This morning was wet, but not really raining. It was foggy, and humidity dripped from the trees.
I scored some really nice huckleberries - there were loads of them, especially along a dirt road and a few steps away from the trail.
Things took a turn in the afternoon. I was still feeling sluggish and not hungry in the morning, and after lunch it was getting worse. We had about 5 miles left to the road where we were heading into town, so I made it there and then laid on the road while Giggles caught us a hitch, feeling like crap but not really sure why (still smiling in these photos as I was powering through). There were lots of other hikers gathered, waiting for the scheduled shuttle to the tiny town of Trout Lake.
The road was windy which was not helping the situation, and eventually I had to get the driver to stop so I could puke in the ditch.
From there the nausea just got worse, and once in Trout Lake I kept throwing up, and tried to nap on the lawn of the grocery store where hikers are allowed to camp. I think nausea is one of the worst feelings, and not being home or having anywhere to rest comfortably just makes it worse. Plus, throwing up in an outhouse and having your face anywhere near that is just… not ideal.
There aren't many accommodations in town since it's so small, and they were all booked for the town's festival this weekend. I eventually found the energy to look up trail angels, and thankfully there was one that rented out a bed. After each bout of vomiting I had a few minutes with less nausea, so I took advantage of it to drag myself and my gear about a block to her house and was so glad I didn't need to tent tonight. I had some chicken broth and tried to get some sleep.
I'm still not sure what caused it, whether it was a flu, bad water, food poisoning or other. It was a low point, and I wasn't sure how long it would last, but was thankful that today was a shorter hiking day and that I was in town.
On the plus side, there were a lot of cats.
Total trail mileage: 2229.9 miles / 3587.9 km
