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Re: [at-l] flu on the trail

>I feel better already.....but....
>It got me to thinking...what happens when you get double dog >sick on 
>the trail?   I mean, for two days this week, even moving the >40 feet
>to the fridge for more OJ was definitely not in the cards. 

Good question. On a recent trip with my family, both my daughter (then 5) and
I were violently ill the second night out with a nasty stomach virus we
picked up from visiting friends (some friends, right?). Megan was basically
okay the next day, but I was severely dehydrated and couldn't hold anything,
even water, down for more than a minute. We were 6 miles of very rough trail
from the car, and it fell to my wife to basically urge/force/cajole/talk me
down the mountain with a full pack. I don't remember much of the day, but it
apparently took 8 or 9 hours and lots of dragging.

Of course, we _had_ to be home that night, and having a deadline is an added
problem. We did have enough food to stay out an extra day (hell, the way I
was feeling, we could have stayed out an extra week on the food we had), but
work and school commitments were unbreakable.

This doesn't really answer Kahley's question, since I had help from a hiking
partner. But I have wondered how I would handle it on my own. And, even
worse, how I would handle it if it was just me and my daughter. If she's
sick, I'd probably do okay, but what if I were sick? Something else to keep
in mind, I guess.

This topic is dear to my heart right now, since I'm home with a sick kid for
the 3rd day in a row. I had it earlier this week, yuck, and now she's
miserable. Well, the bright side is we won't be sick over the holidays.
Maybe.

Anyway, Happy Solstice to all, and may your New Year bring many happy hours
of hiking.

Ken Bennett
Richmond, soon to be Winston-Salem
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