Tick Bites Afflict Appalachian Trail Hiker

'Tis the season for ticks, and it's not only those of us around town who have to keep a vigilant eye out for them. They live on the Appalachian Trail, too, and Shawn McCarton, a local trail hiker, may have found that out the hard way: Here's the latest from McCarton's and Karl Weiss' hiking blog:

We wanted to hike 20 miles to the 501 shelter today. To do so we needed to be walking by 730. I woke up at 6 to go to the bathroom and didn't feel well so I went back to sleep. Hungus woke up at 7 and was about to get moving when I asked if we could sleep in a bit. This is unlike me. He came over to see if I was ok. Turned out I had a fever. I slept until 9. 12 hours of sleep and I still didn't feel well. We decided we should stop in lickdale and see a dr. I took some Advil and we were hiking by 1030. 

Lickdale was a 9 mile hike. I felt good once the Advil kicked in. Hungus suspected it to be lymes disease as I had been bitten by 4 ticks in the last 2 months. Once we got to a mountain top we called his mom, who is a nurse, for advice. She said to stop into a clinic. We hiked to rt 72 and hitched into lickdale. We got a ride from a nice gentleman out mountain biking for the afternoon. He had seen us and turned around to pick us up. 

We checked in at the days inn and inquired about a shuttle. They gave a # for this guy ken. I called and scheduled a pickup for 530. We showered and met ken in the lobby. 

Ken drove us the 10+ miles to lebanon to the clinic and said he'd wait for us, awesome! Hungus came with me to see the dr. He asked me 20 questions about aches and pains and checked my vitals. He then said "sounds like it could be lymes so I will treat you for it". Eek!! Just hearing it made me nervous. He wrote me a perscription for ceftin and said even if it is not lymes, which he wasn't 100% it is, it will help me get better. They filled the script at the clinic and that was that. Now I wish every doctors office moved this fast. I was in and out within an hour. That included registering and script filling. 

Ken drove us back to the hotel and only charged us $ 25 for the trip. We gave him $ 40 since he waited and made a stop to get Hungus beer. What a nice man. He turns 73 in August, retired army and worked on a farm and drove trucks. Nice guy. 

Back at the hotel we ordered pizza for dinner. I took my first dose after dinner. We were watching tv when it suddenly turned off. We called the front desk and they came to check it out. They couldn't fix it so they moved our room. Unfortunately they needed to move us to a king sweet, the only thing they had left and for no cost difference. Poor us. The room was twice the size with a king size bed and a efficiency kitchen. Win!! 

I currently have a fever but am confident it will break overnight. Until that happens I feel like the sun radiating enough heat to grow plants and keep a small village warm. Needless to say Hungus is on the opposite side of the bed. Tomorrow we take a zero for me to get well and rested in exotic Lickdale. Be jealous :)