We take the shuttle into Springdale on Wednesday morning to buy groceries and then return to camp for lunch. I'm sitting talking to the Gardener when I realize that I'm looking through a fog. I feel I can't ignore this so we drive to a medical clinic in Springdale.
After many tests the doctor asks, "Are there any cottonwood trees out there?" The bright green of cottonwood trees looks amazing against the red cliffs of Zion National Park. They're particularly beautiful at this time of year as they drop drifts of pale pink blossom.
"We're camping under cottonwoods," I say.
He tells me that the whites of my eyes are bulging and that he thinks that, like many other people, I'm allergic to the cottonwoods. He gives me drops to rinse out my eyes and drops to take the red away.
Darn!
We head out for the East Gate of Zion National Park and walk up part of the East Rim Trail. I took the following photograph on 3rd March 2008 when there was snow on the ground:
View from the East Rim Trail (taken March 3rd 2008)
We head back to camp for an enjoyable dinner and settle comfortably in our sleeping bags.
When I wake next morning my eyes are swollen shut. By putting my hand over them, I can force them open a slit, enough to see the ground but that's all.
The Gardener and his sister pack up camp while I sit in the truck with my eyes shut, my sunglasses on and a sweater over my head as I can't bear the light.
We stop at a hospital on the way home and the doctor there says it's viral,vernal or allergic conjunctivitis. He gives me a prescription for steroid drops for my eyes and for painkillers. I sleep for most of the 800- mile drive home!
The following day my ophthamologist confirms it's allergic conjunctivitis. In future, I will avoid the desert in late April/ early May that's for sure!
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