Stress fractures, blisters, and food poisoning, oh my!

Just wanted to fill everyone in on what been going on to slow us down. We haven't made a lot of miles, and have spent more time in town than we'd like. For some reason, we keep hitting a stream of bad luck. Maybe we're being tested. Here's what gone wrong:

1. Stress fracture: Scribe, as you know, has a very hurty ankle. Without a brace, she can hardly walk on it. It's getting better slowly, and as long as we don't do too many miles, it should heal itself eventually.

2. Blisters: Although these don't seem like a bit deal, they actually can ruin your hike pretty fast. Not only are they painful, but they get infected very easily, and once infected can cause blood poisoning. You really have to be careful with them out here.

3. Cold: Like we said, Ron shuttled over a hundred hikers in last week, many of whom were hypothermic. Hypothermia is the leading cause of death in hikers, and so, when a cold and wet spell is coming, we tend to play it safe and book it into town. Scribe has a general cold.

4. Food poisoning: I got food poisoning from Easter trail magic. How's that for ironic? That kept us in town 3 extra days, and was no fun at all. A batch of hikers had it. A few even had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night!

5. Shuttles: With town being so busy with all this cold and sickness, we haven't been able to get too many shuttles to slackpack and make up some miles. They're swamped here, which we can totally understand.

6. Knee problems: I have a trick knee - sometimes it acts up and sometimes it doesn't.

7. Other stuff: Everyday, something new pops up that we have to deal with. Sunburn, posion ivy, menacing black flies, and other general annoyances barely slow us down, but enough to be mentioned here.

Anyway, we finally feel at least 70 to 80 % of our healthy selves now, and we just wanted to let everyone know we're heading back out. We still have to tangle with some of these issues, but it's all part of the journey. We're heading back out today. Good riddance town! Wish us luck!