[pct-l] Communal Pneumonia

["Tony Nitz" <prehistorictony@yahoo.com>]

Hey All,

Sorry I haven't tried to get in touch with anyone for the last couple of
weeks.  I've been mostly incapacitated since I've been back in Reno.  I've
only really been able to feel comfortable getting up and about since last
weekend, and that's when I had to start my military duty.  I'll be working
at the Air National Guard through this coming Tuesday.  I've been finishing
up some logistical details for the remainder of my hike this weekend.  I'm
planning to return to Agua Dulce, where I left the Trail, on Wednesday, 21
June.

I came back to Reno a week earlier than I'd planned, due to illness.  After
a week of unsuccessful treatment, I finally convinced the third doctor I saw
at the VA hospital that I really was sicker than they thought, and was
finally given a chest x-ray.  Good news, pneumonia.  I say good news,
because that's what I'd suspected, but couldn't get treatment for it.  The
doctors wouldn't believe that someone in as good a condition as I was could
be that sick.  My blood oxygenation level was even 93%.  I guess they
finally realized I wasn't malingering when I convinced them how I've been
hiking.  My right lung was almost 50% clouded in the x-ray.  They said I
shouldn't have been able to walk in on my own!  One of the benefits of
hiking 20+ miles a day I guess!  They said that now they could give me the
good drugs:  real penicillin.

The doctor that recognized the pneumonia specifically called it "communal
pneumonia."  He said that he believes that I picked up a virus from someone
else, and did not develop this condition on my own.  He said that my
particular ailment is usually associated with communal living conditions
such as at schools, military encampments, etc.  He believes I was exposed by
another hiker at a hostel or group camp.  That idea would explain several
other hikers' conditions I saw and heard about while I was hiking.  Many
hikers were complaining of respiratory problems, and several I know of left
the Trail due to respiratory illnesses.  One hiker tried to call the ailment
"altitude illness," but that couldn't have been correct since we don't spend
enough time at a high enough altitude in the first 400 miles of the PCT for
altitude illness to occur.  These were probably all forms of the same virus
I caught.  One of the disadvantages of such large crowds of hikers on the
PCT.  A mini-epidemic similar to this was seen on the AT last spring.
Fortunately, I was hiking ahead of that virus last year.  Hopefully, this
bug has run its course, and no other hikers will have to suffer through what
I just have.  Although I'm still hacking up a little residual fluid, I'm
threw with the medication and am feeling much better.  I believe I'll be
strong enough to tackle the Mojave Desert next week.

I got off the Trail 100 miles early, at Agua Dulce.  That's at about the 455
mile point.  I had hoped to make it to Mojave, but I decided the 100 miles
of desert, and only five assured sources of water in that distance, was too
much of a risk in my weakened state.  It'll be much hotter when I return,
but I'll be in much better shape to make it.  I hit the High Sierras just
150 miles after Mojave.  From there on, the hike will be much more like what
I'm used to.  Even though the altitude is a burden, it's less so for me than
the desert sun is.

I've been updating my website with my photos and journal entries up to the
point where I stopped hiking.  The final updates should be online by this
Tuesday.  Anyone interested can check it out at
http://www.hikertrash.net/PCT2000.htm; way too much to tell about in one
e-mail.  Also, I've updated my mail check schedule to reflect this delay.  I
did call the Mojave Post Office about mail sent there for me in May, and
they said that any mail they had received for me based on my original
schedule will be held until I return.  Since I'm now way behind the crowd,
and will be hiking mostly alone, any cards or letters will be greatly
appreciated.  So, don't hesitate to write to me at later stops.

Later,
Tony

"Prehistoric Tony" Nitz
AT97/99, PCT2000
mailto:PT@HikerTrash.net
http://www.HikerTrash.net




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