[Cdt-l] Not my usual CDT section hike finish...

[Eric White]

Great refreshing story! I had the same kind problem getting back to Grants from Cumbres Pass, but learned Rule #1 of the CDT:
"Always hike toward your vehicle and not away from it." Mini Mart


________________________________
 From: Doug Carlson <doug-sue at centurylink.net>
To: 'Charlie Thorpe' <charliethorpe at att.net> 
Cc: Cdt-l at backcountry.net 
Sent: Monday, October 7, 2013 2:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Cdt-l] Not my usual CDT section hike finish...
 

That was a very nice human interest story.  thanks for sharing it here.

I wonder if it would be easier to do the hitch at the beginning of your trip
instead of at the end when you still smell ok?  

Goes to show where there is a will there is a way.

-Trew

-----Original Message-----
From: cdt-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:cdt-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Charlie Thorpe
Sent: Sunday, October 06, 2013 11:30 PM
To: cdt-l at backcountry.net MailingList
Subject: [Cdt-l] Not my usual CDT section hike finish...

Hello All -

Below is a letter to the editor that I have sent to the newspaper covering
the Springerville, AZ area.  I am sending it to the list because I am
guessing that other CDT hitchhikers might recognize these situations we can
get ourselves into <g>.

- Charlie
(Who starts out on his last CDT section hike in the Gila WA tomorrow!)

To the editor:

I had a very interesting day last week.and I have some folks to thank for
it.

I was standing by the road in Pie Town (NM) trying to catch a ride back to
my car up in Grants (NM).  I have been hiking sections of the Continental
Divide Trail for the last fifteen years (one more ~40 mile section down by
Silver City left to go!).  I had just completed the ~90 mile stretch of the
CDT that winds through the lava fields and other beautiful country between
Grants and Pie Town.  

There is is a fair amount of hiker/biker activity along that trail corridor
and I was hoping that a member of the extended trail community could give me
a ride back to my car.  I started trying to catch a ride the afternoon
before and had been standing there for a total of well over seven hours when
a motor home came to a stop near me.  I was trying to go north and the motor
home was heading west, but being an eternal optimist I walked over to it
hoping that somehow it might be offering me a way to get back to my car.  

The man driving the motorhome was vomiting into a plastic trash can when I
opened the passenger side door to talk with him.  He explained that he had a
chronic medical condition (not contagious) which was normally controlled by
oral medications, but sometimes things get so out of whack that he throws up
the oral meds before they can do any good for him.  The only solution at
that point is to get medical help so that intravenous meds can bring the
situation back under control.

He asked if I could drive and if I could drive him on to the hospital he was
heading for.  He was almost constantly throwing up and was in severe
abdominal pain - driving was getting impossible for him.  Of course I was
willing to help (been in Scouting all my life), so I got behind the wheel
and started driving us west on US-60.  I found out later that we were
heading for the hospital in Springerville, AZ

We arrived at the White Mountain Regional Medical Center and my new
acquaintance was able to check himself into the emergency room.  I told him
that I would wait around until he was able to think clearly and he could
start getting in touch with friends in the area.  I parked the motorhome in
the shade, set up water and food for his dog inside, and moved my backpack
to the emergency waiting room.  

I eventually started wondering how I was going to get back to my car since I
was now at least 70 miles west of the trail corridor in NM and there was no
bus service heading back that way.  The hospital folks were very helpful in
trying to find employees who lived over in NM who might be able to help me
sort out how to get to Grants, but it turned out that none of the NM
commuters were working that particular day.

I was back in the emergency waiting room preparing myself for a complicated
hitchhiking challenge when Patty Orona (Marketing and Community Services
Director) came by. She was concerned that my good Samaritan efforts had
ended up getting me into a transportation pickle and offered to help me find
a way to get back to my car in Grants.

Patty very generously worked with AZ and NM law enforcement agencies to
arrange my transportation from Springerville to Grants.  My motorhome friend
was feeling much better under the expert medical care he was getting and
wished me well in my efforts to get back to my car.  It wasn't long before
Apache County (AZ) Sheriff's Department Deputy David Padilla arrived to
start me on my journey to Grants.

I was impressed by the White Mountain Regional Medical Center - by both the
facility (clean and modern) and the staff (invariably very professional).  I
definitely want to thank Apache County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy
Brannon Eagar, Deputy David Padilia, and Catron County (NM) Sherif's
Department Under Sheriff Ian Fletcher for their help in getting a trail-worn
hiker out of their hair and back to where I was supposed to be.

I especially want to thank Patty Orona - if she is any indication of what
your entire hospital administration team is like, then the place is in very
good hands indeed!

Charlie Thorpe
Continental Divide Trail hiker
Huntsville, Alabama
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