being Void's nurse to bringing us food and drink while we were there. Over the last few days, Void has slowly started to feel better; his temperature has dropped back to normal, he's staying hydrated, and his appetite has begun to return. Some of this is because I've been constantly tellingn him to eat and drink and the rest is because I think he is starting to feel better. Hopefully we'll be able to get back on the trail late next week, a few days after he feels ready to hike, so we can make sure he is good again. Nothing would be worse than to get back on the trail and have to jump right off again if he started feeling bad again. At the moment our plan is to skip hiking the Whites and come back at a later time to hike this section. We will either start at Mount Mousilake or just after where the terrain is fairly flat and we can get our trail legs back without having to put Void through a lot of strain. We stayed at Hiker's Paradise the night of the 5th. Hiker's Paradise gave us beds and a chance to do laundry but the place is fairly rundown. There are holes in the floor and the place is in general disrepair. That night we went to dinner with Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang, and Little Foot at Mr. Pizza (www.mrpizzanh.com) in Gorham. We ordered the 384 sq. inch super stomper pizza with pepperoni and ate all but 8 slices. Had we not wanted to get dessert, we would have finished those last slices. For dessert I got a slice of blueberry pie and Void, still with a diminished appetite, chose to skip dessert. The next morning we went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. After breakfast we headed over to White Mountain Lodge where the rest of our friends had stayed for the night and spent a few hours there. As we were going to be in town for about a week so Void could get back to normal we decided to find a hotel that would offer us a good weekly rate. After making a few calls, we settled on the Northern Peaks Motor Inn (www.northernpeaksmotorinn.com) after the lady offered a room for $200 for the week. Hiker friendly places are always where we want to be; the people are more relaxed and they go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. Our room has 2 beds, floor space (for other hikers to crash), shower, and mini fridge. While we didn't have a microwave the first night and we told the ladies we didn't need one, they promised we would have one the next day and, sure enough, they bought one and brought it to us the next day. In addition to the hotel room, I decided to find a rental place that had something large enough to fit at least 5 people plus backpacks. For the vehicle I found a Hertz in Glen, NH that offered a Chevy HHR; a crossover SUV that I've been enjoying driving. It could be a little larger but it gets the job down and allows me to shuttle friends and other hikers between trail heads, lodging, walmart, and outfitters. Carpe did this for us while he was out and I figure I could continue the tradition while we're off the trail. I didn't realize how fun and enjoyable playing trail angel could be until I started doing it. I've been having a good time but I wish we could be on the trail instead. On Friday night, Caroline, Void's girlfriend, stopped by for the weekend. She is working at a Girl Scout Camp in NH and wanted to see him while we were in the area. Her stopping in was good for him, though he was still pretty weak still, and I think it helped bring up his spirits and encourage him to start getting better. Since we've been here, we've met many NOBOs and kept in touch with many of our SOBO friends and made a few new ones. Having a hotel room and a vehicle makes this somewhat easier to do. Two NOBOs we met, Tarzan and Rafiki spent some time at Northern Peaks with us and we traded a lot of information and stories of the trail ahead. Tarzan is keeping a blog at http://hike2012.blogspot.com/. Speaking with NOBOs is always interesting because they've been on the trail for longer than us, have had different experiences, and have hiked areas that we will be going through. We get to hear about all the people they've met and everything they've been through. It's nice to make note of the things they say so we know where to stop, where we may encounter issues, and where we can look for trail magic or other good things. Nothing else to say at the moment but I'll try and make some more posts this week, though they will be short since we're not doing much. Hopefully Void will continue to feel better and we'll post more as we go. ~ Shadow and Void Grimm