Unplanned Doctor Visit | Colorado Trail #3 

I hope your blisters heal well and you feel better.

Leadville - my favorite town in the US. Home of the Leadville 100 mile trail run, my favorite race of all time. Such a great little mountain town.

Well, I for one am interested in your journey. You always add another layer of interesting facts and observations that I don't hear in other vlogs. You also have a unique camping method. So...I hope that all is well and those gnarly blisters are history.

The blisters looked better in the second set of pics, for sure. That should be encouraging to you. Fortuitous that you happened upon the hospital with an ambulatory clinic. Hang tough Evan!

Great. Video, this is helping me plan my trip in two and a half years

Glad you are on the mend!

You’re a beast, Evan.

glad you're on the mend! It's not embarrassing. you ain't special. sometimes there are blisters. enjoyed this video and learned some stuff!

Damn Evan, those are are some serious blisters. I do recall your trouble on the BMT and they were on the same spot too, right on the balls of your feet. I'm sure you'll have recovered some by the time you are reading our comments. Thanks for sharing; the CT is in every way EPIC and I'm glad you have Liz and Luke with you to not only make memories but to help cover each others backs out there. Stay safe and I hope they heal quickly, I'm sure they will!

Scenery is beautiful! I hope the blisters are better. Thanks for making the videos.

Evan, I just wanted you to know how much I enjoy your videos. Your honest and down to earth style makes me feel like I'm there with you. Keep up the good work.

Take care of yourself, Evan. Those blisters, while they do look better in the later pics, still appear to be pretty awful to walk on. Maybe I'm imagining it, but I think I can hear a sense of pain in your narration in most of the video. Makes me wince. Here's hoping you continue to heal.

Awesome video! Views are amazing. The CT is on the top of my bucket list. Well done.

Glad they were able to get those trimmed up and you’re on the mend. Parts of those looked quite tender.

I hope those blisters are healing as quickly as possible. Two thoughts: Why did you get them in the way you did so this time hiking? Possibly because the soil type (granite derived or granitic soil) is more abrasive than what you find in the east where across much of the length of the AT, for example, are derived from limestone and sandstone. Granitic soils tend to be more course with less organic matter than soils in the east as they are comprised of decomposed mineral components that include two types of feldspar, hornblende and quartz. My observation as a geology major in college and person who has hiked in the east and west is that western mountain soils are just harder on everything they come in contact with such as shoe soles, skin and zippers. I noticed you were choosing not to wear socks early in your hike and wonder if the grit that collected under your foot was just more abrasive than you are accustomed to. Second thought or observation: I spent almost 29 years in the Marine Corps and during that time did a lot of “humping”, as we said, that is carrying a pack on a long hike humped over mainly because they were heavy and did not fit very well. One technique I saw our Corpsmen (Army medic equivalent) use for blister treatment, when they knew we had to keep moving , was to lance the blister on its side to drain it and then they injected betadine under the skin flap. It hurt like there was no tomorrow but what it also did was prevent infection and it killed the top layer of cells of the raw skin effectively gluing it to the outer now dead skin. Then they dressed it much like we do using a non-stick Telfa type pad and Leukotape P tape or it’s equivalent then. I don’t know if this practice impacted the time it took for the blister to heal but it did reduce the pain and helped protect the wound area somewhat better. Of course on long hikes we stopped about every two hours to dry and powder our feet and put on dry socks. We rehydrated at the same time. My two cents worth anyway. Good luck as you head southwest. ~ Martin

Damn looks painful! Beautiful trail.

Holy cow. Those are some bad blisters. Seems like as much as You have hiked in sandals. You would not have gotten them as bad. But I remember you hiking the BMT. You had them and about the same place. But it was good on this hike.. You did something that they were healing up and still hiking on them. Smart going to clinic to get check up 👍. Take care. Don't feel guilty if you need a day to take off and let them here. Thanks for all the good information

I’m watching to keep up with you. Take care of those blisters. I know you’ll be okay. You know what your doing.

Wow, on the ball of your feet. I don't see how you were able to press on. Something like that generally sets me back quite a while. Congratulations on your speedy mend. Oh, and as far as I'm concerned scenery, trail wisdom, along with the good and bad of things are all part of the hike. Keep the content coming (if you can). Say hi to the rest of the gang. GL guys!

