8/8/17 – Upset Stomach

Day 106
2,099.53 to 2,116.14

1,458.49 + 16.63 = 1,475.10

Something felt off in the morning. I felt very tired from the moment I woke up, but I pushed through it, and packed and we were on our way at our usual time.

The morning had us go through a large wash, the trail was edged into the loose dirt and it held surprisingly well. I enjoyed the part a lot, though Mt. Hood towering above us was still very hazy from smoke.

Shortly afterwards we arrived at Sandy River which we had to wade. The current run strong but the water never got above our knees and the crossings was not overly difficult.

More interesting was crossing of Muddy River which came shortly afterwards. Two logs fell across the stream. One little higher than the other and slightly to the side so that the bottom one acted like a platform for our feet while the top one was there to hold onto. 

The rest of the day was a blur for me. We started climbing a 1,700 hill, steeper climb than we have done in a while, if ever on this trail with the last 1.3 miles gaining 850 feet and partway into the climb I started feeling really unwell. Perhaps my stomach was weak after the variety of food I ate at Timberline Lodge, perhaps I got struck by a bit of heat exhaustion, maybe it was combination of both factors. I dragged my butt up the hill and at the top I dropped my pack tired as never before and took a two hour nap, crashed on my Thermarest pad right next to the trail.

The nap helped but only a little. While my stomach settled some, my energy never returned. I made it about 8 more miles and I was done. 

Tomorrow will be another hot day, hopefully after that the temperature gets more reasonable. We are about to walk in Washington in couple days or so and many big climbs await us there.