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I suffered six days with a bout of respiratory infection since I left Hot Springs last Thursday until last night. It started out as scratchy throat on Thursday and Friday. I stopped by hostel on Friday and asked for medicines, but they didn’t have it. Shoot! I went ahead and hiked to the shelter. On Saturday, I hiked on top of the ridge of the mountain and got caught in rainstorm. I got wet. I put on my rain gear after finding a place to do that. However, I ended up having a fever and coughing in afternoon. On Sunday, my coughing became worse to the point where I coughed up some sputum. My throat hurt like hell. It was so hard on me trying to climb the mountains while breathing "like straw" through my mouth and nose….I was laboring. UGH…..I just perserved to hike to destination despite the situation. On Monday, my chest and throat hurt. My fellow AT hikers that I hike with said that I can hike ahead to get myself to Erwin a day earlier to get a medical attention and have Ad-Cane to hike with them. Ad-Cane and I discussed and agreed with that arrangement. On Monday, I hiked 16.9 miles in a day for 7 hours – I ran downhill whatever I can! Upon my arrival at the Uncle Johnny’s hostel, Glenn took care of me very well. He let me to get myself cleaned up, grabbed dinner, then dropped me off at the hospital. The doctor said my lungs sounded clear. Whew…but, had to do the x-ray to cofirm that I do not develop pnemonia. The result came back and it was negative. Whew! I got the medicine for my coughing. Today, I feel a bit better….coughed hard once last night which was a big improvement. I got a honor of meeting two hikers – father and daugther – to chat about hammock when they recognized my brand name hammock – Clark Jungle Hammock. They are proud owners of them! 😎 They told me about their family business in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati area – Mr. Cowpie’s Party Animals . Check it out if you live that area. They were so wonderful to chat with. Today is my ZERO day….taking it easy with my poor throat, lungs, and body. More updates coming soon….I am going to hop on lunch shuttle bus to Erwin to fetch myself a meal to chow down! 😎
We got a lift from a wonderful couple – Angela and Lamarr E. – from Damascus, VA to Hartford, TN….right back to where we left off before going to Damascus for Trail Days. It was a trail magic….and they were our trail angels! It wasn’t easy to find a ride especially when we are Deaf. Besides that, we enjoyed meeting people and events at Trail Days. I bought underquilt from Jacks R Better vendor….I finally was able to sleep comfortably in hammock without getting cold and hardly wink at nights! It added 14 oz to my backpack. My hip and feet were complaining while I was hiking from Hartford, TN to Hot Springs, NC, so I have to re-evalute my backpack. However, taking zero days for a week was not a GOOD IDEA!!!! I missed trail so much….and it was harder to go back on the trail and deal with pain all over again. Please shoot me…well, better yet, slap me in my face if I ever pull that stunt again! 😎
Anyhow, we are in Hot Spring after hiking ~15 miles a day….will rest a bit here for today, then go back on the trail tomorrow for a week hiking to Erwin, TN. As usual, Internet access is limited here. Stories have to wait. 😦 One thing – Roger had another accident on his same hand (between ring and pinky fingers on webbed part) this last Sunday, but at this time, we didn’t have to go to the hospital. LOL The accident was not related to hiking. He is fine and uses his hand ok.
Take care y’all and please keep the messages on this blog coming. BTW, for people who do not know sign language and Deaf-Blind fellows, my apologies in advance that the vlogs from youtube.com are not currently subtitled in English due to time constraint. We plan to add subtitles after AT, so everyone can enjoy watching the vlogs.
Adventurous Cane, Golden Ray and I decided to leapfrog from Hartford, Tennessee to Hot Springs, North Carolina then finally in Damascus, Virginia – “The Friendliest Town On the Appalachian Trail” – to attend Trail Days (www.traildays.us) for next few days.
AT DeafBlind Dream 