Within minutes after I crawled into the sleeping bag last night the fever caused me to begin shivering uncontrollably. I was determined not to knock the fever down with ibuprofen, knowing my body was working hard to fend off the infections in my foot and in my head. So instead I bundled up with thermal layers from head to toe and kept shivering anyway for another hour until I finally got settled and warm enough to sleep. It was a short night however because we still had some significant miles to hike and a ferry ride to VVR with only two times, 9:45am and 4:45pm. No one in the group wanted to wait all afternoon for the ferry ride, so we agreed to a wake up call of 5:15am.
Painfully I worked within the wet walls of the tarp tent when it was time to get up. I dressed for the immediate fording of the two rivers, dreading the cold water in the even colder air of early morning combined with a still active fever and a very bum foot. I was last to finish packing and when I was ready our group of thru-hikers began the first ford a little before 6am. The cold water was actually a welcomed friend for my swollen foot completely stuffed in its shoe. The second ford gave me trouble and I fought the swift moving water and slippery rocks for what seemed like an eternity getting across. I paid no attention to the fact that the water was cold and waist deep, noting instead that it was trying to sweep me downstream and it was all I could do to stay upright. At one point I thought I would have to turn back, rest, then start over with the ford, but somehow I got across and felt relief that I had actually made it across!
The trail thankfully was generally level for the first few miles and I hobbled along despite the pain fairly quickly. I dreaded the upcoming 1,000 foot climb, knowing it would be very tough in my condition and also having acute awareness that this was a race against the clock to get to the ferry on time. Throughout the morning I never stopped to take a break and I fought mightily to get up that damned climb, checking my watch altimeter and cheering myself on for each 100 feet I knocked off the goal. Finally I reached 10,200 feet, the highest point of the climb, but was chagrined when I realized there was no reward for the climb except an endless side slab along a deeply wooded ridgeline. Normally I would have been in heaven hiking a long flat straight trail in the woods, but this morning it was no fun at all and I simply wanted to get that upcoming 2,000 foot descent behind me and get to the damned ferry.
Batteries, Freight Train, Pepper Jack and Bloody Knuckles passed by as we had reached the top of the climb, bent on getting to the ferry. Intruder and I stopped momentarily to try my cell phone as we had been told that this might be the only location to get a signal. We were fortunate that there was none because we resumed hiking at a fast clip and began the descent that seemed to go on forever with a thousand switchbacks. I got ahead of Intruder on the descent and at 9:15am reached a trail junction after crossing a bridge over Mono Creek which was raging. There, ahead, was the side trail to the VVR ferry!
Now intensely in pain (ibuprofen not working), I hobbled along, not even caring or bothering to go around muddy, water laden trail. I barely noticed the swath of mosquitoes landing on my arms for their morning feast as I struggled to make that final mile and a half. Shortly I came upon a happy Labrador retriever with his dog pack on his back. Behind him hiked a happy couple who were obviously out for a day hike. I grunted a weak hello in response to their cheerful greeting then asked how much farther I had to reach the ferry. The guy answered that it was only a five minute walk at most. Relieved, I slowed my steps a slight fraction since I had only a few more minutes to work with to get to the ferry on time.
Ten minutes later I was still hiking AND climbing. I cussed the dayhiker then cussed him again and again as the minutes passed with no clearing from the dense woods to a lake anywhere in sight. Damned amateur! I hope he forgot his sunscreen and insect repellent!
Intruder was by now almost caught up to me and yelled from behind, asking me what time is was. I answered that it was 9:33am and we only had 12 more minutes to make it to the ferry landing area. Thankfully, a couple minutes later I heard human voices then saw a sign pointing to a short side trail to the landing area. I made it! As the path left the woods and entered a partially sandy, partially rocky beach there were at least 10 jubilant thru-hikers, all who I knew well, celebrating the joyous moment of watching that distant boat heading slowly in our direction. Too exhausted to care, I stood, then sat, pack still on, swatting at mosquitoes. Mountain Goat graciously retrieved his Deet for me and Intruder recognized my near delirium and instructed me to take off my backpack.
I lay flat on my back, trying to respond to questions and wanting to participate in the hiker chatter, but I had no energy left for either. When the boat finally arrived and docked, the 28 passengers (15 of which were thru-hikers) disembarked and there was another round of serious hiker banter which once again seemed to me to last forever. I couldn’t care less for any of it, all I wanted to do was get on that boat under its shady canopy and get the boat moving toward the resort. I honestly can’t remember if I carried my backpack on the boat or not, but I do remember Mountain Goat leading me onto the boat ahead of the other hikers who were still socializing on shore.
