Waking up, or should I say dragging my tired body out of my mat, I quickly packed up and got ready for the day.  I hadn’t gotten any sleep due to the snoring and large number of people, so I was tired and cranky.  Not feeling well, we all took up the mountain together.  Flailing had no signs of improvement and was feeling awful, his headaches had gotten stronger and he was in serious pain.  So much so, that in our weakened state I was still faster than him.

Pushing forward up the mountain I climbed alone, feeling ill, sick to my stomach and trying to push through it.  I didn’t even want to stop at the views, i just hiked up the peak to the top without stopping.  Then it hit me, I was almost above treeline and I had to go, bad.  There was no holding it I had to find a place and quick.  My stomach was calling the shots now and I moved quickly to find a place to go.

My choices slim on the peak, I found a trail and ran back to grab my wipes. NOOOOOOOOOOOO, I was out and the others were behind.  Scrounging around I found a little bit of leaves that could work.  Or should I say they most certainly did not work.  Grrr, there is nothing like trying to wipe yourself with pine needles.  At least my Dr Bronners would get some use.  Did you know that peppermint is suppose to leave you feeling cool and refreshed? No, well it doesn’t, it just burns and makes you feel oily.  Just as I was finishing cleaning myself, I was greeted not only by my companions but another hiker as well.  Just what I needed, my pants around my ankles, hand in my butt.

Earthling looked at me and knew I had caught what ever her and Flailing had had a few days ago.  I was no longer in control of the situation, I was down, Flailing was down, and she said we were going to get to town to get well.  Picking up my pants and gear we started down the trail, only gaining a few yards before another hiker approached us about hiking his sick girlfriend down the mountain.  The more, the merrier, we split up from there, I and the other hiker headed out behind my companions, soon overtaking them.

We had discussed meeting at the end of the trail in the parking lot as the two of us passed them.  The climb down for me luckily was uneventful as the two of us talked on the much smoother trail with switchbacks.  Smoother is a relative term, there were many rocks and rough sections but at least I wasn’t boulder scrambling down while trying to keep from getting sick again.  At the time I had no idea how bad Flailing was.  When we arrived at the lot I received a text saying they were about three miles back.  I knew it was bad if he was that far back.

Hitching into town I waited for them to meet me.  While in town I came across a Mushing guide service and applied for a position as a dog handler/musher.  By the time I had finished they had gotten a room and we got settled in for the night.  The next day for the two of us would be busy.  Flailing and I hitched out to the hospital to get some tests done, we hoped he didn’t have Lymes.  Spending all morning and most of the afternoon in the hospital, we met up with Earthling after a few more hours.  Flailing was still not feeling well at all, I was at least improving a bit.  Forced to take yet another zero, we slept and rested as much as we could.  Our only option at that point after two days off was to pack for the next section of the trail and hope he would get better.