08/03

We got up early ahead of our 25-mile day. The morning air was cold, and on the breeze held a little reminder of our first month in GA. I was actually able to sleep inside my sleeping bag last night without waking up drenched in sweat. We packed our things and made way down the trail; the rocks apparently didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to disappear after PA. We hiked up to Sunrise Mountain and watched the foggy white clouds roll over the hilltops below. I woke up with a slight headache but didn’t think much of it, perhaps just a little dehydrated from yesterday. We hiked on and saw “Grandma’s Boy” at a shelter further down the trail; he gave us a joint after hearing our story of stolen weed. Walking down the path, minding my business, a yellow jacket thought it would be fun to sting my shin. 3rd wasp sting out here; at least this one didn’t hurt as badly as the other, but I still felt the sting for the rest of the day. It wasn’t until we got to the high-point state park hq, that my headache graduated to intense fatigue. I was having trouble mustering the energy to speak, let alone hike on… my immediate thoughts were Lyme disease; while I hadn’t found a tick latched on in a while, it’s not impossible to have contracted the illness from a stealth bite. We tried to get an Uber to the urgent care in the nearby town but had no luck. Because it was a Sunday, the care center closed early… so instead we decided to cut our day short and try again tomorrow morning. Made camp at the nearest shelter, and I took a nap, waking with a fever before making dinner. Sucks… I feel like every time we gain momentum, something else gets in the way. It’s very frustrating trying to maintain our mileage while dealing with random ailments. Here’s hoping I get over whatever it is quickly. 25 miles turned 13…. Not good