The 4.5 mile boat ride also seemed to take forever but finally we landed on a soft sandy beach near some other boats. I nearly staggered as I got up to get off the boat and I followed Mountain Goat and others to the resort office which was also the store and café. Jim Clement, the VVR owner, gathered all of us together and explained the procedures for getting us registered and for tracking our expenditures while at the resort.
We then headed into the small rustic café attached to the small store and sat down to order a late breakfast. Just as we sat down, the breakfast menu was erased from the chalk board and the lone waiter informed us that only lunch would be available. There were no menus but the waiter patiently explained the limited options to us. I ordered a Coke and a Vermilion Burger, the recommended meal that most of my peers were ordering.
While we sat for a long, long time waiting on our lunch, I left the table and hobbled over to the store where Jim Clement was working the cash register. I informed Jim that I needed medical attention. He replied that the nearest medical clinic open twenty-four/seven was in Clovis, California, a town situated next to Fresno in the valley. Jim said that the drive time would be three hours each way and his normal charge for getting someone down and back would be $125.00 plus gas. While I thought the amount seemed excessive, I thought about it for a moment then told Jim that I was willing to pay and I asked Jim to find me a ride today. He said he would find someone on his staff and would get back to me with a time to head down to the valley.
I returned to the table of famished thru-hikers and watched with great anticipation as each plate of food was brought out from the kitchen, one by one. Of course I was last to get my burger and just as I was about to begin devouring it Jim passed by our table and informed me that he had arranged a ride for me with his mechanic and that whenever I could be ready we would head down to the valley. I thanked Jim then returned to the burger in front of me. About four or five minutes later a surly looking character entered the café area and asked loudly who needed the ride to the valley. I responded and he looked right at me and stated that he was leaving now and if I wanted a ride to come on right now.
Since I was in mid-meal, I asked the mechanic if I could finish my lunch. He replied that I could finish it if I wanted to miss the ride. What a smart ass. So I asked him if he was going to bring me back to VVR once I saw a doctor in the valley and he responded that this was a one way ride, take it or leave it. Not in the mood for his crap, I told him to forget it. He left the room in a huff. What a jerk! After seeing that attitude, I wouldn’t have taken a ride with him down the mountain even if it was free!
I finished the lunch which totaled SIXTEEN DOLLARS not including tip then found Jim at the cash register to give him an imprint of my credit card and to purchase my FIVE dollar shower which came with towel and soap. Jim said he would find someone else to get me down the mountain but he seemed preoccupied with all the other non-hiker customers who were standing in line to rent boats and motors for the holiday weekend.
Batteries gave me some hope that I might possibly still be able to get down the mountain and back. Back at the boat landing when we were getting on the ferry Batteries ran across his friend Shooter who had also thru-hiked the PCT in 2003 and who was apparently up for the weekend doing some day hiking and might have a vehicle on site. I took my shower and contemplated the fact that if I couldn’t get down and back today it might be after the holiday weekend before I could see a doctor and that would be two extra days without medical attention. I spent as much time in the lukewarm shower as possible, making sure I got my money’s worth.
Then I went up to the large canvas tent area designated for the thru-hiker crowd and spread out my wet gear to dry. Batteries had snagged the last of the 12 bunks available to thru-hikers for me but when I entered the tent the heat was stifling inside and it was much too hot to spend any time there. I spread out my ground cloth and had Freight Train retrieve my sleeping bag and Thermarest from Pepper Jack who had volunteered to carry some of my gear to help take some pressure off my foot. I setup a place to nap and laid down for a couple hours under the cool shade of a canopy of pine trees. Later in the afternoon my hiking buddies all gathered around me and began checking up on me to see how I was doing.
Mountain Goat had taken the initiative to talk with Jim and had borrowed a large tub. He filled it with hot water and Epson salts and brought it to my side to soak my wounded foot in. Meanwhile, Intruder, Bloody Knuckles, Pepper Jack, and Batteries hovered over me, talking with me about options to get me down to a doctor. I was still groggy and fuzzy, certainly not fully alert as we talked. There was some activity nearby in the dirt parking lot. Mountain Goat was proactively lobbying non-hiker guests to see if he could find me a ride from VVR down to the Clovis/Fresno area. He found a group who was getting ready to leave VVR momentarily and he came over and talked to me, informing me that they were willing to drive me and drop me off at the Clovis hospital.
