Below is Kris's journal from his epic adventure through the everglades to raise money for
Extreme Weekend and
World Bicycle Relief. He raised some serious money through his efforts, see his fundraising totals on his
AFC Campaigns Page.
DAY 1 Monday morning 5am. Thanks to Sweet Johnny I was sitting in the BWI airport waiting to board my flight. The reasons behind the absurd early hour were twofold, one it was nonstop and I’m not a big fan of take-off and landing, two it got me to the everglades early enough to book my plan and get out on the water Tuesday morning.
The flight was chill and the drive to Everglades City was quick and easy. Taking route 75 across the state, better known as alligator alley, I was familiar with the drive as the past year a friend and I had started just off 75 and hiked the Florida Trail through Big Cypress swamp 30 miles to Everglades City. I had been checking the weather for the weeks leading up to my trip but was not prepared for what awaited me.
Hitting the Gulf Coast Ranger Station around 11:00AM I was informed of the incoming cold front and high winds and seas of the next several days. While I was not expressly forbidden from heading out on the water, I was expressly discouraged. Looking at potential campsites I found them all to be wide open. This had never happened in the past and I realized most people were not heading out in the next few days. I made the judgement call to postpone and alter the trip then and there. I would not have time to make the full trip but as a solo kayak I was a more than a bit put off by 7 foot waves and 30 mph winds on the ocean side of the glades where I would have to start.
I made arrangements for a shorter 5 day trip that would take me to other parts of the glades including it’s northern boundary and a few of the more famous sites in what is known as the 10,000 islands area. For the next day I would take short trips into the big cypress swamp and try to check out the wildlife in the freshwater portion on the glades.
Pictured is the coolest spot from the day. Lots of Herons and Ibis as well as one smallish alligator. It offers a good overview of what most people think of when they think of the everglades.
DAY 2It was with some trepidation that I started out on Wednesday morning. The daytime temp was hovering around 50 degrees and the winds were still blowing at up to 20 MPH. It was really now or never though or so I thought. I loaded the boat took a few snapshots and started my paddle.
I had thought of a things before heading out. Some foam packaging from a Trek Madone bike box made me extra comfy on the hard plastic seat and had the added bonus of some additional back support with the right set up. Second camp food sucks, so I packed some more natural stuff and the key items. “lil Milk”
or milk in a box to you and me and some “garden of life” superfood Johnny says the shit works kinda stuff. I had been nervous about having warm milk out there but figured I could bury it at night or anchor it underwater thanks to the frigid air I had no need to worry.
The paddle began into the wind and across Chokolosee Bay. Chokolosee is an island and a town that is constructed on a land that was built up over hundreds of years by Calusa native Americans dumping their garbage, in this case shells. There are many pieces of land in the everglades that were created in the same way.
I took my position on the charts and set out for the northern most part of the park. Wildlife with the exception of birds was nowhere to be seen, not complaining based on the large numbers of sharks in the everglades. It’s always a bit of a thrill though to see one or a bunch of dolphins so I was a bit disappointed. I quickly found myself more focused on the waves and the wind for most of the rest of the day. By skirting the edges of the many small keys in the area I was able to find some flat water but it was always short lived and in some cases just as bad with the direction of the tides. After roughly three hours of constant paddling I took a small break only to immediately start to freeze up. My right arm was catching spray from my paddle and the surf and had gotten damp enough to virtually numb it. Later in the day It felt like one of those cold rides where you can’t even take your shoes or gloves off you’re so cold. I cut back on the exploring and made my way to a place called Picnic Key. It faces due west, straight into the gulf of Mexico. It did catch plenty of wind but sheltered the tent in a small shrubby area.
A lot of good that did as the temps dropped below freezing without the wind. The wind chill made it much worse. I was in my tent and in my sleeping bag liner and my sleeping bag, with the mummy hood up tight and all the venting I could close closed. It was a relatively sleepless night with constant waking as a part of my would freeze, followed by re-shuffling my gear and warming up a bit, then more sleep then more freeze and so on. It kept me in my tent until 9 am when I finally ventured out and into a bit of warming sun.