Sorry about your blisters. Here's how I treated mine on the PCT while keeping moving. Not to one up you, but mine were much worse. 1) I added a lot of Neosporin 2) I put a 3M artificial skin or if unavailable a non stick pad on 3) Tapped with Leukotape all over it to keep it in place. This was good for around 15 to 20 miles after which I would have to repeat the process. At night I still applied Neosporin but minimal coverings so air got to it. Of course, I did keep it as clean as possible. My understanding is, that in order to heal skin, it needs to be kept moist. Otherwise it becomes scabby. I never got an infection despite having lost all skin on one of my forefeet. Super grateful it worked out.

Hey Evan- Thank you for sharing your journey with us. Your videos are not only fun to watch but also informative. Recently, I was doing a section hike on the CT and I ended up at the same hospital in Summit County (the ER not the clinic) because I fell on my head twice during my first 77 miles of the CT. I am planning to work on my balance as per your suggestions and the book you recommended in another video. I'll be back on the CT hopefully next summer. Hope the blisters heal quickly. Have an awesome hike. Tadpole

I bought my Ursack at the REI in Dillon because I couldn't find any trees to hang from on my successful thru-hike in 2021. I carried it on my successful Appalachian Trail thru-hike last year. Love that thing! I stayed one rainy night at the Bivvy hostel in Breck. Was my favorite hostel in Colorado. Good memories in Breckenridge! I've had blisters like yours before. They seem to be healing fine. Keep heading southwest. You got this!

Ack! Sorry about the blisters - sounds so painful. Just watched your older video too - thx for sharing all these tips. Glad you're feeling better and hope you don't need the antibiotics! -- Chica

This is good stuff, Evan. As an ultra runner, I appreciate all images of blisters since that is the way of the ordinary - learning how to address and handle feet issues is critical when on trail. I have always trusted the book “How to Fix Your Feet” and it’s never let me down.

I’m training in Lunas and only got blisters when I added pack weight and started walking a bit faster than normal. Now I’m gradually increasing pack weight week by week, not trying to walk faster, and pouring water on my hot, dry feet as needed when I take short breaks. Goal is to build up healthy callouses. Wondering if you were training enough to rebuild callouses with your Lunas. I know you’ve hiked with them for years, but your feet might’ve gotten sensitive. Blisters are such a mystery and pain. Thanks for another informative video… and I was so disappointed not to see the blisters (since each is different and that’s instructive as well), but you came through at the end of the video! Nice. Hope you recover soon.

I’ve wondered if anyone is putting solar cells on umbrellas or hats? I’ll finish the video in a bit, but it might be a good time to discuss blister causes and care. You picked a hot year to go high.

those blisters remind me of my first thru-hike on sheltowee trace which caused me to stop midway. I went back and finished it the next year and not a single blister. I know every hiker is different but I made a simple change to my hiking routine and footwear. The first half of the ST I was using shoes highly recommended by thru-hikers and I had sooo many blisters. The second half I switched to footwear with wider toebox (without mentioning brand names, that probably gave it away), and also injinji socks with injinji liners. I didn't have a single blister the second half of ST and used the same process on the BMT first 200 miles and also no blisters there. I mostly mentioned footwear but I think the biggest help for me was stopping every 2 hours, removing my shoes and socks, powder my feet using monkey butt foot powder, and letting my feet air out for 15 minutes. I think moisture is the biggest cause. Its hard to force yourself to stop every 2 hours but the track record so far is working.

Hope the bears behaved themselves. We were in Beaver Creek around the same time. Bear signs everywhere. We came across a momma and cubs when we were out on horseback.

Lotta people. That's the problem with CO. Through 2021 had a house in Buena Vista. Every pass and trailhead, even remote ones, was a zoo, cars parked everywhere, too many people. On trails; in town. Thank you, John Denver.

Did you have a problem with blisters on the A.T.? I watched your A.T. thru hike and I don't remember you getting them.

Evan what is everyones back pack weight ? Hi Handstand .

Re: the 2 rope bear hang. Is that a 2 person job? I'm a solo hiker and curious about that.

Those photos weren't that gnarly, but do look painful. Hope you're doing better by now.

Evan my man and fellow tarper; do not cover up blisters with anything but leukotape while on the trail. Furthermore, stop hiking in sandals and start using supportive footwear with socks and most importantly, sock-liners!

How much was the drs visit??!! X

Blister treatment. IMNSHO, Very important info. Thanks very much