Planning a 10-day canoe trip in the Everglades: Part 3

It's about 6 weeks away from our start date, Dec 24th and the excitement is increasing as we continue to prepare. A 4-day trip over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend will be an excellent warm up for the main event. Much of the preparation we are doing now is for that trip as well.

Due to a very hectic schedule, I do not see myself having any real days off just before the 24th. Usually, I am out of the semester a good week prior to the trip, but this year we had a late start which means a late ending. And I will spend some time with my mother who lives about 4 hrs north of Miami. Typically I spend 2 full days during the few days before the trip preparing and packaging all the food. This year, I will have to do most of the preparing much sooner than that. So, for the next couple weekends, I am not going out of town and the time will be partly devoted to getting our food ready for both trips.

Before getting into the food part of the preparation, we had some other things to work on, namely the first aid kit. I use a 1250 pelican case for all the first aid supplies. Each year, I go through the leftover supplies from the previous year and replace anything that has expired. Medications typically have a 2-3 yr shelf life, so if none get used, I still replace expired drugs. Some things do get used more regularly, such as ibuprofen or even benadryl, for instance. I even take the benadryl on day trips because of the regular encounter with mosquitoes and no-see-ums. Other drugs are rarely used, but I take them with me anyway. If I am out there for 10 days, anything can happen; a bad case of the flu or diarrhea, allergic reaction, or an accident. So, like a girl scout, I am always prepared.

Here is a list of my first aid supplies:

• one small tube triple antibiotic cream
• one small tube hydrocortisone cream
• children's benadryl
• Cortaid poison ivy care cloths
• small bottle ibuprofen
• anti-diarrheal pills
• alka-seltzer tablets
• roll of tums
• daytime flu tablets
• nighttime flu powder for mixing
• coughdrops
• tooth filling
• eye drops
• Tiger balm
• gauze
• blister relief pads
• assorted bandaids
• ace bandage
• tape
• a couple latex gloves
• tweezers
• eye glass repair
• small scissors
• mirror
• notes with directions for use of medications

A quick trip to Walgreen's and I'm good to go. The next entry will be all about the food preparation.

Planning a 10-day canoe trip in the Everglades: Part 2

One of my favorite things to do when preparing for a trip is meal planning. Although our 10-day trip is 2 months away, I've planned out the meals already in order to begin organizing the cargo between my solo canoe and Vivian's solo canoe. She and I share some of the gear, such as the tent and cooking equipment and fuel. There are other odds and ends that we share, but in the end, it works out that I carry most of the food in my boat. What we intend to do is carry about 3 days worth of frozen food and water in a large cooler that Vivian will carry in her canoe. The frozen food will include the first 3 dinners of the trip, none of which include meat. By bringing some frozen foods, it offers more of a variety of dinners, something to consider if you plan to eat 9 dinners out here. I'll write about food packaging later but for now, here's what I have planned:

First night - Spaghetti and tomato sauce with boca "meat" filler. The sauce will be prepared at home and frozen in a baggy. It includes a few vegetables and the Boca Burger meatless ground crumbles. I'll include a small package of parmesan cheese and some flat bread or crackers. We always have dessert that includes biscotti, pudding or some kind of cookie.

Second night - macaroni and cheese and veggie burgers. This meal will also include burger buns, slices of cheese, a tomato and 1/2 onion and condiment packages.

Third night - homemade lentil soup and bread. The soup is prepared and frozen at home. It contains Bragg's amino acid liquid for added protein, and also slices of carrots and onions. On this night, we can also include some instant rice to add to the soup for added carbohydrate to the meal.

One thing I'll mention now about the frozen foods is that I freeze the sauce or soup in freezer bags and lay them flat to freeze. This makes the package thin and easier to load into the cooler which also contains large gallon or quart size bottles of water.

Fourth night - black beans, rice and yuca, a classic Cuban-style dinner. The beans and yuca both come in a can and are quite tasty. With some olive oil and garlic, I'll sautee up some onion and add it to the yuca. The rice will be boiled in a bag and added to the mix. We could also add a small can of veggies.

Fifth night - Instant mashed potatoes and Teriyaki tuna. The mashed potatoes come in a bag that provides for 2 people. the tuna comes in a sealed package. I simply heat up the tuna slightly and then spoon the potatoes over it. I like to add some garlic, olive oil and some onion to the mashed potatoes as well. This is one of my favorite meals!

Sixth night - Packaged tortellini with parmesan cheese. And of course, there is garlic and olive oil. I'll also include some bread on the side and dehydrated veggies added to the pasta.

Seventh night - Noodle soup (sold in a cup), dehydrated veggies, Bragg's amino acid, and roasted almonds, and crackers to go with it. Might add some smoked salmon to this as well.

Eighth night - Box of couscous with almonds, olive oil and dehydrated veggies added. A box of red pepper soup on the side.

Ninth night - black bean, rice and yuca, again!

Planning a 10-day canoe trip in the Everglades: Part 1

Each year over the holidays I take a very long paddle trip with friends into the Everglades. I am in my solo Wenonah Vagabond, while my friends are in various paddle boats including solo canoe and kayaks. Last year, 4 of us took 9 days and paddled from Chokoloskee Island to Camp Lonesome and back. This year, we'll be out there 10 days. It may only be me and Vivian (she in her solo canoe) or we may have one other person. Since most of our campsites for this trip are chickees, space for additional paddlers in our party is very limited.

I thought it would be interesting to blog my planning process as we prepare for our trip as early as August (4 months prior). Our camping season begins in November, thus some of the preparation includes preparing for the camping season in general, including a 3-day trip over the Thanksgiving holiday. Planning a 10-day trip through the Everglades takes time, even when you already have all the gear and previous experience paddling the Everglades. A person who has never been or may not have all the camping equipment for such a trip will have more to do before embarking, so I will try to think of that person as I write these blog entries over the next couple months and provide information that may be helpful for them.

