This blog is mostly about the tales of the places this Wood Booger goes, but sometimes it laments the ones that might have been. Like what happen on this April Fool's Day as I had to tap out of my Sierra Club overnight backpack because I fell ill. Yes, this is the outing I mentioned in my last blog and I had these dates circled on the calendar for months ( I signed up for it in February). It was going to be my first backpack of the year with my new Osprey Atmos 65 pack and I was going to somewhere new at Big South Fork, which I have heard a lot of great things about, so I was excited, really excited!
Do you know what is ironic...because I was looking so forward to this backpack I actually worked to stay healthy this week? Last weekend my seasonal allergies started to flare up so unlike the past when I would be reactive and get overwhelmed and sick for a few weeks I decided to be proactive and went to the Urgent Care and got a steroid shot and some antibiotics (if needed). So, in my mind, I was set and I proceeded to put my Osprey Atmos backpack together and even loaded it in the car.
Then yesterday evening I was feeling a little tired, I just chalked it down to not having slept well the night before. Then just before I went to bed I had some diarrhea, but I chalked it down to the pizza I had eaten for dinner. Since I had to be in Knoxville at 8 am I went to bed fairly early (10:30 pm). It was around midnight that I woke up the first time where I was feeling clammy. I proceed to wake up every hour because I was either hot or cold and I had abdominal discomfort. Finally, I woke up around 4 am and as they say on those V.I.Poo commercials "I pounded the porcelain." I actually felt a little better afterward, so, I decided to go ahead and get ready.
After eating and getting the rest of my stuff put together I sat down for a bit and when I got up I felt a little lightheaded, dizzy and a little nauseous, this was when I became concerned about doing the outing. But I thought when I got outside and in the car, I might feel better, but actually I felt worse each mile I headed down the road. By now it had started to settle in that I wouldn't be able to do the hike, but I, stubbornly, drove all the way to the Dandridge McDonald's (off I-40) before I called Will to tell him I couldn't make it.
If you are not feeling it is best not to get out on the trail, especially and overnight, carrying a 30-pound pack and end up needing assistance. But, most of all I didn't want to get anyone in the Harvey Broome Group exposed to what sickness I have because it would not be fair to any of them. I don't know where I got this from, either from Deb or at the Urgent Care where I was trying to stay healthy, but now I feel like crap and I am pretty depressed about the whole thing. Anyway, I know I made the right decision so, I am trading a campsite for a couch site. So, excuse me if I don't think April Fool's Day is that funny this year.
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