546.6 to 558.5 (Tehachapi)

At 5am... still wide awake from wind, mouse Scare and arm worry... I decided to just head out... Charlie had booked me two nights in town at a hotel... making me promise to let my body rest no matter what... he offered to come get me ... but I knew he was leaving Saturday to sail with my tennis friend, Fred, from Oakland to Newport and really didn’t want to ruin their adventure... so I declined his offer.

The morning was cool with the wind... and I got to mile 549 pretty quickly ... there was an amazing little cache on trail with everything (snacks, food, water, scrabble anyone?) but cold beverages... I sat and had breakfast... got water and Scout texted ... he was only two miles ahead of me... Motivated to see someone and have someone really look at my arm... I told him what was going on and I would find him in town... hiking felt good... but by midmorning the thing on my arm had grown and was creeping up my shoulder and was itching ... I had three guesses...

1) I was having a late reaction to my vaccine 2) I was having a reaction to my antibiotic (since it started the same day I started them) 3) a spider randomly bit me right near my injection site

Either way I knew my first stop needed to be a doctor....as I approached the road... Scout was at the crossing... waiting for me with a ride... they brought us straight to urgent care... Which was the er...because there was nothing else in town... embarrassed to have a doctor examine me in my caked on dirt, smelly, overgrown hairy, hiker trash state, but relieved to be seen...

The verdict... something called “covid arm” That is known to happen with moderna Shot in 1% - where basically a rash shows Up 7-10 days later... what could be simply treated with benadryl in most people - had somehow compounded into a large abscess - the doctor guessed a combination of the antibiotic, my current infection/immune system overdrive, and the salt,sweat and heat is what caused my body to respond with the growth and tiny blisters (cause of itching)... they drained it down... changed my antibiotic to one that would treat both issues occurring and sent me on my smelly way...

Scout and I set out for pizza and beer (for him) and the pharmacy.... back at the hotel hours later with a drunk scout insisting on walking To Walgreens for box color to dye my hair... and the orange on my arm back down to lime size... we had a fun night hanging out as friends and enjoying normalcy for a bit.