Around the month of August, we begin to think of our trip route. Why so early? This is more out of anticipation for our camping season than necessity. But, knowing our route early will give us time to think about it and make the necessary preparations ahead of time (i.e., replacing certain gear and supplies). In August, I start to close the chapter on summer and begin thinking of the explorations we will take during the winter months. In actuality, we had been thinking of this trip for a couple years, but now it was time to think about the daily routes, campsites and mileage. Because we could afford 10 days, we factored in a 2-day stay at one of the campsites, right about half way through the trip. This is a nice way to segueway into the final portion of a long trip and gives us time to relax and explore a backcountry area that we would not otherwise have time to do.

At this point, you need a map that will show you the entire route you wish to take. I recommend without reservation a marine chart (waterproof charts are easy to find on line) along with your GPS map sources. Google Earth map is also very good, especially for the more remote backcountry areas of the Everglades. Some of the map source software allows you to create the route and then convert the map to Google Earth, which is what you see in the photos below.

If you use GPS for planning your route and devising way points, you should also relinquish to the fact that you must have a marine chart as well as a compass with you on your trip. In addition to the routes for the GPS, I write the compass bearings on my marine chart for several sections of the route. If you plan to do a trip along the entire Wilderness Waterway, you'll need 2 marine charts to cover the entire area. Do not think you can go without maps and/or GPS when on the marked Wilderness Waterway. This is for 2 important reasons; one is that the markers can be as much as a mile apart when crossing a very large bay (such as Sunday Bay) and unless you have binoculars and know the approximate location of the next marker, you may find yourself way off course, wasting precious time and energy; and two, campsites are not specifically located on the waterway and you must often take a detour to get to one.

If you are not familiar with the Everglades, purchasing Johnny Molloy's book, A Paddler's Guide to the Everglades is an excellent first step. During the early stages of planning, learning about the Everglades is an important component of preparation. Molloy's book gives detailed descriptions of routes and campsites and provides significant information requiring essential gear and equipment. Basically, his book provides all the information you need with the exception of maps to paddle the Everglades. He does include GPS waypoints for each campsite.

For our trip, we planned our routes accordingly (mileages are approximations):

• Day 1: Leave from Coot Bay Pond to South Joe River chickee, 9 miles
• Day 2: South Joe River to Oyster Bay chickee, 10 miles
• Day 3: Oyster Bay chickee to Graveyard Creek campsite, 8 miles
• Day 4: Graveyard Creek to Harney River chickee, 6.5 miles
• Day 5: Harney River chickee to Canepatch, 10 miles
• Day 6: Canepatch, explore the area
• Day 7: Canepatch to Watson River chickee (through the labryinth route), 15 miles
• Day 8: Watson River chickee to Roberts River chickee (through the cutoff route), 7.5 miles
• Day 9: Roberts River chickee to Hells Bay chickee, 7. 5 miles
• Day 10: Hells Bay chickee to Coot Bay Pond, 8 miles or Hells Bay Trail, 5 miles

Give or take a few miles and also depending on our mileage during day 6, the total is about 80 miles. For us, this is not a strenuous trip, in fact, only one day of paddling exceeds 10 miles. In comparison, our trip last year included 2 days with 18 miles and most days were between 10-15 miles.

We always consider contingency routes or campsites. Because this is the busiest time of year, I always purchase the camping permits one day prior to launching. I make a special trip to the rangers station to do this. There are some sites that are quite popular and it is always possible that some will be filled when trying to get permitted. Thus, another advantage to having some short paddle days planned is that you may have to change it up and paddle longer distances if a particular campsite is not available. For instance, if we cannot get South Joe River chickee, our contingency campsite is Joe River, another 5-6 miles. Another advantage of taking care of the permits the day before is that we can launch as early as possible. The ranger station does not open for permits until 8 am. In our world, we like to be on the water not much later than that.

If you are coming in from out of town and are renting kayaks or canoes from one of the outfitters, plan an extra day to get your bearings, maybe purchase supplies, etc. Unless you are planning a loop trip, shuttling must be figured into the equation and part of your early planning. For instance, if you plan to paddle the entire Wilderness Waterway, you have one day of driving either before or after your trip. In a car, the two ends are about 150 miles apart.

For this trip, we do not need to consider shuttling, with one exception. If we leave Hells Bay chickee on the last day and take the more protected Hells Bay Trail route, we will need to get back to our car located at the Coot Bay Pond launch site. With another car, we can park one car at Coot Bay and shuttle the other to Hells Bay Trail on our first day. But if we only have one car, we will have to hitchhike from Hells Bay Trail to get back to our car on the last day. This is the worse case scenario and would only happen if the weather is so bad that crossing Whitewater and Coot Bays is risky. Hells Bay Trail route is very protected and shorter. But, we'll worry about that when and if we get there.

Below are a few of our routes for this trip, created in Google Earth.

Rigging a yakima rack for two canoes

I drive a Toyota Matrix, excellent car for transporting canoes or kayaks. I have a 48" bar on the roof, not quite wide enough for two canoes. My partner and I each own a canoe and we both sold the kayaks last year. To accomodate both canoes, I would have needed longer bars, which I was not happy with. To compromise, we built extensions onto the bars, which can be removed at a moments notice.

We used galvanized pipes, each about 24" in length. Electrical tape is used to tighten up the fit inside the rack bars. A piece of rubber tubing was placed on the ends where the gunwale brackets attach to make a tighter fit for them. Holes were drilled into each pipe as well as the rack bars and a screw with lug nut are used to fasten the pipes in place. The photos do the explaining.