I resisted the gesture of help, hoping instead that I might be able to have someone, maybe Shooter, drive me both to the valley AND back to VVR. My biggest fear was not the foot problem, but instead finding my way back to the very remote VVR location on very remote roads. After some prodding and lobbying on the part of my fellow hikers AND the non-hikers who had now come over to talk with me about the infection and how it might be serious, I was convinced that I should take the ride and go to the valley now for some medical assistance.
Bloody Knuckles swung into gear, packing my backpack for me while others retrieved a telephone number from Jim at the store for me to call for a return trip to VVR. Minutes later I was in the backseat of a car with three strangers heading down a one lane dirt road. These three strangers were only strangers for a few minutes! Nimi Berman, the driver, originally from Israel, was very talkative and interested in learning about my journey. Katie, also in the front of the car, was a graduate of Davidson College back home and had spent a lot of time in the Charlotte area. Helena was riding with me in the backseat. She was very friendly and seemed concerned about my condition. Within minutes I felt right at home with all three of my new trail angels! It took one hell of a long time to drive the 21 miles down a one lane road full of hairpin turns and potholes. We encountered many large SUV type vehicles coming toward us, apparently driving in for the holiday weekend to fish and camp around the myriad lakes in the area. Each time a vehicle approached, someone had to work their way to the extreme side of the road so the other vehicle could squeeze by. Eventually we reached a two lane paved road which actually had much less traffic on it than the earlier one lane road. About an hour and a half into the ride we finally reached a summer lake resort town, real civilization. From there over time we left the mountains and drove to the hot valley floor down below.
My trail angels dropped me off around 6:30pm at the Community Hospital in Clovis, California. They walked into the registration area with me to make sure I was OK then gave me big hugs as we parted. I felt as though I had know them forever and they felt like good friends. The waiting room didn’t appear busy and I had positive thoughts that I would be in and out of the ER quickly. Once through the stack of paperwork, I was told it would be at least an hour before I would be called back to the patient treatment area. So I went in search of the hospital cafeteria for some dinner, and found it just in the knick of time as they had already closed the cash register and were turning off the lights. Thankfully, they had pre-made sandwiches so I loaded up with a sandwich, some ice cream, and a soda then returned to the ER waiting room which by now was nearly empty.
There, I waited for over an hour then was finally called back and followed a nurse to a treatment room that was set up for three patients. A young lady, obviously a patient with her hospital gown on, was pacing the floor of the room as I entered. After the nurse left me in my little corner of the world, the young lady informed me that she had been stuck back in our room since 3:00pm and was still waiting to see a doctor. WHAT?? I couldn’t believe it! Five hours without seeing a doctor? Incredible!
So I figured I was in for a long night. Taking advantage of having access to a sink, a trashcan, and lots of cleaning materials, I set in motion my cleaning routine. I emptied out the contents of my pack on that less than pristine hospital floor. First I emptied out all the food trash. Then I scrubbed my cooking pot and utensils in the sink. Then I cleaned the water filter and its accompanying siphoning hoses. Once finished with the kitchen work, I spread out gear to be dried further and allowed all that wilderness debris to fall on the hospital floor. I figured it would give the night janitor something to do after I left. Once I got the backpack organized, I resorted to journaling to fill in the time until the sole doctor on call at the ER could find his way to my area. Around 10:30pm he showed up. He examined my foot as I gave him the history and my suspected diagnosis. He concurred that the foot was indeed suffering from a nasty bacterial infection. His prescribed treatment was a shot of antibiotics to get things going and a 14 day supply of oral antibiotics as a follow up. He told me to rest, elevate the foot, and to soak it four times a day or more in hot water. I was optimistic from his comments that I might be back on trail in just a few days once the antibiotics began to heal the infection.
Once released from the patient ward and back at the registration area, I had the hospital call me a cab to get me to a motel on Shaw Avenue in Fresno across from the city’s event center. Simple enough, right? Even though I knew the destination and could plainly see the exit from Interstate 168 to Shaw Avenue, the cabbie passed right by the exit, explaining that there were too many traffic lights on Shaw between the Interstate and the motel. He was lying to me and running up the meter. We ended up at Shaw Avenue near the Interstate after all that driving around. I was too tired and in too much pain to argue with the cab driver about the total, so I paid the ridiculous sum of $25.00 and tried to forget that I had just been taken advantage of.
Exhausted, I climbed the flight of stairs to my second floor room at the University Inn, spread back the covers, turned out the light, and went straight to sleep after a physically and emotionally demanding day. It certainly was a full day and one to remember!
Today’s weather: Sunny. Low: 29, High: 75. Today’s mileage: 8.2 Cumulative mileage: 877.2
