Ever hike when you knew you were sick?

[coldfeet]

Hello, got sick this week and cxled my attempt for my "required" winter peak. I thought about trying it but if i'm not close to 100% I think it would be dangerous to the group and myself. I'm learning from all of your experiences, I'll wait. Maybe i'll never get "the patch", big deal! Ever go when you really shouldn't have?

PS..my wife was proud of me for using my brains, me too!

 

[ajtiv]

Coldfeet I have once
Bad idea tough hike leg cramps dehydration etc.
I would advise against this unless it is just some sniffles and
nothing that is sapping your energy.
As always you must make your own decisions.
Get well
Al

 

[SherpaKroto]

coldfeet: I have, but regretted it. The mountains will still be there and you've got a lot of good years left in you.

 

[Sherpa John]

Does Hungover Count?

I did a Southern presi-traverse hung over from the night befores pre 4th of July Celebrating. I think it was somewhere around Franklin that I finally "booted", but hell... GOOD TIMES!

I was supposed to Hike zealand today with Hikerfast... but I stayed in bed cause I didn't feel good.

 

[HikerBob]

Me, hike sick? Well, fresh air is supposed to be good for you isn't it?

I went downhill fast going uphill on the Whiteface hike back in February but the only time I headed out knowing I was sick was for the Fun on Flume on the Fourth group hike I pulled together for January 4th 2004.

I should have gone to bed the night before and stayed there but I was emotionally invested in the event and hiked anyway. I doubt it made me any sicker but I was pretty sub-par even for me.

Have to thank BoB (the not Bob) who I ran into on Flume for keeping an eye on me for the final slog out and for running me back to my car at Lincoln Woods. It's good to have such a great extended family to look out for you

So, yeah I've done it, but would advise against it. You made a wise choice.

I missed over a month at the end of November, beginning of December last year through illness. It was tough having to stay home but hiking would have been pretty silly.

Bob

 

[grouseking]

I've never been real sick before but a couple years ago on Monadnock the air quality was about as poor as it had been all year. I have some pretty serious asthma and I didnt eat any major food. That all combined for the absolute hardest hike of my life. When I hit the top (2 mi in 3 hr), I just sat there for 10 min waitinf to regain color and to have the Earth stop spinning. Then I ate a nice sandwich and I was ok for the hike down but was still short of breath till I got out of the air...I know now my limits and will listen to my body

 

[MattC]

Does Hungover Count?

I don't know how some of you folks do this. If I'm dehydrated for any reason, life on the trail becomes pretty hard. The weekend of the one major storm (mid-January, remember) I had about 4 beers Saturday night, which is quite a bit for me these days. The next day I just did about a mile and change on snowshoes on the flat Rail Trail by my house, and then barebooted back on my road. Even this easy little walk felt tough due to the dehydration.
Fortunately I seldom get really sick, because I definitely wouldn't hike.

Matt

 

[adirobdack46r]

Last fall my wife and I planned on hiking Whiteface and Esther. She was getting over the flu or something but said she was strong enough. I had not caught what she had yet so I figured it would pass me by. We were only about an hour down the trail from Wilmington reservoir when I started feeling very crappie. I pulled the plug on the hike and we headed back. We were camping at the Wilmington KOA, no more than got back to our camp site and I was vomiting. I did not have fun the rest of the day or that night let me tell ya. We went back up a few weeks later with some friends and completed that hike. I can't imagine being say all the way in on a hike and have to hike back out while vomiting, boy would that suck.

 

[Jay H]

I still bike to work when sick, but I find cycling is different as there isn't as many peaks as say hiking. Hiking, you seem either in cruise mode or at 90%+ Max HR. Cycling, with it's mechanical advantage (gears), I find that it really helps when you're congested, because you can ramp it down, shift down, spin instead of mash. I actually feel better after cycling a bit when sick, especially for the ordinary cold and congestion. Flu is different because you can feel horrible.

YMMV,
Jay

 

[giggy]

got to agree w/ jay - here - just how sick - bit of a cold or somehting - sure - full blown flu - hell no.

If I think I won't enjoy the hike due to being sick - screw it - I wait

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Last weekend, I was supposed to go hiking, and a few hours before I was supposed to leave, I started to feel like I was coming down with something. I'm damn glad I didn't go, becase whatever I had hit me hard.

A couple years ago, I went down to the Adirondacks for a hike. After a few hours, I wasn'T feeling that well. I went bact to my van and laid down to rest for a few minutes. Before long, I was too sick to even drive home, and ended p spending a day (I was back at the car at something like 10:00AM), and a night on the back seat of the van. It wasn't fun.

On the other hand, I find a good hard hike when I have a hangover, works wonders for me. As they say in French, "it makes the bad leave."