Paddling the Everglades Part 9: Photographing from your boat

When heading to the Everglades for a paddle trip, leaving the camera at home is as bad as leaving your paddle. You have to take photos while you are experiencing this place. If you don’t want to take photos, use your video camera instead. Either way, recording your trip with photos is the best way to re-live those moments. The article does not include camera reviews nor does it include photography techniques. Rather, I’ll give you my experiences and advice on how to care for and use your camera while paddling.

THE EQUIPMENT But you don’t have a waterproof camera, you say. That’s OK, you have lots of choices. And if you don’t own a camera right now, this is a good time to start looking into purchasing one. Buy a disposable camera if you like, but one way or the other, you need one. I have experience with three types of cameras, a small digital point and shoot waterproof (Pentax Optio), a larger digital point and shoot with teleconverter attachments (Canon Powershot S3) and my current DSLR cameras, the Sony A100 and A700. Each of these has been on a kayak or canoe trip with me at one time or another. My experiences should help you decide on which camera you want to use for this trip or put your mind at ease if you are not certain you want to bring a non-waterproof camera with you.

I love the waterproof Pentax Optio. The version I used was purchased in 2005 and came with a measly 5 megapixels. The advantages of a waterproof (not water resistant) camera are obvious. Because of the waterproof quality, I submerged this camera for some shots. I don’t recommend this in salt water though. I had to send it back for repairs to the sensor (probably fried by the salt), fortunately it was still under warranty. After that, I never submerged it again. If you do submerge it in salt water, on purpose or otherwise, I recommend you wash it off with fresh water immediately. The smallness of this camera was another advantage in that I would carry it in my chest pocket (with the strap still around my neck). This allowed easy access to the camera at all times and I never worried about it getting wet from water spray or rain. The newer versions of waterproof cameras are probably better than they were 3 years ago and I suspect there are more options available. For a low maintenance, never-have-to-worry-about-it camera, this would be your best bet. In addition, the camera does not require extra room. Just bring extra memory cards and batteries and keep them in a small pelican case for safe keeping. The disadvantage, don’t expect to take professional-level photos with it, but you will at least record your trip while on the water.

After a year of using the Pentax, I purchased a higher level point and shoot camera, the Canon Powershot S3. The reason for purchasing this camera was its image stabilization feature, so nice to have when shooting from a moving boat. The Powershot is considerably bigger than the tiny Pentax and could not fit in my pocket. Instead, I bought a 1200 Pelican case that was large enough for the camera and a couple teleconverters. The pelican case fit nicely inside the cockpit. I still had my Pentax with me and would use that while paddling to capture the moment. I only took the Powershot out while paddling if I wanted to get a closer wildlife shot or a particularly beautiful scene. Once at the campsite, the Pentax was put away and I shot only with the Powershot. On occasion, I brought a lightweight tripod and would use for sunset and sunrise shots.

If the only camera you bring is one like the Powershot, I highly recommend a pelican case. But, if you want access to it at all times during your paddle, you might consider getting a waterproof casing for it. I never went that direction because I don’t like the idea of having the lens covered by plastic. The alternative for me was to find some way of keeping the camera accessible, but safe from water. What I finally came up with was to place the camera inside a dry bag that sat right in front of me on the spray skirt. I kept the dry bag tethered to the boat as well. Doing this spared me the time of having to open the spray skirt to get to the pelican case in order to use the camera. I keep the camera inside the pelican case in the cockpit when I don’t need it for shooting (choppy conditions, poor lighting, etc). When I do want to have continuous access to it, I take it out of the case and place it inside a dry bag to cover up the camera and lens, while the strap comes out of the bag and goes around my neck. I don’t seal the dry bag, rather I just make sure the camera and lens are fully covered. I have a towel in the bag just in case I need to wipe off water drops. In case I get drops on the lens, I have my lens smudge stick in my pocket. I also carry a lens cloth in my pocket to clean off the LCD or view finder.

The worse case scenario of course is that I capsize with the camera left in an open dry bag. Obviously, the camera is going to be history real fast. But, unless I do something stupid, the chances of that happening are so slim that I would rather risk it than miss a photo opportunity. If the conditions get too rough (and YOU decide when that is), simply put the camera back in the pelican case for safe keeping. You can’t get decent shots with lots of rocking going on anyway, so why bother. On the other hand, if you are trying to video tape the action, I say go for it, to at least record the moment.

Once I jumped into SLR photography, I had to put more thought into how I was going to protect my cameras and more importantly, my lenses. I have only one full year of using SLR cameras while doing trips in the Everglades, so this is a learning process for me as well. My experience with bringing an SLR camera on board a kayak was on a 2-night trip out to Picnic and Rabbit Keys. For this trip, I brought the Sony A100, and the Sony 18-70mm and 75-300mm lenses. I kept the camera with one lens inside the 1200 pelican case in my cockpit and would pull it out and place inside the dry bag in front of me whenever I wanted. The other lens was stowed away. I wanted to have the telephoto lens attached while paddling in case I spotted wildlife. The wide angle lens would be good for campsite shots.

At night, I would bring all the equipment into the tent and clean off the camera and lenses. It is important that you have a lens brush because you will get sand on your lens and camera, no matter how careful you are. Memory cards and batteries are in zip lock bags inside a dry bag. A small pelican case works for these as well.

