Day 70: shitting my brains out- a zero in Mt. Shasta

/ carrot quinn

July 3
Mileage: zero

I sleep bad, wake up in the night to poop (twice) get up at 6 a.m. and sit in bed eating leftover pot roast and french fries, shortly I poop that out too. I don’t have sulfur farts, though, and I still have an appetite, so maybe it’s not giardia? Coughee is in town with his homegirl Sherry, I meet them at the cute little health food store across the street, consume a pint of chocolate coconut bliss and three nectarines. It tastes amazing. Coughee says he’s been pooping his brains out too, giardia definitely.

“His farts smell like scrambled eggs,” says Sherry.

He shows us all a picture of his poop, on the trail.

“I had to take a picture,” he says.

I facebook chat with The Boss, who is ahead of us, in Etna. She’s pooping her brains out.

“I hope you feel better soon,” I say.

I go back to the room and lay in bed, writing emails. NotaChance, Mack, Guthrie, Woody, Bearclaw and Dirtmonger are in town and they’re out doing things but I feel exhausted and woozy, I just want to be in bed. Our room is depressing though. I talk on the phone with Instigate- she’s volunteering at a health clinic. I talk to Seamus in portland- he just finished his grad school program. He already has a job in the fall, as a highschool chemistry teacher in Vancouver. I’m suddenly dizzy with hunger. I walk to the grocery store- tourists are buying american flag cakes. What is a life? I buy chicken salad and eat it on romaine lettuce. I’m tired but lonely so I muster and go to the bar, where Bearclaw, Dirtmonger, Woody and Chance are playing pool. I like talking with Bearclaw and Chance. They’re my buddies. So few women up here at the front of the herd, it sometimes feels like we’re in another world. Some lord of the flies shit. Chance and I talk about how sad it is to see people lose morale on the trail. You never know who’s gonna really love it, all the way to the end. People hate it and it breaks a person’s heart.

Everyone’s zeroing tomorrow, so I get another day of rest, and I won’t lose the group. Thank goodness.

Photos on instagram.

10 thoughts on “Day 70: shitting my brains out- a zero in Mt. Shasta”

  1. Shit, li’l sister.
    Sorry. Bad choice of words.
    Dang it, li’l sister.
    I feel for you. That happened to me and my son years ago up in Desolation Wilderness outside of Tahoma on the west side of Lake Tahoe, and it is no fun whatsoever.
    Damn thing is, had I known, likely could have lined you up with an old friend of mine up in Weed who would have put you up for a night or two.
    Shit.

  3. On a different note…your comment about “people losing morale on the trail” got me thinking. I think there are two main reasons for that: 1) people don’t know how to be alone, and 2) completing the PCT qualifies as a long term (5-ish months) goal, and staying focused for that length of time is, for some, incredibly challenging. Society being what it is, we can be “plugged in” 24/7 if we want; we never have to feel alone. Being plugged in, and well, the internet, means that we can have as much instant gratification as our little attention-deficit hearts desire. I haven’t done the PCT yet (wont be able to do it until 2016), but I feel safe saying that there’s a whole lotta delayed gratification in that type of endeavor.

    I hope you are feeling better soon!

  7. Lori Jo and I saw an awesome performance of March Fourth Marching Band in downtown Bellingham last night. Made me think of you and your Portland life. You must have caught them somewhere along the line.

    Still catching up on your posts after a week on the trail and then… work. ugh! Jeeze, I hope you don’t have giardia.

  9. I got this web page from my buddy who told me regarding this site and now
    this time I am browsing this site and reading very informative posts at this time.

Comments are closed.