VIDEOPAT GOES INTO THE EVERGLADES

An off weekend from shooting video has infused me with wanderlust once again. Being that the McDonald's Air and Sea Show was in town with it's 4 million person crowd was even more incentive to get out of town. The week previous I had heard from a guide at Atlantic Coast Kayak in Pompano Beach about his recent trip to Carl Ross Key. As the crow flies it's 9.2 miles one way from Flamingo. I had done my typical route planning a couple of days before I went out. I found on the navigation charts that there is a rather large bulb shaped shoal on the north side of Carl Ross. This necessitates a path that will take me much further west into the Gulf of Mexico then onto Carl Ross since I would be arriving at low tide. I loaded the route into my Garmin eTrex GPS and off I went.

Couldn't find anybody in short notice for this trip, so once again it was me going solo into the Everglades National Park. I drove down from Fort Lauderdale to Flamingo inside the park. The trip through the ENP consists of a 36 mile drive along a two way sparsely traveled road. I felt the tension exit as I entered the park. It had been a rough week.

Once I got to Flamingo, I had to do the formalities with the concession people. Since I couldn't get cellular phone service inside the park, I was going to wait till I arrived before getting my backcountry permit. At the concessions, a stern older woman told me I needed the permit before she could rent me a kayak. Fine fine. I made a call to the Flamingo Visitors Center and was told to walk over to the Park Ranger next door. There, I was greeted by a friendly Ranger who took my backcountry permit and verified the information. There were two other people who had taken out a permit at Carl Ross for the night.

Back to Flamingo and the exchange of credit card info in order so I can pick up a gray Current Designs Storm kayak. I thought that the Herman Goering's widow type woman at the concessions really didn't like dealing with the public with her slightly arrogant attitude. I wasn't in the mood to counsel anybody on their personality flaws at this point.

It was hot. High 80's or low 90's I'd predict. But there was a great wind blowing in from the east. I loaded up all of my stuff: 3 gallons of water, Gatorade, tent, sleeping bag, digital video camera wrapped in a dry bag, food, cell phone (didn't need it since there is no service out there), and miscellaneous items in the dry wells. I set my GOTO feature on my GPS for a straight course to Carl Ross.

As I entered Florida Bay, I could not see Carl Ross Key (N 25 02'34.9"/W 81 01'10.8"). It was hidden behind Murray and Oyster Keys off to the southwest. The trip to Oyster Key (N 25 06'13.6"/W 80 57'08.8") was approximately 3.3 miles from Flamingo (N 25 08'34.0"/W 80 55'22.0"). The wind created a moderate chop on the bay. The sky was clear blue with only a few scattered high ceiling clouds. I was well rested from the night before so I made great time to Oyster. I needed to take a break so I landed my craft (not encouraged by the Park Service FYI) and took a short break.

I was soon off to find Carl Ross Key. As I rounded Oyster Key, way, way, way off in the southwest was a barely visible island. That was my destination. I paddled steady and swiftly for I was fighting low tide. After about an 1 ½ hours of paddling I noticed that the tide was really going out fast. I had kept a modified straight line approach in order to avoid the shoals. However, I hadn't navigated far enough west and I was soon paddling through 6 inches of water. Not far after, I was grounded on the shoal.

I figured that the worst thing to happen to me was that I'd have to wait while high tide came in to be able to paddle again. After thinking it over for five minutes, I decided to get out of the kayak and attempt to walk on the bottom to deeper water. No such luck. My left foot with a sandal on it sunk into twelve inches of mud and muck. I pulled my foot out but my sandal was pulled off. I reached down to dig my sandal out. So this is what quick sand is like huh? I decided to sit and take a break before I pushed myself off into deeper water. It took a lot of energy to push me and my kayak and all of my gear across 50 yards of shallows.

I was grateful that I made it to deeper water finally! This time I kept my kayak way far to the west on my approach to Carl Ross (which now was about a mile and ½ away at this point). As I came closer I watched a shark (Sand Shark?) casually swim around. He/she was oblivious to my existence. I got within 30 yards of the shark. Earlier I spooked another shark on the shallows and he took off in a frenzy. Soon I could make out another tent on the sandy island. A couple on a powerboat were staying on the west side of the island and I landed close by to them.

I was glad to get off of the kayak. My arms and shoulders were strained. Total distance was 9.9 miles, completed in 3 ½ hours. Speed averaged about 4 mph, with a few quick sprints up to 5 mph. I did a quick survey of the island and came to another shady spot to the east. I pulled the kayak along the shoreline about 50 yards down. There was a large tree with birds nesting inside on top of my campsite. I felt like an invader in their space, but found no other suitable spots to camp. There was another party of two camping 30 yards to the east from me.

