The night before I was set to go skiing, my arm was sore enough to question whether I could properly use my ski poles. The next morning, my wife immediately diagnosed the rash on my right arm as Shingles. Surprisingly, I was able to see my doctor who confirmed it was Shingles. Within an hour, we had the Famciclovir medication immediately thereafter. The week’s worth of pills, taken 3 times daily, seemed to keep the rash under control, and I never had much scabbing. I used Lidocaine for topical pain relief (this was critical) and ibuprofen offered the best overall pain relief. After about 3 weeks, I felt like the Shingles was receding so that I could return to hiking, but that has turned out to be an entirely different recovery journey.

If you have followed my Adventures, you know that I am going through a major life change which placed me in Indiana for about 18 months, and now my new wife and I are adapting to our final destination of Grand Junction, CO. Backpacking has become a memory stretching back to February of 2022 on the Lost Coast Trail. I did hike many of the Indiana State Parks and I had been aggressively hiking the best of the day hikes around the Grand Valley. I desperately want to get back to backpacking and I do have plans for building up to a bucket list trek of the Four Pass Loop Trail in the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness next to us. I felt like I was on track for restoring my almost 70 year old body to backpacking shape, but then came this Shingles setback. No I did not get the vaccination, Shingles was not on my radar, plus I probably believed I was invincible. I will get the vaccination soon.

The visible aspects of Shingles was fading away so I began walking in the neighborhood, quickly realizing how out of shape I felt. But it was more then being out of shape, my body was obviously affected by the Shingles (Herpes Zoster) virus which was totally zapping my energy. I could barely walk a mile and if I pushed it further I paid the price with renewed arm pain.

This struggle continued for weeks as the winter ski season was coming to a close, and I had 3 lift passes that I needed to use. By March I was hiking the trails in our new subdivision where our house is being built and the ill effects were acceptable. Plus golf season was beginning and I wanted to join a Senior’s Golf League,so it was time to push the body. I went skiing doing about 7 runs with a few days of recovery. I walked 9 holes of golf a couple of times, barely able to finish. But now at the end of March, I had to get back in the saddle. I used up my lift passes and was satisfied enough to buy a season pass for next year.

I played 18 holes with the Seniors by using a riding cart. I did some aggressive 2+ mile hikes and returned to my Oculus SuperNatural workouts. On most of these outings I would come home and crash, but recovery was acceptable. Of course I made the mistake of believing I could walk 18 holes on my second Senior’s outing. I barely was able to finish, so maybe I better ride for a while longer.

This was not an Adventure I wanted, but one that taught me a lot about aging. I am not invincible and the body is wearing down. My priorities are adjusting, but I’m still gonna push for many more Adventures as I finish up the 4th Quarter of my life. Life is good and The Adventure Continues.