The Odyssey

Part 5 of the Pacific Crest Trail begins and ends with the Hunters in Blue River, Oregon. There’s sort of a circular logic to this chapter’s progress.

Sometimes the trail takes you on bizarre turns. What befell me this week was a bad situation that worsened into a life-threatening side trip that brought me all the way back to Arizona and nearly ended the hike.

Waking up early at the Hunters’ to resume my hike, I recalled the first instance of pain swallowing, as I gasped down saliva in my sleep, confused at the troubling sensation. I chalked it up from camping in the smoke polluting the area, and in my waking fog, as Dave got me back up to trail, I let it slip to the background. Once I got above the smoke, it would be fine!

Dave dropped me at Pamelia Lake, on the west slope of Mount Jefferson. For an allegedly beautiful area, I’d just be gazing at a choking haze. For this and the next day hiking, the setting would be unchanged. Vistas of widespread dead or burnt trees topped it off.

In that gloom, I met and bantered with Alec a bit, the one other SOBO I met going my way in this void. We fell into a quick groove talking NYC politics astutely and commiserating over the depressing settings. Unfortunately, that night encamped together, the swallowing issue returned, and the split pea soup dinner I had painstakingly assembled in Eugene was too unpleasant to eat.

The next day, in stubbornness I opted out of bailing in the morning at the high traffic option of Santiam Pass, naïvely hoping my ailment was righting itself. By midday, I was punching myself in the leg trying to swallow each bite of a bagel & choking down water. I had to accept that I was deteriorating into a medical emergency and called the Hunters. I beseeched rescue at McKenzie Pass, and hiked out another 5 miles for my egress. Unfortunately, we didn’t get back in time for the Urgent Care and at this point the financial complexity of the ER was something I didn’t want to deal with.

One more night of suffering and then a diagnosis the next day for what we all assumed was strep throat turned out a tad more pernicious; the urgent care physician diagnosed me with a Peritonsillar Abscess, an infection in the tonsils with a swelling abscess in the back of the throat complicating swallowing. A simple antibiotic script with steroids would solve it, and a few hundred dollars for the visit uninsured wouldn’t break the bank.

Alas, those meds alone didn’t improve things. Two days went by where I found my condition static, and I discovered that Arizona’s Medicaid plan I’m on covers ER visits only while out of state, something that seems frustrating and shortsighted when in a worsening situation away from home. Still, with that knowledge, I checked into Eugene’s ER, finding a welcoming staff and quiet ward at 6 AM. Their attending physician, after a CT scan, referred me to an ENT (Ear Nose Throat) specialist, who suggested immediately operating, and this is where a financial quandary became extant.

An operating room visit wouldn’t be covered (nor my ENT consult) despite being in all contexts an emergency, so I made the difficult decision to delay care by traveling back to Tucson. I had a wide array of support: thank you to CJ for helping me with the same day flight, Roger who, besides managing my resupplies this trip, met me at Phoenix airport & got me halfway to Tucson, and to Merianne, who rendezvoused with us there to bring me to her hospital, Tucson Medical Center, by dusk, where I’d immediately check into the ER to repeat the process I had started that morning at dawn. There I’d be safe if things worsened regarding breathing and I got to watch a monsoonal sunset. Arizona’s super green right now with the heavy storm rains this Summer, it’s a nice thing to have borne witness to.

After passing the ER’s rigors, I got checked in to a bed on the surgical unit and began a 36 hour purgatory until my operation. Sleeping, eating & drinking were all stifled regarding my difficulties swallowing anything, and staying ready for general anesthesia which needs a 12 hour lead (I found a brief window to choke down some cafeteria food on the second day, but it wasn’t pleasant). Fortunately, I had suction (& slept upright) to minimize saliva, an IV to stay hydrated & sedate, and Infinite Jest on the phone, which I eventually became too delirious to really process anyway with bursts of sleep in half hour chunks. I dunno whether to count my lucky stars or curse regarding the time spent waiting there, but I thought my staff were great in caring for me despite the overall fervor and that I was lucky not to be in a hospital full of COVID where I may not have been able to receive any care. It sure is dumb that we’re in a 4th wave now. Get vaccinated, you fools!

The operation itself went smoothly, I imagined a large syringe going down my throat, stabbing into some angry golf ball and draining it. I found small bloodstains on my robe when I awakened. I had some vegan ice cream brought in by Merianne; once I was cleared to eat, that heralded a day of slowly finding myself better before discharge 12 hours after surgery that evening with a new antibiotic script.

I decided to fly out after three days rest (the earliest flight costs dipped to normal for returning to Eugene), but it’s not like things are peachy keen on the PCT either.

The Dixie Fire continues to rage, along with the new hotness, the Caldor Fire, and consequentially the entire NorCal section has closed. That’s 1/5th of the trail and one of the deepest concerns I had on starting a SOBO hike.

It sort of works out for me to keep giving it a shot as a thru-hike despite it all. The time lost hospitalized would have been insanely stressful for making it through the Sierras in a timely manner, and now I can kind of keep flexible in my exploring. I can take breaks for bad air days or stapling on extra miles (still on  Crater Lake!)

My plan now is to finish out Oregon by Labor Day, take transit to the Tahoe area, and then hike south from wherever is admitted into the Sierras. There’s a possibility that I complete some of NorCal afterwards, jumping back north near Bakersfield. If I don’t, I’m still legit on thru-hiking the trail, and I can save NorCal as a later journey for completionist purposes in a better season. If anything else goes severely wrong or further skips are needed, it will probably be appropriate though to end the hike.

It’s been an odyssey this week. I wound up losing 9 days but still count myself lucky. After all, I was hospitalized and got surgery, likely without financial ruin appended to it; healthcare is really scary and sad in America! I’m getting through this one mostly unscathed thanks to some loving friends and willpower. It really kind of affirms the adventurer’s cause to get this kind of care and help up off your knees.

I’m back again with the Hunters and setting out tomorrow. Let’s get back into the wilderness and resume this sacred journey! After all, I have resupplies I already sent ahead in Oregon I couldn’t in good conscience just abandon. Split Pea Soup is for dinner the next week, and did I mention I packed out wontons?