The second time I took my SLR out with me on a kayak trip was over new years when we were on the coast for 7 days. There was a great amount of sand and water. This time, I brought the Sony A700 and being a larger camera than the Sony A100, it did not fit into the 1200 pelican case. Instead of purchasing a larger pelican case, I decided to keep the camera attached to a lens inside a dry bag with some drierite. I get drierite from work and filled a prescription pill container with the stuff. I poked holes in the container to expose the drierite to the surrounding humidity. When not using the camera, I would keep the camera in a small dry bag placed inside a larger dry bag in my cockpit. When I was using it while paddling, I had it in the open smaller dry bag sitting in front of me. During this trip, the camera sat inside the dry bag in front of me or was being used almost the entire time I was paddling. In other words, it was exposed to the salt air during most of the trip.

The problem I encountered was that everything gets moist, if not downright wet out here. Multiply that by 7 days and it gets a bit precarious for electronic equipment. Keeping the camera in the dry bag in front of me for easy access was a great idea and I would do it again. But, I will never take my SLR camera on a trip like that without a pelican case. The dry bag, even with the drierite container was exposed to moisture all the time. I would take the dry bag and air it out in the tent every night before putting the camera back in it. Despite all that, I didn’t seem to encounter any problems with the camera or lens and everything to this day is working fine.

FROM A CANOE Hands down with out a doubt, photographing and bringing along camera equipment is so much easier in a canoe. I recently purchased a large 1500 pelican case that I can store 2 SLR cameras both with telephoto lenses attached. This case fits nicely between my legs while I am sitting or kneeling in the canoe. I first took that out on an overnight trip on Fisheating Creek (about 100 miles north of Miami). I had just purchased a 70-200mm zoom lens and wanted to test it out. I also had my 300 mm (f4) with a 1.4X teleconverter. At any given time, I had one camera and lens in my lap, and on occasion, I had both of them on my lap. Before purchasing this large pelican case, I had taken both cameras with me on overnight trips with the canoe and kept one in a dry bag and the other in the 1200 pelican case. For those trips, I brought my Minolta 300mm and teleconverter attached to the A700 (stored in a dry bag inside another dry bag) and the 18-70mm on the A100 (stored in pelican case). While spending a day on the Turner River, I paddled most of the way with both cameras in my lap. Once on an overnighter to Lopez River, I kept the Minolta lens and camera on my lap during the entire trip and pulled out the wide angle lens whenever the occasion called for it. I also brought my Manfrotti tripod and ballhead for campsite photos on all of these trips. I keep that inside a garbage bag when paddling.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES Murphy’s Law dictates that you will see lots of photo opportunities but will not have your camera ready because a) you chickened out and had put it back in the pelican case, b) you ran out of memory or batter power and left your spares inside the hatch, or c) whatever it was you saw happened so quickly that the only way you could have captured it is if you were looking through your viewfinder just at that moment. This happens a lot out here. I’ve seen spectacular jumps performed by sting rays flying out of the water within a hundred feet of my boat. I’ve seen dolphin jump 6 feet out of the water while flipping a 3-ft fish into the air before catching it and crashing back down into the water. I’ve seen osprey hovering overhead just before they make a head dive into the water feet away from my boat and pick out a large fish and fly off with it to a distant mangrove tree. Yes, I’ve seen all these things, but do I have a photo to prove it? Of course not! But, I do have a lot of great photos that illustrate the beauty of this place, including lots of close up wildlife shots. So, the moral of the story is, be ready for a shot whenever you can, because the opportunities are non-stop.

Wildlife shot opportunities are often fleeting and when you are paddling from point A to B, they are mostly captured by being in the right place at the right time. I spend endless hours paddling around this area just for the purpose of photographing and I can tell you that capturing a close up of an osprey eating a fish head or a yellowcrown nightheron swallowing a crab is something that doesn’t come with just luck. You have to spend time out here to really capture those great wildlife photos. But, if you are trying to record your journey, look for those wildlife photos of course, but capture your surroundings as much as possible. Your campsite will provide you many opportunities as well, so be prepared to shoot at dusk when the bugs are at their best.

Lighting is an issue while photographing. While on a paddling trip, you don’t have the luxury of adjusting your route according to the light. Sometimes you get lucky. For instance, while paddling the coast from Flamingo to Everglades City, the early morning sunrise offered me the best lighting for the direction I was going because it was often behind me and to my right. Paddling toward the sun is not a good lighting situation, but sometimes, you have to take what you get. But, whenever you can, turn your boat in the direction that will offer you the best light (sun behind you). Late morning and afternoon sun light can be very harsh, especially on the water, so I usually forego the photos at that time and wait for late afternoon when I can explore the camp area with the camera.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Some of my favorite photo areas are the following:
Picnic Key beach. Here you will find it littered with many dead tree trunks and driftwood that have been shaped by the tidal waters over the past few years. At sunset, you can capture beautiful silhouetted figures with the sun approaching the horizon over the water. Look for fanciful shapes and arrangements on the beach to photograph. For macro photos, you’ll find snails wandering on some of the trunks.
Rabbit Key beach, west side. If you are camping on the side with the port-o-john, you won’t see a sunset from there. But, at low enough tide, you can walk around the island to the northwest side where you will find a large tidal-swept mangrove tree sticking out from a sandbar away from the shoreline. For the past couple of years, I have watched an active osprey nest that sits in this tree. At sunset and at the right time of year, you’ll capture a beautiful sunset scene with this tree and the osprey family silhouetted against a red glow. It’s exquisite.
Watsons Place. If you are lucky, you might be able to get some photographs of the old farm equipment on the campsite without people’s camping gear and tents in the scene. The sunset from the dock on the Chatham River is always a sure bet.
The Turner River. The mangrove tunnels and the open sawgrass scenes are exquisite. If you are a serious photographer, set up your tripod in the water and capture the essence of the swamp.
Chokoloskee Bay. If you are heading out through Chokoloskee or Rabbit Key pass, you will pass an area of oyster bars readily exposed during low tides on your right before you leave the bay. In the winter, a large group of white pelicans reside there. In the summer, you will see the bright pink, roseate spoonbills.

