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CDT Day 23 Into the town of Grants

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10th May

9 miles

Highway Camp (402.3) to Grants (411.3)

An early start. We all wanted to get into the town of Grants with enough time to eat, get some town chores done and hopefully rest.

First stop was Denny’s. I craved fruit. And the craving was satisfied. Next step was to down some calories. About 1500 in total for the morning.

I picked up my bounce box from the post office, what an effort. Six miles later and I’m back at the hotel. What was I thinking. This is not a compact trail town.

I showered and washed laundry. Then I discovered a problem. Seems that I don’t just have foot fungus but an infected cut on the bottom of my foot. I walk barefoot around camp so I might have slices it open one evening.

Just touching it is rather painful. I fear if it doesn’t get better soon I may need some days off trail to recover. Infected toe, fungal infection, life is great hiking the CDT. Time will tell if the infection is major or minor.

My fruit craving is satisfied
now its time to put on some weight

Next – Day 24 Rest and Recovery

Everything you need to know about hiking the CDT:
Complete Guide to Hiking the Continental Divide Trail
CDT Resupply Guide
CDT Gear List

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About the Author:
Brad is an Australian who has completed the hiking Triple Crown after he hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail and Appalachian Trail. He has hiked on every continent (except Antarctica) and has cycled from Alaska to Ecuador. He is an expert on outdoor gear currently living in Chile.

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18 thoughts on “CDT Day 23 Into the town of Grants”

  1. In the past 2 hiking seasons, I used Betadine (SP?) on open sores/wounds; never had an infection. All pharmacies carry it.
    Great food coma material. For me, I’d add the choc milkshake.
    It’s a religious thing ;-

    Reply
    • I have a similar Australian brand. I just didn’t get on top of it early enough, luckily it’s ok now.

      Reply
  2. Mmmm…that fruit looks delicious! When I hike, I always crave cold fruit or orange juice with ice in it. When I went hiking in NM for 14 days two summers ago, I was surprised to find that I didn’t want to eat very much. Unlike being at home, I had to literally talk myself into it and make myself eat. I found that so odd, especially after a lifetime of fighting my weight, since long-distance hiking uses so many calories and should have made me want to eat more. I guess it was a combination of pure exhaustion and stress. One can only eat Pop Tarts, pepperoni sticks, and Corn Nuts for so long until it just becomes unappetizing. So I can only imagine how delicious your meal at Denny’s was!

    Reply
      • Yeah hiking does that. The food we eat is not the same that I would eat if I have the choice.

    • I forced myself to eat for the first few days, I just didn’t have much of an appetite. Things have changed now. I do change up my meals to keep things interesting

      Reply
  3. Ok get the steak, get the burger, what is the white shit all over the salad? pancakes hot chips and soft drink??? You know I think roast beef pumpkin, roast potatoes beans and gravy would be a great meal. And if you want desert strawberries with greek yoghurt!

    Reply
    • I’m sorry my meal choice does not agree with yours. What I eat when hiking and burning ridiculous calories is not representative of normal people nor my life off the trail. When in towns I try and consume 1500 calories per meal to make up for the lack of calories I consume when hiking. It is simply not possible to carry enough food, it’s weight is just too prohibitive. Oh and the white stuff is blue cheese dressing. And if you have ever traveled to small town USA you will know that healthy food is not something that is easily found. Unfortunately Americans are habituated to greasy spoon food. Fruit salad or a house salad is not always available. I will not be in a large town with substantial food choice for about 6 weeks.

      Reply
  4. Buy a bottle of brags apple cider vinegar and soak your feet. 1 cup of vinegar to 4 cups water. You may have to buy a container to put the solution in for the soak. Maybe you can borrow something etc. You have to clean your hiking shoes somehow because they are full of bad energy from the fungus. You may need to use a lot of foot powder or what? Don’t take any chances on your feet getting worse. Take a day or 2 if your feet need that care.

    Reply
    • Doesn’t need to be Braggs brand, but it does need to be unpasteurized containing the “mother.” Another one is raw unpasteurized honey that you just keep slathering on (as long as you’re not in bear country yet!). How about swishing the inside of his shoes with peroxide to foam out all the bad stuff?

      Reply
      • Good tips, I am assuming the rubbing alcohol is enough to kill the funky bugs. The shoes certainly smell like new, well, after the alcohol evaporated.

    • I thoroughly washed my feet and used anti fungal cream and broad spectrum anti bacterial/viral cream. I think it’s working. I soaked my shoes in a litre of rubbing alcohol to sterilise them. Doing everything I can. I’ve been in the same situation before, so hopefully I’m on top of it early enough. Will make a decision soon about heading off or taking another day rest.

      Reply
  5. Love your food porn photos. I hope ALL that food was yours and not being shared. Coke? Really? You should have had a couple of milkshakes!! I remember my kids talking about hikers receiving food porn (restaurant reviews/menus) in resupply boxes, which they later shared on the trail as motivation to hike further/faster in order to get to the next gourmet restaurant (aka McDonalds/Dennys).

    Reply
    • That was all my food, except the photo of the burger and Coke, Spontaneous was the photographer. We spent a lot of time in recent days talking about food and Denny’s.

      Reply
  6. I am sorry to hear about your foot. Hope it gets better. There’s actually some antibiotic pills for infections in my large first aid kit…
    Hopefully it doesn’t get worse and you can stay on trail.

    Reply
    • I’m having a zero day so hopefully it will be ok to leave town. If not I’ll be staying another day. Plenty of time, there is a lot of snow in Colorado

      Reply

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