Epilogue
I had been at Pine Ellis Hiker Lodge since I left the trail on July 7. There was something definitely wrong. I’m not going to get into all the gory details of my symptoms. Just suffice it to say that I guessed I had giardia. Giardia is a parasite that wreaks havoc on the digestive system. (Edit: I found out later it was more likely I had Covid 19 as I tested positive a few weeks later, but it is still uncertain that is what I had in Maine).
Whatever I had, it kept me in bed at the hostel. After a few days, I accepted the realization that I would have to go home. There are no medical facilities in Andover and not even a doctor. In the days leading up to my plane flight home on July 12th, I ate a skinny hot dog and a few fries. That is nearly five days with almost no food, and I still didn’t have an appetite.
David, the driver at Pine Ellis Hiker Lodge, drove me to the airport on July 12th and I caught a flight home. This is all very disappointing. I got hurt in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in 2018. I strained a hamstring in southern Maine in 2019. Maine was closed due to the coronavirus in 2020, so I could finish the trail then, either. And now this latest setback. I am having no luck in the state of Maine.