A list of camera gear essentials
Extra memory cards
Extra batteries
Two lens cloths (keep one in a safe place and use it as a back up if the other gets salt water on it)
A lens smudge stick and brush
Pelican case and/or dry bags
Towel
Tripod (for campsite sunsets)
Tight fitting gardening gloves (for those evenings when you want to shoot and the bugs are biting. The gloves will protect your hands while you shoot)

Paddling the Everglades Part 8: Food, water and critters

It only seems fitting to talk about critters in the same context as food and water. When you carry food and water with you, you are a potential food source for various animals living in the Everglades.

FOOD You can’t get around it, you will need calories and other nutrients while paddling through the Everglades. My knowledge of nutrition while paddling is partially from Everglades experience and partially from my profession, exercise physiology. If you are interested in the nutritional aspects of performance and want a deeper insight into the role of nutrition during exercise, please check out my website where you can find out how to calculate your calorie expenditure, learn about caloric intake requirements for paddling, meal planning with meal examples and information on diet supplements. Please go to: http://www.cmierphotoandfitness.net/fitness.html.

What I will discuss here concerns how to pack your food and some tips on preparing it. It should be no surprise to you that frozen items will not stay frozen long in the Everglades. For the first couple of nights, I can plan my evening meals with more flexibility because I can bring along a small cooler and keep whatever is inside it cold enough to last for a couple days. Beyond a couple days, there is no guarantee that meat and dairy products will remain safe to eat. Some may disagree and in fact, one of my paddling partners eats nothing but pre-made deli sandwiches for dinner on multi-day trips. I’ve seen him consume a turkey breast sandwich (without mayo) on the fifth night of a trip and he never got sick. To be safe, I use a cooler only for foods I will consume within a 2-3-day period. In those cases, I’ll bring homemade items like lentil soup or refried beans, or veggie burgers with condiments. The lentil soup (or any homemade soup) is great because it can be frozen in a plastic container or bag and will help keep other items cold. I also pack the cooler with plastic containers (like old Gatorade bottles) filled with water and freeze them at home. This is water that can be used for drinking and cooking after it thaws, so it doesn’t take up additional room in your boat. I’ve also found that frozen cans of Heineken beer taste quite good after a thaw. If you have a hankering for a cold beer, it will stay that way for a couple days for sure.

For the non-cooler foods, I like to pack foods for the kayak in an organized way so that I keep the breakfast items together and separate from the lunch and dinner items. That way, I don’t have to waste time searching around for food. I use nylon stuff bags for organizing meals and snacks. For instance, in one bag I may have 2 dinner meals that include pasta, crackers, bread, bag of dried veggies and nuts, tuna pouch and desserts. Another bag might include lunch items such as a plastic container with peanut butter, bagels, honey, jerky, and tuna lunch kits. And yet another bag might include several power bars and other snack items like jerky, dried fruit or trail mix. I plan my meals with one other person so we split up the camp items in such a way that one of us has all the food in one boat (with the exception of that day’s allotment of snacks). In the morning when I pack the boat, I place the snack and lunch items close to the hatch opening so I can more easily get to them when we stop for a lunch break. I also take out my daily snack allotment and put that in my deck bag.

In addition to using the nylon bags, I use zip lock bags for just about everything, with the exception of canned or pre-sealed items. In one gallon-size zip lock bag, I will put all the items needed for a dinner meal. Another gallon bag will house all the oatmeal, coffee and tea used for breakfast. So once again, items are bagged in an organized way. Another nice thing about the zip lock bags is that you can use the empty bags for trash. They also work quite well keeping your foods moist-free. For foods that come in cardboard boxes, I remove them from the boxes to get rid of bulk and debris. I place the loose food items into zip lock bags and if cooking instructions come with it, I cut them out of the box and place it inside the bag with the food.

Another convenient thing about the zip lock bags is you can pre-mix your meals and place everything in one container. For instance, I eat instant oatmeal for breakfast but I like to add dry milk, dry fruit and nuts to the oatmeal. I pre-mix all of it at home and place it in a zip lock bag. Another great breakfast meal is a package of Instant Carnation mixed with a 1/3 cup dry milk and a heaping teaspoon of instant expresso. Add hot water to that and eat a power bar with it, and you have yourself a 500-600 calorie meal bursting with caffeine, protein, carbs, vitamins and minerals. And yet another advantage of the zip lock bag (make sure you use the freezer bags) is you can eat out of them. They are sturdy enough to withstand hot water and will relieve you of dirty dishes.

WATER I bring about 1 gallon per day, but can get by with ¾ gallon. The weather may dictate the amount you actually use, and I found myself using extra water during an unseasonally hot trip we took over new year’s eve. One of my paddling companions uses very little water and before he dumped out his extra, he offered it to me and I willingly took it and used it. The point is, you need to carry in what you will need; there is no fresh water where you will be going. For the kayak, I have Stearns water bags that hold about 2 ½ gallons each and have a spout for pouring and can be hung from a tree. The bad news is they no longer make these water containers. There are other versions, like Dromedary bags, which I have no experience with. But, if you are in a kayak, water bags are easier to pack than hard plastic containers. In a canoe, you don’t have that issue and when I travel in my canoe, I use a large plastic container, either 4, 5 or 7 gallons or some combination of the 3.

CRITTERS There are two critters in particular that I will talk about. The first one is the raccoon. You will likely have a raccoon encounter and the chances of that happening largely depends on where you camp. Some sites are more notorious for raccoon raids than others; Pavilion Key once had the dubious distinction of being a raccoon-infested island. For good or bad, these little critters do not have a lot of fresh water available to them and will try their hardest to find it. To their credit, they are extremely clever and have left many paddlers distraught after waking up to find their boats empty of water containers, punctured water bags and food wrappers scattered about. So a big word of caution, protect your food and water as if your life depended on it, because it does.

