Day 50: Giardia

Hiked 0.0 miles, staying at Woods Hole hostel.

Yep that's right folks, I woke up this morning with early symptoms of Giardia.  My guess is I got it from the Grayson Highlands.  All the pony poop all over the place along with tons of rain washing it into the streams makes for more questionable water sources.  I am not the only one, Donnie is also in the same boat.

The hard part for hikers is diagnosing.  The first big symptom is fatigue, which can equally be caused by two 24 mile days in a row.  The second one is successively extreme loss of appetite which is what I woke up with this morning.  I've been less hungry the last couple of days but I went almost 24 hours without eating hardly anything and this is a rarity amongst thru hikers.

Luckily Giardia is really easy to treat.  You just have to get to a doctor and get prescribed a one time dose of antibiotics and it usually goes away in 24 hours.  If you catch it early you avoid the explosive diarrhea which is obviously preferable.  Giardia is just a waterborne bacteria that comes from drinking bad water.  As we go through the middle section of the trail we have to be more careful because there is often farming uphill from us.  I purify all my water but obviously something got through.

So my day consisted of getting a ride to the clinic in Pearisburg along with Donnie and Aquaman (who has a sinus infection), and then walking to walmart to pick up my drugs.  I then slept...the rest of the day...so I have few stories for you.  Of all places to be forced to take a zero this is one of the best locations.  I told everyone in our little group that if they wanted to continue on I could catch up to them pretty easily after Trail Days, but they all voted to stay and enjoy Woods Hole for a little longer.  We are not the only one, Avocado wasn't even planning on staying here and now he is on his third day.  Jabberwocky has been here for almost a week.  There are a few hostels and towns along the trail that I have enjoyed so much that I really want to come back after my hike to see again and this place is definitely one of them.  It is easy to find an excuse to stay here longer.

I did get to briefly catch up with Bluegrass who strolled in and out this afternoon along with Twix and Salsa.  By dinner time I was feeling much better and had a decent sized meal.  Neville led a bunch of us in a meditation session tonight which was awesome.  I also had an awww moment when we watched Micheal giving baths to the 13 baby ducks that they are raising in the bathtub.