A boring trip up a benign mountain

I've mentioned a couple of times on here that I came down with a nasty case of ehrlichiosis over this past summer. It really did a number on me. As such, I went a record 182 days without climbing a mountain. My last was Waumbeck back in July just as the severe symptoms were beginning.

Last night I decided that, even though I'm still sore and lethargic, it was time to get outside again. I opted for an easy climb: Mt. Prospect in here CT. I've climbed Prospect many times. It's not a big mountain and the vast majority of people that climb it probably do so while crossing it on the AT, but I've always liked it. It has a great viewpoint on its western slope, so I was hoping to make my way there and shoot another sunset to commemorate my return to not spending all of my time sitting down.

It was hard. It was harder than the Bonds traverse I did just before getting sick. It was harder than any of the Presidential peaks I've climbed (mind you I've never tackled Washington from Huntington, but I digress. ) My joints were in agony pretty much the whole way. But I made it.

Sadly, I missed sunset by about 20 minutes since I was so slow, but I did catch the tail end of what looked like a storm over the Hudson.



It made me wish I had an ND for the lens I used. Those clouds were whipping and it would have made for some good cloud motion shots.


It seems that it's going to take a long time for me to rehabilitate, but it feels good to officially be back in the game. For a while I questioned whether I'd even be able to make it up a slope again. Now I know I can make it. It's just not going to be pretty for a while. I don't usually post TRs, but I saw some humor in the fact that this trip up all 1,461' of Mt. Prospect is quite possibly the most physically difficult climb I've done.

And for anybody planning on heading into the area, I'd plan trips that stay above 1,000' until another storm. Below that there was nothing but ice and mud. It made for pretty poor footing on the way down.

Taconic said:

I've mentioned a couple of times on here that I came down with a nasty case of ehrlichiosis over this past summer. It really did a number on me. As such, I went a record 182 days without climbing a mountain. My last was Waumbeck back in July just as the severe symptoms were beginning.

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Well done! Keep at it!

Best wishes to you, Taconic. Those ticks can do a number on us. Glad you were able to get a diagnosis and treatment, and glad to hear you are getting out again.

It's scary to know that in this age of miracle medicines, there are still things in our beloved outdoors that can knock us down for 6 months. A friend of ours is still dealing with relapsing babesiosis from last summer. Glad you are starting to recover.

You are so right, Audrey. I never thought I would fear deer or mice because of the disease brought on by the ticks they carry. I'm on my fourth full month of antibiotics for Lyme and find that I'm paranoid over the damage the bacteria can bring on.

Thanks, guys.

audrey said:

A friend of ours is still dealing with relapsing babesiosis from last summer.

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That was one I was really worried about. I know somebody that had a severe case. They told her she had MS before they finally found the babesiosis infection and treated it.

I don't know much about the condition, but she's OK now, so hopefully your friend gets over it as well.

Ticks are vile little things. I've been pretty paranoid about reinfection.

Nice TR , thanks for sharing this . Rand's View I think ?
Don't think of it as boring , think of it as one hike closer to getting back the stamina that you once had...and will again . Just wondering , any idea where you got the tick that caused this ?

Dave

lattinhill said:

Nice TR , thanks for sharing this . Rand's View I think ?

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Good eye. One of my favorite spots.

Don't think of it as boring , think of it as one hike closer to getting back the stamina that you once had...and will again . Just wondering , any idea where you got the tick that caused this ?

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Well, the title was a bit of hyperbole since I couldn't think of anything to call this thread. Prospect's actually one of my favorite mountains.

As for where I got it... You're looking at it. I always carry my camera gear, so I can date things pretty well. On 9/30/08 I waded out into the grass at Rand's to shoot the hay bales. I pulled a couple of ticks off of me afterwards and didn't think much of it.

The next week I went up the Baldfaces and didn't feel so great afterwards. I then came down with a "cold" that stuck with me until about March. I had intermittent weirdness throughout the spring (difficulty judging distance, numbness in my limbs, etc.) before it hit hard in July and basically laid me out until October.

The trip to Prospect the previous October is really the only time that makes sense. After the Baldfaces I felt too sick to go out and do anything until February, and it's pretty unlikely that I contracted it then. The only warm weather trips I took before July were Bear Mtn in May and The Bulge in June. The test results also suggested that the infection was more than six months old when I was tested in September, so Prospect is about all that fits.

Maybe it's not so benign after all.

I was going to say that the top of that field would be a great spot to sit and take in the view , but then I thought about the almost certain ticks in the tall grass ... so I didn't type that . But I'll bet a lot of people have done just that .
Good luck & get well !

Dave

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've been there many times and have only been infected once.

I've never found a tick there between October and April. But after that it's basically a tick farm.

It hardly seems worth starting a new thread over, but I went back up tonight. It was slightly easier, mostly on account of not losing feeling in my feet this time. It was still a lot tougher than I'm used to, but I'm hoping next time will be a little easier and that maybe by summer I'll be ready for serious climbs again.

And this time I got a decent sunset.






For anyone interested, Prospect is pretty much snow free aside from patches on the western slope. I'd wager that's the case for anything in the area below 1500'. You can't see in those photos, but I did shoot a few with my 70-200L and could clearly see snow up on the plateau. I'd guesstimate the snowline is still around 1900' or so up there.

Maybe next month I'll feel well enough to tackle Bear or Race.

Lovely sunset pics. From one rehabber to another, glad to hear you are talking it easy and getting stronger on some good and beautiful modest hikes. Hope your improvements continue steadily!