 

[spider solo]

Yes, I did the hunded mile wilderness when I knew something was wrong with me, health wise.
I was weak as a kitten...off to the doctors upon my return.
(I had neglected to mentione it to my wife)
I think they might have alluded to being nuts to go in the 1st place.

 

[Jim lombard]

I definitely have hiked sick but has anybody been hiking with somebody who was fine when you got sick?

You felt pretty good at the start but you're now starting to get sick and you don't want to turn back because you might ruin the day for someone else.

Well this was my wife as she gamely tried to hike with us to the summit of Kili this summer. She'd been OK up to 16K but started to get altitude sickness, I can't imagine the kind of suffering she went through, hiking while so sick you can barely stand up, it's pitch dark and all you want to do is go down or die. The guide is pushing you, I felt great and was ready for the last push to Stella. We sat for a rest at 18K after she practically collapsed....she didn't want my dream of climbing to the roof of Africa to die.....the guide wants to get you to the summit but there was something wrong with her eyes when I shined the flashlight in them. I saw fear and suffering. So in the end I said "lets go back" and I have not regretted the decision since.

 

[sapblatt]

no shame in canceling

Last summer I was planning on hitting Lafayette and Lincoln but I had been battling a stomach bug. Through much of the previous day I had self medicated with Immodium and Pepto Bismol and convinced myself I was all better. My wife and I went to a family wedding on Saturday night , I had a half a dozen scotches, baked stuffed shrimp and was convinced I was fine. Near the end of the weeding I ended up on the throne fro an hour (about the time all of my medicines wore off.) I went home thinking I would be OK and I was still going to hit the trail Sunday morning. Well, after I got home I got sick again and ended up in the emergency room for about eight hours and I was in bed for three days...very glad the hospital stopped me. Incidentally, the doctor who treated me was the same doctor who ended up in the news for leaving his hand gun in the men's room at Salem Hospital...he was subsequently fired. Ironcially, when I noticed the date of his offense I realized I was a patient of his during his last shift...although he probed me in too many traumatic ways, at least he did not shoot me!

I have also changed plans on trips after being overly tired (which is similar to being sick.) Decided not to peak bag for a day in Carter Notch and explored the Wild River Valley.

Always be safe, smart and cautious. The mountains are not going anywhere soon.

 

[spongebob]

I have cancelled plans because I was sick before, but I have done the two Wildcats really sick. And at the Winter gathering I did Moriah and Carter Dome still feeling quite ill. Maybe I will do Middle and South Carter the next time I am sick to finish that ridge off. And then do the 48 with a temprature at least 100 degrees...Yeah now that is sick. Anybody want to cough in my face?......please........

 

[weatherman]

Did the ME AT from Rt 4 to 27 with a bad stomach thing 2 yrs ago, it was the SLOWEST hike I ever did. And it hit late at night on the first day of a 4 (?) day jaunt. Good thing is, the trip was so long that I felt back to normal by the time we hit Rt 27. Bad thing is, I barely remember the stretch from the first campsite to Sugarloaf, which lasted a really long time. At one point, I thought my dead body would wash down Orbeton Stream and contaminate the water supply. I still haven't gotten back to bag Redington, which I missed.

Hiking with a cold is really not so bad, just makes me wheeze a bit. And long ago, hiking actually made a hangover better as others have experienced. Something like burning off all those toxins.

 

[Dugan]

Ayup, I'm guilty of hiking when sick/injured. I do try to use a little common sense, maybe an easier hike, or one with more ways to ditch out in case I do worse than expected. I also wouldn't go if I thought I were too sick, a cold is one thing, the flu is another. And I try to be more conscious of keeping tabs on how I feel. As for easier stuff, like the 3-5 mile twice daily dog outings, I'd have to be about dying to skip.

 

[KayakDan]

I'v had instances,as Kevin mentioned,where I felt kinda funky at the start,but a way into the trip,I was much improved. On the other hand,I have had some long,slow,painful trips slogging along,feeling badly. Only once did we actually scap a trip for illness. My wife was getting over being sick,and she optomistically went for doing the Bunnell Notch Trail,breaking trail in about a foot and a half of fresh snow. About a mile into it,on the first ridge,she just stopped-done in. We just went back down and dropped a tent for the night. We just decided to make the best of it.
If it's not fun-why do it?

 

[snowshoe]

I always look at it this way. If I am sick why stay home. Either way you will still feel like sh__. At least if you are doing something you like your mind is off of how crappy you feel. When you stay home you think about being sick more. Your best bet is when hiking sick take it slower and do less miles.

 

[weatherman]

Yeah Snowshoe, that's what I figure. The only important thing is, if others depended on me, or I was doing something that would become dangerous for me or others if I stopped, camped, bailed, etc, it would mean a quick if agonizing turnaround. I think hurling at treeline in full winter conditions on the way up would qualify (thank goodness THAT hasn't happened).