Today was a long one. El Dorado was up most of the night between the vomit and the diarrhea, it sounded like what I imagine a bear giving birth would. We had to cover 9 miles to reach the first spot where we could get him off the trail, finally got started around 9 am. He puked a couple more times once we got on the trail but finally started keeping water down. I hiked with him all day, providing a regular supply of water and electrolytes.
Eventually we ran into Try Try and found out that her friend (Jaws, ’18 thru-hiker) was doing trail magic at the gap. He started hiking in towards us to help carry the pack, we crossed paths about 2 miles from the gap. There were also some nurses that happened to be in the right place at the right time for us. They checked out El Dorado and said it wasn’t norovirus but a run of the mill stomach bug.
We all eventually reached the gap and as TryTry was planning to stay at a hostel anyway she agreed to take care of El Dorado. I met up with Rick Flair and Cricket and hiked the last 6 miles with them.
We got into camp late and it was a long walk to reach the water source. Even worse, we heard that a group of locals had brought in fried chicken, fresh fruit, soda, and beer and we missed it all.
I cooked my dinner by headlamp and crawled into bed. I can hear Cricket, Rock Flair, and Prairie Dog still sitting around chatting but I’m tired and going to sleep. Tomorrow is another 15 mile day and we don’t know who will fall sick next.
Day 33 Mileage: 15.5mi [Hot Springs -> Spring Mountain Shelter]
Total Mileage: 325.4 mi