If you are traveling in a kayak, all your food and water must be stored in your sealed hatches overnight or when you are not at the campsite. DO NOT leave food, water or food trash in your cockpit. If you think your nylon cockpit cover will keep the raccoons out, you are sadly mistaken. Do not leave your cooler out unless it is locked. If you are traveling in a canoe, all food and water must go inside hard containers (plastic or otherwise) that are sealed. For food, I use the large animal food containers that you can purchase at a pet store. The top screws on and is quite tight. Feel free to bring food items into your tent; you do not have bear issues down here. In fact, I bring my breakfast in with me at night and eat it inside my tent in the morning.

About those gators; the chances of you seeing an alligator on your trip is about as high as the chances of you not seeing an alligator on your trip. Whether or not you see one depends on where you paddle. On the coastline and the gulf islands, you will not encounter alligators, they are freshwater creatures. But, in the backcountry where the water is brackish, you will likely see alligators in a creek or possibly at a campsite. Some campsites have a resident alligator that lurks about in the water and sometimes comes up on land, blocking the boat entrance area. Sites that you are more likely to see an alligator include Willy Willy, Watsons Place, Camp Lonesome and Canepatch. Some of the chickees also have a resident gator that will circle the platform around dinner time.

So what do you do if you see an alligator? Not much, take a picture and maybe stare at it for awhile. On the creeks while paddling, give the animal some distance. What often happens is you come up on a sunning gator and it gets spooked by your boat. It will head back into the water quickly, making a splash and some noise which can give you the impression that it is on the attack. I assure you, it is not. It’s simply hiding and trying to stay away from you, so respect it and stay away from it as well. At the campsite, DO NOT feed the gator under any circumstance. If you can, clean your fish somewhere else, but if not, throw it as far away from the dock as possible. If you paddle up to a campsite and there sits a gator in your way, find another place to get out and stay clear of the animal. The gator is not going to go on the attack, rather it will lay there not moving for hours until its time to go back into the water. Simply let it be and it will not be a threat.

You may encounter other animals on your trip. Some lucky individuals have spotted bobcats in the mangroves. You may see wild pigs or deer on some sites, like Highland Beach or Tiger Key. If you don’t see them, you’ll find their hoof prints in the sand. I believe I have seen rabbits out there as well. And of course, you will see dolphin, probably lots of dolphin in the gulf, in the large tidal rivers and the back bays. You’ll spot a manatees as well and hopefully not by awakening it under your boat. Very large loggerhead turtles will show their large loggerheads above water on occasion. And of course, there are the fish and the birds. I’ve seen large tarpon fly out of the water, especially during sunsets off the cape. I have seen large sting rays shoot out of the water on several occasions as well. I’ll discuss the birds in another chapter when I talk about photography, but you will certainly see lots of them.

SOME TIPS ON FOOD PREPARATION
1. This really isn’t a food preparation item, but if you like wine, bring it. A 750 ml bottle fits perfectly in the stern or bow of a kayak. I’ve also found certain boxed wines to be very nice and they store well in the boat. You can also chill your bottled wine in the water before dinner.
2. Bring a thermos and heat water for breakfast and morning coffee the night before to avoid cooking in the morning. Bring it as well as your breakfast foods inside the tent with you at night. Wake up and have breakfast in the tent while the no-see-ums go on the attack outside. I use the Nissan thermos and the water stays unbelievably hot over a 12 hr period.
3. A nice hearty soup made at home makes a wonderful first or second night’s meal. I’m partial to lentils and will add barley or rice for a nice combination of carbohydrate and protein. It’s a good meal for those nights when you are very hungry and don’t feel like cooking. I freeze it in a gallon size (or quart size for single serving) zip-lock freezer bag.
4. I do all my cooking with a Trangia alcohol stove. It’s clean, it takes up little room and the stove is so low maintenance, nothing can go wrong (no clogs, no leak, etc). And unlike the popular Whisper Lite stove that sounds like a whispering jet taking off, it makes no noise. I use denatured alcohol and store it in old hydrogen peroxide bottles. I replace the bottle cap with a water bottle drinking spout for easy use. I carry a long lighter and waterproof matches as back ups.
5. Bring an extra meal for that small possibility you may be stuck an extra night. It’s always better to err on the side of bringing too much food than not enough. Of course, you can survive without the food, so adhere to this rule firmly when it comes to water.
6. Certain breads will get moldy fast. I find Lenders bagels and white flour tortillas to work well against that. Whole wheat breads, especially pita, do no last long and will turn green and fuzzy within a day.
7. You can use salt water for boiling pasta or rice, but know that you will likely get sand in there too. I do use the ocean water to wash my pots and pans after a meal. The shells and sand help remove the hardened food.
8. When I boil water for the next meal, I place my used eating utensils in the water for sterilization and will also pour the water into my eating bowls and then dump the water back into the pot for cooking. I don’t do this every night, but every couple of days.
9. Especially for beach camping where there are no picnic tables but lots of sand, I bring a large nylon tarp and spread it on the ground. Here, I set myself up with my Thermarest chair and all my cooking gear and food for a meal. This is our kitchen and dining area.
10. Use your food storage zip lock bags for garbage after you’ve eaten the contents of the bag.