DAY 4/5/6 Killed by Mr. Watson. Well not me but plenty of other folks were. Belle Starr, Quinn Bass, Sam and Mike Tolen, some dude named Tucker and his wife, Leslie Cox, good old Dutchy Melvin, Hannah Smith and “old man Waller”. Well them and a few more unnamed laboring folk as well. That’s a bit of everglades lore for you. That and that Ed Watson was gunned down by his neighbors and buried on Rabbit Key where I spent the previous night.
Naturally I decided the next place on my to go list was Watsons Place. It was here that he had a sugar plantation and here that neighbors saw some bodies of his workers floating in the river.
I set out from Rabbit Key to Watson place in as direct a route as possible I skirted the interior mangrove forests and headed toward the Chatham River. This took me into what is known as the interior, formerly I was on the “outside” but what else is new. Using the tide to my advantage it was probably the easiest paddle of the trip. Once inside I was confronted by long stretches of mangrove and a slowly narrowing river.
I again spent the better part of the day in the boat but it was enjoyable with a decent amount of bird life again and the treat of a squad of dolphins in the morning and one lone dolphin later on. It’s easy to know when they are near because you’ll hear them before you see them. For the record dolphins suck at posing for pictures. I got nothing from this trip. Hitting the campsite. I set up and went for dinner. Dehydrated mac and cheese is truly a delight and with it still cold enough in the evening it was almost a comfort food. Probably for the best at least as far as I was concerned, this is really what remains of the old Watson place.
There is supposed to be some leftover gear in the brush on this ground site but I opted to not go looking for it. Also rumor has it that several of the bodies of Watsons victims were not ever found. Given the 100 years that have passed I was confident that I didn’t have to worry about that but something about camping where a bunch of folks done gone and become murdered got to me a little. I did however sleep well but had some strange, strange dreams. As this was a ground site no fires were allowed, that’s a rule I wasn’t about to break but it would have made things a bit more comfortable.
The next morning after that solid yet creepy sleep (it was finally sort of warm) I backtracked almost exactly. I had originally planned a different site but again fighting wind and tides during my day I opted to poach the Rabbit Key Campsite again. Now this actually made this day a lot longer and a lot more difficult than it would have been but it did make my final day a lot easier and while I was testing my own personal comfort zones by being out there alone and on the water alone (afraid of water, for the record) I was thinking If I had a smooth paddle on the final day I could bolt back to civilization and catch an earlier flight. Rabbit key, much the same but always nice. Dying embers of my fire. Ed Watson took no part in it.
Warm again over night in the high 40’s low 50’s but it might as well have been 75 and sunny, it was great. I slept well and was able to get up early, consume my last “lil Milk” a juice and another one of the superfood bars and go the 10 miles back to everglades city. Again luck was with me for the first half. It’s 5.5 to 6 miles to Chokoloskee
You can kinda make out the buildings in the background in the picture but they are easy to see from the boat. It’s the first thing that’s not green or blue so they really pop out at you.
That’s a vulture. There are a lot of them, not the most prevalent bird you see but they always seem to find the good stuff. Last year we encountered about 20 having a feast of a rather large and very smelly and dead manta ray.
I made it to the island in 1.5 hours. I was tripping at how fast I went, especially since it was the hardest navigation I tried the entire trip. In fact I got there so fast I decided to try and new route to the ranger station. It would only add a mile and I would get another chance to see some new material. Another error in judgement. It took almost 2 hours to do about 3.5 miles. I again ended up fighting wind and tides on what should have been a protected route. I even had to climb out and drag myself and the boat through some deep mud. It looked clear of alligators so I took the chance.
I finally hit the ranger station. Unloaded as fast as I was able and hit the highway. A short a great flight back to Baltimore and I’m ready to get back on my bike for a while. Thanks to Everyone who donated I’m certainly not the only one who appreciates your efforts. Thanks as well to Adventures for the Cure for allowing me to use my “vacation” to do a little bit of good.
kristopher auer
