Continental Divide Trail – Day 68

July 30, 2023
Miles Today/ Total: 7.7 / 1,165.5

I slept in a little later this morning since I was less than 8 miles from Grand Lake. I was still up and on the trail before 7:00am.

The trail followed the edge of Granby Lake until it turned into the Colorado River flowing out of Shadow Mountain Lake. The trail then climbed up to the top of a low mountain and turned away from the river.

The trail began across a large mountain meadow covered with grass. The trail was pretty overgrown onto the trail and as I walked through the grass I could see pollen puffing off the seed heads like a puff of smoke. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but about 30 minutes later my left eye began to swell up and pretty soon I couldn’t see out of it. I was having an allergic reaction to something in the air (Obviously I suspected the grass pollen).

I stopped about 2 miles out of town and dug my eye drops out of my backpack and sat for a few minutes eating breakfast. It was Sunday morning and there were a lot of people out early hiking, running, and biking on the trail. I put on my sunglasses to hide my now swollen shut eye and continued into town.

My first stop was the laundromat to get my clothes washed. Once again, the bathrooms were closed to public use and I changed out of my stinky hiking clothes under my rain skirt. There was no one there when I arrived, but there were about 20 kids from a trail work group there when I was changing back.

I talked for a few minutes with the group leaders and thanked them for the work they do on the trails before heading down the street to get some lunch. I ended up a Firefly Pizza and ordered a small pepperoni pizza which I ate entirely by myself.

I spent the early afternoon updating my blogs and posting to social media on their patio before heading down the street to Columbine Cabins for the night.

I checked in, showered, and spent the afternoon trying to figure out what I was going to do about my eye. I searched for urgent care clinics and the nearest facility was in Granby – 23 miles away. After further research I realized it was actually an ER and I didn’t want to pay an ER copay just to get some steroids.

I then realized I could do a virtual Dr appointment with my insurance and hopefully get a Dr. That would call in a steroid prescription to the nearest pharmacy – once again in Granby, 23 miles away. By this time my right eye was getting puffy and I was afraid if I waited until morning I wouldn’t be able to see at all.

It worked. I got the virtual appointment and the Dr. called in a prescription to the pharmacy in Granby. Now all I need to do if find a way there tomorrow.