As I pulled in, a mother bird came circling around the nest with a big fish in her claws. She was talking with her little kid birds. They seemed irritated with my presence. I wasn't going to bother them. I was glad to be amongst the wild animals of the earth. I set up my tent in the brisk wind. I had to stake my tent down to keep it from flying away. It was hot so I took a dip in the Gulf waters to cool off. The big flies started to bite so I put on my long convertible expedition pants. Bug problem solved.

On the beach, stretching for about 40 yards was a cactus stand. On these cacti were red bulbed shaped fruit. I had never seen that many cactus on an island before.

I balanced my supplies on the kayak and proceeded to cook dinner. Fast Ramen noodles was the appetizer with hot Hormel Chili as the main course. Dessert was tapioca pudding. It was actually quite delicious and I was starved. I shot some nice video of the island with my new Canon DV camcorder. I walked around to the north side of the Key. There were maybe half a dozen wading birds searching for food on the shoals about a hundred yards off.

Next was an absolutely perfect sunset. I set the camera on my portable stool and watched as the fiery ball slowly dropped into the distant water. It was colorful and stunning. Soon after the stars came out, and I mean a million stars. The stars reflected on the Gulf. I tried to make out the constellations. I could only come up with the Big Dipper. Time to start learning some star charts I'd say. A red blinking beacon off to the northwest was the only sign of civilized life.

I found a great rock and roll station on my Walkman and I sang out loud. I soon crawled into my tent and laid there listening to music. The wind was still kicking, however my tent wasn't cooling off. So I opened up one of the side panels on the tent and I was quickly cooled off with the salty air. The bugs didn't bother me all night. The Therm-A-Rest mattress provided plenty of support, however I was kind of sleeping on a root or something like it. I was too tired to move my tent, so I adjusted my body throughout the evening.

Sunrise came without me. I pulled out of my tent around 8:30 am. Made Ramen noodles and tapioca pudding for breakfast, along with some Gatorade, and mini carrots. Filled up my two water bottles, loaded up the kayak, and I was on the water by 9:30 am. High tide was coming at around 11:15 am.

I checked out the nesting birds in the tree above my former campsite from the water. The mama bird was busy catching fish and bringing it back to the nest as I paddled away. A truly neat sight to behold. I waved bye to my other fellow campers and soon I was out in open water. I paddled steady once again. I figured with the tide coming in that I would not face the same problem with crossing the shoals today. So I made a more direct path for Oyster Key.

The wind was stiffer today and I was riding more into the approaching one to two foot waves. Oyster Key appeared to be another continent away. After an hour I stopped to take a break. Gatorade and carrots were my energy sources. I was off again. I came across areas where the waves were dramatically rougher than others. I pushed through them. After two hours I was at Oyster Key again. I pulled into the quiet beach and stretched my legs once again. It was extremely peaceful. The flies started to harass me so I got back into my kayak and paddled off.

I kept close to the shore and made a line to Murray Key (N 25 06'27.0"/W 80 56'35.0"). As I approached Murray I noticed that there were several fins bobbing up and down in the Bay. I figured that they were sharks. As I went to get a closer look they were actually a group of Bottle Nosed Dolphins! I'd never been this close to Dolphins before. It was really, really neat. I followed them on a westward course. They were big. They would exhale air as they came to the surface. After about 10 minutes I moved back onto my course of Flamingo.

I kept the radio tower as my guide to the marina. It too seemed like it was another land away. But soon I was coming upon the entrance. I stopped to take a gander at the open water that I had covered that morning. I was soon at the dock, unloading my gear, loading up my car, taking a hot shower (and paying the concessionaire 3 bucks for the privilege). The return trip covered a distance of 10.1 miles, done in the same 3 ½ hours. Maximum speed of 4.9 mph with an average of 2.8 mph.

I picked up a cold Cherry Coke and some Doritos from the general store. Man they tasted good! I went up to the Visitors Center to shoot some more video of the peaceful Bay. There were lots of foreign tourists walking around the grounds (more so the previous day).

I drove out of the park (at a much slower pace than that which I arrived in I might add) and I stopped off for a BBQ'ed chicken lunch before heading north on the Florida Turnpike. It was a fantastic trip and one that I was glad I accomplished....Videopat Welsh, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. E-mail me at PWelsh28@aol.com.