In this Update:
- A Muddy Adventure
- Mass-Casualty Incident (MCI)
- School, Work, and Devastation
A Muddy Adventure
A couple weekends ago, Ralf and I drove four hours south to the Everglades to participate in the Fakahatchee Grind – one of those bikepacking events organized by Singletrack Samurai (Karlos) that Ralf has participated in many times in the past. However, this time there was a difference: instead of me dropping Ralf off/picking him up for such events, I actually tagged along! Besides the long car-ride, this event also entailed tent-camping and riding on muddy trails during a downpour while avoiding getting eaten by a gator…
When we arrived at the Fakahatchee Preserve in the late afternoon, we were greeted by a school of vultures that we had to pass on the way to the camping area. A bad omen? Not really, but it was a tad weird…
After setting up the tent and getting the bikes ready for the next day, we sat around a campfire with other participants before turning in for the night. This was the first time I slept on a flimsy mattress in a (barely) two-person tent since I was 16 years old… The good news: it didn’t bother my back at all, not the crawling in and out of the tent, nor the cramped and unusual sleeping-positions I had to assume. I have to admit though that a possible future investment into a small camper sounds like an excellent idea…
The next morning, Ralf and the other riders got ready for the start of the Fakahatchee Grind. Since the shortest route was about 45 miles long, I decided to do my own thing. I am still trying to find a good saddle that I can sit on for long periods of time, and I was afraid that I won’t be able to keep up at this time.
After the group departed, I broke down the tent and packed all our belongings in the car. I then got a paper map of the preserve and looked at my options: Karlos suggested to follow the scenic trail to Gate 7, from which I could get to some of the actual trails. That sounded like an excellent idea – if it wasn’t for the monsoon that started to pour upon me about 45 minutes into my ride.
After riding the scenic trail for about six miles, which was mostly hard-packed gravel, I made it to Gate 7. As I am approaching the gate entrance, I saw an unraveled piece of tire laying smack in the middle. That was until I realized that the tire was indeed the tail of a giant gator. When I was only a few feet away, it decided I wasn’t worth the hassle and lazily made his way into the bushes and adjacent body of water. In my surprise, I wasn't fast enough with my camera though and only got the "tail-end" of things....
Even though the rain was now really starting to pick up, I entered the trail and started my exploration. Well, rain turned into a whole lot of water, which turned the ground into a muddy mess and significantly reduced visibility within a couple of minutes. As I pushed on, bumbling over rocks, cypress knees, and through mud-holes, a I saw headlights approaching me, fast! Mind me not, I am in the middle of the woods, somewhere in the Everglades! As it turned out, a park ranger had to rescue a rider who fell off his bike and seriously hurt his leg just a mile up the trail. He was in a golf cart-sized four-wheeler, so as he came at me, I squeezed myself with my bike as close to the edge of the jungle as possible to let him pass. The ranger inquired if I needed help as well, which I declined. I was going to finish what I started!
When I reached a fork on the trail, I tried to rely on my paper map for orientation. Well, the problem was that it more or less dissolved due to the rain, and when I pulled it out from my waistband, the ink was stuck on my belly like a tattoo and the pages just stuck together. Great, there goes my navigation. I decided to turn to the right in hopes to eventually re-connect to the scenic trail. Unfortunately, as I pushed on, the trail started to fork again, going in three different directions. Since I was by myself, I decided to play it safe and turned around to backtrack where I came from.
Luckily for me, I marked the correct trail with an arrow in the ground so that I wouldn’t get lost in case I had to retreat.
That kind of made me feel even more like an adventurer, and I admit that even though I was covered in mud, completely drenched, and on my own, it was a lot of fun! On my way back down the trail, the rain finally stopped, and I got to explore a few strange structures along the way, such as an abandoned cabin and a rather deserted “picnic area”. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really stand still for long due to biting yellow flies that found me very tasty. I suppose all the rain had washed off the Deet and sunscreen, exposing me to become part of their menu.
I finally made it back to the scenic trail (and thank goodness, the gator did not return). At this point I decided to continue on the trail to its end point (another seven miles), and then turn around to return to camp. I saw a lot more gators, turtles, and birds along the way (it was pretty scenic, lol), and when I reached the end, there was actually a checkpoint set up by the park rangers, with water. As it turned out, I just missed Ralf and his group that came from a different trail, so he had 30 more miles to go, whereas I chose to backtrack the 11 miles on the scenic trail.
Upon my return to camp, I discovered the outside shower that was set up! So I grabbed a change of clothes and a towel and started walking to the shower area. That is when a truck pulled up next to me, and the couple then asked me if I wanted the rest of their baby shampoo. I suppose I looked the part since this was the first time that some strangers offered me shampoo as I was walking on the side of a trail, somewhere in the Everglades…
In any case, this was a very nice adventure, and I am truly amazed about the things I can do again. Ralf and I spend the night in a B&B in Everglades city, which I was so grateful for, and the next day we made our way back home.
Mass-Casualty Incident (MCI)
This month, our community conducted the annual MCI training event, in which all hospitals, first responders, and other ancillary services train together during a mock mass disaster event. This year, the scenario entailed a massive explosion at the convention center, along with four active shooters. There were over 200 “victims” with various degrees of injury, and we got 20 of them at the Orlando VA Hospital. Since I am part of the Emergency Response Team, my role was to “treat and stabilize” in the made-up treatment area and then decide who gets transferred to the ED first. I must say that even though this is all “make-believe”, these events are very intense and chaotic, so I was pretty drained after all was set and done. Emergency Management and Disaster Response have always been a passion of mine, and I hope our team gets now more training opportunities as funding has finally improved this year.
School, Work, and Devastation
April also marked the last month of the spring semester, and between full-time work, helping out with TNCC classes on my days off, and pending assignments and research papers, I never really caught a break besides the outing to the Everglades.
However, all this paled in the face of tragedy, as my dear friend Bergie's beautiful daughter Lourdes suddenly became gravely ill, went into respiratory failure, and ended up on a ventilator and a “rotoprone” bed in the intensive care unit within one week! It was only a few months ago that we celebrated Bergie’s birthday at Hamburger Mary’s! It was Lourdes who made me flowers out of tea bags to include in the beautiful gift basket full of inspirational items the day before I flew to Germany to have spinal surgery – just to give me courage and support!
beLots of prayers and a couple miracles that needed to happen made it possible for Lourdes to go home on high-flow oxygen and pain medication on April 23rd – that was her ultimate and dearest wish, to go home! I so wish she had more time but this pure and beautiful soul passed away peacefully at 04:45 AM the following morning, leaving her mother Bergie and all her friends in devastation. I am just grateful that I was able to rub her little feet and say good-bye to Lourdes, but I am pretty mad at the universe for taking her away so suddenly and unexpectedly. Of all the people on this planet, Lourdes deserves to be here! And I truly wish I had more time to get to know this incredible human being and shining soul much better. We love you, Lourdes!
Thank you for sharing your adventures. I so wish I could get my passion back to adventures. My pain is causing a great depression. My doctor put me on Welbuterin.
I completely understand, I was put venlafexin for a short period for depression before my surgery but I didn’t tolerated that at all! I am grateful every single day that my pain completely disappeared after my ADR procedure and hope that many others will be able to reclaim their lives as well!