It’s been since Lake City that Hulk last visited The Trek blog and a lot has happened. Two very different side quests have occurred on my CDT journey. I pulled off the road at Leadville, CO, mile 1204 for a quick visit to the sin city of Las Vegas to play a couple of big poker tournaments at the World Series of Poker, which turned into six zero days (no miles driven), but only two in Las Vegas. Then, at mile 1277, just before 14,254-foot Grays Mountain, I got off the CDT to visit Frisco Hospital. What a crazy trip it has been!
Las Vegas for Zero Days!
Let’s talk about the fun stuff first. I arrived in Leadville, CO, a day early with a friendly pull from the Mt Massive trailhead. The day before was brutal with the climbs to Lake Ann and Hope Pass. I hiked the Colorado Trail in 2022 and had been hiking the section that overlaps the two trails, so I didn’t feel guilty about skipping some miles I’d already hiked. I love Leadville, so I wandered around town and took a zero and another to catch the bus to Denver 11th Ave Hostel. My flight left at 6:30 am and I arrived in Las Vegas with enough time to register for Event #63, $1,000 Mystery Millions No-Limit Hold’em tournament. This was a bounty tournament with 58% of the overall prize pool and a first place prize of $1 million. Then 30% for rewards and 12% for rakes, juices and house and staff fees. It was a three-day tournament (12+ hours a day) and the rewards start on the second day. A reward is given if you knock out a person. Then you can take out an envelope, a mysterious reward. These cash prizes ranged from $1,000 to $1 million. The top 15% of participants won a prize pool of more than $10 million.
I made it deep into my flight to level 20 of 22. There were six flights on day 1. I finished 579th out of 6,985 players in my flight and took home a cash prize of $1,480. I was a little disappointed when I raised my stack only to lose two big pots to unlucky river cards (the last card that comes from all the community cards). The total field for this event was 22,811 people, a mix of professional, semi-professional and recreational. Anyone can participate like in an ultra race! You only need to pay the entry fee of $1,000. The Main Event that I have played the previous two years has a buy-in of $10,000. Anyway, I played a few more tournaments the next day and didn’t cash in, but overall it was a fun trip. My friend Eric had a free mini suite at The Venetian Hotel, so this helped streamline checking out. I love Las Vegas! Some of my fellow hikers learned in hostels. I also love sports games and the soccer World Cup. Those bets have had positive results overall $$$$. Now, let’s move on to the other side quest.
Out of the way for the hospital visit
I left the trail at mile 1277, just a few miles from the access to Grays Mt. My leg had been abnormally swollen for a couple of days. I was getting out of breath more than usual on the big climbs and was a little short of breath. Something just felt wrong. I have a history of blood clots and was worried they might have come back. I was lucky to be saved by a day hiker, Walter, who turned out to be a retired doctor. I told him my symptoms and he advised me to go to the hospital and get checked. What an amazing trail angel! He took me to the nearby Frisco Hospital. Upon arrival they quickly checked me in and gave me several tests and x-rays. The doctor diagnosed me with a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in my right leg, also known as a blood clot. In the same leg I had a huge clot in 2024. Fortunately, no clots were found in the lungs. The doctor prescribed me some blood-thinning medications, recommended compression socks, and gave me the go-ahead to move forward. Sarah, Walter’s wife, is also a doctor and she picked me up and helped me through the maze of getting my medications. First to Walmart, then back to the hospital, which was a screwed up process. The angels of the path let me spend two nights in their house and fed me. I was able to enjoy a zero day on the 4th of July in the city, which was nice. The zero-day theme keeps resurfacing! Ha ha. But not always for the right reasons. Back on the road tomorrow! You have to keep living! LIVING!
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