Paddling the Everglades Part 7: Bug control, hygiene, & clothing

BUG CONTROL I’ve already given you an earful about the bugs. Now, some information about how you can make your stay in the Everglades as bug-free and painless as possible. About insect repellant; I don’t care what anyone says, 100% (give or take a couple points) DEET is the only thing worth bringing. It works on no-see-ums, biting flies and mosquitoes. Here’s the catch, DEET is a poison and despite what the deet.com website tells you, I will not put the stuff directly on my skin. I had an experience after spraying DEET directly on my legs and feet due to the fact that I was wearing shorts and getting bit all over by no-see-ums. I recklessly applied the DEET on my skin because I was itching like crazy and couldn’t stand it. I risked the poison exposure for the relief it would surely bring. Within a few minutes I began feeling very faint and somewhat nauseous. I could feel my blood pressure dropping rapidly. I got to the car and turned on the A.C and laid back (we were at the Outdoor Resorts marina in Chokoloskee). My partner brought me children’s benadryl and within 5 minutes or so, I was fine again. My blood pressure normalized and the itching stopped. I am not sure if this reaction was from the bugs or from the DEET, but nevertheless, one of the symptoms of DEET toxicity is hypotension. The moral of the story, do not apply the repellant directly to your skin if possible.

This brings us to the topic of clothing. At the campsite in the evening, I keep myself covered with long pants, socks, long sleeved shirt, bandana around my neck and a brimmed hat. I apply the DEET to my clothing rather than my skin. A good trick is to apply it on the underside of your hat brim, the bandana, and the socks. This seems to work 90% of the time. For the other 10%, I wear a mosquito net that covers my head and neck and cotton knit gloves. The clothing I wear at the campsite includes the following: polyster or wool socks, nylon pants, cotton or polyester shirt and cotton bandana. I dress to stay cool when it’s hot and warm when it’s cold.

The only other time bugs can be a problem is at the initial launch site (Flamingo, Chokoloskee Island or Everglades City). While loading the boats, I wear my paddling clothes, nylon long pants, nylon long-sleeved shirt, water shoes, a bandana or buff, and a Tilley hat (wide brimmed all around). Because of this, I always have the DEET handy by keeping a bottle in my deck bag so I have access to it at all times. I keep a second bottle in my cook kit for the campsite.

The bugs are always worse around dusk and dawn. The severity of the bug situation will depend primarily on temperature and wind velocity. I find that if the winds are a good 5-10 knots or more, the bugs are not much of a problem. 5 knots or less, the bugs will dominate the campsite. Some people are more tolerant to no-see-ums and mosquitoes than others. But I have seen the most tolerant person cry in despair while camping at Graveyard Creek. The moral of the story is, be prepared. Get into your no-see-um netted tent during the period when the bugs are worse and wait them out. I find that on beach campsites, if the bugs get bad at dusk, I can go hide in the tent for awhile, watch the sunset from there with a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers. By the time the sun disappears, so will the bugs. This is not always the case, however. I find certain campsites to be notoriously buggy even in the dark, like Graveyard Creek.

Do not leave your tent door open at any time after you’ve set up camp. This is a sure invitation for bugs and you will regret it when it comes time to hit the sack. Sometimes, you can’t help get no-see-ums in the tent, simply getting in and out will give them that opportunity. Here are three tips to relieve some of the problem. Tip #1: try to use the door that will get the most breeze, the bugs have less opportunity to get in that way. Tip #2: if they do get into your tent, you can get rid of the no-see-ums by wiping them off the tent walls with a wet bandana. Shine a light on the tent and they will congregate there. Tip#3: carry some children’s benadryl. I take 2 pills (one adult pill is equivalent to 2 children’s pills) when needed. This also works with ant bites that make me swell up and itch. The children’s benadryl does not make me too drowsy to paddle. Another quick remedy is rubbing alcohol (or hand sanitizer), which calms the itching.

One good thing about the no-see-ums and mosquitoes, once you are on the water, they are not a problem. I also find that the itching from the no-see-ums is temporary and once I am in my boat safely away, the itching has already stopped. A word of caution; if you want to get out of your boat or seek shelter while paddling, beware of the bugs swarming in the mangroves, especially during summer months.

One last thought on bugs, my camping experience in the Everglades begins in November and ends in early April. I spend time paddling during the day in the summer, but never camp during those dog day summer months. Thus, my bug experience does not include the insane bugfest that takes place in the heat of summer. Camper beware, I do not recommend camping in the glades anytime between May and October. Not only do you have the bugs, but you have daily summer storms, peak hurricane season, and the heat. If the bugs don’t get you, the heat will. I’m just saying…

MORE ON CLOTHING I’ve already described the importance of clothing for bug protection but there are other things to protect your body from, the sun being the first on that list. If you are from the north, I can certainly understand your desire to expose your skin to the sun, which you have not seen or felt in months. But please, use sun-screen. I really don’t pay too much attention to the brand of sunscreen I buy, but I do use spf 30 or higher. I also have lip balm with spf 15. The lip balm and sun screen are kept close by so I can apply as needed while paddling.

For paddling, I always wear long sleeve shirt and always wear nylon or polyester for quick drying. Forget cotton clothing for paddling, it will never dry. If it’s chilly, I’ll put on my Marmot rain jacket over the shirt and that is usually sufficient. Most of the time, I wear the nylon shirt that is popular with fishermen, it has pockets and vents. I always wear a bandana or a buff. The buff is hot in warmer temperatures, but is great for covering your face if you are getting too much sun exposure. I wear a Tilley hat, wide brimmed and it seems to not ever feel too hot or cumbersome. On my feet, I wear Teva water shoes with socks. Yes, your heard correctly, with socks. I use the Coolmax anklets and they feel wonderful even when wet. The socks give you the feeling of dryness despite being totally wet. Why wear shoes out here? Mostly to avoid stepping on a sharp oyster shell in the Ten Thousand Islands. Also, the Teva shoes do not get sucked off in knee-deep mud. They are comfortable when paddling, well ventilated, and they keep the sand and rocks out.

