Daniel Woods' 2009 Pacific Crest Trail Hike - Report 6

Yreka, CA
July 26, 2009 10:00 PM

Hello,

This is the sixth report on Daniel Woods’ 2009 Pacific Crest Trail hike.

A Glitch. Dan came into Seiad Valley yesterday afternoon a few hours late looking like death warmed over and obviously sick. He has been drinking untreated water the entire trip and he had all the symptoms of Giardia including no appetite and bad diarrhea. It was clear he was not going to walk very far so we decided to come 60 miles into Yreka and get a motel for a couple of days and see what happenes.

This morning he called Kaiser and talked to a nurse. She verified that he probably has Giardia without actually saying so and told him he could go to a local (non-Kaiser) emergency room. Before doing that we decided to call his sister Sarah in North Carolina and see if her husband’s uncle who is a doctor in Oregon could call in a prescription for him. He did. We picked it up around noon and Dan is getting much better already. He has eaten three meals today with no symptoms and is looking better and is stronger.

Tomorrow we will go back to Seiad Valley. If he feels up to it he will hike out in the evening. If not we will spend the night at the campground nearby and he will go Tuesday morning or when he is ready. We can stay at the campground as long as necessary.

Since we left Dunsmuir Dan has covered 160 miles. Seiad Valley is about 40 miles from the Oregon border at trail mile 1662 (1000 miles to go to manning park in Canada). I will meet him next at I-5 about 30 miles beyond the Oregon Border and a bit south of Ashland. After that we hope to cruise through Oregon and Washington and then head home. We will see how things are tomorrow.

Dave