Hello all. Things went a bit sideways during the last stretch. I picked up what we are almost positive is giardia somewhere in the Gila National Forest. I was unable to get it treated at the clinic in the town I bailed out to, and decided after weighing all my options to leave the trail for the time being and to go back to Ohio to get treatment in-network with my health insurance. I’m okay and I have antibiotics now. It was a dangerous section to be sick in because it’s incredibly remote, and I am grateful my case was mild enough that I could bail without having to be rescued. Leaving trail was not what I wanted and it was a hard decision. New Mexico was magical, and even when the miles were hard, it was still exactly where I wanted to be. I am grateful for every moment I got to spend out there. It has been a heavy thing, the leaving.

The trail is not done with me, and I will be back. I don’t know exactly when as of yet, but I will keep everyone posted once I have more concrete plans. I definitely will not be continuing northbound this season. Thank you to everyone for your support and your interest, it means the world to me.

Blog posts for the last two sections I completed are coming at some point in the near future. Otherwise you won’t hear from me much on this website until I have plans to share.

To answer the question most backpackers ask: I don’t know exactly how I picked the giardia up, but I filtered all the water I drank. My filter is in good condition, I backflushed it in every town, and it has never frozen. There are a lot of beavers in the Gila River and we crossed the river over 100 times over about 6 days. We were constantly wet with the same water beavers and other creatures poop in. I trust my filter. My suspicion is that I touched my water bag, dirty water, wet boots, wet clothes, trekking pole grips, etc., and then touched my mouth, spoon, or food. Either that or the hand sanitizer didn’t manage to kill all the germs on my hands through the 14 layers of sunscreen and dirt. All are very possible scenarios.