I already mentioned what I wear at the campsite, but for inside the tent, there are two types of sleep wear out here. One is for those 60+ temperatures, when cotton shorts and a short sleeve nylon or cotton shirt works well. Otherwise, I have long silk or polyester underwear for those cooler evenings. For those long trips, I prepare for cold weather and bring gloves, wool hat and nylon turtleneck.

HYGIENE And now for the topic that no one wants to talk about. But I will, because I’m a girl. And unlike boys, girls do not like to get dirty. I’m being a bit sarcastic, but in many ways, its true and we all know it. Guys do not put much thought into hygiene while camping; so if you are a guy, maybe this next section is of mild interest to you. But guys, if you are going out here with a female, you might want to read on. And of course, male or female, we all need to deal with human waste, so read on.

The one thing I will not compromise and will bring in quantities beyond necessity is toilet paper. I will not, under any circumstances, be without toilet paper. Remember, some of the beach sitess do not have port-o-lets (which is not necessarily a bad thing). If you are lucky, all your campsites port-o-lets will be clean, fully stocked with toilet paper and low on waste volume. But this will never happen, I guarantee it. You may have port-o-lets, but A), toilet paper is not guaranteed, and B), there is no guarantee the port-o-lets are fit for use. This past camping season was the worse I have ever seen in terms of port-o-let service. The park service has a few “honey barges” that go up and down the park to service the campsite pottys. During the busiest times of the year, a port-o-let can fill up quickly on the largest campsites, like Watsons Place. This past year, we camped at two different campsites each where the port-o-let was too full to use. And many times, the pottys have been without TP. The problem this year was that one of the honey barges was broken and the park service, which runs on a shoe string budget anyway, could not keep up with the demand. It also seemed to be one of the busiest seasons I’ve ever experienced. The moral of the story is, be prepared to go primitive.

Some of the beach campsites do not have port-o-lets, so there is no choice but to go primitive. If you find yourself at a backcountry ground site that has an out-of-service port-o-let, you’ll need to find an area in the woods to use and that is not easy to do, especially if you are sharing the site with several other people. This happened to me on Lopez River. Get as far away from the campsite as possible and dig a hole. Remember, the deeper you go into the brush, the more likely you’ll encounter bugs, so be prepared. There is a rule that you must dig at least 6 inches and that you must pack your toilet paper out. A large shell or rock works well enough for digging. To urinate only, you should go directly in the water when possible (especially easy to do on beach campsites).

For hygiene purposes, I carry small bottles of instant hand sanitizer, one in my cook kit so I can apply before handling food and another in a plastic zip lock bag with the toilet paper. I also carry a package of wet wipes in the plastic bag. To make the toilet paper more hygienic, at home I remove the cardboard roll from the middle. Then I take the end of the toilet paper from the middle and pull it out from the top a few inches. When I use the toilet paper, I pull the middle end, thus using only the untouched end of the toilet paper. I keep the toilet paper, hand sanitizer and wet wipes in a gallon-size zip-lock bag. I have another bag for paper waste. I keep all this handy when paddling.

When camping on a beach site, you can make a campfire and this is great for getting rid of paper waste. In fact, I’ve sometimes started a campfire for the sole purpose of burning the waste. Ladies, this is a great thing when you are camping during that time of the month. If you cannot take care of waste through burning, DO NOT bury the items, take them out with you.

The last thing I want is to get sick while out here, so staying clean is important to me. Disinfecting my hands before I cook or eat and after using the toilet is essential. Some may scuff at this and think I am overzealous with germ phobia; but so be it. I have not been sick once in the past 5 years and have never been sick while camping. The hand sanitizer may not be the reason for that, but it at least makes my hands smell clean!

What about bathing? I have a great tip for you! Campmor sells a product called No Rinse body wash that comes in a bottle. I’ve also found No Rinse wipes on-line as well. No Rinse products also include shampoo, hair conditioner and body bath, but the body wash version works just fine for both skin and hair. No Rinse is a wonderful NASA invention that allows you to clean your body without having to rinse off the soap. It smells great, it feels refreshing and it does not leave a soapy feeling or make your skin itch. I carry a small bottle of the stuff and I have a collapsible bucket that I fill with about a ½ liter of water. I add a capful of No Rinse to the water. Inside the tent, I lay out a 3 X 3 ft plastic sheet on the floor and use that as my bathing area. I have a bandana for bathing and a small microfiber tower for drying. After a bath, I put on my clean camp clothes and it feels so delicious. Now, I am ready for dinner and wine! Every other night, I take some extra water with No Rinse and run it through my hair. The No Rinse works well on skin and hair, I swear it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. It feels incredible to wash off the salt and sweat from the skin, and you’ll sleep better. And more importantly, if you share a tent, you won’t offend your tent mate. There is no excuse for being dirty out here! I also have a net bag that I use to put all my hygiene items such as deoderant, toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, comb, soap and lotion. I also carry a small bottle of Dr. Bronners soap, for washing my hands. And last, I have a small spray bottle for cleaning my eye glasses. I use a lens brush to brush off sand before washing them to avoid scratching the lens.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE Getting out of your tent at night may not be easy because of bugs, lack of privacy, rain, or you simply don’t like the discomfort of leaving your refuge. So what do you do when you have the urge to urinate? Bring a quart-size, wide mouthed, screw-capped bottle and pee in it. A plastic quart-sized Nalgene bottle works perfectly. In the morning, dump it in the drink and wash out your bottle with salt water to rid it of smells and you are good to go. Be sure to immediately screw on the cap after urinating before setting it down in your tent. Being clumsy, I can imagine a knocked over open bottle in my tent.